caferacermike

That RO unit you have a new pic of is not a quality unit. The water is not, and never will be forced through the DI resin such as that in a good updraft canister. Those are purely cosmetic. That last thing on the unit is some sort of "taste effector" meant to replace the "taste" of RO/DI water. Usually it's ground up coconut charcoal and actually adds TDS to the outgoing water. The idea is that people don't like the taste of RO/DI water so they add a little something back to it. Those units are the $100 specials that go under your sink for drinking water. Now I'm not saying that the units we buy for the hobby are much different, or necessarily better, but there are faults in it's design. Swap out the DI thingy for a real DI canister set up, ditch that last thing that they put inline and make sure you are using a Dow Filmtech membrane. That will help lower the TDS in the new unit.

7-10TDS IS NOT ENOUGH TO RUIN A TANK. Seriously we all use RO/DI because we know it makes our hobby easier. I've met several people with nice tanks that use only tap water at 400-600ppm. So scratch your other idea to. It's not what you are putting in your tank, it's what is already there. But hey you've shot down everything that has been suggested so it sounds like you've got purely mean Gremlins.

I've said it a hundred times that the 3 days of darkness is bogus. And how many times must it be pointed out that YOU MUST DO A HUGE WATER CHANGE IMMEDIATELY AFTER the 3 days of darkness. Nobody ever mentions that. If you ever saw any sort of die off because you left the lights off for 3 days or 3 weeks, that decaying algae is still in the water. As soon as you turn your lights on it will become an algae feeding frenzy. Once when I had a tank meltdown and algae grew in because of all the death, I shut the lights off for like 6 months while the tank stabilized. Sure enough it was still covered in algae. Jeremy is right that something is feeding your algae bloom. Not sure what. My TDS comes out of my RO/DI at around 20 and I don't care a bit. It works just fine and I don't have algae problems. I also disagree with the comments about getting more clean up crews. I went through that game when I first started in the hobby. What I found was that the more snails, hermits, crabs etc that I had the more algae I had. They consume left over food and crap perfectly condensed algae food. The more snails you have, the less fish you can have. It's a simple matter of ratios. Basically I am going to call it "The Butthole Theory". The more buttholes you have, the more waste is being produced. You only want a certain number of buttholes in your tank. Feed less than you are now, in fact the less buttholes you have, the less you need to feed. In my 75g the hermits fought and killed all of my cleanups until I have a nice little mix of 10 nassarius, 3 hermits, and about 9 cucumbers. Not exactly a huge cleanup crew in a 75g tank. I only feed my tank about once a week and only about an 1/8th of a teaspoon at that. My fish are healthy, my pod population is very large, my corals are fine. If there is any 1 thing I have noticed, it's that the more corals I have the more stable the tank. Corals really help purify the water, same with clams. I'd say it's time for new bulbs, a couple of weekly back to back large volume water changes so you can "reset" your parameters, stop feeding altogether, add more corals, and make sure your skimmer is working properly.

This confounds me and goes completely against the sound logic of a refugium. The idea that you provide an ideal place for organisms that grow faster and process waste better than GHA would in the display, and in a manner that you can physically control is somehow counterproductive has my mind in knots. Could you explain your position better?

A friend of mine has decided it is time to leave the hobby as well. He has asked if I could help spread the word for him as he is not a "forum type guy". He wishes not to create an account to sell this tank. Please PM me for information and I will forward his phone number to you. There are not any recent pictures. If you know what a BioCube looks like, then you have a pretty good idea what this tank looks like. Included are recent bulbs, Korallia powerhead water jugs, about 20lbs of live rock, a 5 year old clown fish that could probably live in freshwater, sand bed, and some corals I have given him over the years including mushrooms, zoas, pipe organ etc. The tank has been running for about 5 years that I know of. There was some algae problems about 7 months back that we addressed and cleaned up. He has decided that with his young twins and new home purchase that the tank is not getting the attention it needs. Asking price is $200. Please PM me for info. Thanks.

But Will, what defines why one coral is significantly "better" than another? How is it possible that there is a "best" coral? Unlike a piece of machinery that can be compared to another for craftsmanship, usability, reliability, fitment, practicality and so forth, they all just sit in our tanks and look nice. Looking nice does not mean "best".

