need some advice...

Hi everyone,

I'm Mark, i'm new here...

so i'm contemplating trying to get back into the hobby for the second time. I set something up about 10 years ago but had terrible results. everything i would put in there would just die after a month or two. i ended up getting frustrated and sold my equipment for pennies on the dollar.

so fast forward 10 years and i'd like to give it another shot. i just wanted something simple with a few hardy fish and corals.

i'm looking at buying second hand so i don't invest a lot upfront; possibly upgrade in the future if i outgrow it. what i am looking at is a Biocube. the ones im coming across are the older ones with Fluorescent lighting. the new ones at the local shops are pretty nice with the LED lighting but they're a lot more ($300-$400 more) than the ones i can get my hands on second hand.

can anyone share some wisdom with these bio cubes? What equipment would you suggest i use? will the fluorescent lighting be good for beginner coral? should i upgrade to LED light?

so many questions, please help!

My Dwarf lionfish just suddenly stopped eating

I have had my zebra dwarf lionfish for about 3 months now. I switched him over to frozen foods using minnows. I fed him frozen krill, silversides, and raw shrimp. He ate krill with shells on them once a week for the first month before I realized that the krill had shells on them. I fed him every other day switching between krill and silversides every week with the occasional piece of raw shrimp. After I fed him two large pieces of silversides in a row i gave him a extra day between feedings. When it came time to feed him again he wouldn't eat. It has been six days since he last ate and nothing interests him, even a minnow swimming right in front of him. What should I do, should I try and force feed him in few days, should I isolate him, is it a disease?

no email notification when a thread is responded too

it used to work now it doesn't - where in the settings do i make that authorization

Welcome to Wednesday!

Good morning my TRT Friends, and.....HAPPY WEDNESDAY! I think dry, but looks/sounds like rain of some description will be in our future pretty much all week. Haven't had a stack of hot Buttermilk waffles in a bit so let's go there with coffee and pink milk this morning. Was running a tad late from Pop's last night Cath so didn't get to respond. We watched the 3 Narnia movies, and thought they were great, but didn't read any of the books. Hack LOVES TO READ, takes after his Mom.....I've turned lazy in recent years and opt out for the movie version. ;) Worked seemed more, well, less hectic, yesterday without a holiday weekend looming over us. Was going to say 'more normal', but that really doesn't exist there. But we're back to launching boats that have been on a schedule, and are in places where launching them makes sense. Not, 'you've got to be kidding me places'. Hope all are safe and well, and all the best to all,
Hack

Water Chemistry Parameters

OK so my tank is going through its thing and I am being patient as it matures. First it was the high nitrates and then it was the abundance of algae. Now I have the nitrates down to zero and the algae is for the most part gone. This is a 29 gallon in which I have a humbug, blue devil damsel, maroon clown, and a lawn mower blenny. I have a fire shrimp and an emerald crab. Then a clean up crew of various snails and hermit crabs. There is also what has been described to me as a small ball anemone that came as a hitchhicker. There are other small critters on the live rock. Oh and I have a small hammer coral total size about a half dollar and a piece of pulsing xenia about the same size. I think that covers it.

So my question is what should my water parameters be. What are target numbers so that I have a nice healthy reef tank. Where it is now:

Salinity is 1.023
PH 8.4
Ammonia .25 ppm
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0
Phosphate .25 ppm
Calcium 440
KH 179

I know that Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, and Phosphate are ideally zero but what are safe upper limits for a healthy tank to watch for? Salinity I shoot for the green on the floating hydrometer. My real question is what is the right amount of Calcium before I have to consider supplementing it and what should KH be. I have no experience with those numbers.

Thanks in advance.

my tank

125 gallon reef with two corner over flows connected to a blue line 40 some some x 1250 gallons per hour have a dc 2250 gph on its way.30 gal. sump with a dc 1100 gph pump on my protein skimmer 800 watt finnex heater and controller gfo reactor 10 gallon refuge hydor wave maker 60 blue leds and 60 10k white leds just replaced drivers. 120 60 degree optics blues come on 1 hour before white and blues off one hour after white go out 4 inches of dsb 200 pounds live rock one blue hippo 4" one sailfin tang 4" one flame angel two o clowns 4 blue green chromis one 3.5" fox face two crabs left one green emerald crab 12 Astra snails 12 nas. snails. about 8 corals

ReefDudes Shallow Reef tank

Hey Guys! i'm new to the form and figure i would share some info on my tank! This is my 4th? reef tank..upgrade. After months of planning i had my tank designed and had it custom built out of 15mm starfire glass. The tank is currently against a wall but well eventually turn into a peninsula. its lit with 4x G3 XR15's and controlled by an apex classic. Here is my latest update video on it from 2 weeks ago.

Let me know what you guys think!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEE5dtRfo1c

Bubble tip

Hi to the community,I'm new in the forum and I was looking for some advice and opinion as to the health of my anemone,perimeters are all spot on,is my anemone looking good,healthy and normal?
Many thanks

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Traveling Tuesday

Morning everyone. Hope all of you had a good holiday weekend.

Up early to start the long commute to work. Coffee is on.

green bubble s

Well let me tell ya got some corals from lfs and guess what was on it . Yep Green bubbles from heaven. filled a 32 gallon heavy duty trash can from wall mart and put three quarters of my live rock in it with fresh mix salt water a power head and a 300 watt heater smallest I have. changed the water every 2 weeks and finally after 5 months very clean and very good live rock. Witch brings me to Memorial day weekend switched out my rock with what little I have in there and now my nitrates are up there from not having enough rock so now I have my tank and the trash can to take care of will it ever stop 5 years no problems and one visit to fish store and blame. So I will not stress enough to ya all please check your stuff before you put it in . My bubble attack covered the top of all my rock, inside my over flows it was even on my snails. I know my battle is not over but I am close!!!!

Eye trauma on Angel fish

I have an angel fish which I've had for only one week. Like my last angel, he seems to be having issues. The second day I had it, he had several white specks on his body, which disappeared the next day. I did a 30% water change that day as well as increase water temp to 80. The last couple days he has had a white substance on one eye. It has gotten worse today and think it might have caused permanent damage. He has not been eating at all, and remains reclusive. What can I do? I don't understand why this is happening. The other fish are fine, water parameters are fine.

Attached Images

File May 29, 9 53 48 PM.jpeg (1.84 MB)

ID please .

Hello guys and gals , looking to see if anybody can help me ID this little critter ,. If I can figure out how to post the picture .

How Many Clown Fish Can Go In A 20 Gal Tank

How many clown fish could I put in a 20 gallon tank before it get over crowded and before they start killing each other?

which clownfish pair in 31 gallon/120l aquarium ?, cleanup crew ?

hi ive been doing research on which clownfish i want to go with for my aquarium once its up and running and ive had a few contradicting opinions, im interested in either a pair of black clarkii, a pair of pink skunks or a pair of occellaris clowns, ive read online a 30 gallon is the minimum for a clarkii, but a few different people from multiple LFS have told me a pair of clarkii's would do fine in a 31g mixed reef when i was under the impression 30g is for a single specimen, granted the female will be the bigger fish, but i just wanted a few opinions would the pair of clarkiis be ok in my tank ?, id be fine if it was just the two clowns also .. if not .. id be inclined to go with the pink skunks but have read that they are a semi-agressive clown that is quite shy ?, so im guessing they wont be inquisitive and out like a pair of occellaris would be right ?, what are they actually like .. as in there not going to be hidden 99% of the time right ? .. id really like to be able to go with the black clarkii pair as ive seen them in person at my LFS and there a great looking clownfish .. and definitely my favourite with the skunk following closely behind .. could anyone offer some input on either of these fish ?, there temperament ? would the clarkii pair indeed do well in my tank or was i right in thinking id be better off with a skunk pair ?

only other thing ill be adding is a coral banded shrimp, clean up crew &
depending on which clowns i get a single barrier reef chromis.

also what would the best cleanup crew be for a size tank like this im thinking just two turbo snails to start off with as ill be vacuuming the sand bed myself regularly, in the long run would two or three turbo snails be sufficient for a tank like this ?

thanks in advance guys !

tank specs: :dance::banana::rimshot:
mini reef 120
skimmer: BM Curve 5
return: Nyos viper 2.0
heater: Eheim jager 100w
powerhead: 1x Tunze 6040 with controller.
lighting: kessil A360W
ato: Tunze osmolator nano

what do you guys think of my setup ?
wont be upgrading for a long time so i went with better quality equipment
that should serve me well, super excited to get it up and running.

