percula

We recently started using a room dehumidifier for the summer (without it, the tank definitely started to add "flavor" to the air now that winter's dryness is gone). With about 150 total gallons, my evap rate nearly doubled to about 3g/day. Still, I think it's a must if you don't have really great airflow (i.e. like a basement room).

Aritcle is interesting; the replies are better. I wish they had some pics of the current reef.

Is it safe to assume both the sump and display to be one contiguous body of water? i.e. where do people tend to ground their systems, display or sump (or both)?

Yeah; almost as annoying as negative knee-jerk responses to anyone who tries to take on any environmental issue.

I feel for you. I've flooded the basement 5 times filling my reserve bucket. I've all but ruined the new floor I installed last summer. What makes me feel the most sick is it's not the tank or such breaking, just my own darn fault. Hopefully it'll clean up without too much work.

I like the peppermint shrimp tank idea. I had to actually pull a shrimp out of my overflow box after he went up and over to get the one aiptasia growing within the weir. Judging from the picture, you might need some big shrimp. Luck!

A few days ago all of my SPS (well, all four of them) all pulled their polyps in without any event that I know of. Softies and LPS all seem happy. The SPS don't seem to be degenerating but I'm anxious to try and remedy the problem. I'm still a bit new at this so I'm looking for any suggestions of what else I should look for (or test for normally). As of last night: Salinity - 1.022 (surprised how much this had slowly dropped with creep) NO3 - 0 PH - 8.0 PO4 - 0 Ca - 440 mg/L KH - 6 dKH Thanks, Matt

I live right down the street from them and I will not be going there again. It's more than worth the 25 minute drive to BRK.

Wife loves the tank, hates the money spent on it. Just last night after a run up to see check out MrCoral: "We can't afford this you know" "Actually we can; we have no debt and what exactly is it at the expense of?" "My clothes for one" "Well buy some freakin' clothes" "Oh,... Ok" I'm thinking this might not have been the right response.

I got a little bta from the recent group buy (less than a week ago) and it's never really looked great but not bad. It took a turn for the worst yesterday. I'm thinking this guy's chances are looking pretty bleak. Even the crabs have started circling. I have him in a separated container with less flow and light now. Is he doomed? So,... what, if anything, else would you suggest I do? Thanks for any help, Matt

Thanks for the replies; good info in there. Current tang is powder blue with a flame angel - neither of which do a whole lot more than snap off root tendrils that conveniently present themselves. From what I've read, rabbitfish are the way to go for caulerpa variants in particular-- grain of salt with that of course as it's culled from forums. I'll give that and perhaps the addition of a sailfin a shot. Ooooooh, trip to BRK, yay! (begins salivating at the prospect) The short-spined urchin appears to primarily eat encrusting algaes which I really like -- I guess I'll save that for a last resort. James - if you really want some, I can certainly start saving some for you and forward it your way.

Please do share when you find that spot! I wish there was a test kit that required no effort. Er,... or are we talking real things?

OK fine, I admit it; I ignored the warnings and intentionally let the caulerpa peltata (tea cup var.) grow somewhat unchecked in the center of my display. I thought and still believe it adds a nice quality to the overall look with some nutrient export to boot. It now covers about 1/3 of my tank (5ft. 120g) and requires me to trim it every 2-3 days (and by trim, I mean ripping out handfuls and trying in vain to keep the floating pieces from grabbing on elsewhere). I'm finally beginning to realize I won't be able to keep up with it. My first thought was to let it grow but keep it thinned and back fill rocks and frags on top of thin spots where it already expanded. While this looks great, it's not working too well as I keep having to pull out tendrils winding their way through my zoas. This stuff grows everywhere in every direction. I suppose a foxface is now a must (tang, angel, and emerald crabs appear to pick at it but not really slow it down). My ultimate goal is not to erradicate it but just keep it manageable. Anyone out there keep macros in the main display and have any tips on how to reign it in? I'm interested in adding rooted halimeda (sp?) and shaving brush; anyone have experience with them? Is this just lunacy and I should jettison the idea of macros in the main display?

I bought a syringe at CVS for $1.25 and injected lemon juice with much success.

Another satisfied and loyal customer; nothing but a positive experience in my few sojourns out there. I'm willing to drive from Tyson's corner forever more; worth the trip!

