Razor

Congratulations on getting started! For me that was the hardest hill to climb.

I finished COD MW2 on Veteran yesterday! I'm going to start working on the Spec Ops missions before I go very far into the multiplayer. If anyone is interested in joining me let me know or hit me up on XBL when I have MW2 in.

Just wanted to get any ARC members that are also on X-Box Live together. I'm always looking for someone to fight on co-op with me. Post your tag here so we can copy and paste it for a friend request. Shawn: Razorsharp 3094

yes, the skimmer is at a constant level of water- about 6 inches deep.

I guess I could try putting the skimmer in that first chamber where the rock is at and using the middle chamber for rock and make a fuge... don't know if the skimmer will fit in there though. I'll look at it and see

I have the all glass megaflow sump and I'm needing some ideas on how to add a refugium in the system. Right now it's configured to where the the water flows into the sump and over liverock rubble, then into the center chamber where the protein skimmer is located. The skimmer pours onto the bubble trap spong and the water flows through the sponge under the baffle and into the third chamber where the return pump is located pushing the water back up into the tank. I was wondering if I needed to exchange the return pump for an external one, build the fuge in that chamber and somehow rig up the external pump to pull the water from the fuge back into the tank.

I have some Blue Tubs. This link will show you what mine looks like. If you like them I can get you in contact with the one I got them from locally. http://www.thefragguys.com/img/Tubs.jpg

Yes, I live in Killeen. I was an E-5 in the Army, deployed to Iraq, made pretty good money... lets see, I think I brought home $4,200.00 a month for combat pay, give or take a little. I'm just tired of all these soldiers running around central Texas looking for a hand out- military discount this, give me that. You struck a bad nerve with me when you said, "but for some reason being in the army isn't good enough for Microsoft." I served my time proudly and did not go around asking for things I could not afford, I just went without until I could. I've said my peace on the subject so I am done here; I hope you'll find someone who can "hook you up!"

The reduced price for students is because Microsoft knows they usually don't make the same amount of money in school as a person in the military. Its not a question of the Army not being good enough, just use your pay check and buy it like every other hard working citizen. You'll appreciate it more anyways.

I use geismen: 2 Aquablue + (white lights) and 2 Actinic + (blue lights) and I am really pleased with the color ballance in my tank. I believe the AB+ are in the 10K range and the A+ is ~450nm so it is a brighter bulb then the Pure Act or Fiji purple.

I wanted to come to this meeting, but I have a Hazmat conference in Houston that won't end until Sunday so I can't be there. Oh well, I'll sure try for December though!

Your setup looks good.

I work for the Killeen police department. Killeen is about 120K population. I'm willing to meet with you but I don't know if Killeen is out of your target range. Let me know. Shawn

+1 Blue Vet- I've personally used the Blue Vet and it worked great. I feed my 29 gallon every other day, but I really notice the slime when someone comes over to look at the tank and they want to see me feed the fish, the star fish, watch the snails buzz around, ect... So I really believe mine is caused when I over feed, ie. get off schedule and show off my pets by giving them more food when they're being watched. I have had some luck with using a large turkey baster to spray the rocks free of the cyano just before I vacuum the tank. when it's stuck to my substrate I just vacuum the entire clump of sand out because it sticks so bad.

WOW! that tank looks awsome. You guys really did a good job with the rocks. BTW I still have your moving blanket here. I'll get it back soon.

This may be a dumb question but is your camera inside the tank? These pictures are crystal clear and they look very good. I have a water proof case for my sony camera so I can take it diving with me. I may try putting in the tank and checking the picture quality and getting use to the adjustments.

Thanks for that info caferacermike. I really liked how you detailed out the importance of keeping the detritis suspended. I have excellent water flow in my tank, I just find that the detritis gets stuck on the rock and in the crevices between the rock and substrate. So I'm still working on getting the power heads turned just right. I have a lawnmower blenny and I am very pleased with him! He picks and eats that green hair algae all day long. The only problem I have with him is he is a very big source of my detris I have to suck out each day with my large turkey baster. None the less he is very entertaining and works hard so he's earned his keep. Lights being out for a few days won't hurt the corals. Sometimes they'll go for days without sunlight in ocean during hurricane season. You might think about purchasing a TDS meter. I know they have them at RCA because I've seen then with the supplements. They're about $20.00. I test my water all the time with it. Our city water is usually 340 ppm, water filtered through our refrigerator is about 150 ppm, water filtered through our 1 gallon britta pitcher is about 75-100 ppm, and water filter through my 5 stage RO/DI unit is 0 ppm.

We do, but no trips planned within the near future though. Have to save my money, the cost of my wifes grad classes are INSANE, but worth every penny.

We do, but no trips planned within the near future though. Have to save my money, the cost of my wifes grad classes are INSANE, but worth every penny.

I have three 2-3" branches of pink birdsnest. I'll give you one if want to come get it, I live in Killeen.

Thanks for the offer caferacermike, but I do have this large 100 gallon protein skimmer from Tate1 that I bought. I'm not using right now, but I might have to incoperate it into my 29 gallon. I'm still targeting trash with the baster and pulling it out. I know that every single partical matters because my system is so small.

Thanks for the help guys. So tell me how do each of you vacuum out your detris and algae? Tonight I spent some extra time on the tank and decided to get a better method. I took my large turkey baster and pushed all the air out then I got right down close to some detris and slowly sucked in the water and waste. I then turned my baster up where the bulb was lower than the tip and pulled it out of the tank. I dumped all of the water that was in the baster out. I did this for about an hour and seemed to be very successful. I also sucked the loose brown and green algae out this way. Am I going about this all wrong? Can some of you give me advice on what you personally do to remove detris and gunk?

Good question, the photo period is: 10am actinics, 10:45am daylights- 8:45 pm daylights off, 9:05pm actinics off. I do water changes every 10-14 days... 14 days MAX. I just counted them up off my logs and I've done 7 water changes in 9 weeks. Each water change is 5 gallons, which is about 15%. What do I need to do with this green algae? Should I just keep my lights off for about 3-4 days. I suspect this is what's happening with my zoa's. Thanks for the dosing advice. You know, all of the research I've done over the past 5+ years, with about 50 different books, and all of the questions, I'm still not prepared for the saltwater tank. It seems the more I read the more confused I get with up, down, left, and right.

Yes, I watched my cycle. The Amm and Nitrites spiked and were down to 0 in 3 week. Nitrates stayed till about 5 weeks. All of the rocks I put into my tank were cured and had very little die off. I got 30 lbs from one of Prof's house and 15 lbs from Fishy Business. I have not had any amm or nitrite since then either. So given these responses I guess this tank is out of whack and suppose to be more clear than this? I was told by an expert zoanthid keeper that I needed to dose the Stron and ess elements for the zoanthids, but I can hold off and only do the B-Ionic. Thanks for the help.