JamesL

That makes sense.

My sun coral and gorgonians love the stuff. I am almost out, and will definitely be buying more soon.

Want to go to Denver and get another one? I am not sure if this thread on Nano-Reef is for real, but supposedly someone there had a blue ring accidentally shipped to them (they had ordered a dwraf "reef" octopus or something like that).

Very nice pictures! Glad your jawfish moved to the front, I really love those fish.

Another "easy" one that I have had great luck with is a bubble tip anemone. They seem to be a little bit less demanding on the lighting. You can find some nice looking one with purple bases (though they hide their foot in the rockwork, so you won't see it much), or the beautiful rose bubble tips. Only thing I would say to watch out for is them being torn at the store when they are trying to remove them. I have had one wither away due to that. But my current one was attached to a small rock already, so no messing with the foot. It is very happy in my tank, albeit facing the rear wall

I think everyone asks this question at some point or another. It might be right after a crash, or just due to boredom. What made you get into the saltwater hobby in the first place? I think this should answer why you have spent so much time, energy, and money on your tank. For me, it was the fascination with how much life is contained in every square inch of live rock. I like the little things in a reef. The interaction between animals such as clownfish/anemones, shrimp/gobies, etc. And the diversity of corals. I have dropped out of keeping fish on and off over the 20+ years I have kept fish (fresh, salt, ponds). But there also seems to be a call again to return to the hobby. Maybe you feel like you are no longer challenged with the tank. In that case, I say pull up a chair and just watch and enjoy the fruits of your hard work

Congrats! Your youngest is about the same age as ours

It might be too late for this, but for my jawfish, I put a 4" piece of PVC pipe in the front of my tank near some live rock. When I added him to the tank, I released him near the pipe, and he has lived in it every since. He adds shells and rocks inside of it to make it smaller. This way, I see him all the time. The past few days he has been excavating more sand, so I think he is borrowing under the live rock (which is sitting on the tank bottom .. I pre-planned for having a jawfish ). I have seen fancier designs where people glue shells to the entrance of the pipe to hide it more. Here is a pic of him. You can only see part of the pipe.

+1 to liking the dome. And I understand the addiction. It is real close to my allergy shot location, so it is hard to not just stop by and see what they have (I think I will be stopping by tomorrow ).

Sounds like cerith or narcissus... (if you have either of them ).

You really like the challenging stuff, don't you? Ribbon eels, octopi... I really admire the amount of time and research you put into keeping these harder species.

They are excellent escape artists, so be sure to have the tank locked down tight on top. Filter overflows, sumps, floor, you name it. I hated when I worked at a LFS (well, not local to here ) and we got them in... they always found their way into the sumps of our systems. Edit: but they are nice looking! Aren't they the ones were the male and female are different colors (like blue for one, and yellow for the other?).

Don't they make Korlias for wavemakers? Maybe they are quieter.

That is how I target feed. I take some tank water, add the roids to it and let them soak for about 5 minutes (I am normally thawing mysis at the same time). Then I use a turkey baster to feed the critters.

I have heard mixed reports on camel shrimp and their safeness with corals. But then again, recently people (on nano-reef) have been complaining the same with peppermint shrimp. I think they are both just opportunist feeders, and might pester corals if not enough other stuff to eat. But I do find it fascinating about the camels and cyno.

I am using the polyps lab stuff now. I both target feed with it, and periodically just toss some in when the pumps are on. With the pumps on, I do see my gorgonians and sun coral capturing it and eating it.

If you really think it is an urchin spine stuck in there, it probably is best to take it out (don't long spine urchins have poison in their spines?). The only way I can think of is to catch the fish, and use a pair of tweezers to remove the spine. I know, sounds easier said than done. But this is going to be extremely stressful to the fish. I would probably be near 100% sure that it is a piece of spine before doing something like that. I have heard (maybe on this board?) that lack of vegetation in their diets can cause black spots on tangs.

Wow! It is always nice when the corals looks as good in your tank as they do in the store/on-line

+1 to this. Make me really regret not getting in on this

Wow ... just wow. Great growth shots!

I'll play, though I think even I will be voting for Andrew's picture

Holy Hair Algae Batman! Was that tank on auto-pilot for a year to get like that? Even when I had a hair algae outbreak in my old 24g, it still looked "nice". That gigantic monti is awesome!

Wo, that is really cheap! Which makes me really suspicious The first thing that seems really iffy is the mention of a single cooling fan. These things get hot... I paid $400 for a 300W fixture from Dr.F&S. Maybe someone else has experience with these.

Very nice! I am sure it cost mucho $$$

The scooter should do fine. If he ventures near the goby/shrimp pair he will probably be shooed away, but you have a plenty large tank for the blenny to roam.