labrown

Sorry to hear about your job. Wish I could help you out. Best of luck!

We get our saltwater from RCA. I think they use tropic marine, not sure. We get the nicest stuff they have.

I didn't realize calcium could be too high. We don't dose for it or anything, it just stays between 450 and 550. And we only have two pieces of montipora, everything else is a softy. i've never heard of how to get your calcium down too. Every book I have tells how to raise the CA and KH, never mentions lowering it... Ugh, I don't know what to do.

We put the xenia in our 8 gal biocube last night just to make sure it won't wipe out what is in our main tank. There isn't anything else in the cube so if it does go, there won't be any other casualties. I am gonna try to dirty up the water a little bit just to see.

Thanks for the quick replies!

Looks like aptasia to me. Better get some aptasia killer before it spreads all over the tank.

We have tons of worms like you described. They are tiny little feather dusters, they filter feed. They help keep your water clean and I think they are something interesting to watch. We have a ton of them growing on the glass in our refugium. you can scrape them away but they aren't harmful.

This is my best guess.

My xenia looks unhappy today, and I'm not quite sure why. Most everything else looks alright in the tank right now. I've attached pictures of what it normally looks like and what it looks like today. Any suggestions?

Here are my parameters:

pH: 8.2

NO2: 0

CA: 560ppm

KH: 214.8ppm (12 dKH)

PO3: 0

NO3: 5ppm

NH3: 0

Actually, he sold it to me. We took a lot of things off his hands, and the clam was one of them. We took it to RCA on Wednesday. They said it was some kind of oyster.

lol, renman, you are too right. I do administrative work where I am employed. It makes me never want to move up in the industry.

All I have to say about waiting tables is this. When I lived in KS as a full time waitress and student, I claimed 800 bucks a month and made 1200. It is much different just a few states away, but it still helps me with the FAFSA every year.

As for the OP, I think your only option is to offer odd jobs, online, craigslist, etc. Offer to help people move people, do yard work. What handyman talents do you have?

"Low-balling" with most companies can't happen as POS Systems automatically calculate cash and cash tips. A minimum amount is put in based on projected tips say at 15% of the cost of food. No company worth it's salt is going to put up with an employee stealing and certainly won't risk fines by the Feds for fixing the books.

Besides, "Integrity"....it all you really have in life.

Actually, the POS system forces you to claim all of your credit card tips minus the amount of money you had to tip out to the restaurant.

Yes folks, waitstaff pay to have their jobs. 3% of my sales at my job. (that means when you tip 15%, I take home 12%...) Each month I tip out about 300 bucks to the restaurant. Much like strippers. *shakes head in shame*

HAHAHA! She admitted it. Although, if your man is into reef-keeping, his expenditures on the tank probably balances out your cost!

Umm, yeah, I'm the one with the reef obsession. He just supports my jewelry habit.

Aha! Second problem: girlfriend. Being one myself, I know how much we tend to cost a guy. Cougar hunting all the way.

Nothing to sell? Services to render?

Oh, also, selling things on ebay or craigslist has always helped me get some cash when I needed it.

Being a waitress through college was what kept me eligible for financial aid. Waitresses make crap on paper, and you take home all the cash you make. My taxes are paid by the 2.13 an hour, and I usually get a nice refund in April. I had to keep this job because my wages were being garnished for certain reasons, but I was still able to pay my bills in cash and go to school. I didn't have a bank account for 2 years, but my wages as a waitress couldn't be garnished because what the company paid me was less than 25% of my income. Seriously, I've been working in restaurants for 10 years, and most of the people that keep those jobs are in situations like yours where they need to keep the money they make and not hand it over to someone else. And most restaurant managers understand that too.

I think your main problem is paying 500 bucks a credit hour to go to school. I got one degree from a state school and I am now going back to a jr college to save money. It costs me 650 a semester to take 12 credit hours, 1300 bucks a year! Those classes are the same on paper, and you only have to take the last 60 hours from the college where you want to receive your degree. With one degree under my belt and two more on the way, I can't tell you how much this advice would have helped me out 7 years ago.

If it makes you feel any better, people are struggling for money all over the country, and the cost of education just keeps going up. You aren't alone.

Thanks for everything you all passed on to me, sorry so belated! I bought a copy of that book you all recommended and have had my nose deep in it ever since it arrived! Everything looks good so far in the tank. THANKS AGAIN!!!

LOL, too funny!!!

I love how they called it a marine Mick Jagger.

As a regular pedicure customer, I think that's gross.

Very nice shots.

Welcome to the club. Love your urchin.

Thanks! I got him from the aquadome, he was about as big as my thumbnail and now he is about the size of my thumb. His spines are a lot longer too. He is hard to catch though, only comes out when my lunar lights are on.

I don't have a very nice camera, so none of my pics are spectacular (it is a video camera with still photo capability, I'll try to post videos in the future).

This is what I can find offhand, my dwarf lion and my pencil urchin, both pretty little guys.

I've got a lot of info to post about my tank, such as what kind of mods I have done since I got it, and I'll try to include more pictures. For now, I have to go to work...

Welcome to the club! Did you have any specific questions?

Thanks for the warm welcome!

Oh I'm sure I'll get there soon. I probably ought to post more about my tank and then really I'm just looking for suggestions about how to improve my setup. I've had my tank for almost a year but have started dabbling with corals just within the last few months. I'm just glad to be getting started on the forum, and can't wait to find tons of pictures!

Just thought I'd finally sign up and start asking my own questions instead of feeding off of the threads of others! I have been a MAAST member for a while but have just started delving into reefkeeping, and need as much information as I can get! I bought this lighting system a few months ago:

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod...mp;pcatid=12772

(the 48" setup with 2 T5 actinic and 2 T5 10,000K)

I run the light about 9 hours total, 7.5 hrs or so of both lights and then some time before and after with just the actinics. I have a rock with three mushrooms in my tank so far that seem to be doing well. They love the light. But I have no idea where to go from here. I'm looking forward to getting to know you all and digging up loads of new info! Thanks!