Memorial Day Monday....Yeah, I'm up.

Good morning, and HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY! And I'm up why? Movie marathon lasted till 3 this morning. After a few more cups of joe, will be having a big breakfast with dippy eggs, toast, and BACON to go with our coffee and pink milk. But NOT SOON! Our weather is looking dicey for outdoor plans so we'll be being very flexible today. I'm going to go wake up a smidgen more.....all the best,
Hack

Brittle Starfish

Hello everyone-

Have a brittle starfish that came with my live rock. I fished it out of the live rock before curing. Looks like I got all of the pieces. I am wondering if anyone has suggestions for ensuring that any missed legs do not come to life?

Thanks!

White spots on glass and rocks

This is in a 55 gallon tank which has been going for about 10 months. The spots are mostly visible on the glass but are also on rocks, snail shell, etc. They are tough to scrape off, usually takes a few passes with a magnetic scrapper.

I attached a picture (not the best camera). You can see some on the snail shell and some on the glass under the snails foot.

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Oh yeah, SUNDAY!

Good morning TRT Friends, and....HAPPY SUNDAY! Hack will be making his world class dippy eggs for us this morning, with maple sausages and white/rye toast to go with our coffee and pink milk. Lots of errands today after church, and then a 'Take-out BBQ' to take over to Pop's for dinner will keep a handful of Hack's a hopping today. I hope all are up to their eye balls in coolness with a great chance of grooviness throughout your day,
Hack

And to help keep this holiday weekend in perspective......HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY!

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Understanding Kelvin and lighting in your aquarium

I can surmise you don’t understand Kelvin and few people do. There are 3 temperature scales Fahrenheit, Celsius or Centigrade and Kelvin. Kelvin is the temperature scale used mostly in physics for extreme temperatures.
At the physically impossible-to-reach temperature of zero Kelvin, or minus 459.67 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 273.15 degrees Celsius), atoms would stop moving. As such, nothing can be colder than absolute zero on the Kelvin scale.
Freezing 0 K = -273.15 C = -459.67 F
Boiling 373 K = 100C = 212 F
Equivalent point -40 C = -40 F
In the aquarium lighting world we refer to color in terms of Kelvin.
5500K / 10,000 K aka 10K / 20,000K aka 20K
“Color “yellow / white / blue.
Look at stars some night and you can see what I mean. Unfortunately there isn’t a standard or specific value or wavelength when you buy a 20K colored bulb. It’s just more 20K “blue” than 10K “white “
Now when it comes to coral lighting – light up a 400W metal halide outdoors on a cloudy day. It’s nothing compared to the sun which is 5500K BTW. Most coral sold for hobby is getting much bluer than white light. White light is all the colors of the rainbow but 20 feet down its blue that we accept as 20K. As much as we want to accept LED lighting over metal halide lighting I really miss the rays of light only halides can produce.
Woody
I'm one of your sponsors Seahorse Aquarium Supply
www.seahorse-nw.com
I have an information only website and don't sell online

Ghost Shrimp

Does anyone have a good place to order live saltwater Ghost Shrimp? The last time I ordered Ghost Shrimp, They had ich and my tank got infected :0

Reef lighting

I have stumbled upon an L.A article (http://ift.tt/2quuTxG) on reef lighting. They recommended 12 hours of blue spectrum and 12 hours of white lite. I was curious what other people's reef lighting schedules are and what light intensity they use.

Saturday!

Good morning TRT Friends, and....HAPPY SATURDAY! Some moisture and sun, but the S.J. Chamber of commerce wouldn't allow anyone to say RAIN on the kickoff weekend of the summer season around here. ;) P.B.and J. on Buttermilk waffles to go with our coffee and pink milk this morning. Heading into the boatyard for have no idea how long this morning. Then yard work! Long range forecast is that it'll be remaining only in the low to mid 70's for a few weeks yet....not real conducive to wanting to open the pool yet. But plenty of other stuff to do around here getting ready for our summer entertaining. Hope all are safe and well, and groovy things are in line for your weekends,
Hack

Kelvin help

This is a repost I originally posted it in the feeding equipment section but that area doesn't get many visitors. Sooo here it is

Hey guys I just bought some Prime HD lights and they allow me to choose a kelvin setting. I have all softies and wanted to know if anyone can shed knowledge on the best setting to put these on to optimize growth. And yes I do want growth over color for now later on once they are bigger I will switch to a more color enchanting light mode.

15% to 20% OFF Select RO and RO/DI Systems

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Memorial Day

Memorial Day, which is the last Monday in May is a holiday and many of us have off from work or school and some of us look forward to sales.


But lets also remember that Memorial Day, which started right after the Civil War, is to honor our men and women who died fighting for America.


Too many of my friends died in war and I will never forget their sacrifice.


If it were not for them, think how different our lives would be today.

Fired up Friday

Morning all. Supposed to sleep in until three AM, but lots of lightning and crazy weather going on here in Boston.

Booked a trip for Fathers Day to see my son and grandtwins down in San Diego. Better get some fishing tickets and mail down poles to spend a day on the water.

Coffee is on.

I think I may have AIPTASIA...

Hey guys, I am new to this forum but after reading numerous old threads I found very helpful I figured it was time to join up. I realize this topic may be a common topic however I am new to the forum and new to saltwater in general. I certainly appreciate any help with identifying the new inhabitants of my cycling tank.

First things first. My water parameters (after 8 days cycling) are as follows:
Ammonia: looks like .25
PH: looks between 8.0 and 8.2
Nitrate: 0
Nitrite: 0
Ca: first test (yesteray) 500
Salinity: SG 1.024

Now to the point. I have around 38 pounds of base rock and 9 pounds of LR. Just yesterday I noticed a few new organisms in my tank that research would lead me to believe are brown button polyps or the dreaded Aiptasia... I also have a couple of brown mushrooms growing on the LR that I can't identify. I think most of these are easy for veteran refers but as I said I'm new to the hobby.

I plan to cycle my tank for a few more weeks especially since the apparent Ammonia "spike" hasn't gone past .25. After that I intend to very slowly introduce an anemone or two and allow a little time for them to acclimate and watch parameters before I introduce the two clown fish I want. After that I think I'll allow everything to establish before I start adding anything else to the ecosystem. Anyway, I know this is a long post but I am full of questions and a desire to learn. Please help identify what is in my tank and weather or not it is best to remove them before they get too invasive. The mushroom is on the rock up and right of the suspected Aiptasia. There are two more on the other live rock that appear to have faint blue spots but are difficult to get an image of you can see them just above the white base rock in the 3rd picture. Any and all advice is welcome.

Thanks guys!

