NonSequitur

I've got a couple of older pumps that I picked up from quiet1 that are way too big for me to use right now that I could part with.. I have an aquaclear 4000 and a rio 2100.. not sure if they'd be of any use to you.

300-2400gph. I am not willing to drive very far for it, unless it is an awesome deal. I have replied to several recent posters but no reply,

I have a couple of bits of montipora capricornis (I think) that aren't thriving in my system.. I don't have room to leave them flat so they're starting to bleach in a couple of spots. I'd hate to see them die, so you're welcome to them if you'd like to give it a chance.

PM Sent. I'll take both boxes if they're still available. Just let me know how to get the money to you.

Interesting... I always thought that vho fixtures used overdriven T5s. One of the things I love about this hobby is there's always something new to learn.

Not bad at all... I was working on a MH retrofit for my system.. now you've got me wondering if I should try to go with t5 instead.

Do they make shorter (16-18 inch) t5 fixtures?

As I understand it, at the low end of the spectrum you have Normal Output fluorescents (NO, t8 or t12). These are often enough if all you have in your tank are fish, but generally aren't bright enough for anything but the most low-light tolerant corals unless your water is very shallow. Increasing in intensity you have Power Compacts (PC), High Output (HO) T5, and Very High Output (VHO) T5. These are what a lot of people run, they're enough for most soft corals, some of the lower light hard corals (mainly LPS - Large Polyp Stony). Above that (in cost and output) you have Metal Halide (MH). These lamps have the greatest amount of light output per watt input, plus the greatest penetration into the water column. With careful placement, they give you enough light to grow most corals, clams, etc. Just put the lower light varieties lower in the tank, possibly in the shadow of something else to kep them from getting cooked by the intense light.

MH lamps also put out the most heat, and often need to be UV shielded to keep the emitted UV light from killing everything under it.

Which one you go with is a matter of budget, aesthetics, and what you plan on growing. Many people successfully use T5 and PC lighting, but it limits you somewhat in selection and placement in the tank (higher light species need to be placed higher up in the tank to maximize the light hitting them), and many others have MH setups, or combined MH/T5 setups that they swear by.. just like anything else in this industry there are as many opinions as there are participants.

What sort of lighting are you currently running?

I agree with Ric, Gallery tends to be fairly pricey, particularly on aquarium supplies. We buy bird supplies from them (actually bought one of our birds from them) and I like the people, but you can definitely find better prices on aquarium supplies.

Thanks for the info! I'll probably give it a whirl.. worst case if I hate how it looks or if my corals don't like it I'll sell the bulb on ebay and go with the 6500k or put my PC fixture back on. I'll post pics once I get it all working.

Actually they call it 50000k, but from what I've read it looks somewhere between 12000k and 20000k:

http://www.hellolights.com/index.asp?PageA...D&ProdID=31

And there's a picture of a tank illuminated by one here:

http://www.coralreefecosystems.com/ltg_bulb_color.htm

Thanks for the info! I'm glad I didn't order a DE socket and bulb and try to put them together.. I thought MH fixtures were more forgiving (like fluorescent fixtures.. I've rewired those many times), but I'm probably going to order one of the iwasaki "50000k" lamps that claim to work in my fixture.. maybe with more light I can get my digitata to go back to being purple (it's turned an orangeish color) and get some of the pink stylophora that my daughter begs for whenever we're at aquatek.

When I was at the habitat for humanity store yesterday I picked up a couple of wall-mount metal halide fixtures for $15 each. One is a 100 watt, the other a 150. Both take medium base bulbs. From the research I've done, there is a lot greater selection of double ended MH lamps in the 150w range. Does anyone know if it's possible to rewire a single ended MH fixture to accept a double ended lamp? I can get the hqi base at hellolights.com, but would rather not if anyone has tried it and knows it won't work. I would like to retrofit my aquapod with a MH setup, but don't have the budget for one of the pre-built conversion kits at the moment, so it would be great if it is possible to use what I have.. otherwise I'll either run a single ended lamp or figure something else out.

