George Monnat Jr

I just had to replace my return pump (MAG 18). It failed because the return line had debris, algae, etc. in it. The pump was just a symptom of a bigger problem.

I love my Tribal Blenny. Black with blue markings.

Do you have SPS?

I had both a Randall's/Orange Stripe Shrimp/Prawn Goby (paired with my Tiger Pistol Shrimp) and a Bicolor Blenny for almost two years. They never bothered each other. I did get a Tail Spot Blenny, which I loved, better than the Bicolor. It was a mistake, because the Bicolor harassed the Tail Spot until it went carpet surfing. Now that my Bicolor died, I plan on replacing it with a Tail Spot.

Yea, I love the Apex but there's nothing worse than being at work or out-of-town and seeing something odd happening to your parameters.

Low pH: Causes and Cures

Opening windows to reduce CO2 is a big help for me. After keeping alkalinity high and ammonia low.

High pH: Causes and Cures

Experience and honesty.

This is a great thread!

Lets see here...

...I am starting to greatly dislike my job. I do no real engineering work. I mostly spend my time in some windows office program making charts, reports, etc...

That's real engineering work, especially in semiconductor

Didn't really beleive all that "nonsense" about zoas / palys being toxic. First corals in tank were about a dozen frags of same. handled them bare handed. Thumb and forefinger are still numb on one hand.

Wow, just from touching them? Did you have a cut or something? Yikes.

How long ago?

#1 This

#2 This

#3 I spent several weeks setting up my tank for a week-long vacation about a month ago. Then just before leaving I added salt and baking soda within an hour of each other. That caused a huge snowstorm which caused alkalinity, calcium and magnesium to all plummet. I had to start over in a rush.

#4 While I was on that vacation I thought the daily auto feeder with spirulina flakes and meaty pellets would be plenty, but my Powder Brown Tang was recovering from ich (doing better each day). Without the garlic and nori, I think the parasites sucked into starvation. It was dead when I got home. The scavengers hadn't gotten to it, so I think it had dies only a few hours before I got home.

Try looking through chuck's hitch hiker guide for these critters. I know they don't have wisecracks in the text there and all these critters are listed, just gotta read through

http://www.chucksaddiction.com/hitchhikers.html

You can also use vinegar to dissolve the needles/bristles.

Here's a site with pictures. Go down to the THE "BRISTLE" WORMS section. The last picture is the kind I (and most people) have.

Here's a great description.

Bristleworms are also called fireworms. Do you have the usual gray and orange ones or a nastier version? Did you see them?

What we need is a control system that measure nutrients in the tank and shunts the skimmate either out to skimmate collection or back into the system.

(If this is a good idea, I published the idea here first. )

There was a thread on here about what people did with their water from a water change and everyone was worried about the salt on their grass. I dump mine in the same spot every time and that's where the grass grows fastest and greenest. As far as feeding the plants the feeder sprayer adds fresh water so I think the salt issue is pretty mute here.

My question also asked how much wet skimming drops tank salinity.

Does skimmate include any of the salts from the saltwater? I'm wondering how much wet skimming reduces salinity and if skimmate would harm plants with salt.

Randy Holmes-Farley probably has some of the best articles on the relationship between pH, Alk and calcium. Besides the excelent article Bogdan provided a link to, this article by Randy discusses troubleshooting alk, pH and calcium problems: http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2002/11/chemistry

API test kits hold up well against other more expensive test kits but always make sure reagents aren't old or stored places where they may get hot and it's always a good idea to verify test results against other kits occasionally whatever brand you use.

Hi Timfish, the link you provided doesn't work, is says :

This page does not seem to exist…

See my post above as many of those are from Dr. Holmes-Farley.

I have plenty of issues with dino, cyano and GHA, so I don't do it.

My 6' 125g with a open LED lamp frame above it was using about the same 1.5g/day until it got cold recently. I'm really hoping it goes back up so my ATO can add more limewater (alk & calcium).

My skimmer flow needs to be around 900 gph (have a Mag 9.5), and my dual GFO/GAC RX has a flow of around 100 gph. That's just enough to tumble the media for maximum surface area without throwing it up in the water column and either creating dust or clogging the outlet.

Would killing them in situ cause them to mess up your water chemistry?

I haven't seen that before, and it wasn't in the Reef Cleaners: Nuisance Algae ID Guide. In Beyond the Refugium: A Macroalgae Primer, I noticed a photo of a snail with a tuft of similar looking algae named Batophora sp. That lead me to a WWM page (non-definitive answer).

Had a great time! Was fun to win some prizes, and I got the flip cleaner I was about to order. Glad I held off

I'd probably fly back next year to check it out, just need to see schedule and hotel costs.

Are you moving?

Yeah I am moving in May/June it's been a blast in ATX but time to move on and see more places.

Now if I could learn to stop working on my system and start breaking it down..... which I know just a week before I move I'll probably do an upgrade haha

Ah man, sad to see you go but hope you have great future experiences. I'm sure you can find a place to crash for the next C4 without a hotel.

I mentioned above that Spring Lake (Aquarena Springs) was closed and winter diving is all in Lakes Travis, Medina and Canyon. Last month they reopened Spring Lake to volunteers for cleaning for Diving for Science divers Monday through Friday only. Scubaland here in Austin switched their winter diving to Reveille Peak Ranch, which is a spring fed quarry lake. Two co-workers are doing their Open Water there now.

Here are my go-to articles:

A Simplified Guide to the Relationship Between Calcium, Alkalinity, Magnesium and pH

Chemistry And The Aquarium: The Relationship Between Alkalinity And pH

Comment by Randy Holmes-Farley on Reef Central

When Do Calcium and Alkalinity Demand Not Exactly Balance?

Chemistry And The Aquarium: How To Select A Calcium And Alkalinity Supplementation Scheme

Chemistry And The Aquarium: Solving Calcium And Alkalinity Problems

What Your Grandmother Never Told You About Lime

A Simple DIY Kalk Dripper

All about kalkwasser