Folta

Hey dave, I would like to take you up on that offer to see your tank. Also, I don't know if you still have the par meter but I know last I spoke with you, you wanted to take readings on your own tank and its difficult to hold the meter and get a reading solo, so I can help you out with that (if you still need to of course). send me a pm and let me know.

I don't think I'd worry too much about the color, as much as I would about behavior. I have a pair of clowns, and one has darkened up (the male, or at least I'm assuming the male as its the smaller one) on its back. The other clown isn't showing any signs of darkening. Both swim/play like they always have. No ammonia, nitrates, nitrites in my tank. I used to be concerned about it, thought maybe he wasn't getting a proper diet. I feed mysis shrimp every 3 days or so, and they gobble it right up. That didn't help him turn more orange. Its possible he's eating other stuff in the tank that I don't know about, that is effecting his color. I don't have an anemone, and the clowns haven't tried hosting in any of my lps. They sleep at the top of the tank by one of the pumps, kinda waddling, right up against each other usually. Anyway, I would just say to not worry too much about it.

Hello and welcome! As many of us will tell you, patience is of utmost importance in this hobby. I'm sure you'll learn some stuff the hard way, just like many of us If you look at sites like marinedepotlive, and liveaquaria, they give some good information about different corals including difficulty to care for, water flow, lighting, etc. Taking a step from a fish only to a reef is a big one as there is alot you have to consider. Do you measure the following parameters yet? : Salinity (or specific gravity) Alkalinity Calcium Temp (Both min and max) pH (Both min and max) ammonia nitrites nitrates phosphates These are all key things when working on a reef. As far as difficulty goes, a general rule of thumb: polyps (like yellow polyps, xenia, etc)/shrooms < zoos < soft corals < large polyp stony corals < small polyp stony corals. Also, you didn't mention any of the equipment you had. What do you have for: Tank size sump size (if you have one) other types of filtration (hang off back types, etc) skimmer lights water flow (powerheads, etc) any reactors (kalk, calcium, phosban..) Now, I'm sure I've left some things out... there's alot to the hobby. If you have any questions feel free to post them! I am pretty new to this hobby as well, and I've learned so much from reading this forum and others. Happy Reefing!

I have no idea if it will work, but good luck with the project

I believe thats 'all glass aquarium'.

are these just like macro algae, to export nutrients?

I wish I could come out, unfortunately I'll be going out of town this weekend. Doug, maybe another time I can come check it out? There's a inline skating store in Leesburg that I've been meaning to check out anyway.

Sweet corals (and clam). Can you tell us what exactly they are? I'm still trying to learn the names of everything.

Who custom builds sumps?

Cool. I am planning on making a new sump shortly myself, as the one I have is too tiny and has no baffles (I want to put a skimmer in the sump). A 55 gallon doesn't have much room under the stand (11 1/2" front to back, between the wood), so I very well may end up putting it next to the tank instead. I'm still in the thinking phase. Good luck with it, and I hope it works out well. It's good to see that you're actually planning everything out before just buying stuff!

Not a problem! That tank was definitely easier to lift than I was expecting, and your homemade dolly made moving it very easy. Thanks for the blue shroom pieces! I took a couple pics when I put them in my tank, and will take some more in a week. They should grow back pretty nicely.

Hey Cecilia! sorry about that. I wasn't aware that the inbox was so small! Maybe we can get more room for members :-p Anyway, I've sent you an email too.

haha thats crazy... such an elaborate trap! I'm glad that I didn't listen to the LFS's, and get a 'damsel because they are hardy fish'.

Just wanted to give this a bump. I unfortunately won't be able to attend on Sunday. Since you live in DC, how is parking at your place anyway? (Just in case people are wondering, or if things change for me).

Oh no. Its back! I played that thing for like 3 days straight, a few years back... it gets very addictive... especially when my college roommates played it too... very competitive... I will not play it. I will not... play... ok, I got 1105.

they don't send the sink or garden hose adapter, just the piece to puncture your cold water line. I'm not sure if whites hardware still exists.. they keep changing all the stores every time I come back. I think that may be the place on the corner of 97 and 28.

