hi

My name is James and i have been keeping freshwater fish for a long time and i have a ko pond and i am going to start keeping some saltwater fish.

xenforo

You guys should upgrade from vbulletin 3.8 to xenforo. vb is starting to look kind of outdated.

Take a look at this and please explain!

My bta is hosting my tribal blenny!!! Which he/ she is keeping my Wyoming whites out. I really don't think the bta likes it because it hasn't looked the same since it started.

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Wrasse and Pistol Shrimp?

I want to add a Vrolik's Wrasse to my 70 Gallon tank, but I also want to add a shrimp/goby pair. Would there be complication from the wrasse borrowing in the sand and the shrimp's tunnels? Or would the wrasse just try to eat the shrimp?

I know that the wrasse may go after my hermit crabs and snails, but I don't know about the shrimp.

Black Ghost Knife...who has em?

Ive had these before. We got this one about a year ago. He was only a couple inches long when we got him, now he's probably about six inches. He eats carnivorous sinking pellets and shrimp pellets. we used to also have a ropefish and tetras, but the tetras went back to the fish store, and the rope fish went carpet surfing and was out of the tank too long. So now its just the knife, and I'm not sure how much to feed him! I guess I'll figure it out. He looks round enough.

Who else has this fish?

Crabs Attacking Snails

I have a tank that contained a mixture of snails (turbos, margarita, etc.) There were probably five varieties. I also have two or three red legged crabs and two or three blue legged crabs. The problem is that every time I put some snails in the tank (65 gallon reef) they are attacked by the crabs. Anyone have ideas about whether this is just a bad mixture or if something else is going on? I see that many cleaner-packs have a combination of the two, but I'm not sure of anything beyond that. Thanks in advance.

My green puffer

I have a green puffer.I need to know if I can't afford the copper for Ich what could I get? Can Kordon rapid cure be used? used?

Kessil

2 - Kessil A360W TUNA BLUE lights with gooseneck. I've had them over a year but will be taking my tank down. $475

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ID Please

this is a well established tank, not sure what this is on the glass, looks like some sort of egg? any help is greatly appreciated. thanks

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Happy birthday to JohnHayesLovesFish on 6/30!

And here's the Official TRT Chorus® to sing.....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TOOOOOOO YOUUUUUU!!!!!!!!!

Yep, Thursday!

Top of the morning TRT friends, and.....HAPPY THURSDAY! Almost the weekend....we can do it! Another beautiful day at the South Jersey Shore, and the weekend is supposed to be looking good also if'n you be traveling this way.("Just in case the chamber of commerce has by computer bugged, I have to toe the line!:nuts:") Thomas's English Muffins and assorted jellies to go with our coffee and pink milk for starters today. Hope all are safe and well, and all the best to all,
Hack

What fish to get

Hello I want one more fish in my nano tank. I have a clown fish and a Firefish. I want one more. What is your recomendation. I want something peaceful I don't want it to start attacking my other two fish

What's on my live rock

So fairly new to this but got a biocube for my dad a few weeks ago for Father's day following that we got our live rock and on it I've found 3 urchins, a starfish, and a crab along with some shrimp that only come out at night but there is also what seems to be a red worm/tube that is in one of the holes and has a mouth like hole that opens and closes and we can't seem to figure out what it is. Then also with being fairly new to all of this is there any other advice you guys can give? We currently only have a clown fish and the tank is currently going through the brown algae phase

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GSP growing on leather coral

I have gsp trying to take over a leather. I want to save the leather. Anyone had this happen? Should I cut the leather off the rock and peel the gsp off of it? Or cut the leather above the gsp? I want the leather off the rock anyway but sure want to keep it

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Emperor UV sterilizer

Anyone have one? Thoughts? BRS says they are best and used commercially. I'm looking into purchasing.

zoanthids Some open, Some closed

So I have a punk rocker zoanthid that looks great. The frag has about 5 heads on it. Well during the day only one or two will open fully, the others stay closed. I have tried to move it in the tank with the same results. All my other zoanthids are doing great in the tank.

So my question is something attached to it freaking it out? I blow it off daily with a baster but it doesn't help. Only coral in my system that isn't happy, but yet some of it heads do open.

Any ideas?

29g BioCube fish and reef +extras!

I am going to have to do something I hoped I wouldn't have to do. Work schedule and life are getting in the way of being able to properly manage my aquariums. I would like to see what interest there would be in selling all that I have. I'm not real sure on price, but I do have an idea of a fair ballpark figure. Ideally I'd like to sell everything all in one shot.

Everything out the door I think is fair at $1250. If you want to make me an offer for some/all, please do so.

Prefer local pickup. Wouldn't even know where to begin to ship.

1st Setup:
1 29g Oceanic BioCube
(replaced stock lighting with RapidLED solderless full spectrum kit)
(programmable controller)
(slightly modified filtering system, non-standard filter media)
(still use BioBalls)
1 Fishguard
1 Coralife Stand
1 micro circulating fan
1 brand new 100w digital thermometer
1 Coralife surge protector timer
1 Starry Blenney
1 Clownfish
1 Firefish Goby
1 Shrimp
1 Pajama Cardinal
2 Large Turbo Snails
Several small crabs
Frogspawn Mother Colony Coral
Greenstar Pollups Coral
Green Candy Cane Coral
Orange Hammer Xenia Coral
Green/Yello Xenia Coral
Duncan Coral
3 large pieces of Live Rock/Fuji Rock
Black live sand (extra)

2nd Setup:
1 29g Coralife BioCube
(stock lighting, have a full RapidLED solderless kit with programmable controller to include)
(slightly modified filtering system, non-standard filter media)
(still use BioBalls)
1 Coralife Stand
1 micro circulating fan
1 brand new 100w digital thermometer
1 Coralife surge protector timer
1 Blue Spot Puffer
1 Valentini Puffer
1 medium Diamond Goby
1 small Diamond Goby
2 Med Turbo Snails
3 large pieces of Live Rock (from Claus in Ft. Wayne, the real stuff)
White live sand

Other:
food(s)
salt (partial box)
black and white live sand
supplements
multiple water containers, buckets, etc.
cleaning equipment, syphon hoses, scrapers, nets, sifter, etc.
filter media, sponges, salinity testers, water test kits
2 extra micro circulating pumps
1 thermometer
air pump(s), hoses, splitter, etc.
20g freshwater tank and 50g filter
5g freshater tank and 20g filter
20g stand with shelf (I had both 20g up top and 5g below)
extra freshwater equipment, decorations, etc.

NEW @ MD: Tech-O3 Ozonizers + Top-Rated Gear

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Read reviews on this week's top-selling items before you buy!

Happy birthday to PhaneSoul on 6/29!

And here's the Official TRT Chorus® to sing.......

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TOOOOOOO YOUUUUU!!!

Hello Wednesday!

Good morning TRT friends, and.....HAPPY WEDNESDAY! Can almost see the big weekend from here....hang in there.:) Buttermilk waffles to go with our coffee and pink milk to get us out the door this morning. Mid 80's and sunshine, and the chamber of commerce gave them permission to say that. We went and saw Warcraft last night, but in a regular theater, not IMAX. Gata see it again in IMAX3-D! Hope everyone's plans are coming together for a great holiday weekend. We're putting up a few extra tables just in case anyone's in the neighborhood.....'always room for one more at Hack's Place'. Hope all are well, and have a groovy day ahead, and all the best,
Hack

Jebao PH Problem

I have two Jebao RW-8 power heads. I also have the Jebao Apex module. Everything has been running perfect since I installed and programed everything. The other day I noticed that one of the RW8's was not working. I figured it was due to coraline needing to be cleaned off. I removed the pump and disassembled it as I have done numerous times before and soaked the parts in white vinegar and water solution overnight. The next day I cleaned the PH with a tooth brush and reassembled. I placed the PH back in the tank, connected the PH and the PH worked again. For the last several days I have noticed the PH was not on until I unplug and reconnect the PH again. Then it stopped working with the Apex. I connected the original controller and power supply and the pump started working perfectly again. Now, just about everyday, the PH stops working. I have to unplug and reconnect the PH to the controller for it to work again.

Anyone ever had this happen or know some things I can try to get this PH working with the Apex again?

new 9g set up

So I have had fresh water tanks for years now and know a lot about what goes on in the tanks. My wife has decided that she wants me to spend the time and set up a salt water tank for her. I am looking at a

Non deadly anenomoes

Does anyone know if there is a type of anenomoe that doesent kill a tank of it dies? I had one that died and I didn't know... Almost destroyed my tank

Sick Chromis any clues cause

Chromis had funny five. Flew around tank then straight up and dropped as dead behind rocks. 1 1/2 hrs later appeared with skeletal looking wide open mouth any clues.

BRS dry reef saver live rock?

