Daniel

Looks good. I have a ton of questions! Will you be keeping just SPS? Are you going to go bare bottom? What bulbs are you looking at using? Any actinics? Are you planning to seal the inside of the tank? Okay, that's all for now. Daniel

Awesome. Thanks

Hello, I'm looking for a water barrell/drum with a lid. I need to it to store RO water. I'm looking for something between 20-50 gallons. Send me a PM. Thanks. Daniel

Also, maybe it's just me, but I don't really think of going to other people's houses to buy corals as "doing business". Yes, money/goods are exchanged, but with most of the folks here, you pay less than retail. Why is that important? Well, *most* of us are here as pure hobbyists and are not trying to turn a profit. Not making a profit (at least to me) translates into something like what Bill was describing: social networking. Good luck with the hobby and getting your corals

I just hate the $30/month REQUIRED data plan. Blah.

With the way capitalism works, the only way our hobby will survive if countries start banning wild caught fish and corals will be by folks like ORA aqua culturing our livestock for reasonable profit. The practice of selling obscenely small fragments of a coral at ridiculously high prices is the only way coral farmers on small islands are profitable, or so they think----- Let me explain: If more of these aquaculture people bought into the Walmart genius of higher overall profitability and higher volume at the expense of higher per unit profits and lower volume, they'd make more money. In other words, even if you're selling only frags and not colonies, wouldn't it make more sense to sell 100 frags at $20/each than only selling 10 frags at $50/each? If the price is lower, more people can afford to buy your frags. Even if you make less money per frag, you still make more money overall. Or perhaps there are just enough suckers, say 40 of them, who'll pay $50/each. Meh.

Still available?

Gosh, 20 Acros for $99?

Hmmm, if only they did free shipping and a discount like Vivid...

I'm not sure I understand the allure of a fish simply because it is 'rare'. Perhaps it's 'rare' because its evolutionary viability sucks? But hey, maybe fugly fish get laid too?

I'm interested in ~$85 worth of stuff. I'll buy if we can get free shipping

EDIT: Crap, I just realized the age of this thread. Any updates? I had a similar issues with my zoas when I moved them up. One colony died because I figured I'd wait it out, the other one recently opened back up (after a few weeks)-- I attribute the survival of this colony to me moving the coral down to where it would receive less light. Daniel

Instead of lowering the coral down, you might also consider lowering your photo period for awhile (and gradually bumping it up over a few weeks).

Did you figure this out? I have to agree that it might have been your MH change. Please post your water parameters. Is the actual tissue dying off or is it just losing color?

Not going to try the low salinity thing anymore? I guess it wasn't helping your corals afterall?

More important (for your corals) than the color/temperature is the "PAR" (Photosynthetically Active Radiation). Generally speaking, lower bulb temperatures (eg: 6.5k, 10k, etc) have a higher PAR, but tend to be more white or yellow in appearance, while 14k and 20k bulbs have a more blueish appearance (like the 50k bulb you showed). Unofortunately, bulbs in the 20k spectrum often have up to 1/2 or less of the the PAR for a 10k bulb. So there is a tradeoff between color and PAR. Personally, like Mike, I feel that 14k bulbs are just right for my tastes. Your 50k bulb (not sure how they came up with that number) may or may not have a high PAR rating. I recall a thread of Reef Central some years ago on that bulb, but I don't remember the conclusions made. Respond back with how the bulb works for your corals. Pictures would be great when available. Daniel

John, what is your photo period?

I must admit that I do the same thing

As long as greater evaporation (read: greater humidity) isn't a problem for you, nothing beats evaporative cooling at cost/efficiency.

Looks like an amphipod. They're good guys. They vary in size, but they should only add to the diversity of your aquarium.

I don't think this is good news, but for aquarium lighting... Single ended (aka "mogul" or "SE") sockets are generally 175 watts. Double ended (aka "HQI" or "DE") sockets are generally 150 watts. Singled ended, "medium" sockets are not common with aquarium lighting (thus there are fewer bulbs available). There are a large selection of metal halide bulbs at 175 watts (perhaps more than are available at 150 watts DE or Medium). I'm not sure if your current "medium" socket accepts the 175 watt single ended "mogul" metal halide bulbs, but you'll likely need a new ballast with whatever you end up doing. If you convert to 150 watt DE, then you'll need an M81 ballast. If you convert to 175 watt SE, then you'll need an M57 ballast (if you use an Ushio 10k lamp, then you'll actually need an M137 ballast). Hope this helps, Daniel

I have a lot of sand too, if you're interested. Send me a PM.

Then put me third, please

Length?

I'm interested.