pledosophy

Actinic light does help with coral growth. It penetrates deeper then the white light and is used by corals for photosynthesis. There is really no best color spectrum out there for most of our tanks. Some of the corals will do better under 6500K, some will do better under 20K. The higher in the water column they are found the more likely they are to like the whiter light, while corals from a bit deeper will favor the blue light. I use the spectrum that is kind of in the middle because I like how it looks, and the corals are doing well. Many coral farmers use a 6500K spectrum with no actinic lighting at all so it is possible, I just think it looks really yellow to my eye.

I've never heard the not moving for 6 weeks rule. I say hogwash. When I was breeding I would move all of them once a week to a different tank and then clean out the tank they were in, including bleaching. I'd switch the tanks once a week. I was kinda paranoid about water quality. Artemia is just filthy. Hitching is very good. Sounds like your doing awesome. Keep it up.

I use a monitor for pH. It saves money in the long run. I think I paid $50 for it and it has lasted me a year. I used to test three time a week. (I like testing stuff). If my pH is off I look to Ca, Alk, and Mg. If those are in line then my pH will be unless the issue is C02 or lack of surface exchange. JME For my other test kits I use salifert but have a Red Sea Mg test kit as the Saliferts were hard to come by for a bit. I need to get a new one but have been lazy lately. I have never used a CA reactor, my tanks are running O.K. on 2 part but I'm not keeping more then a few SPS frags ATM. JME.

I use a small gauge hose and siphon them out during water changes. You'd be amazed at how many you can get rid of. One of my tank has been fallow besides corals for the last few weeks and I did notice 4 flatworms today hiding in a corner, but a year ago I had hundreds. Those guys were pretty easy to suck out. I am running the tank fallow before the new stock just to be sure and rid anything in the system. When the new fish go in, nothing else will be again, the tank will be done.

Before coming to Oregon my tank was running for 5 years with a 2" sandbed and the nitrates were 0. I was even more obsessed with water changes back then (30% twice a week, hey it was free research grade water). A 1/2" sandbed is not likely to be your problem. IME crushed coral is more problematic then sand. JME. IF I were in your shoes, and I have been, I would dose a carbon source to remove the nitrates. Alcohol and sugar both work for this. Alcohol is supposed to be a cleaner source, methanol is supposedly the best, but IME sugar works just fine as well. 20ppm is not so bad. Really in the scheme of things it's not horrible but it is good your attacking it before it gets out of hand. Nitrates and low pH will get you into some nuisance algae problems IME. HTH HTH

Anything lost in the first five days is from water quality or just weaklings. Since you have only lost three sounds like your in great shape. Keep it up. How big was the brood?

The Geismann rock buddy. I had some generic brand before there is a big difference. Since the bulbs last so long IMO it's better to pay the extra ten bucks a bulb to get the good stuff. One of the benefits of buying local is that when I went to Waves looking for bulbs I got to see how they looked, there is this little display thing there where they can plug them in. It was a big help for me. You can always stop buy and see how the combo looks on my tank if you want. I have the Tek unit too, just the 36" so the color should be about the same. If you come by a bit earlier in the evening we could frag some stuff (zoo's, acans, purple gorg, or samll monti) for you too if you like. Make a night out of it, could be fun. Personally I want to try one of the pure atnic bulbs soon just for fun to see how much different the color is and see if there is as big of a difference as I have read about. There is a brand besides Geismann that many like but the name escapes at the moment as I have never used it. JMO.

I did the same and thought I was good. But the hydrometer continued to shift and I was having unexplained die off. I fixed every level I could test for and they were all good. Then I bought a refractometer. My hydrometer was reading my salinity at 1.025 while the refractometer was at 1.034. Things have been better since.

Dude this thread is like 3 months old. IME no, you do not need a skimmer to have a tank with 0 nitrates. It is just far easier to use one. I'm not the biggest skimmer fan in the world. I prefer to use refugiums and for my needs and what I want to do it has worked for the last 8 years or so. Skimmers are great, but so far IME you need one rated for at least twice your tank size to make any difference. JME which with skimmers is pretty little. I use a skimmer on my 65g tank, which does remove a good amount of skimate but did not solve my nitrate problem on it's own. On my 30g tank I have no skimmer, no mechanical filtration, no media, just a refugium. Nitrates are always 0. In fact lately I have been doing 5g changes between the 65g and 30g to help keep the nitrates down in the 65g. The 30g eats nitrates so fast it has not changed it's reading and nitrates are back to zero a day after the change. By dosing sugar once a week and doing the daily 5g switches along with a 20g water change once a week I have finally gotten the nitrates in my 65 to stay at 0. Without the skimmer and the daily 5g switches the nitrates were at 10. HTH

I think you'll need more atnic then that or it will look pretty yellow. I think I have two atnics and two aqua blue's on my Tek unit. The color is pretty nice for my taste. Using pure atnic which is the purple bulb is supposed to help even more with coral growth but I've never used it myself. HTH

Is that from your shop?