Hello! I'm not exactly new to this forum, just had to make a new account. I've had a 35 gallon reef tank up and running since February and I've decided it's just not big enough. I got my hands on a nice 75 gallon and bought all this nice new equipment for it, but I want to use new rock. The stuff in my 35 just doesn't suit my tastes. Most of my new equipment was purchased from BRS-- including my new rock. It's the BRS reef saver dry live rock(NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH PUKANI!). It is guaranteed to be 100% pest and hitchhiker free. This is where the confusion sets in. If it is completely clean, why the need to cure it? There isn't going to be any die off because there's nothing on it. Also, why do they sell it as dry live rock if it isn't live? I was under the impression that dry live rock would have bacteria and other microorganisms that will break down and aid in cycling your tank. If it's clean, where's the benefit of curing it? I've been surfing the forums and found many a debate over this subject, but I'd like some fresh opinions.

Weird white round shells

Recently I have been getting a lot of asterina stars and these weird white shells that I have no idea what they are, there is a huge cluster of them on the glass between two rocks. Anyone know what they, how to get rid of them and if they are a threat to my tank.

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Mourning Fish Loss But Optimistic for Tank Healing

So strangely I came home to a green chromis stuck in a power head the other day. I was a little down but he was a low $ fish.
Two days later I wake up and start feeding and my Humu Humu Picaso Trigger isn't coming out of his sleeping hole. I figure maybe he's just not ready to wake up. When I came home from work, he was still face first (that's how he sleeps in this tight hole) and wiggled his tail when I touched it. I turned on the bright whites to see if he was just confused. He didn't come out. Next morning he had passed. I had to move 4 small rocks and 2 big ones to get his rock out. When I tried to get him out of the hole, his little tail barbs would just keep him in and poke my fingers. So I actually had to pull him through the hole out the other side. :wzbigcry:
So I flushed off the rock in some tank / distilled water. Put it back in and built up the rock work again.
Some time during the night, the new rock placement settled and trapped my passive blue damsel. I noticed he wasn't at breakfast so last night took all those rocks out again and scrubbed them in a bucket and when I got to the very bottom one, there he was. Still in tack but coated in a gelatinous cloud.
So I went from a bioload of a MESSY trigger fish that would eat ALL my snails and 6 other fish down to two clownfish and a black white stripe damsel.

I have a 75 gallon that I had to clean all algae since the snails wouldn't last and I had to feed twice daily or my turd of a b/w damsel would start getting aggressive. So I took the opportunity to really get as much poo and detritus off the rocks (in a separate bucket) and siphon the sand really well. I added 4 turbos, 1 tiger conch, 5 margarita snails and I did pick up a sand sifting goby.

So now I can have the low bioload with a better cleanup crew and just build up the health of the tank again.

I did a 6 gallon water change last night and I'm planning to do another 10 on Wednesday just to get all the settled stuff again and make sure no fishy juices are still around. I plan to test my water tonight (Tuesday).

So that's my novel on how quickly your fish tank can change. I really just wanted to document this for moving forward and normal people don't understand the emotions tied up in a fish tank.

Rest in Ocean Heaven my little HumuHumu :bawling:

Petco Dollar per gallon sale

For what it's worth, and for those that care, PetCo is having their Dollar per gallon sale right now until August 6th, 2016.

Cheers,

-Blair

A rainy Tuesday

Top of the morning TRT friends, and.....HAPPY TUESDAY! Looking like a day full of light rain. ("What is 'LIGHT RAIN'.....is it's molecular density less than 'NORMAL RAIN' making it weight less? :nuts:") Was surprised to see and read of the rain today.....weatherman said SUNNY ALL WEEK....Shocked! Looking like fresh cinnamon rolls to go with our coffee and pink milk to get us going today. PINK MILK = MILK with PINK STUFF IN IT.:) Blue milk from places with higher elevations north west of here is milk with blue stuff in it, and black milk, well chocolate milk is milk with....wait for it.....wait for it......wait......CHOCOLATE IN IT! :nuts:Looking forward to our long weekend, only 2 days, but for me that's almost a vacation! Discussing menu options, and for the first time since I was a child, have discovered I'm no longer allergic to crustaceans, ie shrimp and crabs so our options have greatly expanded from past shindigs. We've always had clams and fish, but my family, though they love shrimp and crabs would not have any at any of our get-to-gethers in fear of me accidentally coming in contact. So this year......Hope all are well today, and your feet George are no worse for the wear yesterday, and all have a day of cool stuff lined up, and all the best,
Hack

achillies tang are they that bad

so i have wanted a achillies and or a gold rim tang for quite some time now and i was just wondering what makes them so hard to take care of and are there any secrets or tricks to keeping them alive and healthy
thanks -jared

5 gallon nano reef with sump help

So, I have beenout of the hobby for about 3 years now, my buddy has been talking about building a new tank. " And so it begins again" Thanks to him i have the bug again.
So in trying to keep the cost down a bit and trying something a little different, I was thinking about doing a 5.5 gallon with either a 2.5 or 5.5 gallon sump. I will build a little box/stand for the 2 tanks. Therefor the top of the display tank would be well within 16'' from the bottom of the sump.
I plan on drilling the back of the display tank (2) 1/2'' bulkheads one for drain and one for return using 1/2'' pvc.
As far as the sump goes i plan on building my own. The drain will come down onto some standard blue foam and drip onto some bio balls or something similar nature. (recommendation here) then into a center chamber (for protien skimmer / heater. Then a waterfall to get rid of the air bubbles then the return pump area. This is the best way i can describe it as it is all in my head at the moment.

Question 1 Using 1/2'' pvc what should my return pump be rated for? Or any standard 100 gph work? recommendations welcome

Question 2 Lighting, can anyone recommend a good light. I want to be able to grow shrooms, leather, polyps, Basically all the beginner corals that don't really require alot of care and maintenance Remember trying to keep the cost down.

Question 3 Is this a bad idea?

Thanks for everyone's input.

Best Actinic Light for nano tank

Hello I have a 10 gallon nano tank. I don't have any type of corals or frags because my light isn't that great. I only have 2 fish in it. I love Actinic Light. So what is a really good actinic light for corals for a 10 gallon tank. Please don't be to expensive. Something reasonable in price.

What got you started in saltwater?

Alright guys and gals. I'm trying to keep sidetracked while I wait to see if my tank clears up. So I figured I would ask everyone to share how/ why they got started in saltwater/ reef keeping.

I got first interested in saltwater about 13 years ago when Finding Nemo came out. I know that's a terrible reason to get started but at that time I just went with freshwater. Close enough right? Nope. Fast forward 10 years, just married and on my honeymoon. The wife and I went to key west and went snorkeling about 10 miles off the coast. The most beautiful reef and fish I have ever saw personally. I instantly went back to being a kid wanting to keep a reef tank. Thus the monster was born. 4 tanks later here we are. 75 gallon reef

Just popping in!

Just wanted to say hi! Not sure how I missed this site but happy to have found it. I've been keeping mixed reef tanks for ~30 years, Quick introduction to me - Tim Fountain. I am originally from the UK, got my first salt tank, which was a converted FW 20G complete with undergravel filter and a ton of algae and pea green water about 30 years ago. My first serious reef was a 120G that was moderately successful, but tended to leak every few months from various fittings etc. That taught me about making things simple and foolproof. I moved to Austin, TX in 2001 and started with a 100 tank. IN 2005 I decided to to big and bought a 75G as a holding tank whilst I worked on my 210, custom tank, stand, hood etc.Chiller, aquacontroller, MH, etc. basically, the works. It was a great tank but eventually life, the cost of running a large tank, learning to fly and having kids meant that I sold the tank for <20% of my costs. Ouch.

I moved to OR in 2010 and didn't really think about reefing until last year when I thought why not, and purchased a new JBJ 29G nano. That kept the itch scratched until a month ago when I got the opportunity to buy a pretty much brand new Red Sea 350 9G with 25G sump, LR, many fish and corals, LED's, etc. etc. I think this tank is it, but I might need to remote the sump. I'll post some pics later. Well that's me!

- Tim

So … which tank will you choose?

So … which tank will you choose?

Get 15% off luxurious low-iron rimless glass aquariums in 19 sizes!

Another Monday

Good *orning TRT friends, and.....HAPPY *ONDAY! Another summer day here, 80's and sunshine. Going to schlep some toast and jellies on the table, with some fresh fruit to go with our coffee and pink *ilk for eye openers today. No idea what the week will bring at work other than a holiday weekend at the end of it.....YEAH! Hope all are well, and have good things before the*, all the best,
Hack

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First Fish Tank EVER - Help w/ Saltwater FOWLR 75G Setup

Been doing research but confused on some things for sure. The only thing I've purchased so far is the 75 gallon tank from petsmart (no built in overflow) and a RO/DI system. I'm wanting to get everything needed straight out of the gate before water even goes into the tank to start out with the best possible chance for success. I'm a very dedicated person and enjoy a challenge which is why I've decided on a SW setup vs a FW setup.