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My "Marine Biology" Talk to three year olds

I got a call this morning from my credit card company telling me to cut up my credit card because of fradulant activity. So I have no credit card now.



I was asked to go to my Grand Son's school today in Manhattan to give a talk about Sea Creatures. My Grand Son Teddy is 3


Even though I worked in Manhattan for 39 years I cringe at the thought of going there and there is nothing that would get me there except for my Grand Kids and of couse of all the places in the world they could live, my Daughter chose Manhattan.


My wife went in the day before to spend time with our Daughter because my Son N Law is out of town so they wanted to have a Mother Daughter day together going to Spa's and whatever Mother's and Daughters do. I had a relaxing day to myself doing fish stuff and making Steam Punk gadgets.


I need a prop to show the kids so I went to a supermarket and buy a live lobster. The sales girl grabs a lobster and immediatly drops it on the floor where his claw breaks off. I don't want that one. So she catches another one and I throw it into a bag with an ice pack and go to the Long Island Railroad station which is near my house.


My train was the 9:05 so I stand on the platform waiting for the train and I hear an announcement that says


"THE 9:05 TRAIN TO PENN STATION IS OPERATING 15 MINUTES LATE"


I call my Daughter and tell her I will be a little late.



Then:







"THE 9:05 TRAIN TO PENN STATION IS OPERATING ON TIME"


I call my Daughter and tell her I will be on time.


Then:


"THE 9:05 TRAIN TO PENN STATION IS OPERATING 15 MINUTES LATE"


I call my Daughter and tell her I will be late.


Then:


"THE 9:05 TRAIN TO PENN STATION IS OPERATING ON TIME"



This went on 10 or 12 times so I had no idea when, or if I would get there.


So the train eventually comes 5 minutes late and I get on. Of course even though it is kind of late for rush hour, I still don't get a seat. In the 39 years that I took the 6:01 am train every day, I think I got a seat twice and once was when a lady dropped her mascara and fell off her seat.


There is really only about 13 minutes a day when you can ride the Long Island Railroad and get a seat. That is between 3:09 and 3:22 on Sunday morning two weeks after Lent.


Two million people a day ride the thing and virtually all of them are always on the same train as I am.


So I get to Penn Station with my live lobster, which was making noises in the bag causing too many people to look at me kind of oddly. Remember, if you see something, say something, so I had visions of the bomb squad escorting me and the lobster off the train at the station.


But nothing happened so I ran to the turnstyles to get on the down town #1 Subway train to the school.


I swipe my Metro Card and try to rush through the turnstyle and almost break my rib because it doesn't turn. A guy behind me crashes into me and a lady crashes into him.


I swipe my card again and a message comes up that reads "SWIPE YOUR CARD AGAIN AT THIS TURNSTYLE"


I swipe my card again and it reads:


"YOU JUST USED THAT CARD AND YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO USE IT AGAIN"


There is a time limit between swipes because I have a Senior Citizen card and they don't want you letting someone else through with your card. God forbid they lost two bucks.


OMG, Now I have to go to the "Information/ticket booth" which has a comatose looking a guy in a bulet proof plexiglass cage which looks like a Hang On Back filter from the 60s.


There are 40 or 50 people on line. Oh No! I NEED T GET MY LOBSTER TO SCHOOL.


I look around for a ticket machine thinking I will just buy another Metro Card. Then I realize, my credit car doesn't work. I panic looking at that line but there is nothing I can do. People are running around me, yelling, pushing, screaming, texting trying to get through the 30 turnstyles. I jump out of their way and get on line holding out a $20.00 bill.


The line is moving so I start to relax, then all of a sudden, I hear. "Good Morning".


Yikes, there was a TOURIST on the line. No New Yorker would say Good Morning to a ticket agent on a line, that gums up the entire works and slows everything down. You don't talk! You are supposed to rush past his little window and without slowing down slip in a 20 dollar bill, he grabs it and in one quick motion, throws you out a new Metro card and you quickly get out of the way for the next person.


But a TOURIST not only wants a card, even worse, DIRECTIONS!!!!.


No one asks Directions, ask a cop, Google, Twitter someone, but don't ask directions on a line in Penn Station.


Then the tourist lady smiles at the guy and seems like she wants to make small talk.


The information guy probably never saw anyone smile and didn't know what to do.


Are you Freeking Kidding ME!!!!!.


Just get off the line before I have a heart attack, This is New York City, we don't ask directions, we would rther get lost, die and get eaten by rats.


She gets the card and is looking at both sides of it. AAAAAAHHHHHH, She doesn't know what to do with the card and is asking the guy how it works. LIKE REALLY!!!!


Now the guy is showing her how to use the card and the line is half way to Brooklyn. People are getting frantic, spilling their Starbucks and one girl even stopped texting.


JUST GET ME THROUGH THE TURNSTYLE!!!!.


She finally leaves and the line again moves. Nice and smoothly people are sliding by the window, slipping in twenty dollar bills and getting their card.


It's my turn. I realize I can't just give the guy twenty bucks and slide away because my "Old People" card doesn't even work. OH Freekin NO! Now I have to talk to the guy and gum up the works. Every body is looking at me hoping I don't have to say something. Even the people in the back of the line two blocks away notice. Sweat is starting to rundown my bald head and the comotose agent notices so he thought fast. He didn't take my money, he just pointed to the turn style and said:


"GO THROUGH THE TURNSTYLE WITH THE RED LIGHT".


I didn't have to pay, he just opened the thing for me and I ran through without looking back in fear of the dirty looks I was probably getting.


I get to Teddy's school with Lester (Thats what the kids named the Lobster)


We go inside just at 10:30, exactly when I was supposed to be there and after the kids cleaned their hands, put their toys away, went to the bathroom and almost started to look in my direction I gave my talk. It wasn't exactly MACNA (Marine Aquarium something, something)


I asked the kids if anyone knew what kind of animal ate lobsters. This little boy comes up with a plastic lion and says Lions eat lobsters, ROAR. another little boy comes up with a snake and says snakes eat lobsters. HHHHHSSSS Finally a little girl comes up and says octopus eat lobsters.


Now I had something I could work with but I doubt that after hearing my disortation any of those kids will be marine biologists any time soon.


Then the other teacher from the two year old class comes in and asks me If I would talk to her class.


Two year olds. I go in and after they adjust theit diapers, wash their hands and clean the drool from their mouths I start my talk. I could have said anything, it realydidn't matter but I think some of them enjoyed it and will soon enroll in a marine biology course at NYU.


http://ift.tt/2rUAWhh

Thank you to those whom have served

Just want those whom have served know...THANK YOU!

A wet Thursday

Good morning TRT Friends, and....HAPPY, Quack, Quack THURSDAY! ("Hope I pronounced that right, don't want to offend any ducks that way be reading this?") Assorted Pop-Tarts to go with our coffee and pink milk to get us to our boats this morning. :D I hope all are safe and well, and have something cool lined up for their day,
Hack

Acclimating marine fish .. procedure.

i understand acclimating fish over a 2.5 - 3hr period to your tanks parameters, but over that time your removing at least 2 litres or more from your display tank right during drip acclimation, so naturally ill have my ATO, off during this period, but then once i add the fish is it a good idea to have some fresh rodi saltwater prepared to add back to the tank to bring it back to the right level then turn my ATO back on so it doesnt throw my salinity out of whack by dumping fresh rodi into my saltwater when its not at the right level .. just curious thats all .. i know its a bit unusual .. just thinking out loud and want to make sure i do it right to keep my parameters in check.

thanks for anyone that can clear this up for me.