Acro, he was nominating Mark. We'd all love to watch a Mr. Saltwater episode were Mark nukes his own tank for our pleasure.

Any of you that ride and won't be at the frag swap, I expect to see you at the rally this year. www.harvestclassic.org Platinum Sponsor, Mike.

I've been able to rent cars with cash. I pay cash at the airport for tix. Pay cash for hotel rooms. When and only if I must, I get a prepaid Visa card to make online transactions. Normally I plan for events and pay with bank checks in advance for what I need online. I don't mind waiting an extra 3-4 days to get my items knowing that I won't later be ripped off.

(Cough) Cash only (Cough) Has been working great for 34 years.

Check this out......... So I've traveled with the mysterious Prof you mention. We have certainly drilled many a tank with water in it. Never liked it because of the "OH GAWD WHAT NOW" moments that could happen. However we have drained them to below the bulkhead and away we go...

You have cats?

Timfish you make an awesome point I don't think many people have ever considered. I'm wondering if there was indeed any sort of transfer. I shoulda though of that years ago when I was researching electroplating. I picked up a chrome plating rig about a year back and have done some work with it. It would certainly be something to consider whether there was any metal transference. I'm not sure what the metal would plate, but it could certainly be in the water column waiting for an anode.

I don't. I'm not a retail outlet. I don't have a shop. I'm just a dewd with some old timey connections. I'll PM you more information of how we used to do things. I recommend Prof, however he has not been placing as many orders as he used to, for great deals, odd fish, and just general old school hobbyist.

I do want to add, and this is why it's in another reply, that Shane has a nice little store over there. He creeped me out when I went in to shop and I've never been back since, however from what I could see, it appears that his shop is a little more hands on. This may lead to fewer fish in more tanks, much better acclimation procedures, and a lot more downtime to maintain the tanks and fish. This can be a good thing and therefore you may indeed be getting fish that have been acclimated much better and may indeed be a lot more stress free. This is certainly a good thing and if you shop there, I certainly encourage that you continue if you are thus far satisfied.

innerestering. Hmmmm.... Well I've had many a order come through Southwest from "Vendor" and I can tell you for fact that our packages have come through clean as a whistle. As for "special" treatment, well I don't want to call anyone a liar for what they are saying, but.... Well I've been there to pick up my order and the pallet was shuttled to the door, an employee then cut away the the thin plastic that "our" vendor used to keep the ENTIRE pallet held together, once it was cut we quickly sorted through what belonged to the Big3, a smaller store I shall not name , and my stuff. As in, all of our orders came in on 1 pallet and had to be separated. As in, none of the LFS had to worry that their order in particular was abused more than another shop's was. Yes your guy may be telling the "truth per say", however it's the same pretty much for all of us. If Southwest was Hulk Smashy Smashy all of our packages and we were all suffering massive amounts of losses, this would either lead to huge claims for loss with SW and they would change their practices or our "Vendor" would not allow us to use them for fear of claims. BTW, if you were ever wondering, my largest order was 12 large boxes of goods. That's a lot of goods, in fact the entire bed of a Ranger. What I'm getting on about is that I've been there. I know what I'm talking about. I've made the orders, I've seen them come in, I've unwrapped them.

