NightOwl

Thanks all this is much appreciated.

Hello all, I am looking for some input on the best brand of VHO 48" Actinic lights. If anyone can offer any suggestions please let me know. Thanks, Henry

Brian, Here is some good info if you have not visited his site before Melev's Reef. There is tons of infomation on building anything from sumps to topdown camera boxes. Hope that helps, Henry

Hey Matt, Not sure if you are treating all your food with some form of garlic or not but my yellow tang use to be an ich magnet. I started treating all food with garlic before feeding. Its suppose to help their immune system and seems to work. For my frozen food I let it thaw overnight soaking in garlic and sometimes Zoe or if im lazy about 10-15 mins before feeding. There is also some stuff called Kick-Ich by Ruby-Reef I have used several times that will not harm your biological filter or kill off any pods. Whatever you decide to do make it fast because ich multiplies really fast! Good luck, Henry

I have been running 6 x 54 T5's retro over a 90 and love the way the color "pops" as they say. As far as zoanthids and the color bleaching/fading I think it depends on placement and other factors such as water quality, stress, etc. When all my bulbs are on some of the ones with blue in them look faded as soon as the actinics come on they show there true colors. I have since moved them out of direct light and they seem to be doing better. Like some have said you don't get the shimmer lines that MH give you but you get some pretty colors . It's a trade-off and personal preference when it is all said and done. I have been getting crazy growth from them and love them. Henry

About a year ago and the place looked ok. Selection was ok but I was alittle bothered prices were not posted anywhere for fish at the time. I asked two different people and got two different prices for the same fish. Just seemed a little shady. When I asked the head guy how come there were no prices on the tanks he said that new fish come in all the time and it would be too much of a hassel to have have tanks with prices on them. After which I said thank you and walked out the store . Hope that helps, Henry

Hey John, Those bottles of pods are a total waste of money IMO. The number they advertise in the bottle and the actual number is never anywhere close to being correct. They actually ship them with less than the number they say and according to two manufactures the pods are supposed to multiply in the bottle. Save your $20 and find someone that has some cheto they can spare and you will get some in there. I brought about three bottles before I realized I was being ripped off. At first I thought my mandarin was eating them that fast, but then I actually tried counting the pods in the bottle using a microscope and ended up calling the people. The two brands I tried were TiggerPods and Ocean Pods. Thanks, Henry

Hey All, Thanks for all the info. My fans were working just fine but now the adapters are dead :(. During my wiring experiment I thought it would be a good idea to add a on/off (light switch) switch to the wiring. Both fans were going along happy as larks and then after being turned on and off a few times stopped working. No fuses were blown in the process and I did not get shocked . The little light on the adapter does not even come on anymore so I think they are dead. I brought the adapters from WallyWorld (Wal-Mart) they were 12V 600 milliamps. The ones that have all the little plugs for running kids toys with the multiselect of voltage. The fans were 12V 80mm Ultra fans each had their own power source. These are the fans I brought link. I brought the pack just in case something did not go right. Should I try again and not add the switch this time and get an adapter with bigger milliamps? How many fans could one of the adapters with 600 millamps support? Thanks, Henry

Hey Dave, Just wondering if there is any more room for tomorrow and what if anything do I need to bring. Sorry for being so late I thought I had responded, but when I checked my to do list and realized I needed to do it. If allowed it will be a guest and I. Thanks, Henry

Thanks guys, Rileyporter i don't have the space for the computer fan so I think I am going to go with the converter option. Both of my fans are 12 volt so I will look for a converter thats right around 24 or more. Is too much power going to hurt anything? I.E. me? I dont want to plug it in the socket and end up across the room like when I was younger. Well its off to Wal-Mart this weekend or Radio Shack for me this weekend. Thanks, Henry

Hello all, I recently got some T5's and new Mag pump, between the two of these I am having issues with heat. I want to put two fans on my sump for now and then add two to my canopy which I still have to build. The next two will be the thermal fans so depending on the temp they can control their speed. I have seen where people use computer fans to help cool the tank as an inexpensive way to have multiple fans but never any pictures of the wiring. If possible I need some pictures. I would like to do something like this Fan bracket . I have alread brought the fans and now I need a ac to dc power converter or something like that. 1.) How is the wiring done? 2.) The what size converter/power supply would i need for two 12V fans? Thanks, Henry

Dang danskim, Sounds like your shrimp is like Tyson in his prime. I have been out of town so I will try to catch the crab soon. He would stand no chance as he is only about 1 inch across...lol. Henry

Thanks all, I will try to see if I can see him late at night again and capture him. I will lure him out with some shrimp or something meaty...danskim I am going to keep him for now when he gets bigger he can play with your mantis . Thanks, Henry