I'm sure Peggy would love this one. "Top ten things your tank and spouse have in common" 6) They both require more attention than I can ever give, and cost more money than I ever have. liquidfunk of Portland OR http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-02/tt/index.php

White Vinegar has worked for me in the past. I use a cloth diaper for cleaning my tanks since I use acrylic and it does not scratch it. JME

That's twice now Joel. The thread of the month is quite inspiring.

I have used regular PVC glue several times on several tanks and have had no problems. I have used the primer to paint things for the tank purple to blend in with the coraline and that has worked well for me to. I don't let it cure for as long as I should I suppose. I will use the glue pretty quickly, 10 mintures or so. I let the stuff painted with primer sit over night usually. I have had a few things leak, but never the parts with glue oddly enough. My leaks are more likely to be caused by teflon taped pieces or bulkhead gaskets, both easy fixes most of the time. IME HTH

My pH stays at 8.3 all day (and night ) long. I use an inversly lit refugium. Use macro algaes. Have a good amount of surface aggitation. Run a skimmer (on two of the three tanks), and keep my windows cracked. I had a CO2 problem at a place I lived in a few years back and it was not safe to leave the windows open so I put an airpump outside the window and ran the airline through the window and into the tank. Bringing fresh air in worked out great for me. Keeping Ca, Mg, and Alk in line will help too. HTH JME

Maybe 5" or so. Pretty nice size. I'm amazed at how strong of a swimmer it is. I have a CL that pumps through a penducter for around 3000-4000 gph (depending on how well you think those penducters actually work) the Kole will just swim right into the flow for a few minutes at a time. This thing is going to look like the hulk soon if it keeps it up. It's pretty fun to watch. So far the macro algaes have been safe. Not much intrest in the nori, but it is eating algae off the glass and pecking at the rocks. It has ignored mysis, krill, brine, and rods so far in my best observation. I might try something different for food since I'll be at the LFS tomorrow anyhoo.

This one's not to shabby for a little home prop tank. http://br.youtube.com/MachadodeSousa

They are a very nice fish indeed. Here's mine. Well if your gonna cry about it you can come visit him. (naner) You show up with a net (threaten).

That's a pretty crazy tank. Think he can squeeze in one more fish? :lol:

I went with the Kole. Picked it up tonight. Acclimating right now.

If they will eat the bbs, feed them the bbs and just ditch the rots. Rots are a food to get them to bbs IMO. If your going to dose formalin I'd dose 1mL for every 10g of nursery tank every other day for 3 treatments. Mix the med in a cup of water first then add to the tank, I kinda of pour it across the top from end to end for better distribution but whatevers. If your removing water when sucking up the food then replace the same percentage of meds as the water removed. Makes sure there is ample aeration as formalin will affect 02 levels. Formalin works best at temps under 70F typically. IME fry do far better at these temps too, I'd go as low as 67-68F IME. Curious why do you expect parasites? Using decapped brine will help you a little bit in this. I kinda dose formalin as the process goes. Can't get to crazy with it, it is basically formaldehyde. Best of luck. Kudas are a fun species to work with IME.

Can you post a pic of the tank from far enough back to show all the equipment so we can see how it is running? 3 at once is a spike in a level, a chemical being introduced, or lack of oxygen IMO.

You know when I look at a tank with a Majestic Angel I really don't see anything else. They just have this power over me. Your's is one stunning fish. So I missed the Kole. I think I watched the angel for a few minutes too while I was waiting for the water. DOH! (laugh) One day I'll have a tank for them too. Are you speaking of the tomini in the 60g cube? That would make the descion easy. That is the coolest tomini I have seen. I thought that system was going to stay all together though so I don't think you are. You're the Marine Aquariumist. Is one going to do better then the other? From what I read they seem to need the same care. Save me the one you think would do best in my system if that's cool. If they are they are pretty much the same (which my reseach points to but you'd know better) then I'd like the tomini. If the kole is a better fit I'll take that. I trust your judgement. I know next to nothing about tangs. I probably can't make it in until Tuesday, will try for the weekend. I'm good for it. BTW Joel, you (rock2) Since it was brought up in the topic and is fresh in my head, you wouldn't want any of those giant mushrooms for your frag tank or anything? (naughty) I really just want to clear some room for more corals and can't seem to give them away to anyone. Don't have the heart to just toss them.

Joel's was got me thinking about one. They look way better in person then in pics. Either fish I will be getting will come from Waves, it's really the only place I shop these days. They have always been able to get me anything I have wanted.