NonSequitur

I'm really happy with my Euroreef RS80 on my overstocked 55gal.

Thanks, will do!

I'm interested if this is still available.. looks like it will work much better than my homemade gatorade bottle reactor.

+1 on taking it apart and putting it back together. I've had similar problems with my koralias, and it usually is the result of the propeller shaft being misaligned at one end, causing the magnet to bind.

From the photos, this looks like the normal water change/waste expulsion cycle that anemones go through periodically (my BTA does it daily, my condylactis less often). Is this a new anemone?

I have an RS-80, and run without the venturi air intake valve. I wasn't sure how to set it when I got it, so I posted on the euroreef forum and got a reply from one of their people saying that the air adjustment is there to dial back the air in case you have opened the water flow adjustment all the way and are still getting too much foam. Otherwise they recommend leaving it disconnected and just adjusting the water flow. It's a great skimmer once you get it dialed in, but getting it dialed in can sometimes be a bit of a headache.

My wife and I really like the Melting Pot (and as an added bonus, it's less than a mile from RCA!). It's a lot of fun, with great food (and chocolate, can't forget chocolate). Just make sure you plan on having enough time, I don't think we've ever gotten out of there in under 2 hours.

Interesting.. I don't think I've ever gone more than a day or so without reaching into the tank in some form.. I've been meaning to get some of those gloves as well (man, does that saltwater sting if you get it in a fresh cut), so it'll be worth seeing if I get similar results.

I really like the pavona frag I got last time he listed them for sale.. it's growing surprisingly fast (way faster than the LPS i've been keeping up to this point), already starting to encrust the rock that I put the frag plug onto.

I have a ViaAqua titanium heater that I got from ADDBoy that has worked well for me so far, though I rarely use it. The heater element and temp probe go in the water, and the control box sits outside of the tank.

I agree about no heater.. I have a 300w titanium heater in my sump that I usually don't even plug in, I typically just use it for warming up water change water, I close the valve on the return line, open the valve allowing the return pump to circulate in the sump, and use the heater to bring the water up to temp before releasing it into the display tank. I can typically control tank temp within a few degrees just by adjusting the number of fans running, with the pumps and MH lamps providing plenty of heat. We keep the house at 72-73 in the winter (way too hot for me, but the rest of the family disagrees), 78 in the summer, and the tank tends to stay between 77 and 78 in the winter, 78-82 in the summer without a heater or chiller.

Upgrading to electronic ballasts might be a good idea.. I know I've heard the name innova before, but I can't remember much else. I know that you can get an ARO electronic 150w ballast for around $100, which has a good reputation, but is still a good bit more than the $50 import ballast.

I should add that if the ballast is indeed aging, you don't necessarily have to replace the entire unit. If you're reasonably skilled electrically you can replace the internal components for much less than the cost of replacing the ballast unit: hellolights has an m58 (250w) bare ballast for $70, and you can often find them cheaper than that at the habitat for humanity store downtown, though since those are used you run the risk of getting another loud one.

Bill is likely right. As magnetic ballasts age the plates in the transformer start to get looser, causing a hum. To the best of my knowledge there really isn't a way to fix this, short of replacing the ballast (or at least the transformer), but it's often possible to find compatible ballasts for a reasonable cost, depending on wattage and such.

I have a 300w heater I can lend you if that will help.

Jeremy

512-818-5076

I've wondered the same thing (particularly in the case of branching corals like frogspawn), it'll really be interesting to see what responses this question brings.

That makes sense, and a 1 head frag is pretty tiny.. 4 for $20 sounds very reasonable, so I'll check back when I get paid and see if you have any left.

Hmm.. I might want to go with a bigger one then.. I get paid later this week, I'll check back with you then to see if you still have any left to sell.

Thanks Dan, the powerhead is in and working great and the frag looks really good!

Would you be willing to cut a 1 or 2 head chalice frag? I've never tried to keep one, so I'd like to start small. If not, no problem, I know cutting small frags is often more trouble than its worth.

Oh yeah, I forgot about finger leathers.. could be that one too.. I'll change my vote to *shrug*.

The bottom one looks like either a kenya tree or a colt coral.. looks more like a colt coral to me, but I can't get the full size view to load.

He's doing really well.. and doing a really good job of keeping the coralline off of the glass.. right now he has a couple of shells and a lot of caulerpa (he's in my small tank at the moment because the coralline was getting out of control), but he's carried xenia, zoas, snails and hermits, small rocks.. you name it, if he can lift it, he's carried it. It'll be a lot of fun to watch once I move him back into the big tank and the rabbitfish decides it wants to eat his camouflage.

Unfortunately your experience matches with mine.. my urchins (I have a royal urchin that has been carrying around a stalk of xenia for well over a month and a pink pincushion urchin that prefers to carry hermit crabs) really love coralline and the short brown algae that grows on the rocks that the blennies seem to love as well, but won't touch derbesia. They seem to keep the tanks free of most other microalgae, and will usually eat nori if nothing else appealing is available, but half the time they don't eat it and just carry it around instead. If you've never watched a rabbitfish try to eat nori off of the back of an urchin you're missing out.

Sounds like either diatoms or possibly the very beginnings of a cyanobacteria bloom. Have you tested your water parameters?