Bill B

Yes you do have the two bulbs labeled correctly and a 250 watt socket. Looks like you have your bulbs mismatched with the ballast and for some reason they still fire. If the amps is 1.8 that means it pulls about 200 watts. It is not unusual for a ballast to use more watts/power than it takes to push the bulb, especially if this is a magnetic ballast. I can't tell you how to identify a magnetic or e ballast except normally the electronic will actually use the words electronic somewhere and magnetic will not say magnetic. If you are interested I am pretty sure I have a new pair of 150 watt posts I'd sell ya $15. We might have to meet in the middle someplace to get them to you though. Bill

Ditto on the having asked about them before however one thng not mentioned. I kept mine as they are generally beneficial, HOWEVER especially the redish ones will sting you, so be careful of sifting through the sand, particularly if it is in an out of the way place. Bill

Thanks Tim I am still investigating but I can't find any 'instructions' other than essentially how to connect the preconstructed units. Right now, but pending, it looks like they just replace the first carbon block with a 'ChlorPlus' block. Bill

Thanks for the response Dave This is a BRS 5 STage Plus. My question #1 is not where to get replacement filter but IF a chloramine filter is required, and if so does it replace a carbon filter or do you have to add another canister/reactor whatever you call it. I think all of our area has chloramines; Leander certainly does. Bill

I just got my RO/DI system that I swore I never was going to get, but that's an idle hands/idle mind issue. I have a few questions some of you probably know quickly. 1) On looking up various instructions it seems perhaps I should be using a chloramine filter. Is this the case and if so where does it go (= do I need to add another 'canister' or replace the contents of one I have.) It comes with a sediment filter, 2 different carbon filters CTO/2.5 5 micron carbon block and+1 .6 micron carbon block., the RO diaphram and DI chamber. 2) Seems I have seen references to someone in L/CP who sells water storage containers and possibly Coke used to. Where should I look here? First thought is I am probably not looking at anything too big. 30-55 gal. 3) Lastly (for the moment) I assume you pump the water back out of the container for use. How/why does the pump not contaminate the water. Thanks Bill

I have about a cubic foot of the blue ones (2-300). I don't know if they are Lee's but that style. You were very generous when I bought frags once so whatever is 'cheap' works for me. I was thinking $10 but if that's not a really good price I'd take even less. Frankly I'd give them to ya, but sure as I did, I'd realize I could use them on one of my 4 FW tanks. They were out back for a while, so you might have to pick some oak tassels out of some of them. I'd even drop them by if I could do it during the workweek and day. Just PM me if you want to work something out. Bill

oops double posted

CnB, If it's not too late I would like to get PHE frag X271 - 29.99

Several questions please. When I look this up it looks like the retro has the bulbs mounted on the sides of the ballast. Is that correct? Also wondering about "2x54". Wouldn't that make this 46-48"? Sorry to be so inquisitive but I have limited front to back space and a 36" canopy. Thanks Bill

What brand is the ballast please? Is it magnetic or electronic? Thanks Bill

I had very little problem last year without air conditioning my house to keep my tank cool, using small 4"/120mm fans. I got mine from Radio Shack but I believe you can buy them almost as cheap on the web that also come with the power converters - I think mine are 12V. I have two blowing across the lights and one sucking out air from the canopy. I am convinced the most important one is the fan sucking the air out. Evaporative cooling across your sump makes sense, but I have not needed it thus far. The timers on the fans Dave mentioned make very good sense, even if they are mechanical timers. I have two small MHs. I think you are going to notice a BIG difference in running 4 VHO's compared to 2 T5's. Just the fact you are talking 440 watts rather than 78 is significant but I think the T5's are just more efficient/cooler ta boot. Bill