Kelvin help

Hey guys I just bought some Prime HD lights and they allow me to choose a kelvin setting. I have all softies and wanted to know if anyone can shed knowledge on the best setting to put these on! :D

Update to android internet leaves TRT a lil lacking

Hiya, good day, im not sure if you guys are aware or not but android users have recently undergone a internet browser update. With this update i find its impossible for me to switch back to the traditional desktop view. I only have enhanced mobile view and the plain jane ugly mobile view. I have options to revert to the traditional desktop view (which is how ive always viewed the website via mobile or laptop). Which i could only guess means the android update has left part of the websites code obsolete or faulty :(

Just thought id let you know :) have a nice day and thanks for working to keep TRT ticking!

Help identifying hitchhiker

Hi everyone sorry to be a pain but can someone identify this hitchhiker for me and care instructions if he is a good hitchhiker pls

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Happy birthday to Tbell805 on 5/24!

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

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TOOOOOOOO YOUUUUUU!!!

Wet Wednesday here

Good morning TRT Friends, and.....HAPPY WEDNESDAY! Though only 'showers', that's enough to be annoying. And tomorrow, Thunder-Showers! Never heard that term before. Always hear thunder storms, but first I've ever heard of thunder showers? Must be something new.....will have to keep my eyes out for this thing. :D Looking like a Buttermilk Waffle day around here to go with our coffee and pink milk. Hope all have a groovy day ahead, and have enough to share with others, and all the best,
Hack

Kenya tree coral problem

Hey everyone, Im new here and to the hobby this is my first saltwater tank. I have a 30 gal. tank with live sand bottom. I have about 35-40 lbs of live rock. I have one power head and a home made trickle sump. My lighting system is an aqueon led hood with 3 bulbs 1 white, 1 blue, and 1 red n white colormax bulb. My tank is 6 weeks old, i let it cycle 4 weeks. I had a water test at 4 weeks and ammonia was high was told tank wasnt cycling cause of no fish so i went ahead and got 2 domino damsels. At week 5 got water tested again ammonia still high at 2.1 so i got some cleaner crew additions which are 2 emerald crabs n a brittle star. At week 6 got water tested again and ammonia still at 2.1. Everything else is spot on sg is 1.024, calcium good, ph good, nitrate might be a false reading cause of ammonia im told, alkaline good. Fish are fine no signs of stress. A friend of mine gave me a clump of dragon breath algae and 3 kenya tree coral. Its been 4 days n the coral is sad ive moved it everywhere n cant get it happy. Is it the ammonia or was it too soon for them?

Best Tang for a 100 gallon

Which tang would you recommend for a reef tank? Yellow tang or Blue eyed kole tang? could I do a schooling banner fish with either of these tangs?, thanks.

Preparing the tank for a vacation

Hey Y'all!

So the family is taking a 6 day vacation for the holiday, so I have been thinking about my plan for leaving the tank. I have a slight hair algae problem (not really a problem yet) that I believe is do to the nitrate spike a week or so ago. (likely caused by my overfeeding and over lighting) I was planning to leave the lights on a 4-6 hour schedule while im gone, but was wondering if I should cover the tank to eliminate any light exposure, and hopefully put a dent in the hair algae? I know my few softies will close up, but I don't foresee that harming them for just a few days. Any thoughts or experience with this?

Thanks in advance!!

A tad less wet Tuesday

....but not by much! Good morning TRT Friends, and....HAPPY TUESDAY! Yesterday was a real soaker, and my still drying sweat shirts on the radiator can attest to that fact. Capt'n Crunch is still dinning with us this morning with our coffee and pink milk. Got 16 boats that their owners just realized that this is Memorial Day weekend, and would like to be launched......someone is going to be disappointed, and late at the beach party. :D Been meaning to ask you Doug.....the new Aliens movie, that we may go and see tonight, I seen twice now where you mentioned the movie Prometheus in the same conversation. This will be Hack's first 'Aliens....Zeno morph' type movie, so is Aliens a stand alone movie or does it require seeing Prometheus first for a child? Hope all have a good day lined up, and will be staying drier than I, unless of course you're in the Key's..;).all the best,
Hack

Help ID a fish

Good evening

I have currently been looking around for some assistance with a fish I have, I am trying to ID it however not many people seem to know what kind of fish this is.

It was originally found at Balmoral Beach, Sydney in a rock pool however I have had great trouble trying to determine what kind of fish this is?

http://ift.tt/2rcudlH

http://ift.tt/2qM8OfP

If the photos arent loading in the picture, clicking on them will fix it

Stuff on Mandarin tail

Hi everyone I'm stressing about my spotty man as he has something on his tail fin and I don't know what it is. It wasn't there last night and I'm not sure what it is or what to do. Pls help

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Vertex Omega 180i and Ozone Generator help please

I currently have a Vertex Omega 180i and am looking to run an ozone generator and looking for suggestions on how to carbon filter the water and air effluent on this skimmer. Do I just fill a sock with GAC and put it on/under the effluents? Is there a carbon filter product specific to fit to this skimmer's effluents? Also I am looking at getting the Enaly OZAC-50 ozone generator. My question with the generator, can I use my apex and apex ORP probe to control the generator?

New 60 Cube Reef Tank lights and flow??

Hey ladies and gents, I'm setting up a new 60 gal rimless cube and need your invaluable expertise!! ? Thanks in advance. To begin I'm setting it up as a mixed reef tank, but plan later on to go to sps as I gain knowledge and the tank gets stable and healthy. My first two questions concern lighting and water movement.

I've decided to go with AI Hydra 26 for the lighting. Recommended spread is 18 x18 with a max of 24x24. Do you think this is adequate? I want to buy the proper lighting now so I don't have to upgrade later when I go predominantly sps. Do I need to go up to the Hydra 52? I'm getting mixed answers from the lfs, I think they might be trying to up-sale me.

For the sump, I've ordered a triggers crystal 30 elite (27 gal) because I like the design (I'm using a custom stand so I will have plenty of room). I'm looking for water movement advice in regards to my return pump and power heads/wave maker. Not including my rise of 4.5' what gallon per min should I go with and then I can get the appropriate pump to compensate for the rise. Recommendations on power heads? Few pumps -high flow or more small power heads? Remember the water only has to travel 24" before it hits a wall. Wavemakers? What's the overall turnover rate I should be looking for, from pump and heads?

Pumped to be getting back in, TY TY!

Problem fish need help

Hey guys. I have some damsel fish that are becoming real problems. I've tried adding two different fish. A tiger wart goby and a sailfin tang. These little guys are being very territorial and beating on the other two fish anywhere they try to hide. Anyone have any tricks for catching these small fish that hide in the rocks??

Reefing club

I was recently at a local aquarium club and we took a tour to see members 40g tank. He had a beautiful tank but I think It was overstocked. He had 7 fish. 2 of them were shrimp gobies 3 fish lived in caves and 2 were free swimming. He also had a golden dwarf moray eel (I went to see the tank because I am considering getting one and wanted to see one in person). There was a minor argument between the fellow reefers. Some said the tank was way over stocked. But the others said he was heavily stocked but the tank would be fine for know if no more additions were added. The tank had a 20g sump, 90g rated skimmer, in sump refugium, and bio-pelt reactor made from an old fluvial canister filter. There was too a marine biologist that took opposite sides of the argument. The tank had a small C.C. And 4 corals and 3 frags (That he was selling). Do you guys think his tank was overstocked? He tested the water in front of us and all of his levels were fine.

New Banner Ad takes forever to load

This new banner ad that was added to the header of the forums takes forever to load...which of course reduces the enjoyment of these forums.

Kalkwasser w/ vinegar

Does anybody have experience in doing this?

