stevil

I too have a 12 Gallon Aquapod. I haven't done much with it other than use it as a staging ground for treating aptasia infected rock or to stick things that I don't want in my main tank for whatever reason. Anyway - today I decided to go buy some new lights for it as I've never changed them and to replace the dying return pump with a Maxijet 1200. I picked up 2 27W sunpaqs. Now that I have them and realize the different between those and the 32W watts, I was wondering if I could put those in instead to get more light? The 27W are 10.5" and the 32W are 12.5". Anyone know? Could I even throw the 40W bulbs in there?

Ditto.

How about some fish? I'd say the kalk stirrer and see if that works, and then add the CA reactor if you need it (that is my plan). I just added a grey-seas kalk stirrer and am waiting a month or so to see how my Calcium and alk hold out and then I'll fire up the CA reactor I have laying around if necessary.

Hmm.. Ok - I need to observe better. Water parameters are good (but I will measure all tonight). Latest readings were 80 degrees, 1.024 salinity, 20ppm nitrate, 0 nitrite, .25ppm ammonia, pH between 8 and 8.2, alk 3.5. I noticed it right as she was eating last night so unable to tell if she gulped air or not, but I have been feeding a "homebrew" of shrimp, squid, scallops and seaweed fortified with selcon and minerals and a pinch of pellet food. I also occasionally feed mysis. The 'homebrew' is frozen and recently I've been lazy and just throwing it in frozen which causes the fish to have to feed at the top...perhaps this is just results from that Dave - do you have any specific links on the fish diseases? I had a Betta that developed (and died from) dropsy, and this doesn't look the same. I also went through wet-web-media's Clownfish disease page and none of those descriptions fit the symptoms I'm observing. If fish burp, do they also fart?

My female clown appears to be having difficulty swimming. She tends to rise to the top of the tank and is constantly swimming down. Her belly also seems to be swollen. She's eating very well, and other than the swollen belly and behavior, seems to be fine. Any ideas?

Try vinegar. It works for me. Just need to get a needle and syringe from a pharmacy. You have to move quickly to stab the aiptasia. Sometimes you can just squirt it at the mouth, but I find it far mor effective to stab into it (from the mouth) and inject.

Mine went almost a year in a bleached state. I fed him irregularly and then one day started getting color back, within a few weeks he was fully colored and had split. Don't give up, feed and you should see the color return eventually.

Can you keep them both? I prefer the actnincs on VHO's over T-5's. I have 2 T5's and 2 VHO strips on my 90 gallon. I will probably add 2 more T-5's in the near future.

I might be able to come by at 1, but it will likely be closer to 2:30 or 3 (depending on if I have a meeting at 1:30 or not). Lemme know if that still works. I'll still stop by tomorrow to pick up the kalk reactor....

I'm getting the smaller one for my 90 gallon. I think it goes up to 150 gal...

There is a rubber paint that you can get at a big hardware store. It goes on thick, but may scratch easily. I wonder if the same stuff they use to line truck beds would work?

I have some out of control Zoa's on my rock. When I first set my tank up (18 months ago) they were about the only visibile non-fish life that I had for awhile and they were pretty cool.... now they are starting to %$#* me off. They have grown over and even killed some of my other coral. What's a good way to get them under control? I'd prefer not pulling out the rock and boiling it or pulling a Steve Outlaw . If I were to pull out pieces of the rock that I can get out of the aquarium and put it in a dark place for awhile, would that be sufficient? Any other tips or ideas?

Chip - I'm planning to head over there. I could drop off your coral over the week if that works? I might also be able to do it today. Bemmer - I'll call in an hour or so.

Does he change color do conceal himself in whatever area he's in?

I don't recall reading or hearing that or I'm sure I would have made a mount for it to ensure that it wouldn't. Both my pH probes (american Marine Pinpoint and AquaController JR.) are fully submerged and have been for 1 year and 6 months respectively. I've never had any issues with either of them.

I just have them dangling in my sump... I just moved them to my refugium (in my sump) and they are surrounded by macroalgae which holds them in place. Although, I never had issues with them when they were just laying in my sump either.

Percula clowns are best kept in pairs.

Thanks everyone. Moving the tank isn't really an option.... so yes I'd agree the workspace would be tight, but not impossible? There's about 6" between the tank stand and the wall on the side and about 4" in the back. My tank stand is open in the back. As far as the 3 2x4's next to each other I'll try and get a better shot... I just went and looked and my best guess is those 3 2x4's are right under the 6" gap on the 2nd floor by my tank... so, I probably will have a difficulte time drilling through them? I'm not sure what you mean by the footer though... I like the idea of drilling through the baseboard. My first desire is to eliminate filling and sloughing freshwater as top-off on a daily basis... if I had to fill and dump a bucket a week for a water change that would still be a big improvement.

