SDBDRZ

Sonny's a good guy, I stop in frequently and he has treated me well. I actually consider us pretty fortunate to have a local store in Frederick with the variety that Mr. Corals has. Sonny will also get just about whatever you want if he has a source for it. He has ordered me supplies that he doesn't ordinarily stock (UV bulbs, sand, etc) at very competitive prices.

http://www.icecapinc.com/ Left hand side 4th link down they have a link to a .pdf wiring diagram

The clowns are SI/PNG true percula's. I got them from Kengar a few months ago, the one in the picture is the misbar female.

Thanks Craig Its a Canon XTi with a Sigma 105mm f2.8 macro lens. I also got a Sigma 18-50mm f2.8 that I think I got a few decent full tank shots with but I haven't had a chance to upload them yet.

Toying with my new camera and these are some of the first shots I got with it. Still have a lot to learn but I think these came out half decent. Critique and advice welcome EDIT: the original images were a little small

It was not my intention to focus my negative opinion of the article solely at the discretionary money that the person has to spend. I still believe that the article, and others like it, provide a disservice to the hobby. While you and others may thoroughly read and understand the details provided in the article, many other will use it as a justification for irresponsible stocking of much smaller tanks. Furthermore he is not doing something bold that should be celebrated, I have seen, read articles and looked at pictures about tanks overstocked with fish since the 80's, the only thing he is doing differently is actually planning for the fish to outgrow the tank. Based on his stocking list, the fact that he does not have any significant compatibility issues raises question for me. Why would fish that are not compatible in the wild suddenly become compatible in a 250g tank? The very fact that there are no significant territorial issues is the first sign that something is amiss.

The article does not specifically say whether he has had losses or not. Most of the species of fish in that tank are no where near the size they will obtain in an aquarium. Having a bottomless pit of cash to throw at a tank does not make a successful tank. There is a big difference between optimum environment and minimum requirements. From the article "Many of the exotic fish in the Angelfish tank can reach adult sizes well in excess of 12 inches and the 250-gallon community tank is by no means the final destination for such specimens. Although all of the fish are doing well at their current level of occupancy, that may not remain the case as the juvenile fish begin to reach maturity, and their owner is preparing larger accommodations to deal with that eventuality. And, since Travis is not a typical hobbyist, he is currently contemplating a closed-system home aquarium of up to 4000 gallons total capacity for this purpose. That's a whopping 16 times larger than the 250-gallon community tank! The more spacious home aquarium will be set up in much the same manner as the 250-gallon aquarium but will have all of the elbow room even a fully grown 18-inch Queen Angelfish or football-sized clown Triggerfish needs to be comfortable." Most hobbiests dont have the luxury of upgrading to a 4000g tank to deal with fish growing as they mature. I hate these types of articles because most people miss the details and think "hey that guy in Minneapolis is doing it, why cant I?" Mr. Carter might get away with a tank stocked like this for the short term while he builds a 4000g tank but it does not make this an appropriately stocked 250g tank. Articles like this are a disservice to the hobby. Show me his tank in 3 or 4 years and if he hasnt had losses or had to remove a lot of fish I will eat crow. Having a ton of money to throw at a hobby does not make someone a successful hobbiest.

I keep a lot of LR in my sump, I see no negative effects from it. Is it necessary, probably not, does it hurt to have LR in your sump, probably not. My sump is a 100g stock tank, every once in a while I will take the skimmer and all the LR out, drain it and clean the detritus. Having a very large sump is probably much more beneficial than what you actually have in it.

Pretty sure the tank is sold since its setting in my garage waiting for me to getting around to setting it up

What you just described is much easier to accomplish with a deep, shorter tank :-) With a 12" depth and 20" height you are going to have a very steep rock structure if you want to go almost to the top of the tank. Its all personal preference of course. I have never been to that Super Pets, is the rock and corals liverock and corals or is it manmade decorations?

