DChemist

And this is still one of my favorites...

I forgot I had this one...

Post pictures or a scientific name- I've seen the melanurus wrasse (Halichoeres melanurus) mentioned on the Bornemann thread, http://www.marinecenter.com/fish/wrassereefsafe/melanuruswrasse/ .

Not a problem Joel- Thanks for getting back to it. Only six weeks? I was concerned I'd have to wait longer.

On that thread, Borneman posted, "Do you have them really bad and are dying to treat some corals. If so, just email me. I'm not putting it out in public just yet and I'm going to make you give me back data in return. Deal?" I sent him an e-mail this morning- I'll keep everyone posted on my progress.

http://www.nature.org/wherewework/northamerica/states/hawaii/files/tlr_lo_single_pg.pdf New Report Makes Strong Case For Protecting Hawaii's Coral Reefs HONOLULU, HAWAI'I — June 7, 2007 — A compelling new report showcases the incredible biological, cultural and economic value of Hawaii’s coral reefs, but warns that in the main Hawaiian Islands these “rainforests of the sea” are in urgent need of protection. “The good news is that coral reefs are resilient,” said Kim Hum, Director of Marine Programs for The Nature Conservancy of Hawai‘i. “If we act in time, we can still restore this priceless natural asset. Returning our reefs to health is essential if we are to create a sustainable future for our islands.” Titled The Living Reef, the 20-page illustrated report is being released in conjunction with World Ocean Day, June 8th. The report is a project of The Nature Conservancy and the State Department of Land and Natural Resources, with funding provided through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Coral Reef Conservation Program. Cover of The Living Reef Photo © James Watt Hawaii’s coral reefs and nearshore waters are home to some 7,000 marine life forms, a quarter of them found nowhere else on Earth. Hawaii’s cultural traditions and island way of life are intimately tied to its reefs, which contribute more than $350 million annually to the State’s economy, or about $1 million a day. “Coral reefs provide Hawaii’s people with countless benefits – from the fresh fish we eat, to the surf we ride, and the beaches we enjoy,” said Dan Polhemus, Administrator for DLNR’s Division of Aquatic Resources. “They also serve as nature’s breakwaters, protecting us from the destructive power of the sea. In more ways than we might realize, our island lifestyle depends on our coral reefs.” Yet despite their enormous importance, Hawaii’s coral reefs are a natural legacy in jeopardy – threatened by run-off, sedimentation and marine debris, the introduction and spread of invasive species, destructive fishing practices, recreational overuse and the specter of climate change. These threats have so damaged Hawaii’s coral reef ecosystems over the past century that nearshore fisheries have declined by more than 75%. “Like any living system, coral reefs suffer from prolonged exposure to disturbance and stress,” the report notes. “If the threats are not removed, a reef becomes susceptible to invasion, disease, fragmentation, and even death. This is already happening in the main Hawaiian Islands. With a resident population of 1.3 million and more than 7 million visitors arriving annually, there are just too many people trying to get what they want out of the same limited natural resource.” To protect Hawaii’s marine resources and ensure a sustainable future, The Living Reef proposes six proven measures for restoring coral reefs: 1. Return to the traditional Hawaiian way of catching only what is needed using responsible fishing practices. 2. Invest in effective sewage treatment facilities and an integrated system for preventing other land-based sources of shoreline pollution. 3. Increase funding for community-based near shore marine management. 4. Increase funding and staffing for marine resource enforcement. 5. Adopt the recommendations of the 2003 State Aquatic Invasive Species Management Plan to ensure prevention, early detection, and rapid response to invasive aquatic species. 6. Create nursery areas that will allow fish to grow to full maturity and reproduce at a rate that exceeds the rate of extraction.

I'm generalizing-and I don't run RO/DI myself, though I'm familiar with it from work... McMinnville (I think) gets their water from a resevoir- compared to well water, surface water tends to be lower in water hardness. Your RO/DI unit shouldn't have to filter out as many ions on city water and so theoretically your membranes will last longer. You could quickly check this with a TDS meter comparing both sources. Well water tends to have more silica which would be detrimental to membranes. Your city water will be chlorinated though, which is also damaging to membranes, and will require you to run the water through carbon first. Those are the issues that come to mind... I'm sure others will also have some comments too.

Welcome- let's see the pics!

There's a thread on the Borneman's Marine Depot forum "Monti eating Nudis"... http://forum.marinedepot.com/Topic68435-9-1.aspx In it he posted, "If you can hang tight until next month's ReefKeeping magazine, I'll have some information for all of you. Good news, actually." When I asked him to share the info before publishing in the ReefKeeping magazine he said, "I just talked to Mitch Carl today and asked him to confirm what I found. If he finds the same thing, I'll think about it, okay?" I wonder if folks from here could politely encourage him to share the information- especially if it means hobbyists would get educated and some corals could be saved? I find it frustrating that someone would withold this sort of information.