My plan thus far:

75 lbs of dry rock from BRS
75 lbs of sand (brand? live vs normal?)
Instant Ocean 200 lb salt mix - extra for water changes
Salinity Refract. - $20 on amazon
API Saltwater Master Test Kit

20 gallon tank for a sump, turn it into 3 chambers with the first for the skimmer, second for the heater, then a bubble trap and third chamber for return pump
-Aquatop 150-watt heater - should I get 2 for safety?
-Skimmer - Reef Octopus Classic 1000 HOB (to large for a standard 20g tank? any other suggestions?)
-Pump suggestion? It's supposed to return 6x the tank volume, correct?

Here's somethings I was more confused on:

1) For circulation pumps I was looking at the Hydor Koralia ones on Amazon but not sure on the GPH I need and how to even place them in the tank.

2) Overflow box - I would prefer a built in model but scared to death to drill my tank in fear of cracking. Would a HOB model be acceptable?

3) Return nozzle from sump - Same thing as above, fear of drilling tank. HOB okay?

4) Refuge in sump - haven't researched this yet in all honesty. Is it necessary?

5) Maintenance equipment - buckets, water change siphon pump?, and not sure on what else

6) Do I need any water additives? There are so many I don't even know where to start with them.

7) Should I come up with a fish list before I make a decision on somethings? I haven't really decided on that. I know I want a puffer of some sort and then my GF wants 1 or 2 clownfish and 1 or 2 starfish.

8) Haven't gotten to the point of researching tank cycling either. I know it takes longer with dry rock which I'm totally okay with to save on cost.

9) Coral - I know this is an art in of itself and haven't even touched this in research. Maybe in the later future, a year or 2 or 3. Maybe never, I know it's very high maintenance and I'm not looking for that right now in my life.

Like I originally put in the title, this will be my first fish tank ever. If there's something obvious I'm missing, please let me know. Are there stupid things to avoid as to not kill my entire little eco system? I'm trying to encompass a master list of everything I need because through my research I couldn't find one. Just bits and pieces I've been trying to place together. Then, hopefully this can help other people like me in the future.

I know this is a long post and I don't expect 1 person to go through this long list and answer everything. I am open to suggestions and appreciate any help/advice.


Thanks for the (long) read!

Flame Angel with Ich?

Woke up this morning and noticed a weird spot on my Flame Angel. It is bigger than ich spots but I'm not sure. Any suggestions?

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Well hello Sunday!

Good morning TRT friends, and......HAPPY SUNDAY! 'Lil' Hack says hi also, as he's a knee riding way too early. Well yesterdays Plan-A didn't work out......tent up, yard cleaned, wood stacked, and breakfast goodies bought for the grill. At last minute most of our ushers for church 'called out', so our plans for a hookie day went out the window the very last minute.....grrrrrrrr. Well, of course we had a groovy night together......lazy evening swim, and the last 2 episodes of Star Wars, and Jen even made us an Angel food cake, all nice an warm to pull apart during the movies. :cool: Buttermilk waffles have been requested to go with our coffee and ink milk, AND Dunkin Donuts! Brother Bobby will be here shortly for coffee as well. Hope all have a really cool day, and all the best,
Hack
P.S.
Dave had a REALLY COOL 'brain hiccup' on yesterdays thread today......the strangest thing......a GET-TO-GETHER. Folks actually meeting folks.....What is this world a coming to? WOW. Actually talking to someone, or shackin hands?:cool: Just saying.......

Which sealer to use for custom made background?

A custom made polystyrene/quikrete background, which sealer would be better, as in, lasts longer, is less toxic, and looks less glossy...

http://ift.tt/28WLxTW

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROZPt7M2uIk

Or, can you suggest a better one?

Pipefish and LPS

Hello,

I am currently in the process of planning a tank upgrade, and I am musing over potential inhabitants. Namely pipefish. My concern however is I currently have 4 elegance corals which I will be moving over. Basically I am curious if the pipefish will become a snack. If anyone has any opinions/experience I would love to hear it!

Micromussa

Having trouble with my lps micromussa. Looks like the base is rotting. I did have slightly high nitrates in 40 range, but this lps suppose to like a little dirty water. Started doing extra water changes to bring levels down. Do anyone have any suggest or had similar problem or know what this is?
1st pic is the really bad side and other side is getting worse. Turned lights up in tank to get good photo. Normally top of coral is red and plump.

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User cp gone?

After 3 hours, 7 emails and trying to every possible way around the mandatory password reset I finally got logged in. No back on enhanced mode or default there is no user cp or place reset my password word to personalize. Android s6 active brand new phone this is the only site I have had many challenges with. It so frustrating because it has the best info . I actually tried creating another login but my email was already in use and screen would not return.
Can you help with user cp ?

Change?

How come my password had to be changed out of the blue? I'm pretty sure I didn't request that.

My Wife's Mom died yesterday, but there is a story

My Mother n law died yesterday in a nursing home. She was 90 years old and she lived a good long life. Her last few weeks were, unfortunately wracked with pain and suffering so now it is a blessing and she is at rest.

Judy was a big Frank Sinatra fan and she would always listen to his records and go to see him when he performed in New York.

She lived up stairs from us for almost 40 years and was a waitress for most of that time.

About ten years ago my wife bought her this Frank Sinatra Christmass tree ornament that actually sung in Sinatra's voice a Christmas song after you pushed the button.
8 years ago, when she entered the nursing home due to senility we put that ornament in a box in our laundry room and forgot about it.

Last week I was wasting time writing on some fish forum on the other side of the house and I heard Frank Sinatra singing.
I first thought it was a new ring on my wife's phone, but it wasn't. I searched the basement and found the song was coming from this box. I brought the box up to my wife and asked her if she knew what this was about. I thought it was one of those cards that sing when you open it.
We took the stuff out of the box, and on the bottom was Frank belting out this song. I pushed the button but couldn't stop the singing so I removed the batteries (no, he didn't keep singing) and he stopped.
I put the batteries back in and he was quiet but I told my wife to call the nursing home and see how her Mom was.
We were told that she was not doing very well and developed pneumonia and a UTI. They put her on antibiotics.
A few days later I am again on my computer, and I hear: "Its that time of the year data date data" and it's Frank again. I took him out, pushed the button and couldn't quiet him so I again took out the batteries. My wife called the nursing home and my Mother N Law was now on oxygen and they didn't think she would make it another night so we rushed to the nursing home, but before we did, we put fresh batteries in Frank and brought him with us.
We stayed there for most of the night but as soon as we got home, they called us and said she passed away. "Frank never again sang and we can't make him sing".
We are putting this enigma into the casket with her as they seem to be friends.
My wife just hopes that when she gets to Heaven, she runs to my wife's Dad before Frank Sinatra

A sunny Saturday at the sea shore

Good morning TRT friends, and.....HAPPY SATURDAY! WOW.....pass word change day! Even before my first cup of coffee? My poor one finger really got an early morning workout.:rolleyes: For the start to a warm muggy day, how about a big bowl of fresh fruit to go with our coffee and pink milk for an eye opener? Peaches, cantaloupes, and watermelons, and if'n you like, some home made whipped cream. Was a LONG TOUGH ONE at work this week, and my finger is already sore from my new pass word, so I'll spare you, but......one large boat that's been on land for 3 seasons......and 3 impossible tasks accomplished to make it go away....and the owner will never know just how much the Hack did for him. :cool: See, I can do short. A sunny, warm day at the South Jersey Shore, which means I'll tell you what the weather really was at the end of the day because 'They' won't tell us the truth down here. Hope 1/2 day at the office, because my other full time job requires my http://attention....HOME/YARD. :agree: Hope all are well, and have plans to enjoy today, all the best,
Hack

Fish that compete with Mandarin Dragonets

I currently have a 70G aquarium and I plan to add a 20G sump/refugium to it soon. I really want to add a Mandarin to it. I know that they need a huge supply of copepods and I wouldn't get on until at least a year after I set up my refugium, so I would have an good supply of them to feed the Mandarin. I also plan to get one from my LFS AFTER seeing it eat other foods, like frozen brine shrimp (so I don't starve the little guy). I would also add a population of pods after I set up my fuge, so I can give them as much time as possible to maintain a large population.

By big question, that I've had trouble finding an answer to is, what fish should I avoid that would compete for food with my possible Mandarin?

I know I have to watch out for Coris Wrasse, aggressive tankmates, and any other Dragonets, but I can't seem to find a reliable source of other fish that out beat them out for food.