I live in Florida so my tank always has low PH due to the A/C on and the doors shut most of the time. I would like to up it a small bit, lets say .2 to .3. I want to dose, via a pump, Kalkwasser to help increase the PH but want to do it in small controlled amounts. I don't want this stuff in my auto top off.

So I dose 40 ml of vinegar everyday into the tank. My question is, if I add Kalkwasser to it, which creates a supersaturation, will it have any affect at all on my PH? Or is the amount so small that nothing will really happen?

This will be dosed at night to help keep the PH up. Right now at night I hit a low of 7.75 PH, If I have family over my PH will only hit 7.9 during the day.

I know with vinegar you can add 3 tsp of Kalk instead of only 2 tsp with water.

Guess I am trying to kill two birds with one stone here

Need help with my tank

I have spirobid worms all over the glass and the live rock. I know they aren't a problem just a filter feeder. But I just had a blenny and a mandarin die off within days of eachother recently. My water tested with slight ammonia. So I went home did a water change and siphoned the gravel. Last night I looked and there are three kinda big white almost bug like things and the water is kinda cloudy. So I did a slight water change. The pictures I have of the white things are not that good. And any help would be greatly appreciated. My tank is 29 gallons, has a purple fire fish, two clowns and two shrimp and some hermits.

*onday!

Anyone order a *onday? Good *orning Folks, and.....uhhhh, HAPPY *ONDAY? Well anyway it is. I see we have some good old fashioned Capt. Crunch on the table, and cinnamon raisin toast to go with our coffee and pink *ilk today. Looks like the sunshine has vanished in these parts for a few days dragging in the drearies with it. The beginnings of Shoebee season is upon us.....traffic, rudness, and hurry up and waits are all pouring this direction for the big weekend heading towards us. Anyone in a 'seasonal tourist region' can understand the onslaught we face. Going to be a trying week at work.....not only the rush to get the 'Oh it's Memorial Day already' boats in, but also a wet week at work hampering our efforts to please them folks that don't own calender's to know that ahead of ti*e. :doh: I hope all are in a groovy place, and have great things facing them, and all the best,
Hack

Hiya

Hey guys, Malachite047 here Nice meeting everyone!

The bubble method

I have been trying to get the most fish possible in my tank. I am running a skimmer for twice the tank size and I am considering the micro bubble method. I have seen it being effective for people but I don't know too much about it? What's your guy's input on it?

29 biocube

Hello all! I've acquired a neglected 29 biocube. New to all this I researched and did some mods. After many water changes and adding a midsize ghost skimmer, media tray and a phosphate bubbler thingy I'm running into a problem with my water not overflowing into the middle chamber onto media basket. The skimmer pretty much takes that whole compartment. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

A seasonable seashore Sunday

Good morning TRT Friends, and.....HAPPY SUNDAY! 'Chef Hack' will be making us dippy eggs and maple sausages with toast to go with our coffee and pink milk this morning.....He told me last night I could sleep in so he could make us breakfast in bed. Awwwwwwww. But told him 'I'm too messy of an eater to even chew gum in bed', but will yawn at the table to give it the same effect. :D Sunny and warmish, in the 70's, compared to yesterday's gale force winds I was bouncing in the creek with. Got home early enough yesterday to get a smattering of chores down, so God willing there'll be time after church this afternoon to devote to Hack's-Reef. Will be schlepping some New York strips on the grill for another Hack's-Place take out request for dinner tonight. Hope all are safe and well, and all the best,
Hack

20 gallon long update

Hey Y'all!

Thought I'd give an update on my 20 gal. So far, I transferred the Damsel and Occelaris from my old tank and added a bunch of dry rock, but that's old news. I have since added the Snowflake clown, which seems to have bonded well with the original even though the snowflake was larger then the occelaris. Surprisingly, the Damsel has yet to fight with anyone (knocking on wood) except for the big emerald crab that tried to overtake the Damsel's home cave. Btw, the emerald was eating at my corals, so he's gone! Have a little bit of hair algae starting, but cleaned some of the big spots off. I think that is do to my over feeding and excessive lighting. However, on the more exciting side, we have coraline algae growing on the dry rock already! :banana: Even more cool, I have green, purple, and possibly pink (likely just early purple) coraline starting! Hopefully you can see it in the pics, but they don't do it justice.

Somone's gonna say that its not coraline and it is a dangerous type of algae right? :cry: I am confident that it is coraline because its not hairy; it is hard, bright, and just seems right! lol

Lastly, I have built my sump tank! Its a modified 5.5 gal, but that's all I could fit underneath my tank. Gotta order some pumps, overflow, etc, then I'll be good to go! I plan to run fuji dry rock, and a small refugium with chateo. I know some people might say the sump and ref isn't worth it, but it is to me. Just the fundamentals of a sump and the operations intrigue me; and if I can help to keep nitrates down and increase water volume even slightly, that's a win win. Lets say i only get 2-3 more gallons in the sump, that's as much as a 15% increase in water volume. That's pretty good for a nano tank!

Plans for the future:

1. Finish sump

2. Add one more fish. Maybe a goby, or something small.

3. Continue to grow and add corals. Just have softies for now, maybe some easy LPS in the future.




Thanks to all who have helped me so far and will in the future!!!

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Help with a new 250 gallon FOWLR Setup

Hello everyone! I’m getting back into the saltwater aquarium hobby after being out of it for almost 20 years. Got busy with kids and coaching and gave it up for a while. Kids are grown now and I’m really excited about getting back into maintaining a saltwater FOWLR tank. I originally posted this in the General Discussion forum; but it was suggested I post it in this "equipment forum."

I'm in the process of designing and constructing a 250 gallon half-cylinder acrylic tank….and I have a lot to learn…and lots of questions. I should also say that this is my first post EVER on any type of internet forum; so I’ll apologize in advance for breaking any forum etiquette rules!

Here’s the basic design specs so far for my tank…followed by some initial questions that I need help with before I get too much further along. Of course, if you have any suggestions regarding design specs below, I’m all ears.

AQUARIUM SPECS

• 250 gallon half-cylinder acrylic tank: 84”L x 32”W x 30”H
• FOWLR: Looking to have several Angel fish (Queen, French, Rock Beauty), Tangs, Butterfly fish and Clownfish.
• Center trapezoid overflow box inside the tank. 1.5” drain holes to be drilled in bottom/back section of overflow box to drain through wall into 75 gallon sump in mechanical room on other side of wall. Will be about a 5.5 foot lift from return pump to top of tank with a single tee and several 90 degree turns.
• 1” Return holes to be drilled in upper left and right of back panels; with return pipes being fed from sump in mechanical room
• My initial sump design at this point is pretty simple: Left section for filter socks and protein skimmer, center section for Refugium…with water flowing under/over/under baffles into return section on the right. Still hunting around for pumps, skimmers, ATO system, lights, etc.
• Plenty of room in separate mechanical room behind tank for sump, refugium, etc….so no space constraints there.

