jestep

I can't speak for this situation, but I had my Mg levels at almost 2500 ppm for about 6 months trying to fight bryopsis in a previous tank. I did have nerites and colonistas, and there were definitely some pyramid snails on the nerites most of the time. Absolutely no effect on any snails in the tank at that level. I'm not sure I would try to go much higher for extended periods of time. I have a suspicion the only way to get rid of these evil little vampires is to get rid of any large snails and wait for them to die off after they run out of food. A canthigaster puffer might be worth a try as well after removing the large snails. They would probably eliminate the colonists, but I imagine they would remove the pyramids as well. They're otherwise reef / coral safe with the exception of other small inverts.

Breaking 5 years old news... Don't boil your paly's people!

There's probably a few thousand leopard frog tadpoles in one of my ponds right now. They're very small so probably just hatched. I've seen enough coral and other snakes around the yard that I would like to get rid of as many as possible, most don't make it anywhere close to adulthood anyway. If anyone has a pond and wants some, let me know. Also they make a really cool terrarium project for kids. Feel free to bring them back if you don't actually want frogs later on. Otherwise, I'll keep letting nature take care of them...

Welcome.

Pretty much move it outside, fill it, and add fish. Filter is pre-seeded on my FW tank, so I shouldn't need to cycle it. Probably going to make sure the fish are doing well and are established before putting the channels online. It's so hot right now, I have to be really selective in what I'm growing. Most lettuce is going to bolt pretty quickly in this temp.

Go my platform finished this week. Nothing like digging a hole when it's almost 100 degrees out and finding a 200lb rock the first time the shovel struck the ground...

The RW's do rotate like the WP's, maybe even a little better.

Not to derail even further, but wouldn't natural biofilm that occurs in submerged parts reduce the efficiency of transfer as well? I know this phenomenon occurs in galvanized systems such as stock tanks and galvanized piping. After a certain period of time, the barrier basically prevents any zinc all at from going into solution.

I'm not sure if it's about the America card for me, but personally, the fact that Jebao basically copied Tunze and other mainstream manufacturers and being in China there's virtually no way to go after them, it's pretty appalling. At the same time they priced their stuff so far out of competition, it's tough to justify spending 4 - 10 times the price compared to a throwaway product that does work, just likely without the same longevity of a product from a company that cares about their reputation and quality. Personally, I'm done with vortechs on the noise aspect, but the maxspect gyre pumps look very promising. I can almost guarantee Jebao will have some copy of those within 2 or 3 years. One would think the competition would drive current manufacturers to figure out how to lower prices while keeping their current quality. So far this hasn't been the case, and honestly if they don't figure out how to compete, it wouldn't surprise me if Jebao starts dropping manufacturers. They've seemed to grab a large market share in a very short period of time. What manufacturers should be extremely concerned about is when Jebao figures out how to increase the quality of their products, which is likely going to happen as well.

I had a WP40 crap out on me after about 6 months. Manufacturer is so disconnected from the end users that I purchase them in "as is" condition because getting a warranty claim on them is probably impossible, at least it was for my first one.

No, but you can just get a UPS for a computer and run it off that. I run both of mine off an APC UPS. Costs less than the vortech battery backup and has way more capacity. Can also use the other non-battery outlets as a surge protector if you aren't using a controller. The one I use is a Back-UPS Pro 1500VA, but even one of the smaller ones should give a decent run time. This one runs about $110, and should give a RW4 or equivalent WP several hours. http://www.apc.com/resource/include/techspec_index.cfm?base_sku=br700g

I have mine on a pulse mode. Just adjust the frequency until you get a nice wave in the tank.

The RW's are the upgraded WP's. Slightly smaller footprint and slightly better controller. If you put either in a wave mode and get back and forth movement, in any direction, you should be fine. You just don't want to set up a pump for completely 1 directional flow if possible.

Is there any major chemical difference (rigidity aside) between the clear flexible vinyl tubing and the flexible PVC that you guys offer? Article is sort of vague on whether they are referring to the stuff you guys offer or the other tubing or both. I have always used the flexible vinyl for my pump returns and have used the flexible PVC several times on other projects. Throwing out any obvious cognitive dissonance, I like to see something other than anecdote when an affirmative claim is made for or against a product, which that article is clearly doing.

What bothers me is that a conclusion and recommendation to stop using vinyl tubing is formed without any specific study of the effects on marine life. Not saying it's not possible, but there's probably a few million reef tanks in the US alone using vinyl tubing and I would think there would be significant examples of negative effects of PVC plasticizers just based on real life usage. As far as I can tell, there's zero articles or any attributable level of morbidity associated with using vinyl tubing in reef tanks. With that being said the actual cost of silicon is actually cheaper than vinyl when you consider how much longer it lasts. It does require about twice the upfront cost though.

Argh.... you're a week late. I just picked up a similar size one in hopes that he is the answer to my invasive sponge problem. I do have to say they're pretty much the cutest fish I've ever seen. The bright blue eyes are crazy. Whoever get's him, make sure they know these guys need sponge in their diet to remain healthy.

My daughter has found 2 coral snakes this year in our yard. Big difference in aggression though. Really sad story that comes with the cobra though.

It's also impossible to get them to stay put if they want to move. Unlike most other anemones, these will just detach and float around until they find somewhere they like.

Sloooooooooooowly coming together. Ready to go outside as soon as I get my brick platform finished.

Swim bladder disease. No idea how to fix it in this small of a fish but pretty sure that's the problem.

Wish I had room for another tank because there's so many possibilities with these dimensions.

I'm pretty sure that one is a stokesi, which unfortunately is one of the harder to keep. Realistically if you can keep one for more than about 2 years, you're in a very select group. Doesn't look very bad right now. PE is a little on the low side, but nothing extremely worrying from what I can see. Best bet is moderate light and it needs somewhat turbulent flow from time to time, not high flow, but random flow. If you have vortechs, NTM mode would be preferable a few times a day. You may also want to directly feed it a few times a week with frozen mysis, cyclops, or other small particulate frozen foods.

Do you know if it was an ORA or other cultured goniopora? There's a bunch of sub species of these as well as alveopora. Many of them are virtually impossible to keep in good health long term given our current understanding of their care. ORA and some of the other companies specifically propagate varieties that they know will survive in captivity. If yours wasn't one of these, it can be a coin toss even if kept under good conditions. Generally speaking, they're a high nutrient type of coral, so if you haven't been feeding the tank, they can waste away over time. Different species have hugely different lighting and flow preferences. Here's a good article with care suggestions if you are able to identify the actual species you have. http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2005/10/aafeature2