From my experiences buying fish from vendors, the fish have the lowest mark up. It's the corals and dry goods that get ya. Fish have to be priced cut throat cause people will go from store to store comparing prices. Fish are a much more tangible item than a coral. A powder blue tang at one store is basically the same thing at another store. I expect the prices to be similar. Corals on the other hand come in numerous sizes, shapes, colors, etc.. that set them apart from the one sitting directly next to it. If I was to offer a "QT service" where I offered a replacement fish, I honestly would charge you 5 times the asking price for the fish, not double. The tank must be sterilized before adding the fish so as to assure myself that nothing cross contaminated, then special feeding, special water changes etc... If it does show signs of illness, should I charge you extra for the treatment or is that included in the price? I would certainly charge you more than double to protect myself in the event of. I couldn't possibly offer you a replacement fish unless it was the most common fish like clowns and yellow tangs. But then again who would pay extra for that? I could not guarantee that you'd get another one. Some are very hit and miss. Almost all fish at the LFS are there because the vendor listed them as a super sale special for that week. So if I was going to make a 100% profit by buying it on sale because they had them in bulk, and the replacement fish was now at a higher price, then my profit margin would plunge. So many variables that I could not control, I'd charge an arm and a leg. However as I mentioned Kingfish runs a completely different outfit than your local fish store. They are not a point and bag it kinda place. They can get you the fish you want and they can handle holding it for you. It may cost a little more than regular retail, but it seems to me that you would really benefit from that sort of 1 on 1 experience. As far as water parameters, that's not quite what I was thinking. I realize that you stated this was an on going trend and not a one time event, hence why I mentioned that I'd be looking within my tank for answers. What if the tank, rock, etc had ever been contaminated with copper or other chemicals? What if there was a parasite unknown to you living within the tank? What if other fish are bullying the new fish? Etc etc... So many other places to look other than just the obvious. Cyaniding fish for collection is a horrible practice and thankfully is almost gone from the hobby. It is not near as prevalent as it was decades ago. Most Govts. are figuring out the additional damage it creates and are taking aggressive stands against the practice. Also many of the wholesalers have learned of where this method is utilized and refuse to buy from them. After all, cheap fish can still ruin your business. If after enough people complain about your fish not living, sooner or later they will buy from elsewhere. Most wholesalers are now joining up with MAC, Marine Aquarium Council. Mac certification has done wonders for the hobby and it's a badge for many vendors to claim MAC. There are still other places that our fish are coming in from but more and more are being sought from places that refuse to use cyanide for capture. You may have lost a couple to the symptoms of, or outright from the use of, cyanide capture. In fact many of us might have had 1 or 2 pass through our hands. But then again I don't think you lost all these millions of fish that have caused you to swear off the LFS folks from cyanide capture. Some perhaps but not all. Another good place to consider is Epic Reef. Since Prof is not a full time commercial operation, he does not have people coming in and out on delivery day running off with fish. Many of his charges have been in his possession for weeks if not months. They should do well should you choose them for your tank. He does not order the bread and butter that the locals do. You'd be hard pressed for him to order a clown fish. He may have 1 because somebody brought it to him, but you are going to find more rare tangs and other oddities at his place. We buy what we want in our tanks that you just can't find in the other stores. Generally because the wholesale price is so high that the LFS couldn't justify trying to charge $400 or more to resell them at their profit margins.

Word for word from the horses, er, reefers typie fingers. I reread what you wrote and I still do not see how you differentiated the top from the bottom. I take what you say at face value and just want it to be clear to any new members that might be planning to do some plumbing of there own. Would hate to think they read your statement and thought "wow I shouldn't glue any of it together, Derry said so". So yeah actually I'm not on a caffeine trip right now. Sounds great though. Maybe I should get me some Monster. Still if you've put that much effort into it, cut it and replace. As I said, this time replace with threaded components. As far as getting it apart if it were glued. Give up cause you can't. The pieces are now "welded" together. The solvents actually melt the pvc pieces together. Even if it is just a push fit that you can't get apart, I wouldn't admit it to anyone. I'd grab a new bulk head and a couple of fittings.

