reefman

There is a lot of controversy about using UV. There are two major problems with them, if you get one that actually works (many are not really powerful enough to do much good), then you are killing beneficial things as well as the possibly bad things. The other issue is if a disease breaks out, and you are using UV, you are only killing the pathogens in the water column. Unfortunately most diseases don't work that way. They have a host (coral or fish). The UV is not killing any of those since they aren't in the water column. My advice would be there are a lot of other things just starting out that you could put your money into. It would be better to take that money and invest in higher quality equipment - skimmer, pumps, lightes, etc. (as Mark said, in the reef hobby you get what you pay for). Stephen

I'm guessing you shocked the coral going from T5 to MH and the MH has a much greater intensity. My suggestion would be to move the digi to the bottom of the tank, and if that is already where it is, then move it to a place the gets little or indirect lighting if/when it recovers. Since you still have polyps, it sounds like it still may. Stephen

I don't know about Anthias eating pods, but I do know they are very hard to keep. I have had 3 over the past 4 years, some longer than others, but none of them have survivied very long term (I did have one for about a year, however). From what I have read, Anthias have a very fast metabolism and is one of those fish that needs to be fed 3-4 times a day. As far as the Mandarins eating Roe, I tried this with the one I lost, and he never touched it. In fact, the size of the Roe seems to me to be too big for them to get in their mouths. go back and dig up the article posted here about raising baby Mandarins. In it he gives a pretty good description on how he trained his Mandarins to eat frozen food. Be aware he started with 3, and one of them didn't survivie the training. the other thing is that you will need to isolate the Mandarin while the training is going on. I am planning on trying this if I get another in the future, but again I think it would need to be done when you first get them. Stephen

KeeperoftheZoo, Scooter Blenny's and Six Line Wrasses compete for the pod population badly. I learned this the hard way with a beautiful male Mandy I had and lost because of it. All of the smaller wrasses will pick pods, but Six Lines are the worse, and you could probably have the other types of wrasses without too big a problem. Stephen

I agree with rainbody. I would like to feed less, but even when I cut back to once a day, every day, there seems to be a marked rise of aggression (or at least the "tension" level) going on in the tank. I have 3 tangs, so maybe that has something to do with it. Stephen

I feed the tank twice a day with my version of the Eric Bornemann fishy mix recipe (it has stuff mixed in for corals as well). In addition to that I try to feed strictly coral food after the lights go off at least once or twice a week. If it wouldn't screw my water parameters up, I would feed more. It is thoguht that smaller meals more often is better than a lot spaced out. Stephen

With the link of the product you gave as an example, how does the dimming take place? I have found that is important. As an example, IceCap sells a dimmable T5 ballast, but it only works with a certain controller (I forget the name, its not one I've heard of before). So at least from my experience, its not only a question of having the dimmable ballast, its having also the right controller mated with that ballast. I have a Profilux controller, and its my understanding I could get the dimming affect in two ways. One is with a specific brand of dimmable T5 ballast that would connect directly to the controller. The other way is to purchase one of GHL's "light sticks" that are controlled by the Profilux. These will do a sunrise, sunset, moonlight, and I believe a storm with lightning flashes (I'm still wondering if this last is actually a good thing. Something about intentionally scaring the fish with light flashes just seems counter-intuitive). I don't believe a single light stick does all four, however, but I do believe you can get one that does the sun up/sun down and moonlight. It's my understanding the sunrise and sunset starts off with red. But I would be interested as you about what colors you would do and in what order. Stephen

I have a 1/3 hp Aqaunatik (sp?) on a 200 gal. I have 2x400W MH and am in the prcess of adding one more. I have used a chiller almost from the beginning - I think I got my first on for my 90 gal back then after the first 6 to 9 months. I consider them almost essential, especially for SPS and a lot of lights (although I see Mark disagrees), although I plan to use the fans as described above (at least in the sump area) to lessen the amount the chiller comes on and for the gas exchange. Stephen

I agree will all of the above. I was getting RO/DI for $.20 a gal. I calculated what water would cost from my own unit, and figured in gas to/from where I was getting it from, and the RO/DI unit would pay for itself in 6 months. At one time, I calculated what saltwater was costing me (this was when I was still buying the RO at $.20 a gal). If I remember correctly it was costing $.50 a gal (with salt mix). Even at that, that is far below what you are paying at $1.25/gal, and its less than that now, because of the RO/DI unit. Stephen

You sure its not just tube worms? Stephen

I like to get the magazines for the ads and pictures, and I do see articles occasionally that have good or new content, but I would recommend paying the $25 to become a premium member to Reef Central (that way you can do searches). It's generally the first place I go to look. Marine Depot has a pretty decent forum as well, and there are others too. Stephen

Danny, PM sent... Stephen

That's my general understanding as well. I have tons of those in my tank (little bitty ones) and everytime I dip a coral I have numerous of them fall off. I normally try to save as many as I can and put back into the tank. Stephen

Has anyone seen any difference in any of the pods you use? In other words, does anyone have any opinion on DTs versus Inland Marine vs Tigger Pods, etc.? Are does it appear that they all are basically the same? What I would be interested in is being able to order a very large bulk quanity without the jars. I'm sure the jars and packaging make up a lot of the $20 those normally run. RC has or does carry the Reef Pods (i.e. reefcleaners.org). They don't seem that freat a deal to me, as they say they only contain 300+, but I'm open if someone has other opinions. Stephen

So you are seeding your sand beds with bristle worms, among other things? Stephen

Offroaddodge, Are you getting the DTs at RC? I've gotten 2 from them, but haven't seen them there since. Stephen

The health (or lack thereof) is normally and idicator of your water quality. I know, because when my Nitrates spiked the first time, the Xenia where the first things to whither away. Stephen

Yes, I have done it, and continue to add some from time to time just to make sure the population stays up. You would not want to do it until after your tank has completely cycled. Stephen

I was curious when you made the post what the replies would be. I'm thinking by the lack of responses, no one uses them, which is not a big surprise. I've had an Ehiem one I've had for years that I got as part of a tank purchase and have never used it. If I can ever seem to get my water parameters and Nitrate issues I keep having under control, I would like to use one. But obviously after doing this for 4 years I'm not there yet. Stephen

What kind is it Mark? I might be needing another one. Stephen

I run it continuously in a Two Little Fishes reactor, and like Gabriel try to change it out about once a month. Stephen

I get some of it from time to time also. It just seems to run in cycles. I wouldn't be concerend. Stephen

Makes sense, I saw those fixtures at huge dioscounts on a site yesterday. It was either AquaCave or Marine Depot. Stephen

pbnj, I'll check my breakers and see what they say. dockorstick, I called Marine Depot tech spt and asked them about the Icecap 400W ballast. They said it pulls 5.4 amps. Also asked them about the 660-09, and they said the same as you have 4.4 amps. Thanks for the link on ballast performance, I'll read it. Stephen

doktorstick, Would a 660-09 ballast be about the same. Would the amp draw be on the data plate? I looked on the Icecap site and couldn't find amp information anywhere on any of the ballasts. Also, are most newer houses have 20 amp circuits? How could you find that info out? Stephen