Rjohn

I have been using that autotopoff.com system for over 2 years without a problem. I added a small decorative light to the extension cord so that when the pump is on, so is the light. I know that if the light stays on for any length of time, I am probably out of water in the reservois.

I bought a small tuxedo urchin a couple of weeks ago and my orange serpent star ate him. Go figure.

post a pic?

Bill, I would not add a starfish to your gravel bed. Clean it with a gravel vacumn. I like Cerith Snails and anphipods which bred and multiply in the large grain substrates. That is what I use instead of vacumn. While I do stir the gravel, it is to feed the Austrailian Sea Apple and the large Pink Cucumber with the yellow feeding feathers as well as the numerous filter feeders including flame scallops. Look at my systems when you come out for the April meeting. I can say with assurance, I do not work as hard as you'll to maintain my reef and lagoon systems. I feel my systems can stand up to all the people that do not like or understand natural reefkeeping.

Patrick

Patrick, I am Ric not Bill. Bill is the guy from Leander with the ponds.

How's the progess so far?

I'm also battling a high po level due to my sump pump collecting uneaten food and such. I just put filter socks on my intake pipes and purchased some gfo and gac for the filter socks and picked up an azoo phosphate remover bottle and am running 3 days of darkness. I started looking in to all the options from phosban reactors, brs dual chambers, and others and I think Im going to buy a fluval 406. It seemed to be the best when it came to changing filter media and power usage. Just want this algea problem dealt with since i lost several sps frags due to it.

The dual filter seems to be running fine. I am still having an algae problem even tho the phosphates and nitrates test out at zero. I bought a half gallon of 6% H202 at Sally's and treated some of the rocks, letting them soak for about 10 minutes. I used 2 gallons of water to about a quart of H202. The H202 looks like cream rinse tho. We will see. I am going to find a tall vacuum tube this week for my next water change.

I was thinking about getting a sand sifting starfish to help with the "detritus trapped in the substrate" issue. What do you think? Reef safe? Will it shove my frags around a lot?

Ric next time you are going to RCA let me know and I will bring you some Macro Alage if you would like. That stuff grows pretty quick and maybe it will pull enough NO3 and PO4 to stop the GHA . If you are interested.

Thanks Michael. I have some chaeto in my sump that I got from Patrick at a meeting. If you have something different, I'd like to have some.

This week I purchased the BRS dual canister filter for running GFO and carbon. It installed fairly easily in less than a hour. I am hoping this will get my tank clean again. Later today, I will pull some rocks, scrub them with H202 and get rid of this nagging algae problem. Question: I have crushed coral as a substrate. When I change water, I do not "vacuum" the substrate. Should I be doing that?

I buy a plastic paint scraper at Lowes that uses safety razor blades (replaceable). Cost a dollar. That 12 inch jobbie doesn't work very well on bow-front tanks.

any critter kits available? Going to the meeting tomorrow?

I didn't want them replaced. They made a mess.

I bought of their rocks with magnet attachemnts, After about a year,they crumbled into itty-bitty pieces. All I have left is the magnets.

No one mentioned the biggest factor limiting what type of tank you wish to establish - MONEY. How much technology can you afford? What tech stuff can be approximated by a cheaper, manual rig? I think the first thing you have to decide is your budgetary limits and then plan accordingly.

This guy said his father wasstarting a salt tank. He had seen the two episodes that Mark filmed about my tank and said the two episodes had decided his dad to start his own. I was happy to let him take pretty much what he wanted.

Dave, I got a little piece of bird's nest from you about 18 months ago in trade for a CO2 cylinder. Now it is almost the size of a volleyball. The limbs (branches?) are very brittle tho. Are they all like that?

Thanks everyone. I am glad it not just me getting really old and crabby.

You have every right to be upset. Well, I appreciate the blue mushrooms that I got from you. And I still have them. How is marco rock doing? Has some of the white gone away yet. Again Thank You.

The rock is getting a bit brown from the expected diatom bloom but it isn't too bad. I changed out the carbon and added some Phosguard. That should clear it up in a few days. I was glad to meet you Michael and I hope the little blues grow well for you. I added a couple of small frags yesterday from the AAF- absinthe blasto and a little piece of prism favia. I'd like a kedd red frag and some dragon eyes maybe.

Last week I re-scaped my tank and posted in the club that I had rocks with gsp,etc, that I was willing to give away. Several people picked up rocks, some large and some small. One man gave me $2 for half a dozen blue mushrooms but that was all the money that changed hands. I didn't mind helping other people start tanks or make additions to theirs. However, I went to River City Friday to get water and lo and behold, there were some of my rocks for sale. I am a bit irritated but should I be?

water was still a little cloudy with particulate matter from stirring up the CC bed. I disturbed the bed as little as possible. It cleared up overnight without any problem.

what kind of laser are you using for your aiptasia? Do you think it will kill xenia as well?

I was getting rid of a tremendous overgrowth of gsp.

Click on the pictures. They get bigger.

Here are the first pics. Rock is so white it is almost blinding. Well, that won't last long.

Evrything is pretty much gone at this point. If you haven't talked to me as of 1:30, it is gone.

I have most of the rock out of the tank. It has gsp, purple anthelia, pom-poms, and some mushrooms. I have 2 possibly 3 5-gallon buckets of the stuff. Come get it. If it isn't gone by this evening, I'll just get rid it. I also have a couple or three ricordias I will get let go. Call me at five eight five - five eight three eight. I live in Hutto and you need to bring something to haul it in. Some of the rocks are pretty large, bigger than a football.