There is 1 good reason why the locals won't/can't place fish in the back for a QT. People like me come in and see what I want, am willing to take a risk knowing exactly what the risks are and knowing that I'm at fault and not the store, and then demanding to leave with the fish for fear that another customer will be there to buy it on the day of "release" before I can be there. I for 1 would be the most pissed off customer you ever had in your shop if you knew I wanted that particular fish yet your employees sold it out from under me. This has happened to me at a Pawn Shop before and let me tell you, the cops were called out and an employee lost his job and I almost got arrested. A friend that works at 1 knew I wanted a full size roll around Snap On box. He told me he had 1 coming off loan in 2 days for $450 if I bought it the minute it "popped". So I meet him there only to find out 1 of the employees was trying to buy it minutes before it popped for 1 of his friends. That was against company policy, employees must wait a minimum of 5 days after being put on display before purchasing anything from the store. We were following the rules. The guy said "no way it's mine". An argument ensued and someone called the cops. The employee told the cops to arrest me for trespass and I had to leave. He took the tool box home with him. I lost the tool box, 2 days later the owner fired the employee. So yes that is a real world situation that the LFS don't want to have happen and that's 1 reason why they don't "hold" things in the back. So you might counter with "I can pay for this item today, call me when it is ready in 2 weeks". What if it dies? Who loses out? I'm 50/50 with the idea that if it died, I'm out the money I took the risk. However what if later on I feel that the store wasn't trying hard enough to take care of it? Then do I want my money back? So then 50% of me says "to bad you gambled and lost" the other 50% says "maybe they could have tried a little harder". If the fish shows signs of disease or illness to what level do you feel the shop should be compelled to treat? If they are QTing the fish, then they would all have to be in separate confines or they can just as easily infect all of the charges. Then you could lose every single fish you ordered for resale. Then the shop loses out big time. If they have to keep each fish for 1 month in separate tanks that would cost a fortune and be transferred to us. Just because you think you would pay twice as much, what about the rest of us? The hobby is already expensive enough as it is. Only some die-hard Republican would reply with "then get a different job and make more money". I'm not freaking out about how much this game costs to play, however I know that several members are just scratching out a tank. Kudos to them. I applaud them. As you can tell I root for Under-Dogs. But then what happens when a moderately priced $24 blenny suddenly sells for $100? Not to many people are going to be buying into that. Then what happens to the LFS? I'm betting that when their sales drop off 98% that they will have a hard time keeping their doors open. So now the fish shows signs of illness and are being kept in separate tanks to ensure against cross contamination, what now? Do you put it down humanely, treat it, hope for the best? With each illness requiring different treatment methods, drugs, chemicals, can you imagine the cost and who diagnoses? A vet? An employee? I'm just tossing out some real world examples and asking questions that I'd love to hear answers to. I've heard this argument before about how shops should do one thing over another but it's as though the full feasibility has not been thought through. All in all it's a gamble. Short and sweet. Online, or in store. I say that ultimately if you feel as though the fish you are getting locally are sub-par and online gambling is your thing, then well do it. On the other hand so many of us have had just dandy experiences at the LFS that I cannot fathom that they would be in business if it were truly "that bad". Of course if you walk into a place and look around and feel icky (that's how I feel at Gallery of pets[great birds and freshwater but SW is lacking] and at Partners) then you shouldn't be spending your money there. The big 3 in ATX have reputable standings, and the newer smaller guy seems to be getting good press as well. If you have lost $1,000 worth of fish within days of adding them every time you bought locally, I think for sure I'd be hiring someone to come to my tank to diagnose it. At what point would I consider what the common theme was within my tank. Especially if I was having troubles after buying from all the local sources and having the same issues. And to that thought, Hydro if you are still reading, there is a shop in town that does everything you want. Their prices are higher. They only sell to a niche market. They will pamper your every desire. They sponsor us right here at ARC. They will do tank maintenance and diagnoses for you. We all know them as "Kingfish". I'm thinking that these are the types of folks you ought to be shopping with. Anything less, well you'd just be as common as the rest of us common folk. Seriously though, just joking, kinda. I realize that you are just trying to keep it real and that you mention that you would spend more, but are just trying to find something that works better for you right now and it could benefit us as well. But you really should consider working with Kingfish for your fish that you really want. They will cost more, but I'm sure they will be willing to work with you on a QT that would benefit you.

Um why is it a bad idea to glue the overflow pipe? Sure I don't glue my standpipe to the bulkhead, in fact the smart thing to do there is to use a threaded connection. However why would it be a bad idea to glue the rest? I would absolutely 100% glue every connection below my stand and not within the confines of my sump. If any of those pipes fell apart, man what a mess. I'm a pipe-fitter by trade and I think that gluing the piping in your suction lines, as well as your return lines, is the smartest thing you could do. Seriously how cheap a guy are you? PVC and fittings are priced in nickles. You probably couldn't spend more than $15 to re-engineer the entire suction or return line. Why not quit letting it dictate your afternoon and just get in there after it, show it that your the Boss. Buy some new pipe, some new fittings, this time add a few threaded connections and/or unions so you can do some maintenance?

That's about what I heard as well. This means that you can't count on the quality as it could just be coming from the cheapest source at that moment.

Does this look more like it? It's very nice.