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I remember the aquarium store over by Northcross Mall (can't recall their name...) sold the complete Elos tank systems before they closed. Is there another shop in town that sells these systems? I've checked around the usual spots but no one seems to have them. I could order one from Marine Depot or other online vendors, but I want to see the tank before ordering it. Too many things can go wrong in shipping. I am specifically looking at the 20gallon Mini, the System 70 or the System 120. Any recommendations for in-town, or nearby, vendors?

Single-edge razor blades are all you need. Works every time. And you can get a small plastic handle for them (they're in the paint isle at Home Depot).

Skimmer sold, thanks!

$350 cash for the skimmer? Anyone? I'm hoping to sell this local.

Ozone - SOLD Deltec - Still available, sale fell through!

Sale pending on both items...

I have a Deltec AP600 and a Red Sea Ozone 50mg/hr for sale. The Deltec is about 2 years old and in great shape. The Ozone is about 1 year old. The Deltec price is $400 and the Ozone kit is $150 (I will do both for $500). Here's some photos: The air dryer beads in this photo have since been recharged. Let me know what questions you may have. Thanks! -Joe

Versace, Austin Aquariums became (was bought out by?) Austin Aquatic Innovations. Both stores are closed and no longer there. I did notice one of their saltwater multi-tank setups over at Deep Blue aquariums the other day.

Thanks guys. Starfire, I did think about seahorses but Im worried the elegance might decide they were lunch. I do have two fish in there. A Fiji Blue Damsel and a Spotted Cardinalfish, both I've had for YEARS. I think Ill stick with these two guys for now. WIth the water level dropped, the 35g probably becomes 25g and i don't want too much of a bioload.

Thanks!

Hello. Over the last 6 months I've been re-doing my 35g tank. Here's my old tank: http://www.austinreefclub.com/index.php?ac...p;f=14&id=4 I decided to do something a little bit different. After living on the ocean in Florida for 10 years I wanted to create a more 'natural' look. I also wanted to focus on my beautiful healthy Elegance and Fox corals as the centerpieces with a few choice corals joining them. This setup may not represent a biotope of any kind, but it does look more like what I'm used to seeing in the ocean. I suspended some red mangrove seeds to encourage prop roots and I added some various macroalgaes. Surprisingly, several macros just showed up including the Halimeda, the Codium and the Razor Caulerpa. I have no idea where they came from! As far as equipment, Im keeping it really simple. Im using a Tunze Nanostream with a controller for movement, an air pump / air stone running constantly (except in the photos... microbubbles) and big water changes for filtration. There's also a Tunze Osmolator for topoff. You will notice a very huge, ugly heater that I need to switch out for a smaller, more concealed unit. Lighting is the same as my old tank, 4-light Teklight T5 fixture. Enough talk, onto the photos: Thanks for checking out my new tank! I'll try to answer any questions you may have.

Do you mean manual focus mode or manual exposure mode? Also it's going to depend on your camera and the brand of tube. If you get a generic tube with a nikon body, you'll probably go full manual. I dont know, it will depend. Also remember these extension tubes aren't true macro lenses. They merely extend the magnification of the lens. A true macro lens will give close to a 1:1 subject-to-film-size image, meaning a snail captured on the film itself will be as large as the snail in real life. Extension tubes cannot get this close (usually .67x). Also tubes are generally very soft on the edges of the frame. You also get a very small depth of field with the tubes, which is attractive, but makes focusing very difficult (even more difficult with manual focus) especially with moving subjects like fish. Extension tubes are definitely cheaper than a true macro lens but you certainly dont get the same result.

Whichever you get, you'll definitely want a macro lens for closeup shots. I have a few SLRs I use: Nikon D100 (6mp), Nikon F5 (35mm) and Nikon F (35mm). Yes, I like Nikon! As far as lenses go I only use two: Nikon 17-35mm 1.8, and Nikon 60mm Micro (Macro lens). Never used the Rebel but I know people really like it.

John, do you have the names of the brand of DI filters that target Silicate? It's about that time to change filters.

My TDS downtown Austin reads around 126. The water is definitely hard. Other than that I havent tested it. After my RoDI it is 0 of course. Much better than my water in Florida which was a TDS of around 630! Nasty stuff.