Long, thin tall tanks are generally hard to aquascape. Greater depth of the tank (front to back) is usually preferable as James pointed out. They are easier to aquascape. If you decide not to go with an all-in-one unit I would look at a 40g breeder.

online is probably your most comprehensive place to look. google searches or places like reefcentral, wetwebmedia, reefs.org, etc Tyree is a person, he started the whole coral naming thing. Zoas are Zoas are Zoas no matter what name they are given, in the ocean they are all weeds :-) The naming thing is just a marketing scheme that has evolved in industry. Why sell a "green Zoa" when you can sell an "atomic green glowing zoa". Why just sell a purple montipora sp. when you can sell an "idaho grape" People make up names for stuff and people on forums like RC, Reefs.org, this site, etc just eat it up and empty their pockets for it :-) There are some very knowledgble people on this website that are more than willing to offer advice, I would start with some specifics about your tank, water parameters, specific questions, etc. To answer your book question there really are a ton. Take a look at this thread: http://www.wamas.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=3424

1. Nope, not stacked against the back. I have a standard 180 and wanted to ensure flow behind the rock structure. 2. No glass tops, no canopy. My lighting hangs from the ceiling.

George has the magic touch. Gotta be something in that Baltimore water

In the wild they are found in grassy/muddy, high nutrient waters with a lot of light and not a lot of flow. For the most part they are alone without other corals encroaching on them. The ones I have are in my SPS tank and I have tried to shield them from as much flow as possible. I dont have a DSB but I have about 1" of crushed coral so I try to build up a little spot for them. I will be moving them out of this tank in the next month or 2 to a lower flow tank with a fine sand bed. I think the reason most elegance dont do well in captivity is because our SPS tanks are not even remotely close to their wild environment. (high flow, low nutrient, packed with other corals, etc)

I am currently keeping 2 elegance corals. I have kept them in the past as well. Conditions: I keep them in the substrate and avoid turbulent direct flow on them. In the past I have kept them successfully in a large refugium.

I have a pair of cleaner shrimp that have been in my 180 for 3 to 4 years. One of them is always carrying eggs, and they both regularly get visits from the fish at there cleaning station.

Depends on what the store has I dont go to good shops very often so when I do I usually end up dropping 100-200.

Where you buy it is personal preference, you might save a few bucks online but check the shipping cost. I have ordered it online and bought it from local vendors, you might want to PM one of the WAMAS sponsor LFS's and see what they have. There are different type of LR available with different sizes, different density, different structure (branch, plate, etc) different cost, just depends on what you are trying to achieve. You can get standard Fiji as the least expensive or you can get branch, flat pieces, etc, etc but at a higher cost. Cycling fully uncured LR can be a pain, especially for a new hobbiest. If you get it dropped shipped direct from the source as uncured there will be a lot of die off and a significant cycling process. If you buy cured LR from a LFS or have pre cured LR shipped to you overnight you will likely not experience any spikes in Amm or Nit. It really just depends on what type of rock you want (shapes, etc) how much you want to mess with curing it and how much you want to spend. I get a lot from local places and mail order that will hand pick. It costs a little more but I would rather get the shapes I want as opposed to a box of softball sized LR. For mail order LR I like Dr Mac because hes pretty close so the rock is not shipping too far. From Annapolis it wouldnt be a bad drive for you to pick it up. I would also recommend BRK or F&F but they arent really in your area. Maybe Exotic Aquatics but I have never looked at the LR prices there.

I have been in this hobby for a very long time, the prices I have seen the last 6 months for some corals just absolutely amazes me.

Aquarium Depot will not reopen until 3/7. Exotic Aquatics is on the north side of the Baltimore beltway and is probably one of the best shops in the Baltimore/Washington area. Excellent selection of fish, corals, frags, clams, etc and they carry a lot of high end gear like Deltec, Tunze, etc, certainly worth the trip in my opinion. They also have a very sweet SPS dominated Display tank, cant remember the exact size but I think around 500ish gallons.

No thats about what mine are however it is generally a good idea to start new lighting higher and gradually lower it over a week or so. I probably would have went to about 12" and lowered it an inch a day til I got to the height I wanted. You can also shorten the photoperiod and gradually increase it over a week or so until you reach the photoperiod you want. Its a good idea to acclimate your corals to the new lighting in this way to avoid having them bleach, etc.

Looking good, I like it. Maybe a little more blue but thats just personal preference. As for the ends of the tank, how high are the T-5's above the water?

If you can see any polyp extension in the white area its just bleached. Is there any algae growth starting on the white areas? If there is algae growth, film, etc on the white areas then it is most likely some type of die off or tissue recession. If you could post a pic that would help.

is it white on the underside or on top?