Rascal

Dave, I should have looked at his picture before I posted but I was rushing, sorry. I was imagining something more like a tuft of hair algae coming off of a dead/burnt growth tip. I was also thinking the tips in question would be easier to cut off. What he has looks more like diatom growth, and I think it would be hard to break or cut off those areas without unnecessarily damaging the rest of the coral. The main thing is just to keep nuisance algae from gaining a foothold, which would make it more difficult for the coral to regain lost territory. I think in this case I would probably just blast those areas with a turkey-baster every day or so. If that didn't work you could try other methods of manual removal. Of course, the tissue will only grow back if you can figure out and correct whatever problem caused the loss of tissue in the first place. A common cause for death of the axial coralites at the tips of branches is too much light (or at least, too much too soon), but again, after looking at the picture now I am not so sure. Magnetic1, can you give us any more information about the coral to help figure out what is causing its problems?

I think you need to first get it to eat something veggie, then feed as much of whatever that is as the tang will eat until he fattens back up. You can try nori with garlic. I just cut a clove in half and then rub the juice on the nori sheet. I think fish eat food soaked in garlic for the same reason people do - it tastes good. You have a lot of flow in your tank (good) so the nori has a tendency to break off the clip in large pieces before the tang has much of a chance at it (at least this is what I noticed when I was watching your tank, but I think that was before you added the other two). Anyway, you could also try attaching some nori to a small piece of rubble with a zip-tie or rubber band and placing this rock in a lower flow area of the tank. If it won't go for nori, try a variety of live macro-algaes other than chaeto. Based on my experience, grape caulerpa and red gracilaria seem tasty for yellow tangs. Superpets had some green ulva and red gracilaria in last week, but you'd probably be better off getting some from a fellow member if possible. If none of that works I would try lettuce, spinach, etc. . . anything from the vegetable kingdom that you can get it to eat. One last thought with regard to stress, do all of your tangs seem happy with their places to sleep? The reason I ask is you have a nice open aquascape with plenty of swimming room, but this sometimes leaves secure "bed rooms" for larger fish in short supply. Good luck.

Agreed. Also consider doing something to reduce the amount of light hitting these corals, at least temporarily so they have a chance to acclimate.

Only if the one in the 90g gets sick and dies before reaching its full size. I agree. I think the "fish only grow to the size of the tank" idea is a myth spread mostly by people trying to sell fish. A lot of freshwater newbies buy plecos and oscars for their 10-20g tanks thinking the same thing (not that I personally know anyone who has ever done that ).

I think Borneman or someone came up with a way to measure skimmate by dehydrating it and then weighing the remaining (non-water) part of it. He had access to a chemistry lab with all kinds of neat toys to help him do this, but you might be able to try something like it.

AEFW are obligate acroporavores -- i.e. - they only eat acropora. Red bugs might affect a poci, but I dount it, and certainly not in the way you describe. They are more of an irritant - causing lack of PE, loss of color, lack of growth. Plus, they are relatively big and easy to see. You can see them with the naked eye without even removing the coral from the tank. This sounds like regular old STN to me. Lots of possible causes (maybe bacterial?), no easy fixes. Best bet is to frag a couple of healthy pieces and hope to salvage them.

No, you didn't say anything wrong. You are right that chlorine is bad for your fish. The other form of it that you are thinking of is called chloramine. It is also bad, and harder to get rid of. Julian Sprung is kind of well known in this hobby so I was making a joke by calling him a newb. All is well.

Well, he's kind of a newb, so cut him some slack.

