KarenM

I' m down to 2 or 3 now. Instead of replacing the larger ones, I'm thinking about getting a whole bunch of tiny snails. Maybe they'll keep the algae off the back glass.

I replied to your ad, also. I saw that it doesn't have a light, but considering the price I'm assuming it doesn't have a skimmer, either, correct?

I'd like to buy a used (but working!) aquafuge to hang on the back of my 40 gal tank, which is 24" tall. I'd prefer one with a light, but I can buy a light if necessary.

Do you still have the aquafuge?

I was thinking about trying one of those plastic pot scrubber things that look kind of like a plastic SOS pad. I'd get a brand new one, of course. Do you think that would get it off?

Hi, Ron. Thanks for replying! You certainly sound like a busy guy! I'm glad Sunny is doing well. Has she helped your algae problem?

I bought one of those little plastic scraper things with the razor blades. It cleans the area surrounding the green algae fine (I can feel it building up there), however it doesn't really clean the green algae off other than if I use the corner of the blade and scrub very hard. At that rate, I'll be scrubbing forever. Any other ideas? It's very hard algae, very bright green.

I just wanted to see how my yellow tang was doing. He hasn't posted in awhile.

What time do you get home? I usually leave my office around 3PM, but I have to pick up my daughter at school in Georgetown at 4PM.

Anyone want to sell their royal gramma? I prefer to buy from one of you guys, because I don't have a QT.

I have two 2" conch snails in my 40 gal. They're good sized and really pretty, but starting to surface at feeding time so I think I need to get rid of one. I'd like to trade one for a small frag of something, maybe some zoos.

Hi, Cindy. I'm just fine. You should see how big my mushrooms have gotten! Thanks for the advice. Is the glass scraper something specifically for aquariums, or would I find it at a hardware store?

For several weeks now I've had bright green algae growing on the back wall of my tank. It's not soft algae that the snails can eat, it's hard and I'll have to scrape it off somehow. Yesterday I noticed some pencil-eraser sized pink coraline spots - a few on the glass, a few on the power filter. How do I get these off?

Great, thanks!

I haven't forgotten about the calerpa. I'm on call this weekend so it may be early next week, but if you still have it I'll pick it up.

Anyone know who's selling this setup / fish? My daughter has always wanted a Royal Gramma, and since Ron was nice enough to take the tang we had, we now have room. Will a royal gramma get along with a false perc and a coral beauty? http://austin.craigslist.org/for/402852026.html

I sure am! I'm leaving town tomorrow and won't be back until late Wednesday so it would be late next week before I could pick it up. Where are you located?

We sure do! I'm sure we'll catch her. Eventually.

I don't think I'll have time, but just in case, where in NW Austin?

I've finally found a good home for "Sunny" (thanks, Ron!) , So, how do I catch her? This isn't some frail, slow snail. No, sir, this fish is is fast. She can come out from her hiding place, eat every single piece of mysis in sight, and be back behind the rock faster than I can blink. And she's patient, too. If I'm standing by the tank she'll hide and stare at me, without moving, for a good 20 minutes before I look away then she'll grab the caulerpa and run. How do I catch her without wreaking havoc in my tank?

No price, just give it a good home. I'll PM you with my #

I would vote against a 40 gal in lieu of something smaller or larger. 40 gal tanks are at that "in between" size where they're not nanos, but they're not large enough for any of the really cool fish. I'n new to SW, about 5 months now. I have a 40 gal and the first surprise I had was that I could only keep 2 or 3 small fish in it. And by small I mean 1"-2". My 2nd big surprise is that the more shallow the better when it comes to corals because it puts them closer to the lights. Since it's expensive to keep upgrading lights, I'd go with MH in the beginning. And also with a larger tank, because it's not easy to move everything to a new tank when you decide to upgrade. Depending on your space and finance limits, I would suggest starting out with a 90 gal. That's sort of small on the SW side. But large enough for some interesting fish. I'd recommend buying the tank and stand from craigslist. There are so many for sale they're going really cheap. Just be sure to have them fill it so you can check for leaks. As far as equipment I recommend buying brand new or buying from someone on this board. No one here will sell you a piece of junk or something that doesn't work properly. That goes for livestock, too. The stores have had them less than a week - they don't know how healthy they are. But people here have had them in their tanks and I feel they're safer. Before you buy ANYTHING, research it. Google it, check every board you can't find and ask for opinions. Don't rely on the LFS selling you only what's appropriate for your tank because while there are some very good ones, there are also some that just want to make the sale. In my first 5 purchases, 3 were totally inappropriate for my size tank I had to rehome them. I bought them from the same LFS I bought the tank & equp. I was a regular there - they knew exactly what kind of tank I had and what I had in it. For the record, I've never seen that store mentioned on this site. And learn from others' mistakes. I've made so many I could write my own book.

Looks like the temp was the BTA's problem. It's slowly coming back to life. It had gotten to where it was just sitting there, all curled up, it's tentacles retracted back to just little bumps. I was actully beginning to wonder if it really was a BTA. But after a week or so of running the fan and moving it to a different spot it's gradually spreading back out and it now has tentacles rather than bumps. They're only about 1/4" long, but at least we're moving in the right direction.

I've got a beautiful tang in my 40 gal that's guaranteed to eat anything green. If you want it, it's yours!

I was thinking white sand is a PITA. Looks like I'm stuck with it, though.