Rascal

JG fitting = "John Guest" fitting. It's a quick-connect style fitting for tubing. You can usually find a wide selection next to the PVC aisle at HD. Assuming your drain pipe is PVC, if you want to spare the expense of buying a tap (a device for carving in threads), you can also do this: Buy a JG fitting with 1/4" MPT (male pipe thread) on one end and 1/4" tubing connection on the other. Drill a hole in the drain pipe with a 1/2 " drill bit. Put some PVC glue around the threads and screw it in. You can also use 1/8" MPT with a 3/8" drill bit. I experimented with this method on my diy ca reactor recently and it works like a charm. It's a good idea to blow into the fitting right after you install it to make sure you don't have any excess glue blocking the drain.

Assuming that in either case you have enough drain capacity to match your desired flow (which you should if you are thinking 4 x 1" or 2 x 2"), I think it just comes down to some of the same considerations that go into deciding how many outlets to have on the CL. More drains/outlets = more dispersed flow but less velocity in those areas. A lot also depends on how the drains will work into your aquascaping scheme. So . . . it depends. How's that for a wishy-washy answer? Here's more food for thought for you though. If you decide to go with a Sequence (Dart or Snapper), you would actually need to neck up your plumbing to get to the 2" intake on the pump if you went with the smaller drain sizes. Just something to think about.

Lots of good info on this topic in these 2 threads: A DIY UPC plan: http://www.wamas.org/forums/index.php?show...attery++back-up Some other options, including commercially available UPC systems with enough power to run a reef: http://www.wamas.org/forums/index.php?show...attery++back-up The easiest and most cost-effective solution for your situation (scheduled power outage, low wattage requirements) is probably to use a power inverter like Madmax suggested. I have a spare one that you can borrow if you'd like. I keep meaning to take pictures and put it up for sale but haven't gotten around to it yet. The brand name is vector. It's rated for 400W continuous, 800W peak. I plan on selling it for $20 but someone already expressed interest so he has first dibs. You can borrow it for free in the meantime if you need it though. Let me know.

I agree with both of those suggestions. Phosphates were the problem for me. Large amounts of GFO, frequently changed, was the solution. That and cleaner source water. My plague was hair algae, but when things got really bad I would see a little bryopsis. In my tank it would die off before the hair, which seems able to thrive on even lower nutrients. As for feeding Tangs nori while you are trying to get them to eat nuisance algae, that's an interesting issue. My sense is that they wouldn't do well on a diet of strictly derbesa/bryopsis. I have no real scientific basis for this, but it just doesn't seem like it would be as nutritious (it certainly doesn't taste as good). On the other hand, if you give the tangs all of the nori they can eat there isn't as much incentive for them to eat anything else. When my algae problem was at its worst, I limited nori feedings to 1 or 2 sheets of red and purple, to give them a balanced diet since all of the algae in the tank was green. Now that there is much less algae in the tank (not 100% gone yet though :( ) I have increased nori feedings to almost every day, and incorporated some green sheets into the mix.

I agree. Although I have seen some sources use the names interchangeably, I usually think of brittle stars as being the ones with all the bristles and serpeant stars being smooth like this one. At any rate, I don't think you will have any trouble with this one. I have two of these in my tank, along with a red serpeant, and I've lost count of how many brittle stars. They make excellent scavengers IMO. The brittle stars more or less seem to stay put under a crevice in the rock, extending their arms to filter feed. The serpeant stars are much more active, tending to roam around looking for stuff to eat. Fascinating to watch them move and always a big hit with the kids (after "nemo & dory" have grabbed their attention). They will grab any dead thing they can but I have never seen or experienced them going after anything living. I think the only ones you have to worry about eating your fish are the big green brittle stars. When I first got one I target fed it at the beginning but soon realized there was no need. A large one in a 14G might not get enough to eat on its own, though. Stick a small piece of fish meat on kabob skewer, hold it in the tank and enjoy the show. Your shrimp (and first born, I'm pretty sure) are safe.

[Don't know about the long term, but I've used eggcrate + gutterguard screens for acclimation purposes under my 250s, with the eggcrate maybe 4 inches from the bulbs. No worries. At 8 iches you should be fine.

I think it was the lights on Aquatraders that caused all the fires. If this is just a renamed JBJ powerhead (and I think it is), I have one. It came with my chiller, but now I use it to pump fresh SW in during water changes. No complaints. As far as the tank-frying risk, it's safer than a Rio IMO. Roughly comparable to a MJ 1200. Slightly more flow if you are using it for circulation, significantly less if you are using it to pump against head pressure.

I believe Weldon #16 is what is usually recommended for PVC to acrylic. It has worked well for me in the same application.

I felt like an idiot trying to find the stuff before I figured it out. Apparently the non-fish obessessed people call it "light diffuser." It is usually near the florescent light fixtures.

You have a Sohal and 3 hippos in a 125G? IMO, you do not need to add a 5th tang to this tank. I suggest looking for the source of excess nutrients first. You were gone for 2 weeks, right? Any chance the tank was overfed in your absence?

A few highlights from the web site: " 2. Reduces and eliminates Nitrates, Phosphates and Potash AEROBICALLY for a cleaner looking aquarium and pond 3. Consumes Sludge. Add fish five minutes after adding Right Now ! Bacteria

I just went to HD and bought more wire.