Here is the electrical info off of the sticker on the fixture if it's helpful to anyone:

M102 Lamp

150 watts max

Medium Base

Trans Type: HIX

Thanks!

Jeremy

I just went by aquadome on my way back into town, they had quite a few different varieties of gobies, including a pair of yellow watchmen and some pink and blue spotteds, plus a couple of bullseye pistol shrimp. I'll have to go back there this weekend and pick them up.

He also suggested a small, black frogfish that isn't supposed to get big, and said he was planning on getting a variety of lionfish that stayed small, but I can't remember the name. I think I'm going to stick with the goby/shrimp combo, though. It seems easier to care for, and likely cheaper to feed.

I think I'm going to go with the goby/shrimp combo. I wonder if any of the local shops would carry them at a fair price.. I don't think RCA had them when I was there yesterday, but I'll check aquatek and aquadome today, and possibly get in on the group order if nobody has them.

Hmm.. I like the idea of a goby of some sort, particularly one with a pistol shrimp. I'll have to do some research, to this point I've not yet had time to research fish nearly as much as I have inverts.

Thanks!

So after the unfortunate demise of my mantis shrimp, I'm left pondering what to put in the tank next. Right now I've got a handful of hermit crabs, a cerith snail, a nassirius snail (the only one that didn't get eaten out of the 10 I put in last week), and a mexican turbo snail, in addition to several varieties of coral. Can anyone suggest something relatively easy to care for that would be ok in such a small tank and that is reef safe? I thought about getting another mantis, but trying to maintain a clean up crew was starting to get expensive.. she ate $40 worth of hermits the week before she died. I'd like to do something somewhat unusual if possible, but don't have the experience for something like seahorses.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,

Jeremy

I think I just killed my mantis. Last night before going to bed I added some of the kent nano-reef supplement I got at the meeting yesterday, but in my exhaustion mixed up my unit conversion and added about 3x as much as I should have. This morning the corals all looked ok, but my mantis shrimp was in her burrow upside down, not moving. I quickly did a 50% water change, but I think it was too late for her. She is currently in a bucket of freshly mixed saltwater, salinity and temp matched to the tank, but I don't think she's coming back.

Is there anything else I can do? Is a 50% change enough to keep from killing the corals in the tank? Too much? Interestingly enough the hermit crabs I have in there don't seem to be affected. The xenia and zoanthids have closed up since the water change, but the digitata and turbinaria are open.

I know this happens, but I'm really beating myself up over it.

I'll post here since it says your inbox is full. Would sat at noonish work? I can probably do a little earlier or later if you'd prefer, or after the meeting. Not sure that I can make both the ARC meeting and the MAAST meeting, the family will only put up with so much "fish time" in one weekend.

Perfect, I'll be there. I really appreciate it!

Hello all. My name's Jeremy and I'm relatively new to saltwater aquaria. I've been doing freshwater for years, but finally made the jump to saltwater after my wife bought me an tank with a peacock mantis shrimp off of craigslist for my birthday. That's been an adventure. There's so much to learn, but I'm really enjoying it.

I never really intended to get into corals, was thinking of just keeping the tank as a mantis habitat, but when I cleared out some of the macroalgae I found this odd, yellow plate looking thing.. with holes that little crown looking things popped out of when the lights were on. Of course I had to figure out what it was, which sent me on an exhaustive web search. I finally discovered two things: 1 - that it was montipora, and 2 - that corals are fascinating and I want more and want to learn more about them.

I'll probably be coming to the meeting this Saturday.. I don't have anything to trade yet, but might be buying a few pieces.

Saturday's perfect for me, and I live just down the road from you. What time is convenient for you?

I'll probably also be going to the meeting on Sat and would be happy to take some there for you if you'd like.

I'll take some if you still have it. PM Sent as well.

I'd love to take some if you have any left.