keeperofthefish

I'd love to see a picture of some of his work sometime.

I'm not a pro in the least, but everything sounds perfect to me. Outstanding husbandry, as far as I can tell. Do you have any algae problems, etc.? Are you running activated carbon or ozone to keep the water crystal clear? Any problems with micro-bubbles in the tank? What kinds of bulbs/ballasts are you running those 175s on (not that this should make much or any difference). You might want to consider feeding oyster eggs and cyclopeeze to the corals--better than phyto for most corals.

What kind of salt mix are you using? Do you have a fuge? What are you feeding the tank? Do you have any chemical warfare going on between corals? Any leathers in the tank?

There are a lot of fish called a "rainbow wrasse" some of which would eat shrimp greedily and others that likely wouldn't. Can you identify with certainty what kind of wrasse you have (scientific name)? If so, just check out the great stuff they have on wrasses at www.wetwebmedia.com. That should tell you.

Looking to trade for corals for my bare tank, or will accept cash price. Make an offer! 3 x 36" (35.75" actual) URI SuperActinic VHO bulbs -- never used ($10 each) sold to garrett! 2 x hydor flo add-ons for water movement from maxi-jets -- never used ($7 each) 1 sold to Scott 1 left 1 x 1.5" female threaded true union ball valve -- never used ($2 each) 2 x 1.5" male threaded barb fittings -- never used ($18--compare to $25+ new)

I take back anything bad I ever said about Tunze. I got a 6000 stream kit and I am simply blown away with its power and function. It is ACTUALLY worth the money.

They would have a bluering at Roozen's. They'd sell cigarettes to a five year old at that place. I watched them sell a stonefish to someone who had no idea how dangerous it was and who had little kids. Can you say legal liability?

I'm glad to know that a WAMAS member is working there, and I'm sure you will do your best to change this. I want Congressional to be a great store because it's fairly close to me! But you really need to ditch those 10s. The reason you want to have a breeder vs. a 10 gallon has to do with surface area for gas exchange. The larger the area of the water in contact with the atmosphere, the more gas exchange. In this way, even a 15 gallon compared to a 10 gallon has a ton more gas exchange. 20 longs are great tanks for this reason, as are 33 longs. A 40 breeder is great because it has height, also, which species that have high fins like because it allows greater range of movement. Bigger tanks=happier fish, no matter what the total volume is of the system. I have simply never before seen 10 gallons used to hold saltwater fish not geared to the "nano" environment. It would be a higher upfront cost to buy the tanks, but I guarantee you would save in terms of healthier fish, more sales, etc. The new store obviously has the square footage to do this. Make it a reality.

My question is simply why someone isn't enterprising enough to reverse engineer a Tunze (nothing patented on there so far as I can tell) and take them to be manufactured in China, then sell them at Seio prices. A Seio is a genuine attempt to make a differentiated product, and as a result it is not anything like a Tunze. But ripping off a good design is capitalism. It's what has allowed the Japanese to command consumer electronics with very little innovation on their side. Tunzes are so expensive because of the remarkable overvaluation of the Euro and the unproductivity of European manufacturing. A box of plastic forks manufactured in Germany would be the best plastic forks you've ever eaten with, but it would cost $45. If anyone wants to go into business with me, let me know and let's write up a business plan to make Tunze-quality but Seio-priced powerheads.

75 gallons main tank 5 gallon refugium 20 gallon sump ----------------------- 100 gallons total SW 65 gallons total FW

The question when you get over 78 degrees F is how much dissolved oxygen your water can hold. Put simply, the warmer it is, the less oxygen it can hold so the more surface gas exchange you need--i.e. oxygenation. In other words, you need more flow, a protein skimmer running, and visible motion of the water at the top of the aquarium. A sump is also a huge plus--which obviously you have. A refugium lit 24/7 is also important--especially at night when photosynthesis drops in the rest of the tank and along with it oxygenation. I know of people whose tanks go as high as 84 with no problem. I suppose some corals from more temperate regions may be more sensitive to this. Many of the SPS rich regions of the world have water temperatures that get as high as 87 degrees F. But of course the ocean doesn't have the oxygenation problem a closed aquarium does. I wouldn't panic about temperature, though. Before investing in a chiller, also think about aiming a clip-on fan across your fuge water to speed evaporation (but keep up with top-offs!) and think about ways to eliminate wattage in your tank. A MaxiJet 1200, for instance, is 20 watts of electricity in your tank with direct heat transfer. A Tunze 6000 is only 18 w and is more powerful than an armada of MaxiJets. If you are running your sump pump in the sump, think about plumbing it externally and getting a pump with low heat transfer. Often this is enough to take down the tank temp markedly, and is a much cheaper solution than the operating costs and buy-in costs of a chiller. There are lots of other clever solutions out there, also. Lighting plays probably the biggest role.

Tank raised is the way to go with PJs. They are rapidly becoming endangered in the wild--way overcollected and in parts of the world where cyanide fishing is common. You should definitely be willing to fork over the extra cash for tank raised whenever available. Cheers to F&F for carrying those.