Hi all, A couple of nights ago when I should have been in bed, 2:00 AM, I was down stairs looking in my tank and found this hairy crab. Should I move him to the refugium and out of the main display? I did some research and I think its a gorilla crab but all the pictures I saw don't exactly look like this one. The sharp claws don't exactly give me the warm and fuzzies. Hairy Crab Thanks, Henry

Thanks all, Sounds like a Mag 12 might be all I need only a few more watts than a Mag 9 with the one SCWD setup. Would a Mag 18 be to much if I plan on running two SCWD's? Later I can upgrade to an Ocean's Motions set up. With the flow that may be passing through the SCWDs I may be able to remove another maxi jet from the tank in the time being. I was worried about the temp but seems I will be fine. BeltwayBandit still post those pics ,I'm curious to see what that looks like. Rioreef I will more than likely take you up on the offer with helping plumb this thing. I think I might order the pump tonight or this weekend. My skimmer came today and it is looking all sad with no work to do . Looking forward to seeing pics of eveyones plumbing as well. Thanks, Henry Hey phisigs79, On your plumbing what's the part that just stops at the top? Also are thesea swirls somehow connected to the mainline that I see or is it hidden behind the bigger pipe? THanks, Henry

BeltwayBandit, Thanks for the explanation. I guess I will have to the pictures to solidify it in my mind. One question though how does that work in the event of a power outage. I want a solution that if the power goes out when it comes back on I do not have to be home to do anything. One of the reasons I moved to 90 reef ready was my 55 which had a overflow box flooded my first floor to where the water was dripping in my basement because the siphon broke. Not a pretty site. Is this solution apt to flood or burn the pump up if the power goes off and then comes back on? Both of which I experienced before :(. Oh and by the way have a safe trip. Thanks, Henry

Hi BeltwayBandit, Thanks for offering to take and send some pics. Knowing all my opions help. Technical issues sounds interesting so i will wait to see what they are. Thanks, Henry Chris, If push comes to shove I can use the 3/4" hole as well like I said I do not currently use it. I have a piece of PVC in it that is above water. Under the tank I have a ball valve in the off position. PVC does look professional I just never got around to finishing it. It in the back room with many other DIY projects...lol. But the return is neat with the tubing since it was so basic. The drain is PVC but very basic both have a ball valve so I can limit or cut the water off all together from the tank. Thats also good to know that adding another pump will not change the water temp too much since I am taking the RIO 2100 out. If any of you have pictures of your plumbing I would greatly appreciate it as well. Thanks, Henry

Hey Chris, Currently I have Oceanic reef ready tank so its predrilled with a 1" drain and 3/4" return (Mega Flow). I use the drain but not the return. To return the water I have it pushed back up by the Mag 9.5 with the SCWD on it. The tank is rated for 600 GPH overflow that

Hi All, I am hoping to get some advice on what to do with my tank. I have a 90 gal tank with a 20 gallon sump. I recently upgraded to an Aqua C EV 180 skimmer (on the way) and that will require a Mag 9.5 to function properly. My pump returning water to the tank is a Mag 9.5 connected to a SCWD. I thought about buying another Mag 9.5 for the skimmer but do not want the heating issues of having two big pumps in my sump. That would be a total of 6 pumps throughout the tank. Three maxjets in the tank on a wavemaker. The Mag 9.5 return, minijet 606 for the phonban reactor, and the addional Mag 9.5. I am now thinking about an External pump that can push up about 4' with some backpressure as the SCWD restricts the flow some or maybe a bigger internal that does not put out much heat if possible. Any suggestions on external or internal are greatly appreciated. 1. What brand would you recommend? 2. Will I need to do any drilling to get water into the external pump? 3. Any other things I need to know about external pumps or should be aware of? Thanks, Henry

Hi All, I am still kinda new to this myself, but I have some frags of Green Pocillopara and a couple of frags of Pink Pocillopara ( it may be Stylophora). Frags range in size from 1 inch to 1 1/2 inches I can post picks if anyone is interested. Thanks, Henry

Howard PM me your email and I can send you the 4 I took Henry

Hey Howard, Thanks so much for letting us come by and see you new set up. Very nice indeed. Everythings seems to be coming along nicely. The next kalk reactor building party let me know . Henry

Please count me in as well . Work got busy so could not respond until now sorry for the delay. Henry

I am not a newbie, but I would like to come out to see how you have everything set up. I am looking for some new plumbing ideas and getting a first hand look would be nice. When is the group buy going to happen? Henry

I am always looking for new places to pick stuff up from so I ran across Scales Tropical Fish Warehouse in MD. They are just getting the saltwater stuff underway but looks like it may be promising once all the tanks are filled. They are running a tank sale now and prices seem pretty competative. Not saying rush out and check them out as they only have a few livestock items but each week they are getting new stuff. The website is still under construction but they are coming along. http://www.scales-tfw.com/ . I will keep everyone posted on how they are coming along. The two owners seem pretty cool.