prof

Most tanks have a tempered bottom pane. This cannot be drilled. It is always best to check with the aquarium manufacturer to see what is tempered and what is not.

The fish will attack the crab in a regular shell. They will only try once and give up when they find out the shell is protecting the crab. Of course I don't keep crabs with crab eatin fish

How old are the filters? Even with good pressure a clogged filter won't allow correct flow. It is also possible that the wrong flow restictor was installed or that the RO membrane is not rated for your expected flow rate.

I am impressed. It is turning out great!

Some people are commenting that it is cruel but I don't really understand why. I would love to add a couple of glass shells to my tank to see if any of my crabs would move into them. Any idea where I can get some?

Hey everyone... It looks like I may not be able to make it to the meeting. My wife had a work emergency and I am going to be stuck at home with the kid. Not a bad thing for me. Tabitha and I will have a good time together. We will try to head up there together but I can't promise. I have the new meeting flag ready to go and was hoping to find someone who could stop by my place and pick it up to make sure it gets to the meeting. PM me if you can swing by before going to the meeting. Thanks, David

Ok, we are talking about two animals that are fairly common in the ocean. I am not sure this is much different from adding shrimp or damsels to feed a frogfish. And we could easily debate that keeping them in an aquarium is even more cruel. Don't get me wrong....I am not advicating this as a new olympic sport, but this is more like feeding mice to snakes, not backyard dogfighting. Good or bad, it is pretty cool to see.

Thanks everyone. It turned out to be a great day (even though I had to work).

A pair of goggles and a scrapper. The little ones are just the right size for cleaning that hard to reach glass Tabitha (almost 3) knows not to put anything in the water, including her hands. She does very well at the fish stores and at home. My tanks are generally out of her reach. She does get to help feed sometimes but it has always been supervised. She does not have her own tank in her room, yet. That is probably my next step in teaching her how to take care of fish, and pets in general.

Adhesive vs. solvent.... It is commonly refered to as 'acrylic glue' and 'glueing acrylic'. This is a misnomer. While there are epoxies that can be used to glue acrylic the true method is welding, often refered to as solvent welding. Weld-on is just a brand of solvent. It literally liquifies a small portion of the acrylic being connected and the two pieces bond at the molecular level. There is no adhesive being used and no adhesive left behind like when you use Elmer's to glue paper together. This is much like welding two pieces of metal together. The difference in the Weld-on products is a matter of acrylic content. Low number weld-on, like 3 and 4, are just solvent. The rely on a good fit of the acrylic being joined because they are melting the pieces together. Higher numbers, like 16, have some acrylic blended into the solvent. This allows them to bridge small gaps in the items being joined. In fact, you can make your own #16 by taking #3 (or 4) and stirring excess acrylic into it. You will end up with a thicker gel. On a side note: Silicon does not adhere to acrylic. Using silicon to attach acrylic to glass relies completely on the bond between the glass and the silicon. There are epoxys that are used by manufacturers to attach the two different materials. This is an actual adhesive, glueing, process. Using silicon on acrylic or PVC will eventually fail and leave a bigger mess than you started with.

Alright...The vote is over. 'Nemo' is on the way!

Plexiglass is acrylic, it is just a brand name. I usually use acrylite or cyro brands mainly because that is what is commonly available in the sizes I need. I believe Home Depot and Lowes carry plexiglass and usually only 1/8" or thinner. They may be selling an extruded instead of cast product. Cast is clearer and stronger. 1/8" is generally strong enough for a bubble trap. It just depends on the length of the unsupported span.

Hurry up and get your votes in! I need to get this ordered.

We found one like that in a bucket of bait shrimp last time we were at the coast. Cool creature!

FISH SOCK Epic Reef will donate one if everyone can pick one. Someone start a poll...

PMs seem to be acting up. Yes, I can do what you need.

I can cut whatever you need. PM me if interested. Regal is the plastics store in Austin where I purchase my acrylic and supplies. You need a high tooth count blade with 0 degree set for best results.

I like the blue glittery rocks from PetsMart... But seriously, any version of crushed coral is probably your best choice. Depends on what you want to keep. You will want a finer sand for burrowing type creatures. Beyond that it is mostly a personal preference.

Has anyone tried photo stacking? It looks like you can make some really cool pictures. Here is a quick tutorial on how to stack with Combinezm. Digital Grin Here is a link to some photos done by cherrycorals and posted on MAAST. Link to MAAST

I downloaded webcamxp last night. Seems real easy to use. I set up a quick camera and it works ok. I will try to get something permanent up this weekend.

Looks great! Camera/lense?

The ehiem and mag are designed to allow external usage. I just don't trust the flimsy connections. Like Mike said, the plastic faces can break and create slow leaks. Iwaki/Supreme/etc. use PVC hard fittings and have feet to screw them down. Just a little peace of mind for me.

Water turnover is always debated. If you have 5+ times turnover in the tank you are greatly cutting down reaction time in your sump. Slow flow in your sump (slower in a refuguim) is a good thing. If you are depending on your return pump to provide flow in the main tank you have to give up the reaction time to move enough water. Hence the existence of closed loops, tunze, koralia, etc. Always research the pump to see if it is pressure rated. You don't want to try to throttle down powerheads or pumps like the mags.

Depends on how much flow you want through the sump. Iwaki, PanWorld, Supreme....all good pumps. I don't like running Mag drives or Ehiems external even though they are rated for it.

I like the idea. I would have to see a sketch of the plumbing. The 4 way manifold may be overcomplicated.