rooroo

Thats the kind of coral that I would think you'd want insurance for (if you can even insure marine animals?).

So its possible to frag a plate coral? Is there a good chance you'll kill the coral in the process? Just curious because I'd love to frag mine but don't want to kill it in the process.

Oh, i see what you mean about the "dead" ends. You can stagger the lights a bit, or just let the ends of the tank be a bit darker and have that as the place that you put your low light corals.

I dipped my zoas in ro water and a few drops of lugols solution. It helped with one colony some time ago, but alas the real problem was sundial snails. They ate all my zoas some time ago. Now I have rid the tank of them and all new zoas are doing well. If I were you, I'd pick up the rocks that the zoas are on and look closely at them for a sundial snail, you can especially see them right when the lights come on in the morning. Not saying its definetly this but its always worth looking for a predator.

Did they use these screws in the Urchin too? I've never messed with the screw thats in the spray injector thing because its always worked fine.

None at all. Then again I don't have any real sensitive critters.

I've been using Tropic Marin for a year after using Reef Crystals for a few years and am very impressed with the improvement. My calcium and alkalinity levels seem better.

When I worked at a LFS, we had 6" sections of 2-3" PVC in the tanks for the fish to hide in, along with various other decorations. The PVC was always handy with catching damsels because you can butt one end up against the glass, and shoo the fish into the pipe, then put the net over the open end. Then you slowly raise the PVC pipe up, being sure to keep one end on the glass and the other covered by the net. Then you tip up the end butted against the glass above the water level and the fish will dump right into the net. Takes a few times to practice and it all relies on the fish wanting to go into the PVC pipe. You can drop several in and leave for a few days to get him thinking its a good place to hide. Good luck!

Just wanted to say that GE Silicon I Windows and Doors is what you want. You want to avoid anything that has th BioSeal logo on it. The BioSeal is the mildew inhibitor. GE II now contains this (it used to be free of BioSeal but now all new stock contains it). You can find the GE Silicon I at home depot near the windows and doors aisle. I used it recently on my sump and have had no ill effects from it. Also, if you rather get a new tank, Aquarium Center in Randallstown, MD has 65 RR All Glass aquariums for around $180 in stock. You do have to buy the standpipe kit too. Or you can probably get a non-RR one for less. Don't know what area you live in but it could be worth the trip. Give them a call before you go tho just to make sure they have what you want in stock.

I change the actinics every 9 months, and used to let the whites go until they burned out or hit a year. However I never had high light demand corals. If you do, you would want to change them, rotating which was freshly changed, on a 6-9 month schedule, especially the actinics.

I agree, they have a great selection of dry goods and fantastic prices on tanks. But their livestock selection is sub par. The quality is hit and miss. I haven't been there in 6 months or so but I usually include it in my tour of LFS when I head out Baltimore way, which is less and less now since decent LFSs have popped up in the Rockville area near work.

I went there first to get some T5 bulbs, and thought everything looked really nice in their store. Their young staff was attentive and the tanks were clean. One big thing that I always look for, having worked in a couple LFSs, is if there are any dead or dying fish in any of the tanks. The first time I went there were none, so I figured I'd come back and get some snails and maybe a cleaner shrimp as their price was good for them. So I went back last night with that intent, and also to get a heater. Well they had crap for heaters, and were selling them at $10 more than Petsmart. In fact, they had the same exact brands of heaters as Petsmart. I know because I went to Petsmart right after. Ok, so equipment is expensive. I can understand that, a LFS has to have a markup somewhere. I went to check out their tanks and select a few snails and a cleaner shrimp. Those all look good, but as a habit I always check all the fish in their tanks. I must have seen half a dozen dead fish laying around. So I looked for a member of the staff, and all 6 or so of their staff members were hanging out behind the front counter, chatting. I made eye contact with one member of the staff, with an indication of "I need help", but he just looked away and continued chatting with his coworkers. At this point I decided to come back another day. I have store credit, so I'm going to need to use it at some point, but maybe after a chat with the manager. All in all, a big dissapointment. So it seems kind of hit and miss.

The only places in the Maryland area that might have it are Aquarium Center in Randallstown and House of Tropicals in Glen Burnie. I ordered mine online.

Thanks! For the most part I have small rocks that I'm trying to stick to a location. I usually don't skimp on the epoxy but that could always be a problem. But good pointers, I'll try to wrap the epoxy around some more.

So I used some 2 part epoxy to glue down some frags to my rock, and either the hermits or my emerald crabs keep undoing my work. I started out the week with all my frags on the rocks, and am ending the week with all the frags on the sand. So is there a better suggestion for what to use to keep the frags on the rock?

They're 3 or 4 inch fans. I have two blowing into the hood, and theres a large opening in the back. The balasts are mounted on the heat sinks and have plenty of air circulation around them. They're mounted outside of the hood on the stand.I had one icecap running 4 VHOs for 2 years and never had a problem with it. This is the setup:

PM sent. We'll see if this works out. Troll, I asked in the IceCap forum on RC and the IceCap rep said with good ventillation they would be fine. But he may have been wrong. Either way I'll go back to the proper wattage and give it a try again.

Well, its seems either the NO bulbs aren't appropriate for this application, or I've got something messed up in my wiring/endcaps. At least one is no longer lighting after less than 24 hours (can't tell since the ballast won't light if even one bulb doesn't work). IceCap said they should work with ventillation, which I've got plenty of. Any suggestions? I guess I'll be ordering some online tonight.

I'd be interested in that. I'd only want 3-4 bulbs since they last so long. Maybe, I shudder slightly, Rick's can get them? I know that Aquatic Creations cannot (asked already). Or we can do a group by from one of the stores in Rockville or Baltimore. Or even a group buy online so we pay one price for shipping.

I bought two of them last night. They are the NO T5s (21 watt 36" bulbs), but those bulbs will do for me in a pinch right now. So no, not the greatest price, but I can order some HO ones soon. Luckily the IceCap ballast will adjust to the wattage of them. The NO one are pretty freaking bright I might add.

I called Congressional and they have 36" T5s in stock. I forgot to ask about price but if they're in the $20-$25 range, I'm willing to pay.

On Congressional Lane, in Congressional Plaza, in Rockville.

Fantastic! They're pretty much right down the street from work and thats a decent price for a LFS.

I can get them shipped to me by tuseday too, but hoping I wouldnt have to do that. Just wondering if one of the stores in the B'more area carried them. I'll have to make a few phone calls.

One of my T5 bulbs blew due to user error. Its only a few weeks old but I didn't know I needed my fans blowing on the bulbs whenever they're on, so one (possibly both) prematurely expired. I still have my actinics running daily but I'd like to get a replacement ASAP and don't really have the cash right now to buy 6 bulbs like I normally do from Premium Aquatics and don't really want to wait till next week for shipping. So what LFS has T5s in stock in MD? I'm willing to take a trip to Baltimore, but would prefer a place in the Rockville area.