gastone

I can't argue the merits of skimming capability of one over the other as I've owned neither, though from doing a fair amount of research I would classify both of them as excellent skimmers. However, a dart is just a tiny bit cheaper to replace than a red dragon.

James, Nice Orca! G.

Thanks Nadir. I too shall have to update my favorites. G.

Sean, do you have a rock work plan outlined yet?

Onyx, glad to have you guys on. I followed your gf's thread on RC for a spell. It's good to have you guys as members of WAMAS. Where are the other 2 nano-streams? I see one each on the left and right panels, but I don't see the other two. Garrett.

IME quadricolors don't move a lot. They situate themselves when first placed in a tank, or when environmental changes dictate that a change is necessary. Mine has been in the same place for 4 years or so. Crucifers are pretty much the same. Generally speaking they are hardy (by anemone standards), and can tolerate a wide variety of lighting conditions. I kept mine under VHO, then PC, then T5, then halide/VHO and finally halide/T5. The anemone appeared to do better under strong lighting, and definitely showed better coloration. Even though they are a non-hosting anemone, mine did host a clown for a spell. Here's a linky: http://www.wamas.org/forums/index.php?show...mp;#entry171235 FWIW I no longer have this anemone as I passed it on to Doug. Garrett.

There is more than one way to skin a cat (though any way you do it is fine by me). Whenever I speak to someone brand new in the hobby I tell them to read, read, read. And the book that I always recommend first is Bob Fenner's "The Conscientious Marine Aquarist". It's probably a bit dated by now, but the point that he tries to get across is that there are numerous methods to maintain a successful reef aquarium. Use what works for you. When I first started I had a 42 hex with a 30 gallon gravity fed fuge. I kept the typical softie/beginner corals. (My nitrates were 0) I moved, got a remora pro HOB skimmer and tossed it on the same system. I mostly kept LPS/zoanthids and I picked up a RBTA. (My nitrates were 0) Murphy swung by one weekend while I was away. I sprung a leak, lost everything. Used the opportunity to have the same 42 hex drilled. I added a 100g rubbermaid stock tank (adding 60g +/- to the water volume), used it as a refugium, added a ER skimmer that I mesh modded, turned the 30 into a zoanthind tank and then a prop tank. (My nitrates were 0 the last time I tested... I'm going to say in 2005) Now my 42 hex is sitting on my garage floor of my new house. There is no skimmer, no refugium and I have a feeling that if I measure my nitrates they'd be 0. I'm planning an upgrade, and I think I'm going to go BB (or a RSSB (I copyrighted that - real shallow sand bed)) with a high end skimmer and no refugium. Why? Why not? I just want to try something different. I know the limitations of my past systems and what I could successfully keep (that means long term, not 2 years). I also have an idea that I'll be able to keep more pretty sticks this way. Skin away says I. G.

Maybe we can get Rik to chime in. G.

Sean just informed me that he will offer these at 50% off to all customers who want one. What he didn't allow to slip out was that in order to get this pricing you have to buy the matching bidet. Garrett.

I would have culled them. Well, that's not completely true... 'cause there is someone out there that is going to pay big money for them. So I would have wanted to cull them, but I would laugh behind the person's back who purchased them for 600 a pair. The best analogy I have would be to related them to a yardsale, where people pay you to take out your trash. Same concept with these guys. JMO. G.

Man, I was hoping you guys really would be closing so you'd have a fire sale. j/k Johnny, I can't wait to make it up that way to check out the new digs. Garrett.

Sean, you can get a wall anchor that can the weight of that pendant no problem that is probably 1 1/2" long. No need to worry about drilling through the floor at that point, 'cause if the slab is under 1.5" anyway you'd be a dead man by now. And it's easy enough to cover up when you leave. ...or go with the brackets. What's the deal with the leak? G.

Sean, for a clean look you can get masonry anchors from the hardware store. You will need a masonry bit (you can get a cheap one as you are probably only going to drill 2 holes). G.

Go here: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.p...hreadid=1460865 You'll have to have some idea of what you want to keep (livestock wise) and what appearance you'd like. Grim is awesome and can put together some sick color combos. G.

Sean, this is what you need: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.p...hreadid=1510621 I would sell my first born for one of these. Heck, I would probably pay someone to take my first born and then pay double for one of these. Garrett.

Thanks Brian for the link. G.

Sean, nice light. Have you decide which bulb you are going with? How is the spread on that thing? 30x30 is a lot of square footage to cover. G.

Try the lighting section. It is typically used in fluorescent lighting applications. G.

Walt, thanks for putting this together. For those of you going, have a good time. Garrett.

He's not kidding! G.

Knowing Steve that skimmer will be for sell in about 2 weeks. G.

Why did you decide to tee off and run the CL outlets to the front of the tank and up the front corner? Could you have just taken it to the straight along the back wall, up the back corner and teed there so that the outlets for the front just run along the top of the tank and don't run up the front corners? Garrett.

Jason, IMO it just come down to preference. You can grow SPS and clams under both T5 and halide setups. The upfront cost on T5s if probably a bit steeper, but the bulbs are cheaper and will probably need to be replaced less often than halides. The T5s will also use less electricity saving you money in the long run. The halides will give you *glitter* lines that T5s don't offer. Look at tanks, look through the dedicated tank forum and then go from there. As far as halide ballast choice, pick first which lamp/reflector you'd like to use. Many people use the spider reflectors with great success, but they aren't nearly as efficient as the lumenarcs or lumenbrights. Using halides with spiders is kinda akin to using T5s without individual reflectors... nothing wrong with it, just with a little bit more upfront you can get a lot more return from your investment. Once you've got your lamp/reflector chosen, then you can decide which ballast to go with (based on lamp manufacturer specs or spectral plot or energy savings or whatever your criteria is (I say go with manufacturer specs, but that's just me)). Garrett.

Matt, how's the tank coming? Anything you would have done different at this point? Garrett.

I think they are good for like 8000 hours (give or take). I run my lighting 24-7 on the fuge. That's close enough to a year, though the 2 that I purchased at least 2 years ago are still working. As Jason stated, I'm not concerned about a color shift. They'll get replaced when they burn out. Garrett.