Emerald525

Thanks for the information. I was thinking about getting a dogface puffer too. It's nice to know we are not the only crazy people who want more than one tank!

Yes we had a RBTA that did that. It split once when we switched tanks because we think it was stressed out. Then it looked like it was going to split again. Looked like it had 2 foot processes, receded in a rock gave, turned deep purple color but then the next day it just looked like one big anemone.

Okay, I have been thinking again (scratch) a dangerous thing I know. So we (tanktop74) and I have a new 150 gallon glass tank and were thinking about making it a predator tank. Now as I read along people have had these but it seems like most go back to a reef tank.. So now.. I'm thinking maybe we could have another coral tank and buy more high tech things (seaswirls, vortechs, calcium reactors) and spend more money (nutty) and get more obsessed ! What are people's thoughts on FOWLR vs reef tank? What are people's thoughts about having a predator tank and what fish you would recommend? We definitely want a picasso trigger and possibly a purple tang...

Very cool picture! Now I want one! And cheaper than Dendros!

We have a refugium on the new tank which has really helped with the nitrate level and we also have a way better protein skimmer (Bubblemax). I have also noticed since we have gotton the calcium reactor and phosban reactor the water quality has improved and we have to do less water changes. Interestingly we have less of an algae problem. Is this because of the phosban reactor or is it simply because the new tank has been up for almost 3 months and is done with the cycling process?

I have known others to use a plenum. I have not ever heard of a system "crashing" because of a plenum. As you can see there are many opinions but not a lot of hard evidence. I did review the article by Rob Toonen and the findings are interesting: "Our experiment shows no evidence for any of the espoused benefits of a plenum. Instead our results suggest that any benefits seen are a direct consequence of the presence of the sediments themselves rather than the void space beneath it. Overall death rates were roughly twice as high in aquaria with shallow sediments as in deep sediment treatments. The highest overall death rates were seen in aquaria with shallow coarse sediments over a plenum, and the lowest death rates occurred in aquaria with a sandbed composed of deep coarse sediments." From what I gathered from this, is a plenum is not useful so why bother getting it? It seems like the compositon and depth of the sand made a difference but the biggest difference was simply the bioload particularly with the death of an animal. In my tank where certain people like to overstock and overfeed (whistle) , we are more likely to have higher nitrate levels.

Any luck with selling the tank or trading it?

Brad you need to stop! You're tanketh runneth over with corals! But I will bump the post for you again! Beth is not allowed to go in on this she just bought an ATI protein skimmer, ro/di auto topoff and a kalk reactor from Joel. And she has to figure out how to hook up the last two.(scratch)

Good thread. I am also in the process of starting a FOWLR tank and am thinking about what fish to get. I thought about getting a lionfish because they are so cool but they are also so big. Also thinking about a purple tang. I would like an eel but hear they are kind of a pain and they can get out. The tank is a 150 gallon glass and will have lots of live rock. Any thoughts? We are definitely going to get a Picasso Trigger.

You got me the reverse guilt worked. You are the second person that offered me a leather frag. What's up with that? I like brightly colored corals but I suppose I would be willing to trade. I had this really "pretty" polyp looking thingie that grows like crazy called aptasia.(laugh) (note to the rest of the forum I am kidding!

My humor is also very dry so I apologize to all who thought I was upset or inadvertently offended. I know you are kidding Brad! I am too! Just trying to make you feel bad so I can get the free frag!

Yes I did notice that Brad! The superman coral you got from Tim which was what made me start thinking about this post. It's a small world in the saltwater aquarium reefing world! So remember that in your posts. The person you decide to be a smart *** to may end up in your house the next week looking at your tank being threatened by a killer weiner dog!:eek:

Thanks I will check out the article. Thanks for the more "balanced" opinon.

Again I'm a newbie but I have noticed that things in the Reefing world just seem to get recycled and go on and on..... For example, we sold some corals and our nano tank. Did we use that money to repair the house? pay to repair the brake light on the car? fund the children's college fund? No way! That cash went quickly into the fish fund to buy more corals, more equipment, more "stuff" for the aquarium or the new aquarium!(clap) Why? (scratch)so it will grow and we can frag it or trade it so we can buy more corals and more fish and more equipment!(clap) Pretty soon I will see someone else's tank and say "Hey that looks familiar"..

Those are some pretty good arguments. Do you have any specific articles regarding this information so I can read up on this. You are definitely talking me out of plenums.

Those phrases need no translation as they seem universal in every hobby.(laugh) I have not had any problem following those threads!

When you are grocery shopping at 10pm because you have been at fish stores all day. When the kids don't fit in the suburban because it is full of live rock.

Thanks! I forgot to put one on my original list: Frag- a piece of a live animal that people like to break off and glue to rocks or plugs and sell or trade and everyone seems to think this is normal behavior.(nutty)

Grazie Mille! Grassi! For the good deals on the nice rock! Thanks for letting us borrow the power head too! We'll get it back to you as soon as the FOWLR tank is up or sooner if you need it back right away. Glad you found your trigger. We were at Saltwater Fantaseas buying epoxy and ran out to the car immediately when we got your message.

Yeah, it is annoying when people no show. I don't get that. How hard is it to call and say you are not coming?DOH! You could probably get 1100 dollars easy parting it out but then you have to take time out of your day. Once you make close to what you need then lowball the rest! Judging by these threads there is a lot of interest. You might try posting it again on Craigs list so it is up at the top. I'll keep trying to bump it up for you here!

Again a plug for the snowboarders and Shaun White. As far as falling, I appreciate that. They could play it safe. Here they are training and practicing and they lay it on the line for one event and go all out. That takes guts! I read somewhere where one of the Olympic contenders suffered severe brain trauma from hitting his head on the half pipe. The figure skaters fall all the time too. It's not because they're bad. It's because they are trying to do the impossible!

Okay Brad, you got me RTN? (return?) STN? (someone took my nem?) Cyno (cyanobacteria?) And no I don't know what GPH stands for? I agree a list would be fun!

Wow, that would have been a hell of a deal. We just sold our cycled 30 gallon oceanic biocube last weekend so we could upgrade to a bigger tank. That would have been a hell of a deal. It didn't have mh's but soft corals and hard corals that don't like a lot of light like dendros did great in it. Where were you last week?DOH! I probably wouldn't have made an even trade. Would have had to offer cash or some nice zoas or corals to be fair.

I'm fairly new to the Saltwater world (10 months, unless dreaming about a saltwater aquarium for 20 years counts). I'm starting to learn that there is a different language. Here are some words I have learned: Nem- anemone Zoo/Zoa-Zoanthid those pretty little polyp thingies BRS-bulk reef supply Vortech- just say this word and watch grown men's eyes glaze over in a dreamy sort of state(drooler) Seaswirl-see Vortech Fowlr-fish only tank with live rock Monti-short for montipora a type of hard coral Acro-short for acropora same as monti Put it all together and then you will sound like a reefer: Dude I would be willing to trade my Zoos , montis and acros, since I'm starting a FOWLR tank would anyone be willing to trade for a Vortech?(plotting) (not really by the way... so don't pm me this is just an example)