KeeperOfTheZoo

I've been using the API kit because it was the only one I could get locally. I think for nitrate its both easy to use and read. I haven't used anything else though as comparison for ease of use. The color changes are obvious though. I went from very high nitrates to none showing up on the test so got to see a full range of color change. The only time it's a little iffy is the change between 5-10. To me the color does not appear to change. The test is cheap though and it gives you a good idea of where your nitrates are at. I noticed both RCA and Aquatec use API kits.

Neat! The rock lay out is cool.

Very nice! In their defense, my two sgts really were not that bad. They played pretty nice with others. I had one that was very entertaining to watch as she hunted pods.

LOL! I think we may be in trouble Wayne. Will, I'm gonna assume you only want the good stuff but if you'd like the film algae that grows on the glass I suppose I could share that too. Ya want some yellow polyps? I'm having to trim them on a regular basis. Very pretty, but prolific! Same thing applies though... you'll have to remind me! Thanks for the vote of confidence Tim. I really hope it'll work. Gonna frag and attach everything in the next couple days right before a water change. I always get a little nervous about the toxins released by newly fragged corals.

Haha Will, you're funny. Can't be any worse than the dang coraline I'm scraping off all the time. Stupid stuff is growing on my sand bed now too. Grrr. I've been cutting (and tossing) renegade yellow polyps left and right. I keep thinking that maybe if I give them a place to grow they'll agree to grow where I want them. Wishinful thinking I know. Derek, good question. The gorgonian does make a rather thick hard base for its self. I suspect it's using its share of calcium and trace elements for that. The yellow polyps are just softies so I would think they would be primarily photosynthetic with just trace element use. The GSP I'm honestly not sure. It's mat is flexible and soft... would it fall more into the softies category too? My intent is to have a softies/LPS tank. I did screw up and add in a few frags of SPS that I was given and they are doing great. My tank is 7 months old with some large frags bordering on small colonies. Thus far I have not had to supplement but I'm getting closer and closer to needing to add calcium (close enough I bought some but haven't had to dose yet, just watching it between water changes). I wonder about trace elements, but hate to add things willy nilly that I don't have tests for. Wayne, if it frags ok I'll give ya a little frag. Just keep reminding me, ok? I get a little forgetful at times. My kids find it very entertaining.

I've read very mixed things about mixed grain size sand beds. Honestly, the more I read about it the more it confuses me. I replaced big chunky CC with sand (no idea what size, not sugar but it's not real large grain either) across most of the front of my tank (gotta finish one corner side). It was difficult to the point of futility to try and get all the CC out from around the rocks and behind them. So, now I have a mixed grain size bed because I have pieces of CC that have shifted up through the finer sand. I don't think it looks bad, actually, it looks very natural. Much like the sea floor when I've gone snorkeling in shallows around reefs/tide pools. Will it create a problem though? I'm trying to avoid the danger zone of 2-3" of sand... the no mans land between shallow and deep because I've read that's a great way to cause problems in the tank. I can't find anything conclusive about mixing grain sizes though. I've read 'Don't do it at any cost', and I've read it's a good thing.

Hope they are friendly hermits that won't make meals of your other tank inhabitants! I have several gulf coast hermits in my tank, supposedly they can last several days out of the water. They are nice when they are little, but they get big and then become destructive bullies. So I now have a couple that live in my sump!

I thought I'd ask for 'how to' tips before I butcher a fragging attempt. I have a rock with encrusting gorgonian. I'd like to frag off a smallish piece and glue it to my back tank wall in hopes that it will encrust and grow there. Has anyone done it (fragging or growing it on glass)? I have super neon green GSPs that I got as a mat that finally encrusted onto the glass and are making good new growth now. As crazy as it may sound, I thought I'd also encourage the gorgonian and some yellow polyps to grow across the back as well. I'm a little concerned that the yellow polyps may be too aggressive for the other two, but I had a couple polyps shoot loose and start growing by the gorgonian and it didn't bother either coral so I'm going to hope they will happily grow in close proximity. Possible aesthetic offensiveness aside (might look a little wild with all that growing on the back of a 6' tank)... anyone see why it wouldn't be a good idea to allow these corals to run loose on the back wall of my tank? I've seen back walls covered in GSPs and really liked the look.

That leather coral looks great. Can't wait till my little finger leather frags get bigger. I think moving the rock into two mounds will look nicer. Mine is in a line across the back of my tank and while it looks good, its not real inspired. I wish I'd done something more unique. Have you noticed the nano tank at RCA that has a shelf like arch? I think that's a neat effect in a smaller tank.

+1 for an attic fan. Its horribly inefficient to run an AC for circulation of air. If in doubt I can share my electric bill! There's a huge difference between when we use fans and when we kick over to the AC. I installed ceiling fans in our more open rooms (the larger living room, kitchen and playroom) with our floor plan it moves air pretty good. The attic fan is awesome for pulling new air into the house. When its running it'll suck doors shut! I don't run it all the time but its great for this time of year when temps swing a lot and warm air gets 'trapped' inside. My house is about 2500sqft and the attic fan can suck in enough air when it's cooler outside to cool the house down in about 10 min.