I currently have 3 Firefish and 1 Yellow Clown Goby, 4 Hermit Crabs, 3 Nassarius Snails, and 3 Astrea Snails. I have ideas of other fish that I would like to get someday, but I want to see if my want of a Mandarin would be incompatible with anything I may get in the future.

It’s heating up!

It’s heating up!

Summer is here and temperatures are rising—prevent a disaster by keeping your tank temperature stable with a chiller.

For a limited time, save 10% on chillers from JBJ, Aqua Euro USA, and CoolWorks!



How to Choose and Install an Aquarium Chiller

What type of blenny is this?

Just bought him and my lfs wasn't for sure they called him/her a lace blenny but I'm not sure I agree. Its not a midas tho it does resemble one.

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Brittle Star and Serpent Star Removal

So while I think these guys are super cool looking, they have been taking out some prized possessions in my 600g reef tank. So far I am sure they have been devouring every peppermint shrimp I drop in, as well as a few different fish. Most devastating was them killing my giant clam and possibly my anemone (or atleast i think they pushed it to detach and once it detached it never reattached and eventually shrank to almost nothing...)

So my question is, does anyone have a good method for removing them? I have a very large rockscape that they constantly hide in. I have successfully removed 3 so far but they take a ton of time to try and catch and usually their legs break off rather than me being able to pick them out...

Any advice is much appreciated.

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Yellow Tang Caudal FinProblem

My yellow tang's caudal fin split! Will it regrow?

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48inch 6 T5HO bulbs

Hello everyone. This is my first post and hope it's in the fight area. Normally a question that i have already has been answered by someone else so I haven't had the need to post...

My question is.. What corals can I keep under a 48inch 6 bulb T5HO fixture in a 55gallon tank. The light came with 3 Actinic bulbs along with 3 12k bulbs. im willing to buy diffrent bulbs for more light or take a bulb out if it's to much....

It would be helpful if you could tell me what corals I could keep and where I should place them in my tank... Any corals besides SPS corals work due to this being my first reef tank.

THANKS !!!!

Well hello Friday!

Good morning TRT friends, and.....HAPPY FRIDAY! :blob: Seemed like a particularly long week, but the hot and humids does that to outside folk. :agree: Drizzly at the moment, but according to the Southern New Jersey chanber of commerce.....I mean 'weatherman', will be sunny and 'summery'. :nuts: Hot buttermilk waffles going on the table to go with our coffee and pink milk to get us going. Hope all are well, and have a day full of groovy things, and all the best,
Hack

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Livestock - sf clown, pink sw goby, corals - 30809

Getting out of the reef hobby. Been in it for years, but I have lost interest and time. I need to part with the coral and the fish first.
Snowflake clown - Female (male died) - $50
Pink Spotted Watchmen Goby - $10
Green star poly (BIG) and rock - $100
Green Birds Nest - $30
Misc Acans - $30
Hammer Polyps - $2.50 each
Florida Ricordea - $5
Big Mushrooom.... thing - $10
Mushroom - $2
Live rock (once coral and fish are gone) - $3/lb

Discounts on multi-item purchase.

Will be parting out lots of hardware once the fish and coral are gone.

Acclimating Fish

Hello. I am gonna get my first fish soon and I was wondering how to acclimate I watched a few videos; float bag method, dripping method. But the videos didn't explain much. I went to a website on a fish I want Firefish and it said acclimation 3 hours. That seems like a long time. So in your opinion how long should I let the bag float in water before I slowly add tank water and then after adding tank water how long should I let it float before placing the fish in the tank fully?

To much salt

Hello this is my first salt water tank. Now I have a question about the salinity. I know the salinity should be at 35 ppt and specific gravity at 1.0264. What would happen to your fish if it's a little over because mine measures out to 38 ppt at 1.028. Is this bad? Do I have to get it right on the dot or is this ok?

Cheaper Equipment on Ebay?

Ive been looking at buying the magnus bubble curve 7 and its available on ebay for upto 100 bucks cheaper then the avarage going rate of $299. Just wondering if anybody has made a purchased for anything from there at that lower rate, and if it s the same product or a knock off? As some of the sellers are based out of china. also saw maxspect 130 wavemaker for 20$ less and all those are 216$ everywhere else in the US.

Fluval Cycle Concentrated Biological Booster

What is your guys opinions on this product? Could I use it on my 10 gallon nano

A cooler Thursday

Good morning TRT friends, and.....HAPPY THURSDAY! Looks like the heat has broke for us down here, only mid to upper 70's for a stretch, with of course the chance of thunder boomers. Had a quiet movie night last night....guess everyone needed a mid week rest to build their energy levels up to attack a weekend full of endless possibilities. :) Having some more scrambled egg sandwiches with coffee and pink milk for starters. Hope all are well, and have things to look forward to today, all the best,
Hack

micro bubbles

hello everyone I'm wondering how to get rid of microbuses i have tried so many things like putting a filter sock over my skimmer outtake or putting poly filter in my bubble trap but i still have them and they are driving me insane
any recommendations?

Phosphate!!!!!

hello everyone i am about ready to break my 220 down i need help so my phosphates have been 0.39 i have added a brs jumbo reactor full of hc gfo and i also have the mrs dual reactor with some normal gfo and rox 0.8 carbon i don't know why they r so high but i think it is because I'm using faucet water for ato but I'm setting up my brs 6 stage 150 gpd rodi system could the faucet water be the issue please help!!!!

Fluval Eco bright LED lights

Alright so I had this light left over from my fresh water tank. Do you think this light would work for my 10 gallon nano tank? Or is it not bright enough. I mean I am completely blind when I look at it. It has white led's with a couple blue led's. This is my first salt water tank so I am trying to stay on a small budget as possible. Does salt water life even like white light cause I see a lot of people use blue?

I'm throwing in the towel 😞

Alright guys and gals. I'm at my wits end. If this doesn't work, I may just quit. I've been reefing since August of 2014. Had awesome luck for the majority of that time. Well then my water started to become cloudy and I lost most of my corals including my favorite one. Well I started over. Sort of anyways. I upgraded from my 30 gallon to a brand new 75 gallon. Took all the rock from the 30 and rinsed it and added it to the 75. Then came the livestock. All this was added to all new water mind you. All was good for about 2 months until my fire clown beat my clowns to death. Then my six line died. I took one of the beaten up clowns and put it in the sump where after a week and a half he disappeared. No trace anywhere. Not sucked up in anything, not under or in anything or even jumped out. No trace. Long story short, been a few months since then. No amonia, nitrates barely traceable, no nitrites, ph is good, salinity is 1.025 steady. But I can't get rid of this cloudy water. Flow is good, lights are on a schedule and are full spectrum leds. I'm struggling here. I just purchased a coralife turbo twist uv sterilizer in a final attempt to clear this water and save my corals. Fish seem fine as do the crabs and sea star. Just the corals are dying out, all except this mushroom. If the sterilizer doesn't work, well... Someone may get a deal on everything to get it out of my sight :/

I really love this hobby, but it doesn't like me. Everything I've done lately just hasn't worked

Suggestions for my new addition?

I don't plan to add anything for a little while but I am literally stumped on what I want to add to my happy little family.

I am looking for suggestions,

I currently have;
10 blue leg hermit
2 emerald crab
3 chromis
2 true clowns
1 coral beauty
1 Valentini puffer

Everyone lives amongst each other masterfully and I don't want to disturb that. Any ideas?

Thanks!

Distilled Water

Hello, I am setting up a 10 gallon nano tank. And I have bought distilled water. Do I still have to use a dechlorinator like Prime. Or do I not have to since its distilled?

Maxima Clam fell off

Tank Stats: 1.025, zero NO2,3 and ammonia Don't know other stats. 90W LED zetlight over a 40 gallon innovative marine tank

My clam has been happy for two weeks. I placed him on a rock in the lower part of the tank and put LEDS at 70%. He attached in a few hours. After 3 days Iplaced him about 8 inches from the top of the tank, same rock just attatched it to another piece of live rock.

Over 2 weeks I moved the LED up in intensity a little every few days until at about 90% power. I did this as some have told me my light is about mid strength and I know these clams like light

After about 4 days of 90% light, it detached and was in the sand bed. It looks okay down there, its mantle is not out a lot, maybe 1/2 way

Any reason for the jump?

60 gallon protein skimmer

Hello guys will this skimmer work inside my 60 gallon tank? I will be having no sump will this work internally? If yes how
Heres the link to the skimmer http://ift.tt/28RmQpC
Thanks!

Clownfish

I have a clown fish and I don't know what kind it is. It has a white dot on the head. One white dot on both sides and one just before the tail.The body it's self is a darker color. Any ideas?
Thanks.