The one I got was from BRK though a smaller one (~3.5"). As I said, he was rather thin. Perhaps I should have avoided him rather than let the excitement decide. Ugghh. I did drip acclimate but overall, the whole process was only about 30 minutes. Perhaps that was too fast. I'm still at a loss as to why I wouldn't see any signs before death.

Bought my first real nice looking fish just last Sunday - powder blue tang. He was a bit thin but seemed active and was picking around at things when I last checked last night. Come home from work today,... 4 hermits all gathering around the buffet. None of this makes sense; tank parameters are all really good and, being a relatively new tank, no others to even pick on him (5 chromis, rainfordi, and a blenny). The frags I got at the same time are extended and happy looking at least. I even acclimated him slower and more cautiously then I ever have. This sucks. Stupid hobby

So there I am mopping up yet another mess I created when the ad came on. A towel that absorbs 20x it's weight. It's like these things were made for the hobby. Anyone have or seen these things? http://www.shamwow.com/

Excellent; good to read a positive post! Congrats. Good mojo going forward: missing starry blenny found a few hours later in my sump. Apparently he took a little waterslide ride in the back-siphon (1/2" pvc for some of it - ouch!) when I took my main pump off line to clean it. Thankfully he took the route back to the sump and not the floor.

Congrats on disaster narrowly avoided (seems all too common in this hobby). I took my dedicated 20A circuit and branched it x4. Each branch has a switch and then a GFCI outlet (which protects anything downstream). The upshot is I have four switches that can turn off categories of items; one switch will turn off all circulation pumps/powerheads for example. GFCI has never popped (though it's only been 2 months) but at least if one does, everything isn't shut down. Just an idea.

I never found acrylic thick enough at HD or Lowes. I've ordered from www.tapplastics.com a few times and was happy with them. Use WeldOn 16 and WeldOn 3. And if you haven't been there yet, www.melevsreef.com, is invaluable.

BEAUTIFUL! It's all going to come together so nicely; great job.

I've started throwing in some dried food just to make sure I don't lose too much. One of the crabs seems to have bit it already although that particular one never appeared to acclimate well - the other 3 crabs and the rest of the pack appear quite active. Current filtration is only a cannister filter with large amounts of floss and carbon. 55g sump is almost ready to go on-line and includes a slow-flow 10g refugium (I already have handfulls of cheato, sea lettuce, and dragon something ready to drop in -- should I include LS and LR?) and a modified ASM skimmer (recirc). I'll post pics once I get the plumbing finished. I will no doubt really want some advice on how to improve it. Glass drilling has proved to be not overly difficult but I did make a few mistakes-- over-tightened the bulkhead on the 10g's overflow. It produced a 1.5" crack (bulkhead down to seam) an hour later but, since the 10g sits inside the 55g sump, this is really no big deal. The glass is so thin compared to the 55g, I'm not surprised-- hindsight says it was a good idea to practice first. I have noticed that the backside of a drill-through tends to chip away that edge (i.e. it breaks off a little before the bit goes all the way through). Anyone know the trick around this? Do you tape the backside or something? Thanks all, Matt

gastone - thanks for the book links; wife was actually relieved to have a reasonable x-mas request. She didn't like my "big wad of cash for corals" gift idea. yes, 44 turbo snails. I got most of them in a clean-up crew package (http://reeftopia.com/Reeftopiaspecials.html). The crew is eating up all my beautiful coraline algae so it's a love/hate relationship at the moment -- though I'm loving the emerald crabs. The coraline now appears to be spreading on to the base rock so I suppose things are still in good shape. So.... hard .... to .... stay .... patient! Rainfordi Goby and first coral planned for January after I get the sump/refugium/skimmer all going.

Thanks for the advice all! I think I still need to hold off a bit (nitrates still a bit high) but I may hit a few of you up in the future on those nice offers. Quick pic to show the current state below. Still a few rock formations left to build; not to mention the whole sump is not quite going (only using canister filter atm). I'm in DIY heaven/H-E-double hocky sticks. Fun stuff indeed! Currently holding: 44 Turbo Snail, 12 Med Blue Leg Hermits, 12 Scarlet Reef Hermits, 4 Emerald Crab, 6 Nerite Snails, 6 Cerith Snails 2 Star Snail and a bevy of LR hitch-hikers.