jamesbuf

Welcome to Wamas. You'll find alot of experienced reefers here and tons of helpful advice. One of the best parts of the site is the "For Sale" sections, not to mention the trading and auction forums. Those are only available to premium members though. Trust me though, it'll be the best $20 you'll spend in the hobby. I've saved hundreds by being able to buy used equipment, not to mention getting corals and fish for half, if not cheaper, than what the local fish stores charge. I got a $600 skimmer used for only $200 shortly after joining a couple years ago, so I made my $20 back and then some. I like to think I've come a long way in this hobby, and most, if not all, of my success is attributable to this club. We've got a meeting coming up December 6th, so hope you'll come out and meet some fellow hobbyists. Anthony Calfo is going to be there, and his lectures are usuallly pretty informative. Take care, and welcome again!

I know the website just underwent some upgrades and revisions. I just sent a note to the Officials asking them for some attention. Sorry for the problems.

Tagging along to see your progress. I used a 42gal hexagon tank as a RDSB and it worked wonders on my old 180gal. It was 300+ lbs of sand though. Definitely curious to see your results.

If that thing gets caught in the return pump, it will nuke your system. Be careful.

That yellow tang is a Blue Atlantic Tang. You can read up on it here: http://www.bluezooaquatics.com/productDeta...819&cid=287 and http://www.bluezooaquatics.com/productDeta...818&cid=287 They actually look pretty good when they turn blue.

So are you talking about nuisance algae, or are you including coraline algae?

Way too much overkill. Rinse your frozen food before feeding and use some GFO to get your phosphates down, and add a better skimmer. I guarantee the algae in your tank will die off.

aaaahaahhah. I was thinking the same thing. I agree with Rik. Miller lite is the lowest I'll go.

Yeah, if you're only going to have only that one fixture over your cube, you're going to have to aquascape and place corals accordingly. Can't believe the spread on that thing is so much less than the others. Very nice looking unit though, just stinks the spread is so much less than the other fixtures. Guess we'll see once its hooked up. You can always raise it an inch or two to get a wider spread, although that will cut down on PAR getting into the tank.

Coming along nicely. Keep up the good work.

Ha!! I remember when I brought 3 of mine over to your place and saw the crap those pumps kicked up. I'm sure most of it has to do with that goby. I'd use one of your filter socks until you notice that most of the crap in the water has gone away. *edit: sorry for the highjack. You can come over to my place too to get your pumps upgraded. Won't be home till Friday morning though.

How are you liking yours by the way? What mode do you use mostly?

It should be, and the flashing directions are in the instruction manual I gave you.

Yeah, don't use them on a wavemaker.

I thought the directions specifically say Koralias aren't meant to be used on a wavemaker. The thing with these pumps is that the impeller can start one of two ways because of the AC that its connected to. If it starts in the reverse (wrong) directions, the impeller is forced outwards and hits the "stopbar", which then should force the empeller to revert back to the normal spinning direction. You will significantly decrease the life of the pump if you continue to use them on a wavemaker. The constant hitting of the impeller on the stopbar will eventually warp or break the impeller. Controllable pumps, like Tunze, get around this by switching to DC current in their powerbox. That way, the impeller only starts out going in one direction. Koralia does have controllable pumps, but they only plug into their own special controller.

Yeah, but those FOWLR fish would have a field day with a sea hare. I especially wouldn't trust that porcupine not to attach one of those.

Nature never ceases to amaze me. Thanks for sharing.

Ditch the bioballs and replace them with these: http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merchant2/m...;Category_Code= That way you'll get anaerobic respiration and get some additional denitrification. I have never used them personally, but the concept is pretty solid. I'm plan using them myself once I get the nano in my bedroom up and running.

H-E-double hockey sticks yeah, I'm down with that. I'll bring the popcorn. Free sutures for the winner

Did anything recently die in your tank?? An anemone or something?

Honestly, you're not gonna get much growth at all out of a 20K 150watt bulb. The PAR will be way too low. I'd stick with the 14K bulbs if you hope to see decent growth. You can still get pretty good PAR from 250 and 400 watt 20K bulbs, but I don't know of a 150watt bulb that you'll get anywhere near good growth with.

I agree that a jawfish would be a nice addition. Just make sure to have some type of netting over the tank until it builds/finds a place to burrow. They are REALLY skittish and have jumped on me several times before. You could go with a small school of fish, like some orange striped or blue streak cardinals.

For those of you looking for a decent dual reactor, I just got this unit in the CMAS groupbuy: http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/Carbon-and-P...oduct_info.html I like it thus far. You'd be surprised how much media you can fit inside those things. I had been just throwing carbon and GFO into a media bag and floating it in my sump. I changed it every 4-6 weeks. Supposedly carbon doesn't last as long as GFO, but with my fish load and the amount of phosphates in my tank, I'm sure I deplete my GFO faster than most. On a side note, it really is remarkable how getting your phosphates in check can affect the growth of your corals. I had an explosion in growth when I got my phosphates in order.

Come on, its almost Halloween. We need some GORE on this site!!! Show the carnage!!

Yeah, until there population exceeds the food and the all turn into scavengers. I woke up one morning to a group of them devouring one of my dendro polyps. A harlequin shrimp pair have put an end to that