Live Rock prices

Hello I am new to salt water. I have been keeping fresh water for a very long time and decided to start up a salt water 10 gallon nano. Now I went to my lfs to find prices and I was gonna buy some live rock until I looked at the price. They want $12.99 per pound. I thought that was insane. So I left the store and it's the only fish store in my area. Now I was just shocked at the price like I don't know how much 1 live rock weighs. So I don't want to grab one rock that weighs 5 pounds and having to spend $50+ on a single rock. Is that a good price or is there anyway I can buy heaped online someone please help.

Is this Chaetomorpha?

Hi 4 months ago my filter failed during an electrical storm and my 35 gal tank crashed when I was gone for the weekend. Giving up I just let my skimmer do its job and left the tank alone for 4 month. Over that time I notice this plant just grew out of my small live rock and it took over the tank. It looks like Chaetomorpha but the tips are yellow / orange. Does anyone know about this plant and what should I do with it once I get a new filter next week?

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Why won't my candy cane coral open?

I have had this candy cane coral for 1 week now. He still hasent opened up all the way. I'm not sure why... My salinity is 1.023 and my water is balanced. I have been using KENT Nano Reef. Can someone help me why it won't open?

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Aloha

Hello, I am new to reefing. I just moved to Hawaii and figured it would be cheaper(for now) than scuba diving. I ordered a Coralife Biocube 29 and plan to start slow and easy. In the military so I move every few years and don't want to lug around 150 gallon tanks and equipment. Looking forward to this

55g Reef help

Hey Guys, I have few concerns for 55g reef. My tank is about a year old this month!, and I can say it looks pretty good. Heres a little background info, I have a hang off the back filter, for media : carbon,ammonia reducing pads, and normal filter pads. I don't have a protein skimmer ( stuck between the debate if its needed for not ). For lights I have a 4 bulb Florissant fixture ) With about 50lbs of rocks I have 1 head of frogspawn ( that is growing fast! ), A small branch of 3 heads of hammer coral, which is nearly dead, A large branch of 4 heads of hammer coral ( these were huge when purchased, after about 3 months in my tank they rarely open and when they do its very small ) 3 kenya trees, a devils hand and toadstool, I had a bubble coral and torch, but they died I guess. Cup coral, and Lastly, xenias ( which always open :) ) My concern is that at one point all of these corals thrived and were great, but now half don't open or get as big as they used too. Mainly its the hammer coral, but my frogspawn is doing great so I'm confused. I consider my self still new to this hobby ( I am 15 ), so most of chemisrty references go over my head, but Ive maintained a generally heathy reef for a year ( plus my 12g fluvial which is doing great :) ). The water parameters are NO3 40 / NO2 0.5 /PH 8.0 / KH 180 /GH 180, this was taken with test strips so not the most accurate. I just switched over to reef crystals for salt thinking that I was lacking essential nutrients. I dosed the tank with calcium, iodine , and Strontium and Molybdenum, back in December, when I ran out I never really picked it up again cause it was a " reef starter " and I think my tank is established. Thats the only real difference in my tank over time, my water temp is about 75, and powerhead is for a 75g tank, so its facing the glass, so flow is steady but not too much. My fish have always been healthy ( Yellow tang, 3 clowns, six line wrase, lawnmower blenny, sand sifting star, and a few hermits. Looking back at old pics the corals were looking great but now everything is kinda sad looking, and its been like this for a while. Any ideas or help? Heres a picture IMG_0032.JPG , IMG_0019.JPG , the pics don't do the lighting justice, but the hammer corals in the pic haven't opened in a month or 2.:confused::confused:

Nano Tank Build: Concept Abyss Peninsula Drop Off

Small bubble tip Anemone questions

So I purchased a small bubble tip anemone. He is about the size of a half dollar coin. Sat him on top of a live rock and he moved into a spot on the first night and has been there for the last couple nights. I have just a couple questions,

1. How to feed this little guy. I have been using frozen Mysis shrimp and putting it in a cup and then sucking it out with a baster. Then I blow it on the anemone. He doesn't get much but the pieces he does catch, he curls up to eat it. Is this enough food for him?

2. This guy curls up at night like a coral. Is this because the tank is new and he is changing the internal water?

3. Is this size too small for a Clown to host? Would it be wise to keep the clowns away till it grows a little bit?

Thanks guys!

Tank Chemistry

So I started to add some LPS and one small SPS to my tank to give it a shot. Trying new things with baby steps to learn how this hobby works.

So its been awhile since I measured Cac, Alk and Mag. I did it for a couple weeks with no changes. LFS said I should be good with the LPS and SPS because they are small and I will replace most of the missing elements in water changes each week.

Yesterday I wanted to measure the element after 2 days from a 10% water change (75 gallon tank, 20 gallon slump).

320 - 350 Calc
9.7 - 10.2 Alk
1470 - 1510 Mag

Hard to be sure of the measurement number looking at the syringes. So I see that my calc is low. What would be the next course of action for my tank?

Wait a day then measure again to see the loss rate of the elements?
Purchase 2 part to bring up Calc?
Purchase Kalkwasser and does with auto top off?

Thanks for the help again. Just want to make sure I take the correct next step.

Happy birthday to Nate_Bro on 6/22!

And here's the Official TRT Chorus® to sing......

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TOOOOOOO YOUUUU!!!!

Summer's first Hump Day!

Top of the morning TRT friends, and......HAPPY WEDNESDAY! Hope all slept well, and have interesting things on tap for their day. More summer weather around here for us, with the always available opportunity for thunderstorms to pop up. Scrambled egg sandwiches to go with our coffee and pink milk for eye openers. Yea, played Monopoly last night.....not my favorite, but a close second to watching glue dry, or forgive me Dave, watching leaves change colors.:) Thankfully Naterbug won big time, and quickly! ("I've perfected loosing at this game in a hurry over the years.:cool:") Getting to the 'slow part' of the season at work, where them that wants to are in, and them that are going to break, haven't yet. So time to daydream about long weekends, and family time memories to be made. Enjoy the day Y'All,
Hack

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Post Show Report of CPF2016

As the saying goes: a year’s plan starts with Spring. The 2nd China (Guangzhou) International Pet Industry Fair (CPF2016) which was held in Guangzhou International Sourcing Center in the warm Spring brought to a successful close on March 20, 2016.

The opening ceremony which was held on March 18 marked the smooth start of CPF2016. Occupied the exhibition area of 20,000 square meters with more than 500 booths, it attracted over 200 exhibitors from well-known enterprises including Ramical, Bile, Aubowl, Aibei, Milo’s Kitchen, Baolai-leelai, Iasuo, In+plus, Elite, Navarch, Dr.Cai, Laroo, and so on to display their latest esteemed products. Besides, CPF2016 gathered thousands of international buyers from more than 50 countries, such as USA, Canada, France, Italy, Germany, Poland, Australia, India, Singapore, Vietnam, Pakistan, Iran, Spain, South Africa, Brazil, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Thailand and so forth. In addition, over 10 professional lectures, summits, and forums were staged by turns and more than 10 colorful activities were held concurrently which gained high popularity for the show.

Compared with CPF2015, the number of international buyers from China and abroad has rose by 50% which included domestic distributors of premium brand, foreign international buyers, professional pet stores and online pet shops, etc. These professionals gathered at CPF2016 that showed CPF2016 was the best marketing platform in pet industry and the most important way to promote the development of pet industry.

The international seminar of CPF2016, The 21st Century Pet Industry Entrepreneurs Annual Summit gathered many industry leaders to discuss the future trend of pet industry, to share the successful marketing experience, to exchange the latest market information. The summit attracted more than 260 famous brand owners, distributors to come here learn the knowledge of market analysis and marketing skills.

On the afternoon of March 18, the head of pet category in Taobao (China’s largest and most comprehensive online retail platform with nearly 500 million registered user and more than 60 million fixed visitor every day), Jinxian, gave a lecture themed as “2016 Taobao Pet Industry Operation Directions” in which he shared the electrical business skills and the new initiatives and new direction of Taobao.

What’s more, the organizing committee also invited the pet experts from “The Constellation of Valuable Pets” (A famous pet seminar in China) to gave some lessons about restraint technology of small animals, development methods of pet Spa stores, Japanese creative grooming of Teddies, etc.

The colorful activities on CPF2016 had a good interaction with visitors and quickly light the site atmosphere. For instance, under the organization of National General Kennel Club (NGKC), The Super Dogs Cup·China Dog Groomer Qualification Competition and The China National Purebred Dog Super League were held as scheduled during the show. Based on the systematic breeding and management of purebred dogs, NGKC is the first members-only club links with purebred dogs lovers communication, mediated by holding top dogs shows and aims at building up the leading enterprises of pets economy. The competitions held for each sessions have won praise from the whole industry and nearly 200 professional pet groomers have been attracted to attend the competition. Besides, as the title sponsor of this session, “Quan Ba” will showcase its safe and high-quality pets’ shampoos on site.