The other fish are a tomato clownfish, scribbled rabbitfish, a missing firefish and the new sixline. The invertebrates are an assortment of hard and soft corals, snails, sponges, etc.

http://www.physorg.com/news101307496.html (AP) -- What is believed to be the first giant manta ray born in captivity has arrived at a southern Japanese aquarium, the facility said Sunday.

I don't think live rock requires a minimum amount of light. Don't worry about your lights until you have corals or anemones that will require it for survival and growth.

Thanks Piero for your perspective. I've often wondered the merits of other image sharing sites. I use photobucket for its simplicity in posting images in this forum; upload, click on the tag, and paste. I don't look to use it as a community. I've had a bad experience with Yahoo and so Flickr's login process scared me away. I should get over it and see what it has to offer. On a side note: I absolutely hate Ringo and the advertisments they bombard you with (unfortunately, that is the photo community my niece uses).

I'm not trying to hijack this thread, but I'm curious... Specifically, why do you recommend flikr and picasa over photobucket?

Josh, thanks for the pink stylo- it looks great (I just connected with Spectra this afternoon).

I use a two-part calcium and alkalinity supplement. My tank requires about 30 mls of each, each time I top-off (every day or every other day). I try and keep my calcium above 400, I think I see a noticible difference in growth when I keep it up. I learned how much my tank required by testing for calcium and alkalinity real regularly, and adding the supplement when below my minimum (400 for calcium). Most commercial two-part supplements work well if you add them in equal parts. Only rarely have I ever needed to add more of one component than the other. I change my water only once a month, so that if I didn't supplement between water changes I think my calcium and alkalinity would drop too low. Your frequent water changes is a benefit to you. Though if I were you, I would consider adding a two part additive to keep your calcium up above 400. If after doing it some time you see some benefit but don't like the hassle, you might consider dripping in Kalkwasser, using a kalk reactor, or a calcium reactor. I do the two-part additive because I'm adding top-off water manually anyway, so it's not too much of a hassle. I hope this helps. Keep asking for advice, keep listening to and evaluating the advice, and do alot of reading. And most importantly, have fun with it.

Need a few questions answered first... How often to you change your water? How much water do you change? Do you have many hard corals that are consuming the calcium in the water? How much is you calcium dropping between water changes? By the way... Welcome to the club and forum!

Just a quick lunch-time note: I'd like to thank everyone for their concern and I very much appreciate the advice and research everyone is doing. Sincerely,

That's a great looking fish. Nice photos too.

I'll get the sixline- I read on another forum that they may work. I was shocked when I looked underneath the plates- large dead patches with several nudis in each one. When I try to siphon them they hunker down and latch on. While the tops of the coral are relatively damage free, underneath it's like a war zone. When you battled them- did you beat them? I'm not finding many success stories. Thanks for the symapathy. While most pests; alagae, aiptasia, acoel flatworms, etc., never really bothered me- this is really getting me down. Mostly because I like the varied colors and growth forms, ease of care, and fast growth of the montis. My plan is still to let the tank go fallow (with respect to montipora) and change my focus a little.

Thank you for the offer, Fromage Bleu. If you want to experiment, perhaps discover something, I'll give you some frags. I just don't want to risk spreading this around. I'd rather leave it quarantined within my display. As I've inspected each of the monti caps I've discovered the damage is more extensive than I thought. Each day is worse than the previous. This morning I sucked out more than six of the little guys before work. Each time I look I discover more. I haven't seen any eggs, but I'm sure it's because I don't recognize them.

In all honesty, I don't think I'll be doing much to treat this... Short of removing them or their eggs (which I haven't seen yet, don't know what to look for) as I find them. I do not keep a QT tank; nor do I have the time or energy to maintain one, right now. I can't really remove the monti's because they're all pretty much grown onto the live rock. If I were to remove them- I have not read how long they need to be out of the display tank to guarantee that the nudis and their eggs starve and die. The Oomed isn't sold anymore. I'm not familiar with the other treatments. None of them sound reef safe to be used in the display tank. I hate to sound too pessimistic; but I'm feeling alittle defeated on this one. I'm resigning myself to the fact that I may not be able to keep monti's (at least for a long time).

http://forum.marinedepot.com/Topic68435-9-1.aspx

http://www.reeffarmers.com/tracygraynudi01.htm

Actually, I think it's worse than that... I think it is a monti eating nudi. I've had mysterious damage to my idaho grape monti- Now I think this is the cause. Now, I've found a second little guy on my purple rim plate. Unless I find a reef safe treatment- my Monti tank may slowly turn into a softy tank. Or an acro tank. Or an anemone tank. Or something other than the tank I want. This is honestly depressing me.