I've always had good luck getting newborns to 'go' with a warm damp rough napped wash cloth. Its never failed. Sounds like the kittens were old enough to have nursed their momma, that always gives orphans a fighting chance. I never liked the kitten formula (formula in general is just nasty), I switched to a raw goats milk based milk for rescues and had much better results. Has to be raw and 'live' though to be really beneficial. Our last orphan was a tiny possum that fell off his momma into one of our horses water buckets. He was so ugly he was cute! He's since grown into a big fat chicken egg thief! Good luck with the kittens.

Nice! I really like the overflow. Much nicer looking than the typical top to bottom overflows. Hmmm, I want one of those!

Hey Rob, do you have pics of the palys? I have one chunk of rock that's been in my sump, decent sized but not massive. I might be interest in a trade.

Ditto what Jake said. Set up correctly an overflow can not flood. Mechanical errors can always happen drilled tank or not. I've been running my overflow for about 6 months now, no problems except it does loose siphon at times and I want more flow. Both issues will be fixed by adding an aqualifter pump to a bigger overflow box.

Does it matter? At the rate they get covered in coraline the back will be purple in no time regardless of what you want. I've seen back walls covered in gsp which I also think is cool. I have a bunch growing on my back wall right now and I think I'm gonna encourage some yellow polyps as well. All that said my tank is black and I like it much better than the bright blue. Dark blue might be neat though.

How old is the tank? If it's new, I'd give it time before adding anything to the bioload which very well could just make things worse (more critters= more waste=more available nutrients=more algae especially in an immature system). If the brown algae are actually diatoms, then they should pass as the tank matures. Just part of the cycle. If it's not a new tank, then I can't say enough good things for conchs! I have a great big one, but he does more good for cleaning the sand than my army of hermits, snails and my mandarin that does sift some sand as it hunts for food. I'd watch the number of hermits in a small tank, they are fun but they are destructive. In my experience, they do little for the sand and mostly spend their days picking algae off the rocks (and knocking over your corals). I have some nassarius snails but I can't tell if they are doing much to help the sand bed. I probably need more, they're neat if nothing else. Also keep a keen eye on your water parameters... excess phosphates and nitrates are a great way to grow algae.

Thanks y'all! It really surprised me how much the tank has changed. I knew it had, but I guess when we look at our tanks every day we loose sight of the magnitude of change that goes on (looking forward to the 1 year mark, are you posting pics somewhere ORD?). I can't believe the growth on some of the corals. The pocilipora surprised me. The growth of the softies is fairly obvious, but I didn't realize I was getting so much growth on the few SPS frags I have until I looked at pictures. Dave, a blog would be a good idea. Gotta find the time to get it going. James, I noticed that just in the last couple days several of my corals are showing more color including the zoas you have (I kept a similar sized frag). They aren't back to their best, but do look better. I think everything is finally adjusting to the new bulbs. They are fast growers so keep an eye on them. That frogspawn taught me a lesson about coral placement... it stung the daylights out of a small frag of Miami orchid that I have. Thankfully it didn't kill the whole thing and I have another much larger frag that has more growth so it wasn't too painful of a lesson. At least not for me personally, the corals may not agree. Again... a big thanks. Without the support of everyone here I'm not sure I would have made it threw the not so fun parts of a new tank to get to where I am now.

I hope y'all don't mind a little self indulgence on my part. I was looking at pictures tonight and had a moment of realization.... my tank has gone through a lot of changes in the last 7+ months since I got it! October... this was the original set up. The original fish and single mushroom rock that I bought. See how deep that crushed coral was. Yikes January... all the big, mean & aggressive fish are GONE! We now have a little clown & a yellow tang. Also a few more corals. Watch the growth on the nepthea! At this point my mushrooms started budding like mad, the xenia took off and my single green ric has since split and one section has three mouths and is in the process of splitting more. Also reduced the CC bed, a lot. February... Hmm, more corals. Seeing a pattern here yet? I also realized how fast my tang is growing. April... cruddy picture, my digital camera grew legs while I was on vacation. Grr. This is a phone camera shot. You can get the general idea though. Massive growth in some of my softie colonies (crazy xenia, anthelia, nepthea, palys and zoas). More corals and a few more fish. Finally have a frogspawn (thank you James, I LOVE that coral it is just gorgeous), my candy canes are growing new heads almost as I watch, I finally ID'd my mystery SPS as fuzzy green pocilapora and both mini colonies I have are growing like mad. The CC is now gone in most of the tank replaced with a shallow sand bed. And check out the coraline growth across the back of the tank. The cool thing is, I know in another 7 months it'll be even more amazing. I can't wait to look back then and see how it's changed.

Amen Eck. I'm gonnna just say it.. I think chalices are kinda ugly. I wouldn't trade my frogspawn for one.

Exactly.... ones worth the effort $$$$ one isn't.

Hey Cyrus, I'll buy water from you at that price. Kempner is closer to Killeen than Austin. Unfortunately.

The victory dance.... oh man.....the dance!

My Aunt said the same thing about my Great Grandma making coquina soup. She said they'd put the clams in tomato soup and boil them. I suspect that's the simplified version.

Just a word of warning before putting those coquina clams in a tank, they are heavy filter feeders. You'll need to feed them like any other filter feeder because they wont find enough just sifting the sand in a tank. They are more likely to die and foul up a tank than do any good. I found a ton if those on the FL side of the gulf but left them at the beach after researching and realizing that they aren't appropriate for most captive tanks.