Furthermore, since NGKC is a professional and top competition for dogs, all the dogs which attended The China National Purebred Dog Super League are required to be royal species with purebred, healthy figures and talents. These dogs will be ranked and rated by international referees from the aspects of size, hair, muscle development, jog, intimacy and so on, aims at bringing a professional and ornamental dogs competition for visitors.

Next session of CPF2016 is about to be hosted at Wuhan International Expo Center during September 16th to 18th. There is no doubt that it shall be an eye-catching and highly anticipated show on the basis of such successful experience. You are welcome to pay attention to CPF on the official website or follow our Twitter account @ChinaPetFair to know the recent news of CPF. Please mark the dates on your next years’ schedule and catch the business chance in CPF!

Post Show Report of GIAS2016

On March 18, The 2nd Guangzhou International Aquarium Show (GIAS2016) started smoothly and ended in a satisfactory way on March 20. The three-day exhibition achieved a great success which exceeded everyone’s original expectations.

First of all, occupied the exhibition area of 30,000 square meters with CPF2016, and more than 200 exhibitors, such as Sunsun Aquarium, Cleair Aquatics, Hinaler, Guangdong Boyu, AquaBlue, Keelock, Lidia Aquarium, Tropical Fish International Pvt Ltd and other famous aquarium brands at home and abroad gathered in Guangzhou International Sourcing Center to display their latest esteemed products including Aquarium fishes, Aquarium related equipment, Aquarium decoration, Aquarium lighting, Feeds & related products, Aquarium landscape, etc.

Many exhibitors sold out their samples of living fish, aquarium equipment, and so forth or signed a contract with their new partners on the scene. Based on the feedback from the TV interview, most exhibitors spoke highly of GIAS2016 and regarded it as a favorable platform which promoted not only the aquarium industry in China but also the comprehensive cultural exchange for foreign buyers. Some exhibitors even made booth reservation in the next session on the spot which fully showed the good effects of GIAS2016 and their great expectation to GIAS2017.

In addition, GIAS2016 attracted more than 10000 professional buyers and ornamental fish enthusiasts according to the incomplete statistics. Besides the official invitation from GIAS2016, the visitors also got the tickets by registering on the official website, contacting the organizing committee through email or telephone, buying tickets on booking site LY.com, and so on. The various channels gathered high popularity for GIAS2016 which can be seen from the pictures in the scene. It is no doubt that the popular and spectacular on site exhibition meant more opportunities of cooperation for exhibitors and buyers.

What’s more, the colorful concurrent activities were another important element which contributed to the great success of GIAS2016. As we mentioned before, Yangcheng Evening News·2016 Top Ten Aquarium Brands, GIAS The 1st International Bettas Friendly, GIAS International Guppy Contest (China-America Exchanges), Shenyang Cup·2016 Color Koi Appreciation, 2016 SGC The 1st World Stingray Championship, and so forth were held concurrently during the show. Take 2016 SGC The 1st World Stingray Championship for example, SGC aimed at promoting interaction and communication between stingray fans and the whole industry. And we had the honor to invited the stingray breeding master, Li Runlin; the stingray godfather in Japan, Pinchuan Jiuze; and the superstar of stingray in Thailand, PV wit white, to be our judge. Many visitors were attracted by their fame and got a fruitful trip. The live auctions after the championship was still an focus and maybe you won’t believe that the final auctions price of an stingray reached RMB850,000 on the show.

Based on the successful experience and unexpected effect of GIAS2016, the next session of GIAS must be an the highly anticipated event. You are welcome to pay attention to GIAS on the official website or follow our Twitter account @fishgzchina to know the recent news of GIAS.. Please no dot miss the business opportunities in GIAS!

The 5th Asia-Pacific Biomass Energy Exhibition(APBE2016)

Date: Sep. 26-28, 2016*
Venue: Guangzhou Pazhou , China Import and Export Fair Complex


China--A huge market for Bio-energy

Biomass energy has become the fourth most important energy source worldwide and one of the world's best renewable energies, and, as a result, it behooves China to develop this energy. Due to the large population, more and more biomass energy products and equipment are required for electricity generation, heating supply and other aspects.

Moreover, State Council of China has issued documents about environmental protection, explicitly mentioning biomass energy. Thus, it’s foreseeable that great support will be given to biomass energy industry by governments. It will undoubtedly usher in fast development in China.*

Who exhibits?*

Exhibitors at the annual APBE expo represent product lines in biomass-derived power, fuels and chemicals with waste generators, energy crop growers, municipal leaders, utility executives, technology providers, equipment manufacturers, project developers, investors and policy makers.

APBE provides incomparable opportunities for home and overseas companies in this line to explore Chinese market, strengthen international market and establish strategic cooperation.*

Mark your calendars for the upcoming APBE2016 Expo on Monday, September 26, 2016 and get ready for this industry gathering. Hours are from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 P.m.*

Register today and be a part of the exhibition.

Contact us:
APBE Organizing Committee
Sheila Shu
Fax: +86 20 82579220

Win the NUVO Concept Aquarium of your choice!

Win the NUVO Concept Aquarium of your choice!

Vote for your favorite aquascape for a chance to win an awesome new Innovative Marine tank!

CLICK HERE TO ENTER

Attention - Password and Security Update

Hey all,

Over the next few days we will be implementing some changes to our forum password strength and password expiration policies. To make sure you continue having the best experience possible on the community, we regularly monitor the site and the Internet to keep everyone's account information safe. We've recently become aware of a potential risk to some accounts coming from outside of this community. Just to be safe, we are implementing the following changes to improve security even further:

1) We are asking everyone to change their passwords (and will force a one time reset). Along with every user on the forum, new passwords will need to be more complex, and can't be simple words (sorry, you can't have "fluffy" as your password anymore!). Please use a password unique to this community. Reusing passwords can expose your account indirectly when other websites (Twitter, Linkedin, Badoo, etc) are compromised; and

2) Your passwords will expire on a 365 day basis. When you login on the 366th day, you will have to change it.

We'll also be sending out an email to users to let them know about the changes, in upcoming weeks.

Thanks all,
Helena
Community Management

Skimmer for 20gal Reef Tank

Hi guys, am thinking of adding a HOB Skimmer but there are so many options out there and since I have never ownes one I don't know which one to get.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Need a small rock

I have a tank I am getting going and have all dead rock in it. I need to introduce a piece of something with some coraline algae on it to seed the rock. shout out if you can help me. Thanks....

What anemone species?

I just bought a new anemone from a random weird guy. I don't know what anemone it is but he said it is from the caribbean. It is brown with green tips and he has a bright orange foot.

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Happy Tuesday

Good morning TRT friends, and......HAPPY TUESDAY! WELCOME HOME HELEN! Looking like with summer weather, a good chance of pop up thunderstorms may be in our future around these parts today. Since the family has summeritce and sleeping in, it'll be cherry frosted Pop-Tarts to go with our coffee and pink milk for starters. Had a lazy night last night.....did nothing after the pool other than relax. Hope all are well, and all the best,
Hack

New 60 gallon reef!

Hello guys I've decided to finally sign up and ask questions about my situation. I've been in the freshwater hobby for 8 years. I've now decided to turn my freshwater cichlid tank into a reef. This is what I'll be getting and what I'm planning. I'm going to need extra help on the filtration part. I've done like one hundred hours of research but there's just so much and I'm still lost in the filtration.
First off I'll get an ro/di system because this is essential.
Ill be getting rid of everything in my freshwater. After that I'll clean it extremely well and I'll be using 50lbs of live dry rock and 40lbs off live sand. Ill rinse the sand because it gets super cloudy if you don't and don't worry I'll be using bio spira later for the beneficial bacteria. I'll be using two 525 gph wave makers. Im thinking of having one on one side and the other on the opposite side. At the bottom facing upwards. Yes, no? Any suggestions? Then i was thinking about filling the tank up with rodi water and mixing the salt in the tank. If this is a dumb idea please correct me. After the tank is ready. Add the biospira and for filtration i can't use a sump no matter what so don't even suggest sump. First off i was thinking a canister filter with built in uv sterilizer. In the media trays the filter pads. Active carbon. And seachem matrix. Ill of course be very dedicated to the tank and constantly be changing the pads. Every two weeks maybe? Now thats plan a for the filtration. I like it because the uv will help me with diseases and algae in the tank later on. I won't use the uv when starting up i know that's bad. I don't like it because it'll be a pain in the..... And nitrates will be a problem. Now heres plan b forget the canister. In plan b I will be getting a protein skimmer. Any suggestions on protein skimmers? I saw that you can run a tank with just good flow, protein skimmer and rock as biological filtration is this true?. Currently i own a hob filter in my freshwater i will clean this filter and use it with the protein skimmer just for some extra mechanical filtration . In the filter I'll use polyfil, carbon and seachem matrix to help with the nitrates. With the hob filter maintenance will be so easy I'll change the polyfil very often. Once a week? Every 5 days? Okay theres plan b. Please choose the best of equipment for me out of these plans and best media, suggest too. Oh i already have a heater. I will also be using rodi water for reffil after evaporation. After my parameters are in check here is my list for what I'll be planning to get in order.
First I'll start off with the pistol shrimp and watchman goby. After that I'll buy the orbit marine usa leds. Then I'll be getting an anemone so it can find its perfect spot and hopefully not move anymore. What kind do you suggests? Then I'll buy a pair of clownfish probably the black and white ones so they can host the anemone. After that. More corals but here is where i need more help again. I was thinking the torch coral. And one of those flower corals i forgot that they're called. What do you guys recommend? Mushrooms? After kind of setting up this little reef i was thinking a small yellow tang do you guys recommend one? Or a pair? They'll be rehomed if they out grow the tank. Will they? After that maybe a hippo tang, will that be okay? It'll be rehomed also if necessary. As you can see i need help sorry if this seems very dumb. The fish i just mentioned are a must for me so please try not to crush my dreams... Now These are some fish that id like also
Mandarin goby. I know theyre hard to keep
A dwarf or fu manchu lion fish. These guys will eat anything that fits in their mouth so probably no right what do you guys think.
Double spotted goby but it will probably fight with the watchman right?
One of those shrimp that get on your fingers have long antennas and legs i don't know what they're called. They're red and white.
Blue green chromis3 or 4.
Any puffer suggestions?
So this is all my plan obviously not everything i mentioned.... this is where you guys come in and make fun of me and think to yourselfs "man how stupid is this guy" but eventually help me. Please Tell me what fish are reef safe and please try to answer all my questions. Sorry about all the questions. Hopefully someone can help me. Thank you for your time. Oh yes and how often should i do water changes. I was thinking every two to three weeks 10 gallons which is like 13% water change. Help!!!!! ?

