pledosophy

Very cute.

Great for glass, I would avoid (meaning shoot anyone who comes near my tank with a magfloat) on acrylic. Acrylic safe just doesn't mean what it used too .

Your nutz over there!

I with you on doing things slowly and researching to the umph degree. I spend at least an hour a day reading on sites, and studies so I know enough to know I know pretty much nothing. Bu that's the fun of the hobby. As far as the cost of a denitrator, a DIY one can be made really cheaply. It would cost like $20 including the cost of the media. I used one for a couple years and it worked quite well for me. Basically it was one of those "Pro Fish Acclimators" which is an airline with a hook to hang over the top of the tank and then a valve to control how many drops of water a second. I'm sure you've seen one before. I ran that from the top of the tank down to the sump. In the sump there was a 1 liter bottle (I used Aquafina). I drilled a hole in the top of the bottle ran the hose through so it hit the bottom of the bottle. Then I poked a few holes in the top of the bottle for the water to flow out. Then I filled the bottle with the denitrating media. DIY denitrator done. I used to be a huge fan of Miracle Mud. The LFS I frequented when I lived in California was owned by one of the scientists from Eco System and I have spent many hours chatting with Leng Sy. It's a good product, but IMO it's not the best cure for nitrate. IMO from talking with the EcoSystem heads and using the system myself the calupera had more to do with the lowering of nitrate. JMO On the carbon dosing method. Take it really slow and monitor it. I'd start with a 1/4 teaspoon of sugar in your tank. Give it 24 hours and then see how your doing. If the tank gets white and cloudy then that was too much. If nitrate barely budges it was not enough. Most likely a 1/4 teaspoon is going to be on the light side of dosing. So gradually increase. The goal is to find the amount that is going to drop your nitrate without causing a bacterial bloom that will turn the tank white. Tank white = bad. Every tank is different so IME there is no set amount that is going to work for anyone (i.e. a 100g tank will need 3/4 of a teaspoon to reduce nitrate by 50%). There are just to many factors that are impossible to measure for a set rule like that. As best I can tell factors like the amount of rock, the surface area of the rock, the population of certain bacteria's the amount of flow, the amount of available 02 all play roles. Since we can't really measure these factors then it is best to just go slow and gradually increase. As you go you will get comfortable with a certain amount of sugar and can just dose that regularly. I can dump an entire tablespoon into my tank without an ill effect but that's not a good place to start from. The sugar will lower 02 levels so increasing them by increasing surface agitation is a good practice in my book. Since it can drop 02 levels if you are not running a refugium with inverse lighting then I would dose the carbon source a few hours before lights go on. HTH

An inch. Wow I didn't remember them being that big. What are you feeding Daddy? The species paper say the average fry size is .5cm, my memory was closer to .5". Guess that's why i trying to recompile them.

Whatever you want to know about seahorses I got you. There are actually quite a few seahorse keepers on the boards. I belong to a site that specializes in seahorses and I'd link you our beginners guide but we just took it down to rewrite it. You don't have to reinvent the wheel. It's a normal slat water system, with less flow, cooler temps, and places for the seahorses to wrap there tails around. Getting a true aqua cultured CB specimen will give you a much better start then most as well. Hey if you like beer we can meet up and talk about it in person if you like. We do some meet and greets in Beaverton with a few other seahorse keepers too.

Congrats on the fry. That male is very pretty. My female barb just swam over close to the screen and is all excited, or maybe she's just hungry. Can I ask you for an odd favor? I'm working on a new article and need to know the size of the barb babies. I have no barb fry to measure and the 3 sources I have differ from my memory. Thanks

Thanks for the compliments. I had to remove a pink spotted watchman that became very aggressive. The clam is on a rock downt here. It's in the reattaching phase. During the reaquscape he became loose from the rock so he's there until it reattaches. Then I'll probably find a home for him in the middle of the rock on the right.

Had to pull a fish. Ended up taking the tank apart to get it out. DOH! Last week (before) Now (after) What cha think?

This is part of where growing up in Southern California might pay off. 1.Freezing jugs and rotating them is good. If you freeze salt water it will last longer then fresh water. 2. Leave you windows open at night while it is cool, and then shut the house up during the day. 3. Running the air intake hose on the skimmer through a cooler filled with ice will continually pump cold air into your system. You can do the same thing with an air pump too. 4. Pointing a fan at the surface of the tank so it is close enough and strong enough to make ripples will do wonders. Bigger the taank bigger the fan. It will increase your evaporation dramatically. (I just hooked up the ATO so I'm straight on that, will be easier for shizzle. ) 5. Lights at night are good but a few days without light is not going to hurt much IME. I've done it a few times. 6. Switching refugiums bulbs out with ones that produce little to no heat are good. HTH

As long as the water is aerated there is no real shelf life. You can mix it weeks ahead. You might need to recheck the salinity for evaporation though .

They call it a controller Becareful with having certain powerheads with certain fish on timers. A wavemaker with a few second switch is one thing, but some powerheads on timers are just asking for chopped fish.