Well I don't want to puncture a water line. And I forgot to get the adapter. So I went to home depot. They don't have any adapters... I went for a long drive to fergusons plumbing, only to find out they have the worst hours ever. - Basically, because I work a 9-5 job, I really couldn't get there when they were open (and heck if I"m going to go in early saturday morning) I ordered one online, from the company I bought the unit from. Took another 10 days to arrive. went to the sink, and found out that I need an adapter for the adapter! (the sink part, because of the faucet I have, is backwards) So I still have to go get another adapter, and I've just been procrastinating to do it..

If you got the aqua safe systems one, be prepared to wait a little while for it to ship.. thats the one I got, and it came from canada (I recall it having the tds meter option too), and it took about 10 days to ship. Sadly, I've been procrastinating, so I haven't even hooked it up; I've had the thing for like 2 months now.

I think there are different levels of fuges that you can have. Since you already have a sump, it wouldn't take that much more work to add a 'fuge'. The way I look at it is this: If I have macroalgae in my sump, its pulling nutrients from the water that algae in the main tank would use. So its like a competition between them (and if nothing else, there are at least less nutrients available for the microalgae in the display tank). All I did was take a handful of macro algae (chaeto, in my case) and stuck in loosely in my sump. I put it in in manner that the water that comes from the main tank passes through it. I also have a clip on light with a 60 watt bulb pointed at that section of my sump. As for how effective it is? I have no clue, really. But my cost was cheap : $10 for the lamp (and if I ever stopped using it on the fuge, I could use it in other places) and I got the chaeto for free. I didn't mod my sump in the slightest, just added it in.

I'm not sure what to tell you, but they do look neat. Glad to hear they are growing as well as they are!

For people who are coming from the beltway, is there a route we can take to avoid tolls?

Sorry to hear about your loss! :( Put me down on the list for some stuff to give to you when you get your water params back to par. I just got my MH's so I don't really have any sps, but I have zoos, green star polyps, and xenia that you are welcome to!

I have a 55 gallon, and currently have a 4x65 (260) watt PC fixture. I have zoanthids, shrooms, finger leathers, a few montipora digitatas (right up at the top a couple inches from the water line, however), a couple hammers, a torch, a cabbage, a few mini carpet anenomes, and probably a few other things I'm not thinking of right now. They are all doing well. Polyps fully extended every day (once in a while something decides not to come out, but that never lasts long; I'm assuming its more because something irritated it). I have blue/blue zoanthids near the top that have gone from 3 polyps to over 30 in a couple months. I have zoanthids near the bottom (orange and green) that have gone from about 20 polyps to around 40 since I got them at the spring meet. However, I've decided that I really do want to keep sps (and have ordered MH's, waiting for them to come in), and am going to sell my 260 watt pcs. Was I happy with them? Yes, they provided enough light to allow me to enjoy the corals I do have. If I could do it all over, would I go with pcs? No, I would do MH's. But that might just be the fact that I want sps.

Definitely go with redundancy. This is for three reasons - if a heater fails ON, it won't provide enough heat to kill the fish (assuming you get appropriate wattage, and not just double up the same heater you were originally going to purchase). If a heater fails off, you still have the other heater going, keeping water warm. Third, if you heat in more spots, the distribution of heat will be better. (Pending good water flow this isn't as much of an issue, but think of it this way - how many air conditioning vents do you have in your house? The heater will only heat the water immediately around it). Another thing to consider - if you have your heater in the sump, and no heater in the main tank and have an issue with the return pump, then no water will be heated in the main tank. I think it'd be best to go with one heater in the main, and one in the sump. I know, however, many people try to minimize the equipment that is in the main tank, so you may not want to do it for aesthetic reasons.

Just want to throw in my vote for becoming a member. I got my money back on the first day - Dr. Mac offers a discount for wamas club members, and I saved over $20 on my first trip; that right there made it worth it! I've asked many questions already in the members section, and can tell you from my experience that the knowledge of the club members here has really helped me.