Why do I need to supplement?

My 40 gallon is going great. I'm on month 5 and all is well. I have 5 total fish, one BTA and one 2 inch Maxima clam

I do a 20% water change every saturday.

I started with some easy LPS from Live aquaria like a 7 inch purple brain coral, a candy cane, I have some mushrooms, star polyps and zoas. Most of the smaller stuff was quarter size from a LFS for $7 each.

I'd say only 10% of the real estate is taken for coral and I'd like most of my rock work covered as it grows. I'm patient to have the little guys fill in.

I will get more of the easier LPS but not venture too far into the "moderate" category.

I do have 96w of LED over the tank and right now I'm running 95% Blue/uv and 80% 12000k center LED (One big 40w LED dead center)

So the question: If I keep doing a 20% water change once a week using IO reef crystal, why would I have to supplement? Shouldn't the water change add in whats needed?

Green torch sweeper tentacles

I have a Red Sea Reefer 28 gallon with a green torch coral who has constantly shown long sweeper tentacles throughout the day and I've had to move it because of this. The sweepers are close to 6 inches long and have already stung my Acan and monti. Is there something that I can do to stop the tentacles form being so long? What causes them to have such long sweepers?

Red Lizard Blenny

Okay so my LFS has a Red Lizard Blenny and this thing is cool as all get out, but I don't know too much about them. I read on Live Aquaria and while they look awesome, I'm a little leary of this being the 2nd fish in my tank. Anyone have any experience with these guys?

Tank Feeding frozen vs live

As we all get into the hobby we try to keep moving forward to learn new things to help our tank and inhabitants to be happy and health.

So this lead to a question. Is it worth the set up to hatch brine shrimp as live food for the tank?

Being new to the hobby I am trying to figure out if replacing the frozen brine I feed the fish with, with live brine provide any more positives.

Live stock is
2 clowns
2 chromes
1 pipefish
1 cleaner shrimp
1 peppermint shrimp
1 emerald crab

I'm proving everyone wrong clowns, chromis, tangs etc.

I haven't been real active here lately since I shut down my big tank and have moved on to other things more pressing in my life at this point, but just thought I'd share a couple of tidbits of information that everyone keeps claiming is impossible...

1) It is very possible to keep multiple tangs in a tank peacefully without a problem. The problem that most people have is that they are not willing to have a large enough tank to keep tangs in them, instead they think a 55 gallon tank is a big enough tank to put whatever they want in it. Look up the recommended tank size for the fish you want to get, then go bigger than what is recommended, if you can't then don't get the fish.

2) It is very possible to keep multiple clowns in a tank peacefully without a problem. Part of this also goes back to #1 (tank size), but even with the proper sized tank most people recommend only keeping a pair of clowns because they say that the clowns will kill each other if there is more than a pair. That might be true if you are adding clowns that are the same size, they will fight to establish dominance. If you add a clown that is significantly smaller than your existing clowns they'll be fine because the smaller clown immediately accepts that it is at the bottom of the totem pole and is not going to challenge the larger clown. I had a pair of mated clowns that I added a third much smaller clown to and they accepted it and have been together for a while now. They started out in a 40B then got moved to my 240, and are now temporarily housed in a 20H until I figure out what my long term plan is. I am thinking I am going to bring them to my work tank and add them in with a fourth clown which is larger than the smallest clown, but much smaller than the dominant pair so we'll see what happens...

3) It is very possible to keep multiple chromis together without them killing each other. Seems like everyone pretty much claims that they will slowly pick each other off until you only have one left. I started out with 3 blue/green chromis in a 40B, moved them to the 240, then when I moved the 40B to work and started it over I put in one blue/green chromis that had been in my 20H and added two more to have 3 in the 40B again... I did have one die but it wasn't killed by the other fish... now that I have shut down the 240 I brought the three blue/green from that tank and now have 5 blue/green chromis in this 40B with no problems... I also have two lemon chromis in with them too, I haven't had them together for an extremely long time yet but have not had any problems in the couple of months they have been together so far even though three of them are 2-3 years old and two of them are only a year old. Part of this might have been due to having a larger fish in the tank (one spot foxface) so they were grouping together for protection... I just sold the foxface now that I don't have the big tank to rely on to move him to as he was outgrowing my smaller tank, so we'll see if the dynamics of the tank change now that the larger fish is gone... although I do think I'm going to bring the other 3 clowns in and see what happens, the tank is a bit overstocked but I'm thinking I'll be better off cramming everything in one tank and focus on taking care of a single tank rather than multiple tanks.

I'm not by any means trying to condone overstocking tanks, refer back to #1 I think the most important thing for beginners is to get a tank bigger than the minimum recommended size for the fish you want to keep, but I see a lot of posts where people claim you can't do this or you can't do that... I've just shown I've done three of those things that can't be done, and I'm still experimenting with what else I can do... to me the most important thing is maintaining a low stress environment, part of that is having the right size tank, part of that is having the right amount of fish in that tank, and part of it is just learning what types of fish actually work with each other... some fish might just be incompatible due to their own personal attitude so won't fit in a peaceful tank no matter what you do..

A summer time Monday

Good *orning TRT friends, and.....HAPPY *ONDAY! Fa*ily ca*ped out again last night, but I got *y Serta since I have work today. Butter*ilk waffle to go with our coffee and pink *ilk to get us on the road today. Su**er time is here, 90 and sunny! Hope all are well, and get to enjoy the*selves today, and all the best,
Hack

200 gal tank

Brand new unopened 220 gallon tank with corner over glow and starter pvc piping. Asking 1200 Obo.

Turbo twist uv sterilizer q

Hey guys. I've got a question. I've been battling an algae bloom for awhile now. Can't figure out why. All my levels are good but I can't seem to shake the cloudy water no matter what I do. So I threw in the towel and bought a uv sterilizer. Now on the box it says use a pump with 100-200 gph rate. I was wondering if I could just plumb it in to my supply line to my sump. That way I know all the water going in gets sterilized. Thanks

Has anyone tried the Jebao Jecod CP 25 or 40

I was wondering if anyone has tried out Jebao's version of the Maxspect Gyre.
At Half cost I really don't care if a Chinese company ripped off a Chinese company. They have been ripping off American Patents long enough.

New to forum!

My tank at its early stages can't wait to bring it to life???

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$550 Aqua Illumination VEGA w/ controller

Purchased 2 hydra HDs for my new setup so I am selling my 2 Vega lights from my previous tank. I kept them in good working order, cosmetic condition and updated with the current firmware. I replace the fans every 12 months to ensure the units stay properly cooled so as to avoid lights going out temporarily as the pucks have a protection feature to turn off should they get over a certain temp.
The fans were just replaced month before last. The controller has the color screen and also the latest firmware.
$550 shipped

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Cute Clownfish in Anemone

Hey guys, so I know this isn't a question, but I would like to share with you a video I took while looking at my tank. I thought I would capture it because I couldn't handle the cuteness.

I know the method I used to get the anemone to host the clownfish works and I also know to be very careful with it.