QUESTIONS
• Sump Design & Flow Rate: Would love opinions on going with 1) High-flow refugium design summarized above vs. 2) Design that permits slower flow through the refugium with Skimmer in left section, return in center section and refugium in right section being fed via tee & ball valve in return line that regulates flow into refugium. Thoughts on what’s best? Fast or slow flow through refugium to optimize algae growth in refugium vs. tank?
• Best to feed the refugium with “dirty” water from overflow drain or “clean” water teed-off a return line?
• If possible, would it be better to have a separate refugium that is outside of the sump…with it’s own return pump and flow rate?
• Years ago I used to have a closed-system canister filter setup with a mechanical module, chemical module and UV module. Is that even necessary with the sump/refugium?
• For a FOWLR tank, what’s best to put in refugium? Chaeto Algae? Miracle Mud? Clean-Up crew? Live Rock Rubble? Algae Turf Scrubber?
Recommendations?
• Is it best to have 1-1/2” inch drain lines and smaller 1” return lines? Or 1-1/2” for both?
• I’m thinking about the Sicce Syncra 10.0 that pushes approx. 2500 GPH. Is that enough? Too much? Better to go big and regulate additional flow back into sump vs. throttle-back the pump? Better to use a single, larger return pump...or two smaller ones - in case one dies.
• Recommendations for substrate in tank? I like the look of pure sand; but is that going to get stirred-up too easy? Carib Sea “live sand”? Lot of different blends & sizes?
• Lighting recommendations for a FOWLR tank like this?
• Any recommendations on equipment? Protein Skimmer, Return Pump, ATO system, Temp & PH Controller, Heater, etc.?

Thanks again everyone for your wisdom and patience with all my questions!

Make it a Blessed Day

Giesemann VERVvE factory preset guidance

We recently invested in a Giesemann Vervve lighting system and are wondering if anyone has insight or opinions on their factory preset program- which is 98% full spectrum power for 9 hours - deep blue, lagoon blue, royal blue, cool white, UV and deep red. This is a much more light than we had been giving our corals, but we also recently had a tank crash, after 3 year of happy, thriving like crazy SPS and LPS. We don't think this was due to lighting- several fish died too- but the root cause is still unknown, so...We are down to our mushrooms and some unhappy LPS. It just seems like a TON of light.

If anyone has any opinions, we'd be very happy to hear- the guidance in the Vervve manual is disappointing. If you agree with that amount of light, would you recommend an acclimation time, or is going from, for example, Deep Red light at a max of 30% for only 2 hours, to 98% for 9 hours ok for the corals?:read::arg:

Cool 15% OFF JBJ & AquaEuro Aquarium Chiller SALE

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Do I have dry, live or reef rock??! Help!

I'm new to the hobby and started my cycle two days ago. I ordered 'live' rock from Amazon http://ift.tt/1Ai8jrQ

When I got my rocks they were dirty, covered in sand and probably other organic dead matter. I put them straight into the tank to start the cycle Today I tested for ammonia and nitrite and there is zero of both in the tank.

Do I have live rock or dry rock now??? Do I even need to cycle if it's just dry rock?

Also, why are some dry rocks sold as reef rocks and some are purple and some are white? Do they turn purple on their own or are they stained/colored?

EDIT:

I went on their homepage and this is what my rocks look like (not like the picture on Amazon)

http://ift.tt/2rBHKQt

In the description, it says it comes with live bacteria. So is this real dry reef rock or did they make it?

Superb Saturday

Morning all. Took a nap since I got up at 3 am to fly, and now my sleep schedule is a mess.

Denise is helping out at a friends antique store today, and returning with a couple of grandkids. That is good, as I need 20 wheelbarrow loads of gravel moved to around back for the final flagstone patio.

I need to finish cleaning the garage. Got about 10 big bins and boxes that need unpacking, and need to make a big cable and wire rack.

Denise and I had a bet that I could go three months without leaving the toilet seat up. With only a week to go, it was forgotten today. If she lost she had to take a glamour shot on my ugly square volvo. Since I lost, my morning will be visiting Restore to find an old window to hang as the top of a rail that acts as a room divider.

Enjoy your Saturday everyone. Coffee is on - the decent kind. Also got most of a pound of bacon already cooked.

Coral Identification

Hey Y'all!

Back with another question. I bought this coral frag from a online store about 1-1.5 months ago (roughly). Was supposed to be GSP. I thought maybe the stress of shipping made it different looking. However, after viewing others photos and realizing that time has not changed anything, I am fairly confident that it is not GSP. (Another reason why I dislike these big online dealers)

So any guesses as to what it might be? It has polys similar to xenia, but has brown stalks and green centers (center of the polyp). It likes moderate flow and lower lighting. It has started to grow larger then the original frag, but fairly slow at this. Grows just like GSP, carpet like base that can be peeled off the rock fairly easily.

Let me know if the pics do or don't work.

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Should I get the infamous flower pot coral?

Hello everyone!

I am still pretty new to this hobby, but am starting to get more and more comfortable with the care of corals (although I had a scare with a pooping torch coral). I have started becoming more and more interested in goniopora along the line as well. They are rather infamous, however, for being very hard to keep from what I have gathered from others. What makes the goniopora so hard? Would I be able to perhaps manage it? Thank you!

Fantastic Friday

Morning all. At the airport headed home.

Lot more digging to do, and going to fire up the pellet grill.

Overpriced crappy coffee is on.

Have a nice Friday.

Did I finally find the cause to my Dinoflagellates?

So I've been starting to notice some slight dinoflagellates, I hadn't changed anything so I wasn't quite sure what caused it. I would spray them off and they would almost instantly come back. I thought about reducing the lights and doing all the other band-aid type solutions.

Then when I was researching them, I realized that dinoflagellates seem to thrive when there's no phosphates in the tank and people have had success by essentially adding phosphates to the tank which allows things like GHA and better algaes to start gaining the nutrient battle against them.

That's when I realized, about a month ago I was having a GHA growth issue that I wanted to tackle before it got too bad(my chaeto/refugium was newly set up), so I threw in a bag of chemipro-elite phosphate remover in to my filter sock. It worked great, my GHA stopped growing and everything leveled out. The other thing I noticed was my chaeotmorpha just flat out wouldn't grow. Tried 3 different lights and had an entire ball even die off. Then, fast forward to now and dinoflagellates are starting to grow all over, takes daily blasts to clean up rocks.....

Then.. I realized something. I am thinking that the reason for that is the chemi-pro has essentially sucked everything out of my water column and created an environment where dinoflagellates thrive. I have switched out the filter socks and then removed the bag of chemo-pro hoping this would fix my issue.

Does this sound like the possible culprit? Or do you think something else is still causing it?

Torch coral problem

Help please!

I have had this torch coral for a solid month now, and it has been healthy this entire time. It was fine about an hour ago. I came upstairs to find this. It was entirely closed up, and the mouths appear to be vomiting these brown strings. Is this brown jelly disease? What do I do? Everything else is doing fine, and I do not know what happened. All parameters I think are fine.

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Somewhat of a problem here

Hey Y'all!

So I have a slight problem. I've gotten addicted to this hobby, and love my softie reef tank. However, some of these coral places online are ridiculous on prices, and I don't have a LFS that sells quality frags. I heard that some hobbyists or large scale hobbyists frag their own corals and sell them. Does anyone know of a good online source with reasonable prices; or even better, maybe a club or someone who sells frags on the Eastern Shore of Maryland?

Any tips or suggestions are welcome! Thanks in advance!

Fragging Coral

I would like to frag one small frag off my toadstool leather mushroom coral. I do have a frag plug live aquaria sent me. I will place the frag on a frag plug in a small container in an area of no flow in the tank. I will wait for the frag to attach itself to the plug then I will place it in my tank. I have never in my 10 years in this hobby fragged my own coral. My lfs used to frag corals for 1$ and they did a great job. They have since stopped this service :( I do not have a fragging kit at home. I might get one in the future. But I have heavy duty scissors and stainless steel knives. What should I use to frag it. And what should I use to disinfect my tool?

Starting my first 50gallon reef tank, need some help!

