Rascal

An interesting article on a study comparing the effects of artificial vs. live food on pocillopora: http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2007/6/aafeature1 The author found absolutely no increase in growth or # of polyps with artificial food (golden pearls), but significant increases in both with live food. He also found that the artificial food group was significantly darker, which he speculated might be due to increased zooxanthellae, and tiles within the artificial food tanks showed more algae growth. It is possible that the findings could be attributed to lack of water motion, which allowed the artificial food to settle to the bottom and rot while the live food kept swimming around getting eaten. Still, it is food for thought (sorry, bad pun) for those of use who occasionally add artificial food specifically for the purpose of feeding our SPS.

I still have a few of these left: deep purple monti digi, not the most colorful but very hardy and a fast grower - great starter SPS $5 each I can also bring some clumps of GSP if anyone is interested. Here's a pic of the colony: It really has nice floresence under actinics. In addition to encrusting, it also grows in clumps above itself and out from its rock, if that makes any sense. So I would just cut one or more of these clumps if anyone was interested. I would expect them to be approximately between 1" x 1" and 2" x 2" - $5 each.

I'll be pruning mine again soon too, probably bringing a bunch to the meeting for the freebie table. I keep it on an island with some other misc. stuff to keep it from spreading. I used to have an equally successful group of red sea xenia but it crashed due to temp problems last August. Now there is only 1 little sprig left and it has been growing painfully slowly.

From what I've seen the picture you posted is representative of the tomini. Some sites used to have a photo of one looking almost royal blue, but I have never seen one like that. BRK has them in stock fairly consistently, by the way. The flame fin is a common name of the tomini, not a specific species. I think ctenochaetus (bristletooth) tangs are generally considered among the least agressive types of tangs, but IMO you would still be taking a big risk mixing two tangs of the same genus (Koles and Chevrons are also bristletooths) in a tank of that size. I found Jamesbuf's comment about hippos being the slowest growing tangs interesting, because my experience has been exactly the opposite -- mine is by far the fastest growing out of the three that I have. But it makes perfect sense when you compare the other tangs in his tank (nasos, sohal and blue atlantic all get pretty big - 12"-18") to those in mine (yellow and kole both max out at about 8").

That was my thought as well. Only way to be sure is to grab it and take a closer look.

Established sixlines can be aggressive to any new inhabitants, especially small ones that are easy marks. I tried neon gobies in the past and my sixline left them alone but my royal gramma went after them like he hadn't eaten in a month. That was in smaller tank. I put 2 in my current tank about a month ago and everyone seems to like them just fine. The gramma even lets them clean it. I also have 4 cleaner shrimp and nobody ever bothers them. A lot probably depends on the individual "personalities" of the fish, order in which they were added, relative size, size of the tank, aquascaping, other inhabitants, and probably many more factors that I haven't even thought of yet. All part of what keeps things interesting.

I bought a cheap-o one from E-bay a couple of years ago for <$35. Tested it with pinpoint calibration fluid and it is right on a 35 ppm. I think it is luck of the draw though. Wish I could remember which store I bought it from, but it looks a lot like this one: http://item.express.ebay.com/Home-Garden_P...cmdZExpressItem The pinpoint calibration solution is very cheap, and more than worth it for the peace of mind that comes with knowing you have an accurate reading.

See here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ctenocha.htm

I also have 3 tangs in a 150, though mine is a 5 foot. I have a yellow, a blue-eyed kole, and a hippo, and the hippo is the only one I worry about long term. I definitely would not recommend this fish for a 90, even if it was the only tang in there. They just seem to require more swimming room than the others, even discounting for size differences. I have never owned one, but the sources I looked at put the purple tang's max length at 9-10 inches, so that was the reason for my recommendation. The tomini's are quite possibly the smallest of the tangs regularly offered for sale (max 6-7", reportedly), which seems to make them a good choice for a 2nd tang if you are on the fence about it. Any of the kole tangs would probably be a good choice, though. I have seen very little agression b/n my three tangs - a little flashing on rare occasions, once or twice early on a small mark or two, but nothing for a long while. For the most part they get along great. FWIW, I added the hippo and the yellow at the same time, both the same size, so neither had an established territory. When I added the kole about 8 months later, I chose a fish that was slightly bigger than the hippo (who by now has outstripped the yellow). I thought this would make it a little less likely that it would get picked on by the hippo. So far this has proven to be true. The kole is very non-aggressive, so has not pressed its temporary size advantage. Probably a wise move on its part.