With that being said here is the video, let me know whatcha think!

Link: https://youtu.be/kvRRN-Y-PgI

Also, please feel free to comment back pics/vids of your own tank cuteness!
John.

$125 Apex Energy Bar 8

Selling this fully functional Energy Bar I was using on my 40 gallon breeder. I purchased a second one to install in my 120 build to have it installed prior to putting sump and ato tank underneath while keeping the 40 running with the apex in the process.
Comes with aquabus cable.
$125 shipped

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Aquarium Science Poster Session at MACNA 2016 - Open to Hobbyists

DUE FRIDAY

The Marine Aquarium Societies of North America (MASNA) is proud to present the inaugural MASNA Scientific Poster Session held at the Marine Aquarium Conference of North America (MACNA) 2016 in San Diego, California, September 9 – 11, 2016.

MASNA is a non-profit organization composed of marine aquarium societies and individual hobbyists from North America and abroad, totaling several thousand individuals.

To further the goals of MASNA, MASNA is now accepting abstracts for the inaugural MASNA Scientific Poster Session.

The inaugural MASNA Scientific Poster Session is made possible by our generous sponsors WAMAS, CORAL, and EcoTech Marine.

The MASNA Scientific Poster Session allows for advanced aquarists, undergraduates, graduate students, and scientists to submit scientific posters on their current or past marine aquarium related research projects. This includes submissions from hobbyists that would be seen as advanced aquarists.

This will give the opportunity for 3,000 MACNA 2016 attendees to get up close and personal with scientists and fellow hobbyists, and discuss marine aquarium related science.

Posters will be judged by a committee consisting of general hobbyists, and scientists. Prizes will be awarded for posters in each of the three following categories: general hobbyists, undergraduate students, and graduate students.

Poster abstract submissions will be open from April 4th – June 24th, 2016.

Additional information and the abstract submission form can be found here:
http://ift.tt/1PASrrd

Additional information about MASNA can be found here:
http://ift.tt/1sN2TXR

Additional information about MACNA 2016 can be found here:
http://ift.tt/1PASwuN

Happy Father's Day!

Morning! Coffee and cinnamon raisin French toast with maple sera up from Vermont sausage and or bacon is on the table. Heading out to the dog show in Ludwicks corner Pa. Suppose to Be nice out today so enjoy it and Happy Father's Day to all the dads out here.

Decorater Crab?

I recently saw him eating a snail !!!!!! and then i removed the snail off of him then he went for another!!!! Is this normal behavior? do they actually eat snails
? should I get rid of him or is there another solution?

CC starfish or RK starfish?

Chocolate chip starfish or a Red knob starfish?
which one doesn't harm snails
which one doesn't harm anemones
which one won't harm fish or crustaceans(inverts basically)
which ones more beautiful
which ones a bit more easier to care for?

Anemone for beginners ?

My tank is a a 50 gallon tank thats been running for 7 months now
Now I'm planing to add an anemone (p.s my lights, salinity, nitrite and nitrate levels are fine for an anemone), but which species is a good to start off for a beginner? And was also planning to get a feather duster, and a red knob sea star would they all bother each other?

Butterflyfish tank

I am buying a 125 gallon tank and i want to have butterflyfish in it and i want to buy them 3 inches each but i dont know if i can have all of the ones i want because i dont know if it will be too much for the tank and if they will all get along. I researched to find out how big they all grow up to. The fishes i want to have is
Raccoon butterflyfish (8 inches) 1 only
Yellow longnose butterflyfish (9 inches) 1 only
Auriga butterflyfish (8 inches) 1 only
Double saddle butterflyfish (6 inches) 1 only
Tear Drop butterflyfish (8 inches) 1 only
Latticed butterflyfish (6 inches) 1 only

I want one of each. But will they be too much for the tank like too big or am i fine? And my other question, will they all get along with eachother? And if i do have enough space, do u think i can fit a yellow tang in there? If not im okay with that.

90g, 120g, or 210g reef?

Ok, so I'm caught in a little bit of a pickle here. Looking for some input on which route you think I should go.

What I have currently:

30g reef with 30g sump. Bubble Magus Curve 7 skimmer, Apex system with salinity. Tunze ATO, 24" ReefBreeders Photon LED. Think tank is absolutely THRIVING!!! corals are growing excellent and coralline is really taking off. Occasional battle with algae but nothing out of control.

What I have not set up:

90g tank (to be drilled yet), home made stand that brought the top of the tank to about nose level. (I'm 6'4"). Stand needs to be stained yet. 30g sump to go with this. And I would be using my current Curve 7 protein skimmer for this build. I would need to get piping, drill the tank, install C2C overflow, and probably some more rock.

I also have a 210g tank with stand, canopy, and HOB over flows that I bought for $250. This definitely needs to be cleaned (obviously not a big deal). I would like to drill this as well, if I went this route and if its not tempered glass. Obviously everything would need to be purchased for this, except for maybe the skimmer. I think I could get by with the Curve 7 on this as well. but not quite sure. I would try to put a 55g sump on this at the minimum. I would also probably end up building another stand to bring the tank up for better viewing (I hate bending over to look at my tank). This would obviously need a tremendous amount of LR, I highly doubt I could get away with only 90-125lbs of LR.

I also have a 120g, buuuut, that's up and running as a FW tank currently.

My predicament I'm in:

I'm not quite sure the 90g would be big enough for me anymore, as I have quickly out grown my 30g. The original plan was to move the 30g over to the 90g. I have started to lean towards cycling the 90g while keeping the 30g up and running as well. This could pose problems for my corals/nem as switching to the 90g won't be a mature tank like my 30g is?

Essentially in any route the 30g would be taken down and turned into a QT. But if I'm spending money on the 90g, maybe it wouldn't be much more to do the 120g or 210g. As I already know this hobby isn't cheap, I would piece together what I need a little at a time until I have everything. I would like to continue using the Curve 7 because I love the way it works and it is rated for 240g (I know, I know not truly 240g and it depends on stocking). My biggest and most expensive purchase would probably be LR and lights. Again, which I'm ok with because I can slowly gather LR and cook LR in brute trash cans until I'm ready to set up the tank in any case. I honestly don't want to spend $400+ on return pumps.

If anyone is able to provide some input it would be greatly appreciated, whether its tips, ideas, etc. it would help a lot.

Thanks in advance,

Blair

Unidentified mushroom coral

I have no idea what it is lol but I like it and would like to know. If anyone could tell me I would appreciate it!

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New guy

Hello new to this forum, I have a 55 gallon tank with live rock and fish. I also have button polyps in there too. I love my saltwater tank and just wanted to get on this website to read and learn. Also if anyone is interested, I have a 220 gal tank for sale, brand new

Need help with my zoas

New to the hobbie and I have no idea what this is growing on my zoas. I tried dipping them in revive for 10 mins and it didn't work. Can anyone tell me what it is and how to get rid of it I would appreciate it!

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Clown fish northern suburbs cape town

Hello reefers. Has anyone got clown fish to sell. I can't find anywhere.

Happy birthday to VWD on 6/18!

And here's the Official TRT Chorus® to sing......

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TOOOOOO YOUUUU!!!

Sunny Saturday at the shore

Good morning TRT friends, and......HAPPY SATURDAY! 80 and sunshine, and slightly overcast by shoebee bugs. Heading into work for oh, I don't know how long....1/2 day would be nice, got TON'S OF STUFF AROUND HERE TO DO. Someone just mentioned tomorrow's Father's Day......there's one more thing on the list now. Let's have some buttermilk waffles to go with our coffee and pink milk to get us going. Hope all are safe and well, and have cool stuff ahead for their day,
Hack

New guy lol

Hello my names Philip and I'm fairly new to the hobby. Im going for a nano reef tank ( 10 gallons ). The tank is a little over a month old I have:


11 pounds Fiji live rock

2 inch crushed coral sand bed

Maxspect razor nano 70 watt led

1 snowflake clown my gf named snow white

1 Fire shrimp

3 crabs idk what kind lol

And multiple coral

I have a lot of questions so I'm sure I'll be posting a lot. Hope to hear from you all in the future!!!

newbie from pakistan

Hello guys I'm new in this hobby I have a 48 gallon tank with custom sump I have put in more than 8 pounds of live rocks and 8 pound of base rocks with it
I have installed DIY led lights setting
I have lack of information about setting up the tank I don't even know what to check in water test and what kind of water testing is needed
I also have a problem of lack of availability of equipment in my area
It is very difficult to find anything near my location
I have this tank for two months now and I still don't have complete equipment I ordered protein skimmer from China a month ago and it arrived today
So please guide me what to do next I didn't put any fish to the tank yet and my hobby has already cost me a fortune
I am in massive need of help please guide me and don't mind my English
It is not my first language thank-you.