coralreefer

Yes, I guess I am having a little buyer's remorse, but I bet my tank is clean in 24 hours...yes, I bought the skimmer there where the beautiful Carol Merrill is standing...(laugh) DrMerle

I'm on a rant now...stand back!!! I want to make up saltwater and say "yes, that is what I am paying for...parameters exactly in line with 1) what my tank needs and 2) exactly what I thought I was paying for!!! Don't shout me down, good God Almighty!!! DrMerle(wife)

See what I'm saying...doesn't "having to use saltwater within x amount of time" bother anybody? It bothers me...if it is doing that in a barrel, why wouldn't it be under going similar change in our tanks...we just can't tell because it is part of a bigger volume... DrMerle(scratch)

I used Reef Crystals for 3 years...never got consistency, now that I think about it...I always assumed I was too sloppy to get consistency....always had to "doctor" water, add this, add that to get parameters to come out where they were supposed to according to bucket. Water barrel had brown residue, cloudy, slow disolving salt, despite heated water waiting with pump running and slow addition. DrMerle

I got tired of "consistent inconsistencies" between buckets of salt. Despite being anal about testing samples, my water parameters never tested out what bucket said they would. Buckets settle, mixed ingredients separate...the top half of a bucket and bottom half usually ended up very different. Plus add in anti-caking agents, extra boron etc...prolonged aerating still never provided crystal clear saltwater I was looking for. Buckets first in line for filling different from those later on... Then I decided to get real serious, move more towards ULNS (Zeovit) and went with "hand-made salt" from gettanked. See link below. No anti-caking agents...no residues...crystal clear with parameters that are spot on every time...EVERY TIME!!!(rock2) http://www.gettankedaquariums.com/index_file/Home.Product.List.Page.File/Home.Product.List.Page...htm DrMerle

Your maroon clown is a female and she is house keeping which includes fanning sand and mouthing rocks and sand to keep an area clear. It is not for egg laying but keeping hosted creature--anemone, etc, free of debris. We know it is female as there is only one in your tank...clownfish can change sex...singles become females...(wife) DrMerle

I believe it is probably good for the water to sit--aerate--age...there have been several articles written about aging of RO-DI water/saltwater...sounds good to me... DrMerle

I would definitely vote for Darryl Hannah in Splash...(whistle) DrMerle http://jasondylan.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/darryl-hannah-as-mermaid1.jpg

Yes, I have meshed modded a few impellers. I definitely think it is worth doing. There are a variety of ways to do it. I originally started out using enkamat and tied down 3 layers with fishing line, not zip ties. I then got the bright idea of using thick nylon suture without the enkamat and "weaving" 2 feet of nylon onto my impeller. I have since upgraded from a Coralife Superskimmer to a MSX200, which comes with a modded impeller. DrMerle(rock2)

Go ahead and get a carpet anemone if you want one... You'll never get any better at keeping one if you never get one... Get a smaller one, put it in and leave it alone....trust me, you can have the perfect place picked out and it will insist on going somewhere else. Be careful with a few things... 1) They will find every powerhead intake you have...you've been told! 2) They sting and hold on like superglue...my trick, give it a try...if you must handle or move it, vigorously wave your hand over the anemone, making strong water waves that "massage" the anemone for 10-15 seconds...like a giant clownfish...that prevented hand attachment every time. 3) They will eat fish that stray too close! 4) They should have metal halide lighting. 5) They will sometimes crash for no reason...but don't mistake cleansing regurgitation for dying. If it starts to "melt", get it out immediately;it will polute the whole tank. Good luck...DrMerle(rock2)

Just got back from Steinhart on Sunday...mixed feelings on the trip there... Took the kids...there was so many people there you couldn't hardly move... Made it difficult to see display tanks with people crowding all around. They have got their displays set up nicely but getting around really feels like you are in a maze...I opted not to see everything as coral reef exhibit was the coolest so I spent alot of time there. I realize the exhibits are new and coral reef has lots of frags...they did have some tanks suffering with dead corals, aiptasia, cyano, bubble algae and hair algae. I hope you have a good time and I hope this post hasn't been too negative...it is well worth going...it was just that it was my most anticipated stop on our trip and I was let down somewhat... DrMerle

They react with phosban...

That's nothing... I graduated high school with a girl whose name was.... Anita Dyck !! I would have killed both my parents with a butcher knife as they slept if they had done that to me!!!(flame) DrMerle

No luck at all!!! In fact, I just put a copperband butterfly in my tank yesterday with hopes of getting ahead of the suckers... DrMerle

Red slime due to nutrient accumulation, not kalk dripping...cures consist of 1) better skimming 2) better flow within tank 3) better water turnover 4) carbon usage 5) vodka usage 6) bacterial culture addition 7) decrease feeding 8) increase water changes 9) decrease photoperiod 10) change bulbs DrMerle

thanks for the tip...I'll check it out...DrMerle

In response to Japanese aquarium vimeo video (which was just awesome), I'm taking first vacation in a couple of years...next week driving the family through the redwoods, to San Francisco and back up through Yosemite... While in S.F., going to the newly remodeled Steinhart Aquarium, which now boasts the world's largest indoor coral reef!!! I am trying to get a tour behind the scenes to see pump room, etc. Below is a link to youtube video...I am hoping to get some behind the scenes video while there and will post anything worthwhile here when I return... DrMerle(clap) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-TR9g1ckNQ

Anymore, information is the most valuable business commodity, not production of widgets...storage and organization of that info IS job #1...(nutty) I, for one, cannot begin to fathom the valuable information lost...I literally used RC daily to research and learn. RC was the closest thing we had to "information central" in the reef keeping community.(scary) My biggest gripe about researching reef topics is how scattered and spread out it is....there always seems to be too many sites and difficulty for me trying to sort through the noise. DOH! Losing RC is like Luke losing Obi-Wan. From here on out, we'll just have to "use the force."(rock2) DrMerle

anybody recorded them on computer? I've missed the entire series and would love copies to watch...DrMerle

Cap colony...SOLD!! for 25$...PM me... Merle

what is most important is to not try and do any of this with a hangover... DrMerle

Finch--are you including sump and subtracting rock...if 75 gallons is your net water, then 10 gallon weekly is plenty...many would recommend ~7.5 gallon every week or 2... There is the load of the tank to consider, type of coral and number of fish.. There is history of the tank and previous experiences... Many would say 10% weekly...that is what I do... DrMerle(rock2)

There are trace elements we can't test for...there are toxins, pollutants and chemicals lurking...there could be minor imbalances waiting to become major imbalances... "the single best husbandry practice we can impose on our "indoor oceans" is a regular water change"...DrMerle July 6, 2009 PNWMAS forum(rock2)

I don't want to hijack this thread...check out this link for more info... http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-08/nftt/index.php DrMerle

This what ULNS ends up causing...ultra low nutrient system... http://www.zeovit.com/DTOTQ/dawid/020.jpg DrMerle