My Reefkeeper controller fuse blew. Luckily I'm not using it (replaced with an Aquacontroller), but I'd like to hook it back up, but the fuse has blown. It requires a 15A, 125V fuse about 3/4" long. I tried 4 Radio Shacks in my vicinity, but they do not have them (nor can I find it on-line). Anyone have any idea where to go look for one locally? Preferrably in the NOVA/Centreville area? Thanks

MattB's new tank inspired me a bit to think about putting my RO/DI unit and water change equipment remotely in the basement. I'd like some input on assessing the feasability of running ATO from my RO/DI and then having drain and refill plumbing from the basement, through the wall and behind my tank. My tank is situated above my furnace/laundy room in my townhouse on the wall shared by my neighbors unit. These are MattB's pics that got me thinking: Caveat: I'm not so handy! Caveat: I won't drill through the HW floors - want to drill up through the inside wall. If I were to do this project, I'd need to get it done in a day... or at least the upstairs portion (securing the pipes, patching the drywall...) I'm thinking I could drill up through the basement (who's walls and ceiling are partially open in the laundry room), cut out some of the drywall, secure the plumbing, patch drywall and go... but I'm sure there's some details I'm missing... Checklist/Shopping list: 1" drill bit (is this enough for drain and return? 20' 1" PVC Stud finder Saw to cut drywall (no idea here...) Drywall patch kit (no idea here...) PVC pipe RO/DI pipe and or tubing Brackets to hold the PVC pipe and tubing against the wall Q: Would the pressure of my RO/DI storage tank be sufficient to drive water 10' vertically? I can measure the PSI - anyone know what PSI would be adequate? I'd be plumbing it into a Kalk reactor. Q: What kind of pump would I need to push water from a saltwater mixing tub to my sump? Q: Any tools recommend to get at the tight space (e.g. cutting the drywall) Q: Any shopping items I'm overlooking? Q: Anyone want to help? Here's what my space looks like:

A 25-50% vinegar solution works for me. Just cleaned all my powerheads by soaking them overnight. I do leave them running and try and clean them off with paper towels (especially the impellers) about half way through.

Sorry, I wouldn't know... but my guess is it wouldn't be as effective. The point is to get as few amount of Total Dissolved Solids into your tank as possible. My tapwater (Centreville, newish development) reads 180 TDS with a meter before going through my RO/DI unit. It comes out at around 6... Another member, bbatv is just using a DI filter (he's also in centreville, but a different area) and his tests are quite promising: 132 to 0.

First, Welcome to WAMAS! It's been an extremely helpful place for me the past 2 years. I wouldn't recommend using straight tap-water. I use RO/DI (reverse osmosis, de-ionized). I got a filter for about $100 on ebay. People are selling them used occasionally as well. It will help you avoid nusaince algae blooms later on. It isn't about the nitrates, it's about the total dissolved solids (TDS). Search the threads for recommendations and vendors. people have different opinions for how many stages to get - I have a 6 stage, but am no-longer using the 6th stage ("taste" filter). 1. My cheato macro-algae grows fast using daylight incandesent or daylight compact florescent in a screw-in light fixture that I bought at wal-mart (the eco-friendly low-wattage bulbs). I think it cost me $8... Some calupera algaes will go "sexual" disintegrate and then annoyingly grow all over your tank if you aren't careful, but you should be ok with chaeto. I'm certain you can get more for free from members (I'll happily give you some if you'd like - I need to clean it out, I also have a few other kinds that do well in a refugium). 2. Nope, not many folks do (although there are some). People can't seem to give them away. If you are using live rock, live sand, and a skimmer that should be adequate for your filtration needs. Go buy "The Concientious Marine Aquarist" by Robert M. Fenner. 3. I have 4 MaxiJet powerheads (1200's and 900's) and 1 Seio powerhead in my display tank (90 gallon) and use a Mag 9 as a return pump from my sump. Korallife (sp?) filters seem to be pretty popular, have good flow and are cheap if you are going new - might be worth looking into. If you think you want to use a wave maker or controller that will turn your powerheads on and off make sure to get ones that can withstand being turned on and off - some can't (like Seio). 4. If you have time/patience look for a tank breakdown - not just for sand, but for other stuff too. I think there are a few going on right now. You'll see reference to "southdown" sand, but that seems to be pretty impossible to find, or if you do it isn't the good stuff. You might even be able to get it free!

Totally amazing, definitely worth checking out.

What about just loading your sump with some live rock? I have a corner overflow on my 90. My drain hose from the tank into the sump is flexible tubing and goes straight down and then slightly curves at the end - it's only about 2" longer than what is required to go from bottom of the 90 gallon to the bottom of my sump. My skimmer intake (euroreef with a sedra pump) is right by the drain and the return from that is nearby the tank drain. I've had zero problems with bubbles...