andy

Yeah, that's where I came across them. As you say, there are a lot of fans over there. The lights do look good, and I like the idea of supporting a small American manufacturing business.

Welcome! It's pretty easy to fall off the wagon, too.

The Tunze 9001 is getting good reviews: http://reefbuilders.com/2014/09/25/tunze-doc-skimmer-9001/

Excellent! Tank bred fish are the future of the hobby, so glad to see this

That's the 150?

"ANDY! Your fish jumped out of the tank!" -- Andy's wife Zina, moments before she rescues said fish and plops it back in the tank. Damned Firefish. Suicidal, every last one of them. Guess I better put a cover on the tank.

Hey, I recognize that first pic Fire does work pretty well. Not perfectly (one was in a deep recess), but pretty well.

If you have a skimmer, you don't need to worry about surface gas exchange. The surface area of all those bubbles is colossal and will provide more than enough oxygenation. Just be sure the intake gets easy room air.

Wannareef taught me to do it with the edge of a credit card. It's thin and flexible enough to get under the foot, but not so sharp as to easily cut it. You just use it to get under the edge of the foot -- once you get a bit up, it'll come off pretty easily. If you're clever, you can cut up the card into a popsicle-stick or guitar-pick shape and make it easier to handle. Just be sure there's no sharp or pointy edges.

I like the little velcro cord wraps instead of tie-wraps. They're more expensive, but a LOT easier to use... plus they can be used over and over again.

A bit of vinegar in water will cut through greasy fingerprints without much risk.

Here's another approach: How to get rid of green hair algae I haven't tried this, but IME Marc Levenson is pretty reliable.

==> Brandon Kennedy (Thumper) Auction Forum <==

The purple firefish is really pretty -- but why not go all the way and get a Helfrichi? ;-) I would have gone for the purple, but the first few fish in a new tank are always a bit of a crapshoot; cheaper is better, until things get stabilized.

The gas exchange in the skimmer happens internally, when the bubbles mix with the water -- the surface area of all those bubbles is far, far greater than the surface area of the tank or the sump. The bubbles are not only stripping dissolved organics, they're also oxygenating the water.

You just need a laser.

Jason at Ocean in a Box just set up a group of Kessil 360s over the SPS rimless display tank he's building, and he let me play with them and their controller. I was very impressed. They're really well built and the the controller is pretty cool too. I think I'll probably go with an A160 on my tank.

It seems Hanna does have an ammonia tester

Here's the new guy:

Nitrate was zero today, so time to stock a bit -- added 5 cerith and 5 nassarius snails, and a Firefish. Also added a bag of Purigen to the HOB filter. Lots of pics coming, LadySaber. Just got to get my fish-photo techniques dialed back in.

I didn't know they made an ammonia tester -- that's really cool. Unfortunately, you really only need ammonia testing for a few weeks when bringing up a new tank. Once it has cycled, you probably wont need the tester again... unless things go really bad.

The vast majority occurs wherever your skimmer is. It doesn't matter if it is in the sump, the display or in a HOB.

Well drat.

theclark is spot-on IME. They're pretty forgiving, like gentle flow and if fed will grow like weeds -- so in a small tank can really chew through Ca and Alk. For me, a mixed reef tank just doesn't look right without a Torch.

Mind. Blown.