beefytang

Well all I have right now is an empty 15g AGA...no canopy at the moment. I should consider it though. It would be great to be able to flip a canopy open to get inside the tank. That's the downside of the Sundial I've been thinking of using. One has to lift that thing off the tank to get inside so that's kind of undesirable but I like the fact it has only one cord and integrated timers. I like the coralife legs, since you can flip the light up for easy access to the inside of a tank. But they don't offer anything decent in T5 and MH isn't an option for me any time soon. As I write, I'm working on a sketch of the tank mod and everything I had in mind for it. Maybe you can take a look when it's posted and let me know if you think everything will work. I figured that sketching the idea out and getting some pro feedback would help minimize my failures. TIA

Thanks Gabriel. Great advice and not verbose at all. I've had similar observations about old PC bulbs. And I think the stock t5 bulbs on my frag tank are on the decline too. For the sake of my corals, I'm going to consolidate two of my small display tanks (both have terrible PC lighting) into a 15 gallon aga and will most likely use a 24" Current USA Sundial T5. I know this isn't the best T5 set up. It uses contoured reflectors as opposed to individual reflectors but it's the best I can do in the next 6 months. I think it's better than the Coralife lunar PC light I was considering. I'm open to other options though if you have suggestions. Back to feeding, I probably wouldn't be feeding my ricordeas/yumas/mushrooms or palys so much but they seem to respond really well to the roids. They chow down every time. But I think it would be wise to take your advice and cut back on the feeding since I don't use a skimmer yet. Thanks for letting me tag along here AZ. =)

Correct. If you don't have one (baster), most reef stores can probably provide you with one. I find them to be easier to use than syringes but with the latter, I speculate you can measure your feeding easier if you want to be precise. Question for GK: Do you think it's important to feed softies more often if you're using less than stellar lighting? For example, cheap power compact lighting.

I've had good results with Reef Roids. Bought it at Aquatek. I use it with a small baster. Be sure to turn your pumps off while you target feed and be careful not to overfeed. Once or twice a week does the trick for me. This is supplemental feeding, since zoas, mushrooms etc get most of their fuel from photosynthetic zooxanthalae. But like you, I'm curious what other people are using as well. I think phytoplankton is good too but I have a hard time keeping it fresh for any long period of time unless I were to cultivate it myself. http://www.polyplab.com/reefroids.html

Here is a link regarding brine shrimp hatching: http://www.melevsreef.com/pics/food/bbs/how_to_bbs.html Phytoplankton cultivation link: http://www.melevsreef.com/phytoplankton.html Not sure about the black worms...

LOL wise choice!

Hi there....would you care for a free hermit crab? =)

Yeah. I took it at Deep Blue before they closed down. Used a cheap $200 Olympus point and click camera.

Sounds great. The ricordea frag pack at coralmorphilogic is looking really good. Might have to bite the bullet and get one of those too.

I'd like to get a couple of their Isaurus polyps. They're really of hard to find. So yeah I'd pitch in. Maybe a ric or two. Might be a few weeks before I can do this though. Don't wait for me if you need to do it sooner. =) Also, here is a place in Arlington Tx that has some decent stuff. Not as nice as the site you mentioned but they have some red zoos that aren't so bad. Never dealt with them online before but been to their warehouse. They have a shark in their office. coral broker

I have 3 varieties under a 24 watt PC. One cluster is a pale, light green. The other two are a little greener. One in particular is kind of random when it decides to extend. Stays closed for a week then comes out. Fickle stuff. Grows slowly. None of them look as nice as GSP I see under better lighting though. I have a clump on a frag disk under a HO T5 light (2x24 10k & 2x24 actinic) and it seems to look a *little* better than it's mother colony under PC lighting. It def looked better under halides where I originally bought it. It was eye-popping neon green under halides. You are welcome to the GSP plug I have if you want it.

GSP can live under low lighting but they will probably lose color in such conditions. They are photosynthetic so good lighting benefits them.

Too bad we can't train these creatures to play football or something. BTW if you're ever in the mopac/far west area let me know and I'll hook you up with a zoa frag.

I had a bad nitrate test kit once. It kept giving me higher nitrate readings than was actually present.

That's funny. I had to give mine back to the LFS after a few months. They would mess around with my zoas to the point where they wouldn't open/extend. It was like having a gang of thugs running around my tank like it was a level in GTA4. I'm down to three hermits now. Two are blue-legged like yours and the other is a crazy dwarf zebra. They're def like bulls in a china store. I think most LFS will take them in if you have problems finding a home for them. I'm of the belief that these creatures aren't all that useful after they clean up a tank that has just cycled. But they make for some great entertainment in a Clockwork Orange kind of way. Good luck!

Very unfortunate to see this go. It was a great project. But at least you don't have to pour bleach into it. STTAWA!

This is very clever!

I think a Ph of 8.3 is more desirable. But your tank is going to take some time to level off, being new and so forth.

Pics would help.

Whoever messed it up last time were either from Vietnam or tried to leave evidence they were from Vietnam to cover their tracks.

I think you just click "My Albums" then "New Album" to create an album. Then in your blog, you can reference a given album you have made. Just start clicking stuff until you get the desired result.

To make up for that terrible post about the fishy pedicure I present this link: a fish with big ol lips! Rosy-Lipped Batfish via National Geographic