Robb in Austin

You'll want live rock rubble. I'd call River City, Aquadome, and Aquatek to see what they have and the cost.

The other option is to just throw dead rock rubble in there and let it seed itself. I'd call Prof at Epic Reef as he usually has plenty of rock laying around.

#470d47

Nice work J!

First off; Welcome! To the club and back to the hobby.

As you surmised, you need more light. There are many options out there; T5 and metal halide(MH) being the two heavyweights. Each has it's pros/cons, so do lots of reading, look at fixtures in the stores and on line to see what you like, and get the one that you think fits your needs.

I'll echo what RG wrote; ditch the bioballs and add live rock rubble.

For more info look under the "Resources" tab on the top right of the page. Also, check out Mark's "TV" show Mr Saltwatertank.tv.

Last, do lots of research before you buy any livestock, ask lots of questions(even though you will get conflicting answers at times), do more research. Then do some more and then start adding slowly. In the meantime, you can always get rock and water in the tank and get the cycle started.

Ouch. Thankfully, no animals were in there at the time.

Did try looking here?

http://www.zoaid.com/

LR is required for any SW tank.

I think what you meant to ask was "do I need LR to start or can I use dead rock?" The answer is...either.

I think most people would say start with dead rock in order to avoid pests (majanos/aiptasia, bad worms/shrimp/crabs). It will become live on it's own.

From research I did 3 years ago, the city uses chloramine. I chose not to go with one of the chloramine prefilters on my BFS Premium 75GPD RODI filter and have not noticed any ill effects.

In general, adding the most peaceful fish on your list(take the next 3 weeks to figure out what you want fish/coral wise and check compatibilities between fish/fish and fish/corals) first is the best plan.

Let it run. The rock, assuming it came right out of the water, home, and into the tank, will provide enough for it to cycle.

Mark swears by Seachem's Stability.

When you do get around to adding livestock, go slowly.

Nope, It's gone.

Check with Prof. He has tons of stuff laying around.

Good luck.

I dont see a Lobo in that pic.

The Ti heaters get the best reviews. I've had good luck with the VisiTherm Stealth models.

That said, I don't use one anymore. I have 5 T5s over my 58 and, with the house set to 73, the current temp is....drum roll...according to my lab grade thermometer...27C! That's 80.6F for you non metric types. I do have my skimmer and a MJ1200 feeding a BRS Dual media reactor(so some of that heat is dissipated in the transfer) in the tank which both contribute heat, so YMMV. Currently, all 5 T5s have been burning for about 6 hours.

Is there a use for them, sure. Am I going to add one this winter, which is actually the first one with out a heater? Not unless it gets really cold in the tank.

Parameters look ok. Temp is probably too low at 75ish.

Not sure why they would change the skirt length on their own, maybe a feeding response due to not enough light? What is the lighting?

Are you sure they're not palys? They tend to have longer skirts.

Robb... meh

You're just jealous.

Congrats!

It's funny, I read the title to mean the acan ate the foxface. Made me go

Too cool! Nice BTA too.

You have to explain your username as well as "ifficiationism"

(Edit: I posted this before I was made a mod, so not "ordering" you to esplain.)

Regardless: Welcome!

Looks great Don!

I'd still be using the D40 I bought originally if it hadn't been for a mistake from Amazon.com that they refused to acknowledge.

I ordered an 18-200 VR lens and they sent me two...charging me for one. They arrived the same day, both with the same tracking number, both listed as "Box 1 of 1".

I tried to return it the extra, but they were so confused they just let it go.

So I sold the extra lens and the D40 and bought the D90...and came out even.

Dislike.

But good for you.

Don't be too afraid of the entry level cameras from Nikon or canon. They are light years ahead of where you are and will, most likely, be good for you for years to come. Lenses are where you will want to spend your money anyways. And, as Dave and Chris mentioned, the kit lenses are good to start with but not always really good. You will want a true macro lens for really nice corals shots(warning; they are expensive) anyways.

As an example, I'm still using my D40 I purchased 2 years ago and haven't reached it's limits yet(except in low light situations which I don't really find myself too much anyways.) Do I _want_ a D90 or D7000? Yes. Do I really need it? No. Did I spend the same amount of money on two lenses that I did for the body plus two kit lenses to take great macros and general pics? Yes. Am I happy with the overall setup? Yup. And I bet most others would be satisfied with it too.

The other thing, to get really great photos, is it takes a really good computer behind the viewfinder first.

Mine's full of GHA and a touch of cyano now. Looks like a reef ChiaPet.