I too was quite confused when I started researching this method. I read quite a few articles, the Boreman series had quite a nice arguement against it. There are a few threads on other sites, one of which is pretty long with much input and over a thousand posts. There are a large number of hobbyist who do consider it a band aid and a temporary fix, but by there same logic so is a water change. Like water changes you have to continue to use your carbon of choice and can't just do it once. While I do continue my weekly 30% water changes (you read that right, weekly) I also dose a carbon source weekly. Between having a refugium, getting a skimmer rated for twice my tank, increasing my flow, and doing the weekly 30% water changes I could not keep nitrates at undetectable levels in my 65g system(my 30g is completely different with no skimmer and far less flow but a much larger refugium and requires no work for zero nitrates so tanks our different). My tank is understocked fish wise by most standards, but I have a few corals (10) that I target feed that add to the bioload. Feeding less is not an option for me. My fish have a plenty of room so the "overstocking" really comes from the corals. I just don't want to keep less corals, I plan on adding more. IMO there is no reason to limit the amount of corals I keep in my tank as long as the tank can support them, there is room for them to grow, and they are prospering. If adding a spoonful of sugar a week is going to keep my conditions ideal I really don't see the harm. IME I have been dosing vodka for years. I have never seen an ill effect. I switched to sugar maybe 6 or 7 months ago, no problems I have seen yet. There can be problems with dosing a carbon source. Overdoses can lead to bacterial blooms which can damage fish and corals which may lead to death. Unproper aeration can lead to lower oxygen levels which can be dangerous as well. Then again, overdosing anything can cause problems even water and salt. When reading the opinions of the masses in regards to carbon dosing try to pay some extra attention to those that are doing it, have been for years, and still do it. Yes it is the minority of reefers, but at one time the use of liverock was the minority as well. Back in the day you were told to remove it and bleach it every couple of months to prevent the build up of bacteria. We're moving forward. IME and I do read quite a bit, I have not seen any negative experiences about people dosing carbon who are doing it properly. I've been dosing a carbon source for years, have never had a problem, have no qualms about recommending it. HTH

I always have extra in Beaverton for anyone. I toss a 5g bucket full every month, it just grows back

Dsoz is some pretty good info out there on carbon feeding. Usually it causes a rise in ammonia, nitrite, and then nitrates follwed by a drop in all three. How fast this occurs seems to be different in every system. Overdoses lead to a cloudy tank. Underdosing has little or no effect. HTH

My wife does that too. Personally I like Hula girl the best.

Here is my thread for my 30g. It's pretty indepth. http://forum.seahorse.org/index.php?showtopic=38415&st=0&start=0 Here are a few shots from my 65g. Spraybars in tank Plumbing on back I have used 3/4" and 1/2" I don't glue it really, just piece it together and push it in well. I have about 1oo lbs of LR in the 65g but position the rock so there is not an extreme amount of weight on any one region. It will hold more then you think though. PVC will bend with a blow torch a slight amount too. I would run the pump externally. When I first made my PVC spraybar/rock support things I used an internal pump, but it is a pain to take out to clean, external is much easier IME and it looks better. HTH

At least your smarter then I am. Back when I was a newb ad set up my first refugium I got one of those coralife's for the refugium to, cuz I thought every tank needed one. When the refugium temp was 5 degrees less then the display I bought a heater for the refugium (didn't have a heater in there thought it was the problem). Didn't work. I went back to the LFS to add another heater to bring up the temp, and the LFS sold me a $3 glass thermometer. Got me back on track. Been using glass ever since. Luckily my Ebo Jager heaters thermometer worked perfectly.

He'll only notice if he actually brushes his teeth. My wife grabbed the fish tooth brush one. She grabbed the turkey baster another time. She almost drank out of the mysis thawing cup too. She'd so kill me if she read this. I just didn't have the heart to tell her.

Replacement parts are usually cheaper. What kind of pump would help to give you the appropriate link. Who knows, someone might just have it in there garage. I have a few different thingie's.

Nice!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Man what I wouldn't give. My RO unit is hooked up in 2nd bathrooms tub. My cat like to pee on it. Pisses me off like no other. My cat fell into the refugium a few years ago, now it stays away from the tanks. Luckily he didn't die. Deodorant works well for dogs IME.

If you want to try the siphoning thing and you have a major problem what I did was: I have a ball valve on my duroso so I turned it down a bit limiting the amount it drained. I hooked up a filter sock to my sump, just for this Used a 1/2" hose and put part of the hose in the sock the other in the tank. I siphoned for an hour or so getting everything I could. The removed the sock and tossed it in the washer. IME the flatworms went to the glass after lights off, so I did the siphon after lights off. JME

I feed (all of this is on hand and much in the freezer, the wife loves it): PE Mysis Hikari Mysis Rod's Food Artic Pods Krill SF Bay's Carnivore Cuisine Cycopleeze Emerald Entree Brine Spinularia Daphnia Glass worms Aquadine (still going off the samples from Waves, I think it's time to buy) Recently started adding Brown Seaweed as well. (got a tang) I kind of rotate. I don't like to eat the same thing every day, why should my fish. I also feed at least three times a day, what can I say I like to watch the fish eat. It's fun! This is my hobby it's supposed to be fun right? In fairness I also added a skimmer for twice my tank volume, run a refugium, and do 30% WC's weekly with new salt water, ad rotate 5g's a day from one of my other tanks. Nitrates finally under control. R3 my clowns like the Carnivore cusine, PE mysis, hikari mysis, and aquadine the best JME

Adding sugar is the same idea as adding vodka. Vodka is actually a cleaner source, but really what a waste. IIRC the vodka dosage is 5mL per hundred gallons, so about a shot in a 1000g tank. Could be off it's been awhile since I was into the vodka, sugar is easier and less wasteful. I have never noticed a change in my skimmer while dosing, nor have I ever had a bacterial bloom. JME If your tank does not use a skimmer you have to increase your aeration when using either of these methods. HTH