SirReal63

Light is sold. Thanks

I would probably take the anemone back anyway...they are not easy to care for and not in a beginners list of livestock. Here is a pic showing the color of the lights, you won't need to add a colored bulb as these are a close approximation of a 14K bulb. I'll send a pm with contact info.

It would be marginal at best. If it healthy and not white it may be ok. PC's are bright but lack the punch that halides and proper T5's have. If the condy stays up from the middle of the tank and higher it will be ok. Remember white is not a good color for anemone's, it means they are lacking the symbiotic algae that they derive most of their nutrition from. If it is white...take it back and gripe.

We are leaving for Lubbock about 2:00 today but will be back Monday...if that will work.

The only issue is the reflector is a single reflector and is 36" so the ends of the tank will be dim and you cannot offset them because of the single reflector. :-(

They are 36"

That is interesting but I have no need for another tank. :-)

I have a 2x96 watt Coralife Retrofit for sale or trade. It comes with 2 month old bulbs which came from Hello Lights. These bulbs are not 10K or Actintic...the color would best be described as a Phoenix 14K look. It is plenty bright and in great condition. $50.00 or best offer. I would be interested in trades...tell me what you have and I'll consider it. :-)

Perfect...actually I just need to borrow it until my new one arrives next week...pm pending. :-) Thanks for the lifesaving...Jack

Does anyone have a spare r/o membrane housing they are not using? Mine has a nice hairline crack all down the side. It isn't a dire emergency but I do need to make some water asap. Let me know what you have and what you want for it.

Meet Chico...about to turn 3.

This is nice sand btw...thanks Dena for the goodies and hospitality.

pm sent. :-)

Not surprising...but I am used to the high par of XDE 10k's so the Hammy's are kind of low compared to the XDE's. I never tried the Reeflux bulbs or looked at them on Sanjay's charts. I do still prefer the color of the Hammy 14K...it is just a gorgeous color. Run them on an hqi ballast and the par is better.

It is fun picking bulbs...it all boils down to what your goals are. If you are keeping sps in areas other than the top of the tank bulb selection gets more complicated. I have done the bulb/ballast/reflector game too many times and it gets frustrating. Different ballasts will fire bulbs differently, reflectors play a part too, better designed ones can help overcome bulb deficiencies to some extent. What ballast do you run, which reflector and what bulb are you currently using? Gabriel...the Hammy 14K has awesome color but very low par. It was one of my favorites for color but the low par makes it unattractive for growth.

The bad type are very rare in aquaria. You should also know that the article is very old, it was written in 1998 and our knowledge of these creatures has increased greatly.

If you catch some that are 6" or smaller let me know, I will come get them. Bristles are the best part of a good cleanup crew. If yours are that large then there is more than enough food for them as their populations and size are self limiting. Loads of food and you will have loads of them and they can grow large. When the available food is limited their numbers reduce. From what I have read...their mouth structure is not adapted to eating living tissue but decaying tissue. I have never seen them eat anything alive and in my old 125 I had one that in his constricted size was about 16" (got him in a shipment of rock) and I never saw it eating anything alive.

Excellent...god job Rich...I thought I had one but I have no idea where. I am glad you found one.

Doesn't have to be great, it is temporary. What have you got in the closet?

85 watt would be the new VHO T5's. Cool, I haven't seen those yet. I agree with the blue + bulbs, excellent par and not a bad color.

Icecap 660 will drive 4-48" (54 watt is correct for 4' bulbs) T5's to approx. 80 watts each. This will cause the bulbs to run hotter and active cooling of the bulbs is needed to keep them from losing life and par. There is no need to send in the ballast to icecap, it will only drive 4 bulbs though. FWIW an icecap 430 will only drive two bulbs. Par will be greater than the VHO's...much greater...if the correct reflectors such as icecap sls or ati reflectors are used. The color is different on the 420's with T5 than it was with the URI Superactintics. Be careful with what you order from DFS as they do not always have the latest and greatest in lighting and tend to sell lesser stuff for premium prices.

Thanks for the sand, rock and chaeto Jason. If anyone else has a cup of sand to spare I would appreciate it, I need some diversity. :-)

Limestone will work but there is one problem that sometimes crops up...iron. It could have traces of iron in it and can leach into the system and that isn't a good thing. A very inexpensive option is marco rocks. I just took a 25# box of it and it is beautiful stuff. Very cheap and no worries of what is in it. Marcorocks.com

Good to know...hob overflows are so simple yet you would be amazed at how many people have a hard time with them.

If it looks like this... ...it may be diatoms. Was the tank set up with new sand? I had it on a small tank I set up a few years ago and the snails wiped it out and what they didn't chow on went away in a few weeks after it appeared. Puffers are messy eaters and nutrient control is very difficult...you need some serious skimming and try and get as many bristle worms in that tank as you can.