I meant to write "pre-sump". It is a place for my skimmer to sit, and it catches all of the turbulence from the drains coming from my display (there is about a 10 foot drop). I like it b/c 100% of the water drained from my display passes through the skimmer chamber, but only 50% goes to the refugium. 1000 gph would be too much for mine I think. I also believe it adds signficantly to the overall oxygenation of the water, just by having an extra set of drains -- there is a lot of air/water mixing going on there. Since I seem to be quite picture happy today -- here's another: The pre-sump just sits on top of the 55. Like most other things I do, it ain't pretty, but it works. That's my UV sterilyzer plumbed into it. I have it gravity fed and use a ball valve to control the flow.

I know there is a ton of information out there about this, and there many, many solutions offered for the problem, but I thought it might be useful to some people if I added my experience and lessoned learned. So here goes: Here's what I was already doing as of October: 150G display, 15G pre-sump, 55G sump. about 125 lbs LR in display, 3-5" DSB - mix of oolitic and reef grade by caribsea. About 1000 gph through return goes 1st to pre-sump w/ ASMG-4 w/ recirc & gate mods, fed by OR2700 pump; From pre-sump, 1 drain goes to fuge and another goes to return section of sump. Fuge is 36" x 12" fuge w/ 6-8" DSB, 30lbs LR, chaeto under 4 x 15W Power compact clip lights. Polyfilter and purigen used continuously. RODI by WaterGeneral -- 16 months old. 15W UV. 10-15% water changed per week. Top off through DIY kalk reactor. Ca and Alk maintained by Kalk and DIY Ca reactor. Alk 10-12 dKh. Nitrate undetecable. Phos undetectable or just barely by Salifert. Various types of GFO in phosban reactor -- usually about 250-300 ml at a time, changed about every month. Total flow in the display was approx. 3000 gph. For herbivores I have a 1 Yellow and 1 Hippo Tang, blue & red leg hermits, margarita, nerite and a few turbo snails. Also Sallylightfoot and mithrix crab. I have tried Lettuce nudibranches, but ironically the only time I have had one last very long is in the last month, when there doesn't seem to have been as much to eat. Both of my tangs eat the algae, but were not able to keep up with it. Of the crabs the blue legs and sally lightfoot seemed to be the best for my tank's type of HA. Here are the changes that I think made a difference (in order of importance) 1) Rowaphos. I finally had to admit to myself that every time I used rowaphos, I would see a significant die off of HA for the next 3 days. Despite reading all of the studies and articles that say there is little or no difference in effectiveness between brands, I just didn't see the same reaction with other brands of GFO. So I decided to get serious about it. I began using 500 ML at a time, changed every week. Previously I would try to change it when I saw the HA start to green up and come back. Now I decided to try to stay one step ahead. I committed myself to changing it every week until the last HA was banished. About a month ago I added a 2nd reactor, and I now run them inline, 500 ML in each, changing and rotating 1 each week (I got that idea from D. Saxby). I am VERY careful about how I use this product. I run the outflow through 3 of the filter pads (ordered an extra set from MD), and I have 3 filter bags zip tied around the outlet hose. Before I put the outlet in my tank, I run it into a sink until it is clear -- this usually takes about 5-10 Gallons. Water changes are always a good thing. 2) Water changes. Still doing 10-15% at a time, but I started doing this 2x per week. 3) Harvesting. I believe the timing was important with this one. My schedule went like this: change out rowaphos --> die off for 2 days ---> pull as much out as I can, scrub more w/ tooth brush, temporarily put filter sock on one of my drains to catch some of what comes loose ---> Water change that day or the next. I think you really have to do this in order to break the cycle. Once you have figured out how to get it to die, you've got to try to remove before it comes loose from the rocks or the nutrients from the die off just fuel another bloom. 4) Increase lights over Chaeto. I had been running them on a semi-reverse cycle, 18 on, 6 off. When I switch to 24 hrs on I get more growth. I pull some out about every other week. I also began cutting it with a scissors (thanks Dhoch for that suggestion), and I think this has helped as well. 5) RO/DI I basically stopped taking this for granted. I got a dual TDS meter and learned how to use it. I now aim for 0 TDS all the time, and will change something if it climbs above 3. A couple of the changes I made recently were to start using the chloramines package from TheFilterGuys, and replaced my cheapo ebay RO membrane with a Dow Filmtek. I plan on getting a 2nd dual TDS meter next month so that I can get measurements pre and post filters, membrane and DI filters. 6) Flow Total flow in display is now about 5000 gph. Another piece of info that some might find useful has to do with hermits. About 1 1/2 months ago I removed almost all of the crabs from my tank to do the interceptor treatment (another story). I put them into my fuge and took that offline during the treatment. As an experiment I have kept them there, to see if I would see any difference in the amount of HA. I have seen no increase without the hermits. Hope this info is useful for those of you who are still struggling with this. Mostly I hope that I don't jinx myself with this post. I'll probably come home tonight to a sea of green. :(

Here is what my tank looked like in October, at the 3 month mark. Keep in mind this was AFTER spending a couple of hours scrubbing and pulling out as many clumps as I could, and at the time I was trying to take pictures which minimized the sight of the algae. It was really a lot worse than this: [ Here it is now: [EDIT: Update with shot from Aug '08]

Shell on 2/17/06: 2 days later: Under all lights: I also found them in a couple of other spots around the tank. As of this morning, they are still there. I have the usual assortment of snails (marharita, nassarius, nerite, cerith), but these don't look like any of those. Any ideas?