Timfish

Looks like you win Sosik.

Cool stuff! In the first two picture it looks like you've got several species of red algae and I wouldn't be surprised if some is Halimenia sp. macros (aka "Dragon's Tongue") like the one in hte last photo. Tangs, rabbitfish and angels will love it so if you want to save it your fish selection will be limited. Some of the red threads might be the a red turf algae like Gelidiopsis or Ceramium or Polysiphomia species but might be the beginning of Asparagopsis or cotton candy algae which can be annoying so be ready to sstart siphoning it off if so. From the looks of the Oculina robusta in the 3rd pic and your other corals your system is ready for more corals.

Free to a good home a nearly new hexagon acrylic aquarium. Best story by noon Jan 2nd gets it, don't PM me, post your reasons you should get it below. 75 gallon All-In-One acrylic aquarium w/ skimmer. 30" tall, 25" side to side and 29" point to point. Used for about 3 months by one of my clients before upgrading to 160 gallon systems. Local pickup only, Austin TX. (Black cat not included.)

Merry Christmas!

I seriously doubt the alkalinity is the primary issue and I don't see anything wrong with your dosing or levels. RUnning a UV in the system is what I'd do also. I've found the most effective way to erradicate Ick is to have an oversized UV pulling water from behind the rock on one side and returning water at the surface on the other side. (Theory is the best place for cysts to from is behind rock where there's less competition for space and less likey to be removed by animals scraping algae off rocks.) I know it's not always practical to plumb in a seperate pump and plumping just for a UV. One option to increase the kill rate of larva in the display tank if a UV is plumbed into the return pump or is running in the sump/refugium is to find a 13 or 15 watt submersable UV with integral pump and drop it in behind the aquascaping someplace where it can pull from behind the rock and send treated water to the front of the DT.

Sorry for your loss! In defense of the anemone though, fish can look healthy and eat well but still have serious problems and die without warning weeks or even months after it was acquired.

Interesting paper on corals incorporating microplastics in their skeletons: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/355737020_Reef-building_corals_act_as_long-term_sink_for_microplastic

No, haven't heard from Prof in a very long time sadly. Yeah, in my experience dinos and nuisance algae in general has always been a secondary issue and just indicative of a shift in the equilibrium of an ecosystem which has some underlying cause. Stumbled across this research showing how it's we innately want to add something to fix a problem, so it's easy for advertisers to sell a product to fix something.

Welcome back, and good luck! And yup! prices are crazy high! Hopefully they will drop but to some degree I think they're here to stay. I can remember an article by John Burleson (he was one of the first back in hte 80s to use Phillips 03 actinic bulbs to bring out colors in corals) writing about not letting his wife do laundry when they were expecting guests. He figured out whenever laundry was done the perfumes used would make his corals close up. And it's not jsut all the stuff people spray into the air that can cause problems, I have a client that spends weeks every year out of the country and alkalinity will always drop fast as soon as they leave.

Welcome back! Research has revealed quite a bit about how reef ecosystems work as well, especially the roles of Dissolved Organic Carbon (DOC) and sponges (it's a whole lot more than just nitrates and phosphates). If you haven't seen these videos you should find them pretty interesting as well. "Coral Reefs in the Microbial Seas" This video compliments Rohwer's book of the same title (Paper back is ~$20, Kindle is ~$10), both deal with the conflicting roles of the different types of DOC in reef ecosystems. While there is overlap bewteen his book and the video both have information not covered by the other and together give a broader view of the complex relationships found in reef ecosystems https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-R2BMEfQGjU Changing Seas - Mysterious Microbes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7hsp0dENEA Nitrogen cycling in hte coral holobiont https://youtu.be/DWItFGRQJL4 BActeria and Sponges https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oLDclO7UcM Maintenance of Coral Reef Health (refferences at the end) https://youtu.be/dGIPveFJ_0Q Optical Feedback Loop in Colorful Coral Bleaching https://youtu.be/oadKezUYkJE Richard Ross What's up with phosphate" https://youtu.be/ZRIKW-9d2xI

I've got a pair that were bought in 2007 so 14+ now. I'd expect though 10 years is a more realistic age to expect them to live. Kinda like cats, rarely one lives past 3 decades but 18 - 20 years is a pretty old cat.

Well, haven't seen this hawk in a few days now so guessing it's gone. 😪

Any of the setups you described should work fine. Seems the deciding factor is what's going to be the easiest to plumb AND work on in the future. Here's another option for you though. I like redundancy and prefer to use multiple return pumps (as well as lower flow rates) and for the refugium I don't see the need for more than short sidewalls just tall enough to retain the sand, mud and rock (maybe 6' - 8" tall). Egg crate will work well for keeping any cheato in place if you feel you need it. So here's another option for you using two return pumps and keep in mind they don't both have to have the same flow rate, the one pulling water through the refugium can be slower if that's what you feel works better.:

Well, looks like I'm going to loose this guy. 😢 This Flame Hawk was bought in summer of 2004 and has been a fixture sitting atop the rockwork watching people go by. It's still eating well but the last few weeks it's behavior has changed markedly and slightly more recent it's colors have started to fad. It's picked a quite corner under a rock where it watches everyone and is not nearly as active. Not the first time I've seen this process - an old fish slows down and starts looking kinda ratty like old cats or old dogs when their coats have faded. (Since people will ask the most recent additions to this system was a Yellow Watchman Goby in 2018, Yellow Tang was rehomed to this tank in 2013 [original purchased in 2000] and a pair of percula clowns added in 2010, damsels and Coral Beauty were added with the Hawk in 2004.) Here's a pic of the tank with the hawkfish siting in the mushroom polyps in the upper middle right.

That's too bad, that's an attractive combination. Not too surprising though, most fish we get are juviniles and as they mature they can get more territorial.

Test your ammonia, pH and alkalinity but with all the stuff from your existing tank there's a good chance you've skipped the initial cycle.

My sincerest condolences! Don't forget us when you get back in town.

It could be lighting, it could be some issue they had before you got them. If possible try to find out what conditionas they were grown under.

A mangrove in sunlight, a short pictorial essay.

Good morning! Welcome to the club! Tell us about your system.

With the overflow and rock tower in the center of the right bow you'll be able hide pumps/wavemakers behind it. Depending on how we do the aquascaping pumps/wavemakers can be hung on brackets so they can be easily removed. As far as dead spots, every tank I've moved has had dead spots where detritus has built up. The only way I've seen to minimize the build up is to use a powerhead to flush out the aquascaping and a diatom filter periodicly to flush out it out and remove it. But dead spots or low flow areas are probably important for some of the biochemistry in reef systems. One example off the top of my head is the carbonate crystals in fish poop won't dissolve at pH of the water column and a lower pH is needed.

Not surprised you got different response the way everyone name stuff. 😕 your picture looks to blue fo rme to guess but you might try looking through these two databases https://reefs.com/coral/?_coral_types=zoanthid-palythoa http://www.zoabrary.com/

These are instruction for a DIY cannon I designed and was able to have Dana Riddle evaluate for spectrum, wattage and PAR. The pdf instructions assume someone with basic "lob a blob" soldering skills and a basic understanding of electrical circuits. The xlsx document has spectral output, wattage and PAR map @ 9" using 16° lenses for the LED stars (other lenses are available). The basic 2 star & buckpuck circuit lets it be configured as needed. For example, the recessed fixtures in this video used 13 sets on a 4" x 12" heatsink to make ~250 watt fixtures. 3500 PAR LED Light.xlsx DIY 3500 PAR Cannon.pdf

You're welcome!

PMed