What I was trying to feed it was Mysis. Once a week I would also feed the tank Cyclops or Rotifers so it may have gotten a little of that as well. This may be a first for my water fauna care but I may have just been underfeeding it. I talked to Tavio today and he said he was feeding it pretty good amounts like 4x/week AND standing guard over it so tankmates didn't come steal from it. Actually he said that he sold it because it got tired of all the effort he was going to, to get it fat and happy. Again, my water parameters are off a little bit, just about universally but I haven't heard anyone or anywhere say they are a whole lot more sensitive the the wide variety of other stuff I have. I will admit this may be my wake up call to try to improve my water quality, but my sense is that is not the heart of the problem. You can't tell from the pic, but the pity of it may be, it was looking much fleshier than many of the plate corals I have seen. I'm not giving up, just concerned. Bill

hmmm - I do have a skunk cleaner shrimp, but unless he is gettin at it at nite, he rarely comes too far out of his 'cave'. I have a Foxface and a Coral Beauty, both whom I've seen pickin at it a little, but I'm pretty sure they are just going after the flesh that is discoloring and sloughing off. For starters, I guess I will just move it to a little more flow. My kH and Ca are both a little low but as I mentioned I have everything from shrooms, zoas, LPS to Acros. I did have an AOG melt on me recently, but otherwise everything is growing well. Any more ideas, let me know please. Thanks Bill

I got this giant plate coral from Tavio a few weeks back and it was looking great for a while - brite green flesh over pretty much all of it. Recently I noticed just a few 'gills' starting to have some exposed skeleton and now, just a few days later it is really taking a turn for the worst. Also just realized it's tentacles are not extending. I'm not sure if I can read anything into it, but it has moved about 2 inches 'towards the water flow' but that's the only way it could go if it wants to move. I'm looking for suggestions of what I'm doing wrong with it, or might try differently. It's at the bottom of a 75 under a 150 watt MH about 8 or 9 hrs/day. Water is a little dirty with nitrates and probably some phosphates but I have some acros that it seems clean enough for. I have a K4 on my back wall that hits the front glass and passes to the other end where this is at. I'm gonna call it low/medium flow. Still enough to make a hammer fairly near wave but not flail. Pretty sure the hammer is far enough away there is no stinging going on. Temp is steady 77. I feed my fish mysis about 3 times a week and I always make sure it gets some during those times though it typically is maybe 2 or 3 whole and several broken mysis. I have a bunch of asternia stars. So far the only one I have noticed on it, was one that was a little smaller than a dime and looked like it was lunch. Also a few hermits but again haven't seen them messin with it. Any suggestions? Update: Well, maybe I shoulda put this in the emergency section. I just tried to spot feed and it should very little signs of life. No tentacles still, mouth not trying to open Thanks Bill

This animal inside scenario is very interesting. I would ALMOST bet money those are red bubble algae. I have had a small outbreak for some time now. I've seen them from a number of different angles and they all look like yours. The final proof, as pointed out to me, is if you pull one out a larger one, it will probably be oozing a clear slimy material. I wonder if it is possible there is some other 'thing' that somehow hides amongst it. Bill

Man that is a terrible read. I suppose if you wanted to know all the minutia, but I just wanted the basics. Apparently it was over my head because it seemed like they took several different paragraphs to point out that if you recalibrated to take out the error then surprise, surprise the readings were accurate. Since I basically gave up and just started skimming I may have missed the whole point but as best I could surmise he was saying if you have a very accurate refractometer and it was made for sea water and not salt water (or was it the other way around) then using 'RO' was fine. If not, using a calibrating solution that was closer to the anticipated readings was better, or making your own 35 ppt calibrating solution was best. Again, I was in the skimming mode by then but I thought it 'interesting' that he talked of much detail but kinda glossed over that you used a 2 liter coke bottle and you actually needed just over two liters, to make your solution. I don't think he address the question of whether the instruments need to be recalibrated regularly. Bill

I am far from an expert on the subject, but I was told it is far from a one and done proposition = you need to check the calibration virtually every time you use it. Don't know if that would have helped with your discrepancy or not. Same people who told me that also said they just use RO/DI/Distilled water. Bill

I would add banghaii cardinals. My watchman goby is not aggressive at all unless another fish insists on trying to occupy the same 2 square inches of sand bed it is on. I have a hippo tank which is larger than everyone else and he is very aggressive with anyone near his size. I think coral beauty and true pygmy angels are listed as mildly aggressive but my coral beauty is very peaceful. I can't go back to the first page without losing my post. Have scooter blennies been added to the list? Very peaceful. Seems I heard one time that tank raised percs or false percs are less aggressive than wild caught, but I wouldn't call any of them passive. TMSAISTI Bill