My intent is for this to be mostly a pictorial story of the progression of my tank since its inception in August of 2006. First some basic specs: 150G glass cages 5'x2'x2' 4-6" DSB (partially hidden by molding tied in to the stand at the bottom of the tank.) Lighting: 3 x 250W DE 10K Ushios, 2 x 54 Geisman blue plus T5, 2 x 110 URI super actinic VHO, 3 x 3/4 W LED moonlights, 2 blue, 1 red. Flow (approx gph): 800 return (Blueline 70HD dialed back and diverted); 3000 Dart on CL; 1000 x 2 OceanFlo MJ Mod 900; 1000 x 2 Tunze 6055 [conservatively at least 7500 gph when everything is on] Filtration: ASM G4+ recirc, mesh, gate valve mods; 15W current UV; 25W aqua UV; GFO + carbon in reactors Supplementation: ATO through GSA kalkstirrer; DIY Ca reactor Temp maintained by fans, 1/4 HP chiller, 2 heaters Sumps: 16 gallon skimmer sump, 55 gallon main sump (3/4 of which is fuge w/ 8-10" DSB, part chaeto, part live rock and sponge). Everything now on ACIII On to the pics: 8/06 Initial set-up FTS: 3 months later, due to some old problems carried over from my former tank combined with all new ones, I had what I like to refer to as "algaetank": 10/06: By 2/07 I had the algae at bay, but things were still not growing or coloring up very well: I realized around then that I had redbugs - quickly fixed with interceptor treatment and things were looking up. 6/07: 8/07: The best this tank has ever looked is reflected in these pictures from 10/27/07, taken by my dad with his Nikon SLR: A week later I realized I had AEFW and, rather that risk losing all of that to a natural predator, I decided to kill it all myself. :( FTS 11/4/07: So now I'm in the recovery process. The survivors went back into the tank but all the acros were really browned out. 11/17/07: Starting to come back slowly but surely: 1/4/07: Thanks for looking, more to follow.

Awesome job, Bruce! As someone else mentioned, you did an amazing job creating the illusion of more size than you have. Every time I look at those pictures I can hardly believe that's only a 30 gallon tank. I also like the way you've got colors and movement balanced throughout.

I know what you mean about not wanting to buy new bulbs only to find out you don't like them, but it is really hard to look at pictures and get a good idea how the bulbs would really look on your tank. So much depends on the camera, white balance, photographer, and photo-editing. Best thing you can do is probably go look at some other tanks and see for yourself. As for actinics, I have experience with PC actnics, T5 true actinics, T5 blue + actinics, and VHO actinics. First thing I would say is ditch the PCs. T5s will give you much more light for 1/2 the wattage. As for color spectrum, I think the 420 mimics what is actually found in nature (so is supposed to be better for growth) but it can be kind of purple, IMO the 460 just looks better / bluer. Since you have MHs I wouldn't worry about trying to use your actinics to boost growth. I switched to the blue+ T5s last summer after a year with the T5 true actinics and was much happier with the look of the bluer bulb. I also run VHO actinics on my system. I have them stay on by themselves for the last hour of the tank's light cycle and it is probably my favorite time to view the tank. Everything you may have heard or read about how VHO actinics just make the colors "pop" better is absolutely true but you really have to see it to believe it. Overall I am very pleased with the combination of both T5 and VHO for actinic supplementation and I highly recommend it if you've got room for both. Now on to Halides. I run 250W DE bulbs on my system. I started with Ushio 10Ks, but after about 10 months I started to think I wanted a little bit more blue, but I didn't want to lose the pinks & reds in my system either. Some reds (RBTA, red shrooms, rose millepora) really seem to look great under blue light while others (birdsnests, pocillopora) just disappear. I was also concerned with PAR. I run 3 x 250W over a 2' x 5' x 2' tank, so I could probably get away with more of a PAR loss than you (with 150Ws) but I didn't want to if I didn't have to. So I was looking for a little bit more blue without losing the reds and without a significant drop in PAR. After a ton of research, I settled on the ushio 14Ks, but since I wasn't entirely sure I'd like them I only put them in the two outside bulbs and replaced the middle one with a new ushio 10K. First observation was that a large part of the reason I wanted a bluer look was my bulbs needed replacing. Second observation was I absolutely loved the ushio 14K. They gave me just the look I wanted with a very slight drop in PAR. But . . . after about 3-4 months I started to suspect the two 14K bulbs were looking yellow. Eventually I could no longer deny it. With all three bulbs on at the same time, the two sides of the tank looked yellower than the middle. I started searching around and it turns out that some others have had a similar experiment, and not just with the ushios, but also with other 14K bulbs that had a significant color spike in the red end of the spectrum as well as the blue. I am sure others have been perfectly happy, but it was enough to convince me the 3-4 month lifespan wasn't just a fluke or my eyes paying tricks on my, so now I am back to 10K ushios for all three MH bulbs. Older, wiser, and poorer for the experience. If you have never looked at Sanjay Joshi's test results, have fun: http://www.reeflightinginfo.arvixe.com/ I think there are more bulbs he has reviewed since that aren't on that site, though. You might want to check the RC boards for more info. HTH.