My wife and I are setting up a reef tank for her Mom as a gift using her Mom's old 50g tank from the Philippines. We are both complete beginners without any experience whatsoever. I've read a lot the past couple of weeks, which cost me a lot of sleep, but with all the products you can get, I'm kind of confused as to what I really need. Yesterday I started the cycle but I still need pumps and proper lighting before moving on to adding corals and fish in a couple weeks.


So here are my questions:

• What lighting do you guys suggest for an aquarium with a roof where heat can easily get stuck? ( I'm not allowed to post any links yet, otherwise, I'd show you the aquarium)
  
• How many pumps and what overturn rate do I really need for beginner corals ( I'm interested in toadstools, blastomussa, elegance coral)? I've read numbers from 10x to even 75x the tank size. And where should I place the pumps?
  
• What is the best way to measure nitrate and ammonia levels? I saw a thermometer-like device you can put in the tank. Are those reliable?
  
• What filtration media should I use to keep ammonia and nitrate levels low?

I also have some non-equipment related questions I haven't been able to find answers to but I'm not sure if this deserves a single thread so I'll just ask here:

• When performing water changes, do I need to use freshwater or saltwater?
  
• Is it really that harmful to use conditioned tap water?
  
• Do I need to feed corals separately from fish? If so, what do I need?
  
• Do I need to use supplements such as Iodine, Magnesium trace elements etc. to maintain the tank? And is there a difference between supplementing trace elements or certain elements individually?
  
  From what I get, trace elements are made up of all the elements you need so you don't need to supplement every element individually. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Happy birthday to Dave's Not Here on 5/18!

And here's the late to the game official TRT Chorus® to sing.....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TOOOOOOO YOUUUUU!!

Chocolate PB whoopie pies!

Hot Thursday!

Morning everyone,Ice coffee and cereal with fruit for today. Going to brake the high today as we hit 93. Stay cool my friends enjoy the day.

Hi, I'm dockjockey

Hello everyone. I'm currently in Afghanistan, but looking forward to being back home in South Carolina soon. I've been doing freshwater tanks for years, but I'm seeing up a saltwater DR when I get home. I'm looking forward to lurking and learning until then.

I'm sure there will be tons of questions, (apparently plants in saltwater is Uber contreversy) but I'm looking forward to everyone experiences to teach me.

Need Suggestions for a 250 gallon FOWLR Tank!

Hello everyone! I’m getting back into the saltwater aquarium hobby after being out of it for almost 20 years. Got busy with kids and coaching and gave it up for a while. Kids are grown now and I’m really excited about getting back into maintaining a saltwater FOWLR tank.

I'm in the process of designing and constructing a 250 gallon half-cylinder acrylic tank….and I have a lot to learn…and lots of questions. I should also say that this is my first post EVER on any type of internet forum; so I’ll apologize in advance for breaking any forum etiquette rules!

Here’s the basic design specs so far for my tank…followed by some initial questions that I need help with before I get too much further along. Of course, if you have any suggestions regarding design specs below, I’m all ears.

AQUARIUM SPECS

• 250 gallon half-cylinder acrylic tank: 84”L x 32”W x 30”H
• FOWLR: Looking to have several Angel fish (Queen, French, Rock Beauty), Tangs, Butterfly fish and Clownfish.
• Center trapezoid overflow box inside the tank. 1.5” drain holes to be drilled in bottom/back section of overflow box to drain through wall into 75 gallon sump in mechanical room on other side of wall. Will be about a 5.5 foot lift from return pump to top of tank with a single tee and several 90 degree turns.
• 1” Return holes to be drilled in upper left and right of back panels; with return pipes being fed from sump in mechanical room
• My initial sump design at this point is pretty simple: Left section for filter socks and protein skimmer, center section for Refugium…with water flowing under/over/under baffles into return section on the right. Still hunting around for pumps, skimmers, ATO system, lights, etc.
• Plenty of room in separate mechanical room behind tank for sump, refugium, etc….so no space constraints there.

QUESTIONS
• Sump Design & Flow Rate: Would love opinions on going with 1) High-flow sump design summarized above vs. 2) Design that permits slower flow through the refugium with Skimmer in left section, return in center section and refugium in right section being fed via tee & ball valve in return line that regulates flow into refugium. Thoughts on what’s best? Fast or slow flow through refugium to optimize algae growth in refugium vs. tank?
• If possible, would it be better to have a separate refugium that is outside of the sump…with it’s own return pump and flow rate?
• Years ago I used to have a closed-system canister filter setup with a mechanical module, chemical module and UV module. Is that even necessary with the sump/refugium?
• For a FOWLR tank, what’s best to put in refugium? Chaeto Algae? Miracle Mud? Clean-Up crew? Live Rock Rubble? Recommendations?
• Is it best to have 1-1/2” inch drain lines and smaller 1” return lines? Or 1-1/2” for both?
• I’m thinking about the Sicce Syncra 10.0 that pushes approx. 2500 GPH. Is that enough? Too much? Better to go big and regulate additional flow back into sump vs. throttle-back the pump?
• Recommendations for substrate in tank? I like the look of pure sand; but is that going to get stirred-up too easy? Carib Sea “live sand”? Lot of different blends & sizes?
• Lighting recommendations for a FOWLR tank like this?
• Any recommendations on equipment? Protein Skimmer, Return Pump, ATO system, Temp & PH Controller, Heater, etc.?

Thanks again everyone for your wisdom and patience with all my questions!

Make it a Blessed Day!

Garage Clean out!

44" Aquatic Life Pulse LED light fixture. This is pretty much brand new. Great for SPS, LPS, clams etc. Has adjustable feet to mount, or you can also hang it. Worked great and saves on energy costs for sure. Timer built in with sunrise, peak, and sunset programming built in. $600 shipped to your door


Tunze submersible protein skimmer. Worked great in my modded SeaClear 60 gallon tank. $40

ATC Refractometer in New condition $20

JBJ Nano Glo Magnetic refugium LED used for about a month $40

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Bta not getting enough light?

I added a rose bta about a month ago, it has moved very little and my clownfish host it in turns since its a bit small; however the last couple of days it started streching out quite a bit. My tank is a year and a half old, parameters are on point (0 nitrates or nitrates, ammonia undetectable and .02 ppm phosphates) i have it under leds that run for 10 hours a day. I've had great growth with all my corals so far with both leds sitting at 50% blues and 40% whites, should i ramp up my lights slowly over the coming weeks or wait for my anemone to move to a higher spot where it can get more light. I have attached pics of my bta and other corals, also you might notice its practically sitting on top of my green star polyps.

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Reef in Vase?

Hi everyone. I was browsing through some videos when I came across a reef in a vase/jar. Not sure if this is new or i just found out about it. It is very interesting. What kinds of coral or fish could live in such a small tank?

Stocking 175, keeping the peace

So trying to figure out my next steps in stock my 175 but right now I have great chemistry in the tank, everything gets along! So I hope to tap into your knowledge to see what the next best step is.

So here is what I got,

Yellow Tang
Watch Man Goby
Diamond Goby
Yasha Goby
Cleaner Wrasse
6 Line Wrasse
2 Clowns
Blenny
Purple fire fish
cleaner shrimp
fire shrimp
2 blue headed jawfish

I love to add fish that have lots of character and color, I wanted to add a kole tang but don't want the tang aggression. Would really like to add another blenny but also not sure of the aggression. Was think of a Basslet but was told they are A-holes. What do you guys think?

Good morning Wednesday!

Good morning Folks, and.....HAPPY WEDNESDAY! What day is it? It's the day it'll be hitting 90 around these parts! :D All ready have the gnats and Black flys arriving, and pre-summer traffic is building.....must be getting close to Shoebee season at the shore. Serving up scrambled egg sandwiches to go with our coffee and pink milk for starters. Boat moving. launching, hauling, loading, repairing business is in full swing with the approach of Memorial Day looming. Hope all are doing groovy, and have a chance to help others do the same,
Hack

Lettuce Nudibranch?