I do hope things are getting better. I went in all the time for FW and was looking forward to the day I'd be able to buy SW from them. Now that my tank is setup, I was really disappointed to see what they had in the new space--not to mention the outrageous prices on dry goods. 10 gallons is not an acceptable size to display saltwater species. If you go to a serious place, they have 40 gallon breeders minimum to house fish in. Just my two cents, especially in comparison to Marine Scene, Aquarium Center, Ruzons, others.

I don't think I'll ever go to Congressional Aquarium again. Last night was my first time visiting since they remodeled. It was also my birthday, so I was hoping to stumble upon something worth putting into my tank. But I wouldn't have bought anything that wasn't sealed. They did away with the great little saltwater section they used to have--nice and neat, etc.--and now they have these horrendous 10 gallon tanks with all kinds of sick critters crammed into them. I saw plenty of tangs--including a powder blue--crammed into teh 10 gallons and suffering from ich and fungal infections. The place looked like death row. The employees were decidedly unhelpful and the overall atmosphere was just sad. I will never go there again.

Larry, I agree. Go with a 1260. 15 watts less and still GREAT flow. Believe me the 1262 is too powerful for a 20 high sump. Also, do you have any pictures or illustrations of the T'ed off version you were thinking about?

I find it highly unlikely that carbon would greatly leech back any of the contaminants it absorbs, unless it were in an especially high flow situation and you left it in there for a very long time. I replace about half of my carbon every 30 days. In my freshwater tanks, I've found carbon makes little difference so long as I keep up with water changes. When I fall behind, though, the tank with carbon looks and smells much cleaner. In saltwater tanks, where you change only 30% monthly on average, this could make a big difference. Carbon has a molecular structure in which one gram essentially has the surface area of three football fields. That is why it is so good at "absorbing." After a time, it will be colonized by bacteria and could potentially release nitrates. You always want to use so-called "activated carbon" and make sure it is free of phosphates. If you run carbon as the final stage in your filter, after your mechanical filtration (e.g. filter sock and protein skimmer), that is where it would have greatest effect and be most likely to remove undesirable pollutants. It is likely that carbon remove some of the chemicals released by corals to "battle" one another and could also be desirable on that front. To be safe, whenever you sense a high bioload, probably change your carbon every week or so. When curing live rock, I've heard people say to put carbon in the first day, then throw all the carbon away and let the thing run. So I guess it is an emergency measure, also, and likely slows down curing?

Yeah, despite a few warnings I bought a 1262 based on calculating headloss and in fact I ended up with WAY too much pump and a bit of a micro-bubble problem as the water doesn't have time to settle in the sump. I am running a 1.5" overflow on a 75, but only have a 20 gallon sump, and had to dial back the overflow and dial back the pump output with a ball valve. That thing is POWERFUL. In hindsight--and I still may do this--I would have even gone with a 1250. If you're shooting for 700-800 GPH, a 1262 will meet or exceed expectations and a 1260 will probably be right on target, depending on plumbing.

I'm setting my fuge up now and plan to add mud and cap that with some sand to keep sediment down. I don't know what happens if you mix the two. Never seen it done. I'd go for layering. Check out www.inlandaquatics.com for their DSB description--very helpful.

Eheim is only about $130 for the 1262 and it comes with a two-year warranty and the backing of MANY people who say it is the best pump they've ever owned. Quality costs much less if you plan to be in this hobby more than a few years.

Just take some aquarium silicon and use that to make the connection. It's actually a heck of a lot easier to work with than teflon tape and produces a much better, more reliable seal. Don't put too much. Just put on a latex glove and use that to spread a bit around the male threads.

PM sent for live rock

No offense, but freight is only like $8 in my experience. What kind of stuff are you ordering? I just ordered from there the other day.

Just be sure to be liberal with the aquarium safe silicon. Look at how AGA attaches its overflows--which are acrylic--to the glass tanks.

I have come to hate Superpetz. The staff is laregely incompetent, their fish are often in bad health, their pricing never makes any sense and they won't cut you a deal no matter what. I understand the challenges of retail, but I also understand that we live in an age where it is just as easy for customers to get what they need online. In such an age, customer service is even more important. Wally's is funky, but their heart is in the right place. They are largely knowledgeable and fair with prices on most goods--and especially tanks. I picked up my 75RR from there this weekend. Their tank setup makes little to no sense and prices are ridiculous. You'd have to believe they're missing out on a lot of opportunity that way. I've seen fish that have been in there for six months! The fact that they keep them alive is testament to what a good shop it is. The fact that they're there indicates they've picked a bad price point.

I received the unit, 48" 5x54watt T5. It is absolutely everything Tom said it would be. My first impressions are that it makes the light coming off of a 2 x 250w MH setup seem trite. This thing give you a sun tan. I don't have the tank up and running, but will by week's end. I'm thinking that clams on the sand bed will be no problem--now I just have to get enough flow for SPS and I think I'm set. If anyone is considering T5 units, please feel free to contact me about the extensive research I've done (including sending a few units back, not pleased with them). For the money, Aquatinics beats everything out there--it's now confirmed