Agree with smarsh97 about the cukes. I have 3 in my tank, one tiger tail and 2 "donkey dung". No worries about the ugly ones, and they do a great job keeping the surface of the sand bed clean. Only problem is that they will eventually get very big. As for brittle stars, as long as you don't have one of the big green ones I would not worry about yours. Quite the contrary, IMO&E they make great scavengers and are really cool to look at. If you do have sand, I am partial to nassarius snails as sand-stirrers / detrivores / scavengers -- and really cool to watch too. 2-3 for your tank would probably do the trick.

Agree. A purple and a tomini maybe?

Aquarium Pharmaceuticals test kit by any chance? I seem to remember they were 1 drop = 1 dKh. If that is what you are using I would ditch it or at least check it against something more reliable like a Salifert. For me the difference was 11 dKH according to AP but in reality over 17 according to Salifert (2 sep kits). Never again. W/ re: to RTN I personally have never had any success saving a frag once it starts. W/ re: to bleaching the only thing I would add to what has already been posted is you might try target feeding for a while. Good luck.

Jason: You may have already thought of this but I can't tell from looking at the pictures. What happens if the little holes in your filter chamber get clogged and can no longer keep up with the flow? Is there a way for the water to overflow from there directly into your return section without coming over the walls of the tank?

Has anyone else seen this? http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/volume_4/V4I...h/Angelfish.htm The numbers are mind-boggling to me. 26 Angelfish, 6 Butterflies; 15 Tangs, 8 Triggers, and 12 "misc" fish in a 250 Gallon. And here I was wringing my hands over whether to add a 3rd Tang to my 150! I'm curious as to others' thoughts and opinions on this tank. Beautiful? Irresponsible? Genius? All of the above? What do you think?

The fridge idea is sooooo tempting ... (for me mostly b/c I always figured I could still save room for a couple of brews in there ), but unfortunately it won't work. This link: http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~cap/raid/chillers/d...idge/index.html was posted in this thread: http://www.wamas.org/forums/index.php?show...ridge&st=25

If you turn the skimmer back on while there are still toxins in the air you will be quickly introducing them into your tank. On the other hand, no skimmer and a completely sealed tank = 0 gas exchange ---> low oxygen + high co2 ---> low ph = bad stuff for your tank. No lights will excerbate the problem, since this also leads to a rise in co2 / dip in ph. A die off of hair algae under these circumstances will not be a good thing, since all of those nutrients will just go into the water column. A lot of this depends on your bioload, but I would take a little more drastic action if it were me. I am thinking something along the lines of this: 1) Run an airline from outside the house to your skimmer, using a carbon filter somewhere along the way. I would still turn it off while they are spraying, but that way you can pump fresh air into your system even before the toxins fully clear out of your house. 2) Aggressively air out the house. Open all windows and doors as has been suggested, but I would also use some powerful fans to move air through the house. 3) Filter the air inside the tank. Getting a couple of high quality furnace filters and setting the thermastat to "fan on" will help, as will picking up a room air filter for the room the tank sits in. Good luck.

Very cool. Can't wait to see how it turns out.

You can also contact Sequence: http://www.mdminc.com/Contact.htm The intake plumbing is 2" I believe, so it would make the most sense to make the bulkheads the same size. FYI, I emailed them a while back to ask about the feasibility of putting a dart on my closed loop, even though in my infinite bone-headedness I only used 3 x 1" bulkheads. They responded very quickly and said it could be done, they would just recommend that I stepped up the plumbing as close to the bulkheads as possible to avoid any turbulence at the pump. Some day . . .

Wally's usually has it. I have also used GE Silicone I (not Silicone II, which has antimicrobial stuff) without any problems.

IMO, yes. Having several of them will help even more.

RTN = Rapid Tissue Necrosis RTND = used as a verb It's a sad, sad thing when it happens.

I like the coraline covered look for the non-viewable sides, but while waiting, and to make sure the plumbing & wall weren't viewable through the gabs, I used regular exterior acrylic hous paint with a brush. I had this vision of creating the illusion of depth by starting with very dark ocean blue at the bottom and gradually lightening towards the top, but it didn't turn out so well. I was never very good in art class. OK, that's too kind. I was terrible in art class, and my talents have not improved since. Fortunately, I am much better at growing coraline.

What about using aluminum flashing, sold by the roll in the roofing section? Fairly cheap and looks pretty shiny to me.

Agree with all. I just use a gardening pruner.