This was ID on a Facebook page as being a lettuce nudibranch. And the photos seem to match up.




Are these guys good guys or bad guys. I noticed several as many as maybe a dozen most very tiny with the largest being 1/4 inch. I believe they rode in on a piece of live rock I got a few weeks ago. I have a FOWLR with one very small anemone that someone ID as a ball anemone. I would like to add like a bubble anemone or pulsing xenia or other easy corals. I kind like the little guys

Brine Shrimp

In the morning I don't have the time to soak my brine shrimp in Seclon. So I would like to soak large quantities of brine shrimp once a week, strain them, and then freeze them in portions. Would this process decrease the nutritional value of the brine shrimp when I defrosted them in order to feed it to my fish?

Can too many water changes be a bad thing?

Bit of a general question, but in my case specifically to do with some pulsing Xenia which is struggling.

Parameters are all okay, phosphate was a bit low a week or so ago but I've done about 4 water changes in the last 8 days. Xenia was okay before, but over the past week it's been gradually declining. It's super bunched up at the moment and my looking healthy at all but everything else looks to be thriving. I've read in a couple of places that xenia prefers slightly dirty water...

Is there a chance that changing such a large amount of water over 8 days is the issue, meaning I should just let the tank sit or is it probably another variable? Conversely, are even ore water changes advisable?

I've been experimenting with changing powerhead power and direction in the last week as well, but the xenia isn't in a place that has been massively affected.

Bioload

Bioload, Bioload, Bioload. In the saltwater hobby, everyone is always talking about your tanks Bioload. Your tank inhabitants produce Bioload, but what is Bioload? And how can you decrease it? And why is it bad to have a larger Bioload?

Top of the morning Tuesday!

Good morning TRT Friends, and....HAPPY TUESDAY! Sunshine shine and near on 80 today, with the next couple tickling 90.....Sorry George, but YEAH! :D Got Buttermilk waffles hitting the table this morning to go with our coffee and pink milk. Glad you made it home safe Jeff, and thanks for the early returns on pics, and look forward to seeing the mother load. Any pics of the 'Magical Chair'? Got to spend some time in the creek yesterday doing some 'slip grooming' in gale force winds.......That will keep you on your toes! Hope all are well, and have cool stuff in line for their days, and all the best,
Hack

*obile *onday

*orning everyone. Boarding at 5:30 for my flight to work.

Got a lot of prep done for the 3rd and final flagstone patio. Also put a big garden in.

Coffee's on.

Common clown not staying upright

I have 3 clowns, a powder blue surgeon and a sailfin tang. All are doing fine, growing, eating well, active, except 1 clown which is now battling to swim upright. Swim ladder problem I assume? How should I treat this?

39 gallon set-up

Hello. I have been in the hobby 10 years know and have recently acquired a custom 39g rimless breeder. I also have a 70g community reef tank that has been running for 7 years know. I have been enjoying my peaceful fish in my 70 and I would like to put the most aggressive fish/invert I can in my 39g. Does anyone have any suggestions for an aggressive predator fish/invert?

just got an urchin to help clean up the algae.

i had a tuxedo and got him some help. this new urchin seems to pick up debris intentionally. is this common or have i just gotten ahold of pigpen

Ehopps skimmer

Myyy Ehopps protein skimmer keeps bubbling over. I have tried to adjust it but it gets worse.

Sun shinny Sunday MOTHER'S DAY!

("I should know better with Cath out there.") Good morning TRT Friends, and.....HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY! beautiful sunshine, and hitting 70'ish today. Got some Cream of Wheat hitting the table this morning to go with our coffee and pink milk. I'm going to leave this short for now to see if'n I can beat Cath. All the best,
Hack

Saltwater Stocking

Hello,

i currently have a 29 gallon sw tank that i will be updating to a 75.

i currently only have a Lawnmower Blenny.

for the 75 i will have 55 pounds of live rock and some zoas. not to much coral. Also will have a 29 gallon sump

not all of these fish i want to add, just opinions on them and how they get along with each other a * means a must have in the tank. Thank You!

--

Lawnmower Blenny*
2 Ocellaris Clownfish*
Pajama cardinalfish
one spot foxface
toby puffer
flasher wrasse
flame hawkfish
sunset anthias
blue green chromis 1
clalk bass
yellow candy hogfish
kole eye yellow tang.

Skimmers for reef tank

I'm wondering which of these skimmers are better for a reef tank with fish. My choices are Coral Vue Technology AC20284 Octopus Needle Wheel Skimmer or SCA-302 180 Gallon Protein Skimmer. Which one would you recommend? or have had experience with thanks.

Leave em he or get rid of em?

Hey guys, I found this crab in my rocks anyone know what he is and if I should remove him or let him be!? It is very spiny all around and the claws are light red. He will be in a small container with some water until I know what to do with him.

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90 Gal Update with Pics

Hey Reefers! Have been a ghost since tank started. But the reef is doing well and slowly growing. I'll attach some pics and send over water params and stock. Thanks for taking a look! Hope all is well with everyone on here!

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Hello from Southern Wisconsin

Hi...I'm mimi. My husband and I have a 20 gal. tank for about 3 mos. We beat the odds...we have a Condy Anemone, Giant Palm tree coral, and another coral I don't know the name of yet...hee hee! We have a Yellow Tang (we are purchasing a 200 gal. aquarium within the month) and 4 damsels and a Tomato Clown fish...oh and a Feather Duster plus a ton of snails...this tank is highly flourishing!! I'm still doing research on stuff and keeping coming to this site, so I thought I'd join. We have our tank on live feed...Here's the link if you'd like to look. Plus I'm attaching a photo. I look forward to meeting you all!! :jester:

Live Camera: http://ift.tt/2rdvaH1

What is this?

Is another form of aiptasia?

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A soggy seashore Saturday

Good morning TRT Friends, and.....HAPPY SATURDAY! Bring an umbrella if'n you're heading to the beach today. Scrambled egg sandwiches while I drag my feet this morning seeing if the boss is going to call and say 'working in this today would be stupid'. So far the rains are still vertical but are supposed to become 'horizontal' carried by 40+ mph winds. Wouldn't be any yard work getting done around here if'n I did stay home, but of course the continuing tank 'getting back in shape' program would love to have my company......as would the Mrs. over at Pop's......or Hack after picking him up from last nights shindig, to go do some Mother's Day shopping with him. Yeah, there's options for my day waiting in line. Of yeah, could pencil in visiting my brother Bobby in the hospital. Well anyway I hope you all are dry, or have a really good excuse for playing in this stuff, and all the best,
Hack

What the crap Is this?

Alright guys and gals. I don't usually freak out about things in my tank. I've been noticing my brain coral has been retracted for a week or two. Saw my yellow tang picking at it so I thought that was it. I moved it and kept a close eye on it. Then I was determined it was something pest related. So today I dipped it. That's when I saw it! This thing that was flat on top and bored a hole in it. I stuck a tooth pick in it and pulled it out. It looks like a tick! What is this?

What the crap I started this?

Alright guys and gals. I don't usually freak out about things in my tank. I've been noticing my brain coral has been retracted for a week or two. Saw my yellow tang picking at it so I thought that was it. I moved it and kept a close eye on it. Then I was determined it was something pest related. So today I dipped it. That's when I saw it! This thing that was flat on top and bored a hole in it. I stuck a tooth pick in it and pulled it out. It looks like a tick! What is this?