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Not yet... Got pretty busy today. Anyone else interested in this group-order? I'd like confirmations from everyone before I call it in. I'll be placing the order tomorrow morning at noon. Please PM me or post a message here. thanks. -Rob

Hmm... Just a thought but if you're planning on coming home-home every month in order to tend to your reef, I think you will get tired of it pretty soon. I was away at college at Va Tech - not as long a drive, and I was going home for Thanksgiving and Xmas only. Once you make friends at your new school, you will not have time to think about your reef and driving home for 9 hours. You may want to consider going NanoReef for the 4 years or so. -Rob

So far we got 3 bottles at $20 a piece plus $5 each for 2nd day FedEx shipping. Anyone else? I'm planning to place an order on Monday am. -Rob

Great find Rik, Yes, I definitely am interested in a group buy. $20 per bottle plus shipping starts at $12.50 for 2nd day air. Who's interested? Pick up in Falls Church area. -Rob

Brilliant!!! Anyone has a smal LR (max 3" across) I could 'rent' for a week or so? -Rob

One of my latest fish additions was a Yellow Target Mandarin Goby. This particular fish loves live food, so I'm trying to figure out how to increase my pod production. My sump contains a small fuge section with Chaeto macro-algae on a reverse light schedule. How do I get the the pod colony going? -Rob

If I ever catch our last remaining Yellow Tail damsel, you can have it. -Rob

I found this hitchhiker in the 12gal Nano this morning, just sitting on a piece of LR rubble. It's about 8-10mm across and it's yellowish/tan color with some darker spots. Is it a chocolate starfish? -Rob

Instead of 20 sec delay, wouldn't 10 sec be more reasonable? Or am I the only one here who runs into this problem like every 20 seconds... -Rob

A weird thing happened in my Nano couple of days ago. It appears that one of the Ricordea green mushrooms collided with another frilly green mushroom and both mushrooms melted each other. What was left was a pile of goo with lots of slime around. Previously, both were just sitting on the sand floor separated about 1". A day later, one of my Xenia branches started to melt. I did a quick 10% water change and things are stable again. There is no fish in the Nano

Hey, I'm interested in the 25W UV Sterilizer. What size tank is it rated for? -Rob

I've also seen them at SuperPetz in Annandale, VA of all the places... -Rob

Why not stick the probe in your sump and assuming you have a thermometer in there, you can determine if your probe is set correctly. I like this idea. I may use this design for something else - like controlling a fan in my attic. -Rob

Nice project! Very impressive. How did you feed the polyps with Pythoplankton (amount and how often) and why do do say that if feeding too much it would kill the polyps? -Rob

Thanks, I've been using Formula 1 flakes which are garlic enriched.

Any Home Depot will carry 35Gal round trash bins that are both inexpensive and easy to store. I believe I bought them a while back for less than $12 including the lid. -Rob

What's the general consensus on how long a quarantine period should last? I've seen opinions floating around ranging from 3-4 days to 3-4 weeks. Should I be using any preventive Ich medications? Thanks, -Rob

I was also surprised by how foul the water was in some of the bags. However, my Blue hippo is doing ok, and apparently one of the purple firefish is doing fine in Howard's q-tank even though he must have come fairly close to the 'light'. I left him with Howard not to stress him even more with another trip - should he come back from the coma. My guess is that yesterday's hot temperature in the AM contributed to the stress that the fish were exposed to. -Rob

Unless you're planning on keeping SPS corals, clams, etc... I would go with T5 or VHO lighting. PC's actinic bulbs can't match the lumen output of the other two choices. MH might work well if you have the proper fixture that addresses ventilation/cooling. I'm running 48" 4x110W VHO setup on my 60 gal reef, and I'm quite happy. T5 is the newest setup that provides more lumens per Watt. I'm seriously considering going to T5 next time I have to change the bulbs... -Rob

Exactly. Just make sure that the stalk is touching the rock. When you remove the toothpick, gently twist it around to break free from the stalk, and then gently pull from the rock. The hole in the stalk will repair itself. -Rob

Howard, Sounds great!!! Hook me up with the following: 138200L - BLUE HIPPO TANG S. - $25.19 x 1 = $25.19 (4+ price) 125000L - PURPLE FIREFISH GOBY - $24.29 x 2 = $48.58 (4+ price) 160400L - EMERALD CRAB - $5.99 x 2 = $11.98 Total: $85.75 (plus my part of shipping) We're in Falls Church too... -Rob

Xenia will attach itself to pretty much anything. I had a hermit crab wearing a shell with a small piece of Xenia. Eventually he traded-in his shell for a more aerodynamic (aquadynamic?) model. I had luck attaching Xenia to a LR with a toothpick stabbed through its stalk. You can gently remove the toothpick in 24-36 hrs. By the way, can anyone tell me how many different varieties of Xenia there are? I have the standard brownish and the purplish/whitish type... -Rob

Are you still ordering the fish? Haven't heard from you in a while... -Rob

Sachin, I tried adding two peppermint shrimps to my 60 gal reef, with 1 existing CBS. Either the CBS got them, or my purple pseudochromis did. They were gone within 2 weeks. In a 40 gal tank I would be very cautious. You may want to consider returning the Coral Banded Shrimp to your LFS if you're set on the cleaner shrimp. They are cool - we have 3 in the 260 FOWLR tank. -Rob

What works for me is a Kalk - vinegar solution. Basically you're making Calcium Acetate which doesn't precipitate as much as using Kalk mixed with water. I used Joe's Juice before, but my own solution is cheaper and works with only one application. This works on both Majano and Aptasia. -Rob