Daniel

I was talking to Chad (tate1) and neither of us have had good experiences doing FW dips. Be careful if you ever do go that route. I've successfully treated ich outbreaks using Seachem's Cupramine and Wardley's Ick Out (probably the best thing I've used). But more important (in my opinion) than QT for fish is QT for corals! Nothing sucks more than seeing your corals die-- not even losing fish.

I have harmless bristle worms that look just like this...

You should look into the 6025 mods. They're very easy and dramatically improve performance.

Mitch, I don't think I can do this with my controller and maybe you can't do it with yours either, but it would be nice to have the skimmer turn on a few minutes after your power comes back on after a power failure. Yesterday morning, my power went out, but when the power came back on, my skimmer cup overflowed. During a power outage, the sump fills with water from the siphon break and when the power comes back on, the return pump returns the water level in the sump to its normal height. However, since the flow-through rate in my sump is somewhat low (and I believe you were also planning to keep the flow-through rate low), the higher water level meant my skimmer's water level was higher as well, thus I had the overflow. Perhaps someone else has a suggestion on how to prevent this without a time delay on the skimmer's startup?

Honestly, it's hard to have a really good or bad RO system. Everything depends on the filters: your prefilters, your membrane, etc. The majority of the RO systems used in this hobby have standardized components. If you ever outgrow your 50gpd membrane, chances are you can easily swap it out with a 75, or 100gpd membrane down the road. Of course, you may have a system with proprietary components, in which case the main problem will be with buying replacement filters.

Ryan, were you able to put carbon into the tank?

You should not keep a MH that close to the water-- 1) that's probably too much light and 2) you risk melting the plastic. Generally, halides should be kept ~4+ inches from the water line (usually more!). With that being said, the plastic should be okay if there are several inches between-- one inch will not suffice, in my opinion. Instead of modifying the original hood, which you could potentially sell for some extra $$$, why not consider a custom canopy? It might look a little better than a modified stock canopy.

I'm interested in a picture of the scolly.

I have a Coralife Super Skimmer 220 which can be used as a HOB. I used it in-sump, but I'm sure it will work fine as HOB if you provide it a constant water level (via an auto topoff).

Before you splurge on any expensive fish, start with something 'expendable' (*gasp!*)...just in case there are other issues going on.

In your case, since you were losing fish, it sounds like you had a lot of current leaking into the tank. I talked with Roger at Tunze (and had him test my equipment), but the discharge was too small to be picked up by his sensors...my cut finger was just super special, I guess.

I think you risk trapping heat beneath the glass. The reason why the water evaporates is because those molecules are getting too hot (they have too much energy) and end up moving into the gas phase (and they remove a lot of heat in doing so). Also, you'll reduce your light output by two ways: the glass itself reduces the PAR and the water droplets that will eventually form on the underside of the glass will further reduce the PAR. A refrigeration-based chiller (not fans) is the only way to reduce evaporation, while still keeping your tank temperature stable. Alternatively, this probably isn't feasible or sensible, but if your ambient air temperate were low, while the humidity remained high, you could avoid excessive evaporation-- but high humidity isn't very comfortable and tends to grow mold. ha. So my point, I think, is that you should probably try to embrace water top offs which can be done easily with an auto topoff device.

I think a lot of what can be achieved using VHOs, can be done with T5s. The Super Actinic is available in both a T5 HO and a T12 VHO. When it comes to actinics, which is what people most often use VHOs for, you're not necessarily after a very high intensity-- you're just after a little extra coloration. While it's true that T5s are more intense per watt (especially when combined with SLRs), they also cost more money-- the reflectors cost more and often the ballasts cost more. Also, as Bill mentioned above, VHOs have built-in reflectors which further enhance their 'small' profile. That being said, the lower price of VHOs, while at the expense of being less efficient (less intense), is the primary reason most people go that route. GreenMako (when he had his tank) used VHOs alongside the primary lighting from MHs. If he wanted to, he could have easily substituted T5s in place of the VHOs, but since the function these bulbs play is minimal, why bother?

Hey guys, can I join y'all to split the shipping?

No prob. How about $25? This guy is healthy and in need of a good home.

Sorry to hear that. The big issue now is to try and identify whether there is something amiss in your tank which might have led to the deaths. How long did you have the fish? What do you keep your tank temperature at? Sounds like it was ich based on what you shared. In the future it'll be a good idea to pull out sick fish, put them into a small tank or bucket with a powerhead and air stone and medicate them. Copper based treatments work very well on ich and many other parasites, but they are not reef-safe, so don't put these medications in your main tank. Daniel

$210

In the interest of letting more folks get in on the order, we'll hold off on ordering until Monday (9/27) morning. Aquarium Specialty has MH, T5 and VHO bulbs of all types and sizes. They have a full selection of additives (ESV, Brightwell, Polyp Lab, Zeovit, etc) as well as other items. Website: Aquarium Specialty

Sounds good. I think I'll try out the Zeomag as well... though my Mg needs haven't really outstripped periodic dosing.

I'm going to buy T5 bulbs this weekend, probably Sunday (9/27) evening. Just thought I'd check to see if anyone was interested in joining in to save on shipping. Website: Aquarium Specialty My current order total is $74 before shipping. An order of $175+ ships for free (assuming it's under 50lbs). If our total is under $175, shipping is around ~$10-15 for ground shipping. Aquarium Specialty has some of the cheapest prices for T5 bulbs and other aquarium products-- take a look! Daniel

Delete.

Delete.

I'm trying to determine the bulb combination I like the most. I'm looking for the following: ATI Blue+, ATI Aquablue Special, KZ Fiji Purple, and possibly others. Let me know what you have.

Ooops, were we supposed to hold off on emailing Andrew? I sent him an email, per the instructions posted above.

Double post.