That's what I would have done. In fact, it's what I would still do - try to break if off again and just glue it right next to the base. Also, it may not have been the turbo. It's possible a fish scraped up against it and broke it off. Digis break very easily, so I'm sure this won't the the last time it frags itself. Fortunately, they also grow very fast. Yes, that's what they like to do a lot of the time, but after a while it should venture out for a spin around the tank occasionally.

Really nice looking tank. A great example of what can be done for those interested in this hobby but not quite ready to set up a monster tank yet. As for the brown algae I would just wait it out. Eventually it will get displaced by coraline. For clownfish hosting I had success once by directing a single moonlight at the anemone at night, with it being the only light in the tank. Once they figured out the whole hosting thing they have not needed any help since. In the last 4 years since the demise of that 1st BTA (added to a 2 month old tank by a newbie, you know the rest ) they have hosted in everything from xenia to torch to ricordia. They always go right back to an anemone when they can though. I now have 5 BTAs in the tank and the clowns pretty much rotate b/n them. They stay away from the rock / flower anemones though. Smart.

In my experience at least, I think the concern over frequent tripping is overstated. I have all my stuff (2 dedicated 15A circuits + 1 outlet on a shared 20A circuit) run through GFCI outlets. In a year and a half they have only tripped once when I wasn't home, last April. Of course, as it turned out I was away on vacation for a week, but luckily my tank sitter (fryschool) was able to save the day and got power turned back on before too long. He thought it might have been due to something causing my skimmer to go crazy and possibly some spray got into one of the powerstrip outlets. Every single other time they have tripped there has been a very good reason that I could immediately see - usually because I just did something stupid and caused it. Like the time I dropped a light fixture into the fuge and tried to catch it as it hit the water. Someone recently posted about how they broke their heater and electrocuted themselves. I think it was Martin who juiced himself b/c of a broken powerhead once. As we all know, accidents can happen (especially with kids around). Saltwater is an excellent conductor of electricity, and death is not outside the realm of possibility if something goes wrong. O.K., I'll get off my soapbox now.

Well Skipperawe, if your life is anything like the 6th grader in my house, I guess you probably don't have too much time to go reading a couple of 300+ page books for your new hobby, so disregard my other post. Looks like Dave, or rather, Mr. Lin to you I guess, is going to set you up with some more live rock, sand, and some test kits to make sure your water is OK. In the meantime you should continue to research different types of fish, corals, and other critters (shrimp, snails, crabs, starfish, etc. . . ) and what it takes to keep them. Try to envision your tank the way you want it to be when you are all done, then come up with a stocking list and plan. For example, Fish: 2 false perculas 1 shrimp goby 2 neon goby Invertebrates: 2 nassarius snails 2 cerith snails 4 nerite snails 1 brittle starfish (not the green kind) 1 skunk cleaner shrimp 1 pistol shrimp (paired with the shrimp goby) 1 emerald crab Corals: pumping xenia various zoanthids various mushrooms (discosoma, ricordia florida, ricordia yuma) kenya tree coral neon green candy cane coral The above list is just an example, but you get the idea. Once you come up with a plan, you can put it on here and ask what others think about it. Then we can see about getting you some of what you need. Oh yeah, one last thing but very important: Make sure everything plugged into your tank is protected by a ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) outlet or plug.

Only one way to find out, right? If that doesn't work what about a max change statement? Something like If Time > 23:00 Then TOP ON Max Change 005 M Then TOP ON If Time > 06:00 Then TOP OFF Just brainstorming . . . If Dave or anyone else on here doesn't know and you don't want to stay up all night watching your Kalk stirrer you could always email Curt at: clp@neptunesys.com.