I can't tell from the picture. I'm gonna say it's not aptasia as, to me, they seem to have much thinner and straighter lashes/tentacles. It could be a mojano but it will eventually develop a stalk if it is. (Bill steps on small soapbox) In deference to nature, the ocean and our hobby I would ask that you not "Kill it if you're not sure what it is." (steps down) It should become more obvious if it is a bad thing well before it becomes particularly prone to spreading. Heck from that angle it almost looks like the tentacles of a LPS dendro and they sell for about $25/head. If it grows into an obvious nusance, like mojano then go ahead a get rid of it. "Just relax, before you bring out the ax." (I made that up Bill

I can't be sure but I have wondered if coraline is not the opposite of 'nuisance' algae when it comes to water conditions. In my case it seems I had lots of growth at first. Then as time went on and my nitrates and phosphates started to increase a little my coraline quit growing. One tank has had pc lighting continually and the other has gone from pcs to t5's to mh. I am gonna say they have had similar decrease over time. I have used 2 pt all along. Bill

I think 'keep it in check' is the key words on Emerald Crabs. These bubbles are full of spores to make other little baby algae. So when they pop the bubbles to eat them they are actually releasing many spores back into the water. This is why there was another suggestion of removing them carefully without poping them - with practice you can figure out which are 'ripe' to be picked. If practical IMHO removing the rocks, and scrubbing them is a better solution, though I scrub the spot they where they attached with a steel brush or quick buff with a dremel. Bill

I'm not trying to be a smart a.. here but for someone who is new to saltwater and has a small tank I can't imagine there is really such thing as planning when it comes to livestock and for that matter lighting. What you think you want is probably going to change when you see what you ended up with and what else there is get. And that's alright. I think it's a part of the hobby isn't it? You get what you think you want, you see something else in the for sale section, you want something different. I'm just sayin .... Bill

I am very interested in hearing about these being available at a music store. I have not seen these near that cheap. Most of the ones I have seen are monster power centers for televisions and entertainment centers. Thanks Bill

Mike Sorry to hear about your fish. I don't know which is the chicken and the egg but I also had a lot of ick when I first started. There are several ways to "add Garlic'. The most common one is probably to pick up some Kent Garlic Extreme and soak your food before you feed your fish. I have heard of those who do anything from soaking with minced Garlic, crush garlic sprigs to Garlic vitamin capsules. I only have experience with the Kent and the Seachem Garlic Rx I think it's called. The Seachem is not near as good IMHO. Soaking is also an area of discussion. Myself I used frozen food and added 3 drops to each cube, dropped it into a little cup and allowed it to soak for maybe 45 minutes. What I have since heard, if you think ahead of time, is to put them in a snap lid container, put them in the frig and allow them to soak all day long. Makes better sense to me. Frankly ick in SW is much more deadly because you can't just throw in enough poison to kill the ick babies, but not the fish, because of the extra life in you tank. Instead the garlic is to strengthen the immune systems of your fish in hopes that they will naturally fight off the ick and possible 'insults' to their bodies. To me it has always been very frustrating. I have lost a number of my fish, especially during the first year and I never lost a one in many years and many many fish in FW. It is mostly because you cannot be as aggressive. There are many who feel that putting fish in a quarantine tank and treating chemically is problematic at best. My interpretation is because SW fish are a little wimpier than fresh when it comes to ick. So if you put them in a barren tank, with probably unbalanced water, the added stress of this situation may kill them if the Copper doesn't. There is a method of really lowering the salinity in a QT. The idea there is the ick can't live at pH's of .016 or so and the fish can. There is also some 'reef safe' method that Grim Reefer mentioned recently. Remember that all but the 'reef safe' method, you have to hold the fish in the QT for a number of months till you are sure all the ick in the DT has gone inactive or died. Otherwise they will just hop right back on you now weaker non ickified fish. HTH Bill

Ric my friend, I answer this only because it is kinda like actually talkin to you and I enjoy doing that. I am guessing this essentially means : one is the messages that have been added to the forum since you last signed off the forum. The other I would think is a less desireable option, unless you are a messaging manic like Marc . The key is unread since last time: so anything that I have not read, intentionally or not will come back and 'nag' me time after time untill I go read it, or perhaps there is an option to just check it off as ignore or somethin. So one is haven't had the opportunity to read, because they were posted since you last signed off. The other would also include those things you had the opportunity to read previously, but didn't, as well as those posted since you last signed off. This probably isn't quite right, but as I said it's an opportunity to talk wit my friend, without having to phone him after midnight or text him, which I don't do. TMSAISTI bILL