Ahh, I see. Fooled me. You don't really need an anemone for your clown. They do just fine in captivity without them, and many will host in just about anything. Pumping Xenia is a good choice as a starter coral because it is easy to keep and you can probably get some in this club for free, or next to it. If you do decide to get an anemone eventually I would recommend a bubble tip anemone (BTA). As anemone go they are very easy to keep and they are often captive propagated, so if it doesn't work out you won't have to feel as guilty. Some species of anemone are reported to live for hundreds of years in the wild, but often don't last 6 months in most people's tanks. If you are just starting out I would stick to easier to keep and soft corals like xenia, zooanthids, and mushrooms for now. On the Virginia side the best LFS's (IMO) are http://www.blueribbonkoi.com/ ; http://www.marinescene.com/index.shtm ; and http://finsandfeathers.storesecured.com/.

One of the primary benefits of a DSB is the natural nitrate reduction (NNR) achieved by the population of anaerobic bacteria which process nitrate (the end product of the aerobic nitrifying bacteria which convert ammonia to nitrite then nitrite to nitrate) into harmless nitrogen gas, which is then released as bubbles. Most sources I have read say this doesn't happen much under 3". I always recommend 4" as a minimum because there will usually be some settling over time, IME. While I believe deeper is probably better, in terms of de-nitrification at least, I am not sure you absolutely need 6" or more to have a true DSB. Ron Shimek, who has probably been the most adamant proponent of DSBs, used a 4" DSB as the basis for this article: http://www.ronshimek.com/Deep%20Sand%20Beds.htm. Calfo also talks about 3" as the being the minimum for NNR benefits, although he does say, "When nitrate control is your primary ambition, use deep fine beds of sand. Smaller aquaria (under 75 gallons) should employ at least 3” of media; larger aquaria will benefit from 6’ (15 cm) or more." Here's the full article / exerpt from his book if anyone's interested: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/deepsandbeds.htm

I'm a little confused. In this picture it looks like there is also already a BTA and a featherduster Best advice I could give to anyone starting out in the hobby is to read a few good books first to build a solid foundation of knowledge. My two favorites: Natural Reef Aquarium- John Tullock and Martin Moe The Conscientious Marine Acquarist- Robert Fenner and Christopher Turk More at this link: http://www.wamas.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=3424

With deep sand beds (>3-4") I would say definitely do not disturb them. I am not sure whether this same rule would apply to shallow sand beds though, which is what yours is. As for the CC, the best advice I could give is to remove it. If you are having problems with high nitrates and/or nuisance algae growth, the CC is likely one of the causes.

Brian and Dave: I'm in! Thanks again. Steve: Why not just do: If Time > 23:00 Then TOP ON If Time > 23:01 Then TOP OFF ?

Any of the international grocery stores in the area will have an aisle with all different types of nori. You don't want the seasoned kind. The ingredients are listed on the package. Stick to the ones that only have a single ingredient: seaweed. I have never had a problem with it decaying on me - it is always gone long before that happens. I usually take a big piece and fold it in 4ths, then stick it in a clip I have zip-tied onto my CL manifold. Once it softens it will start to break apart and pieces will float around the tank. The three tangs will go for it on the clip, floating in the tank, stuck to the intake of a powerhead . . . wherever, they don't seem to care. Snails take care of what few scraps the tangs miss. If it was lasting more than a couple of hours without getting eaten I would probably feed less at one time. The only stinky part for me is the part that remains in the clip. I just wipe this out with a paper towel the next day. One way to avoid having any left over stinky parts is to use an elastic to attach it to a small rock and then sink it to the bottom of the tank. That way the critters can clean up every last scrap for you. I know a lot of people use romaine and spinach but to me it seems kind of like feeding bits of chicken to carnivorous fish. It may be almost the same nutritionally but I just feel like stuff that comes from the ocean is probably better off eating other stuff that comes from the ocean. Of course, there are a lot of very old, healthy fish out there that don't seem to be complaining about their terrestrial diet, so what do I know?

I stumbled across that thread once while I was looking into the geothermal cooling concept. Really cool what he has done.

Here's one: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthre...utdoor+AND+reef

OK. Made all the changes and got it working here at home. Also set up a dynDNS account and got the working too. Guess I'll have to wait 'till tomorrow to see if it works remotely. Thanks for all the help guys.