jos3f

thanks for the heads up, I took it out and all i had were pliers on me. Being careful not to damage the kenya coral I kind of squish the mojano but tried to make sure I got rid of as much of the twig it was on as possible. hopefully it doesn't spread

ok its only on a little twig, whats the best way?

Hey so I just recently got this kenya tree coral frag and to my surprise there were a few hitchhikers on the little rock. There are some zoas and also what appears to be some kind of anemone. Anyone know what it is? Did I get lucky or is it the dreaded aiptasia... here's some pics

I haven't been following this thread, but I know how it feels getting crap for being a die hard fan of a hated team since I'm a Lakers fan living in Portland :p . I don't wanna add fuel to the fire but I just thought it was funny that it was mentioned Manny Pacquiao has more wins in Dallas stadium this year than the Cowboys, lol. Just messin' but I hope some of you got to see that fight because it was epic!

Yeah definitely check him out, really nice guy and can get you a really great deal on some corals. If you plan on going to Saltwater Fantaseas it's just another 10-15 min drive depending on the traffic. I'm fairly new to corals but I know a lot of his stuff was at a fraction of the price compared to other places.

You know the more I think about it the more I start to agree with this school of thought. Quarantining every fish I get for 4-6 weeks everytime just to make sure ich doesn't get in my system just seems like a really paranoid way of doing things and would take a lot of the fun out of this hobby. I still might take the tang out to treat it if it gets worse but going fishless for long periods of time just seems like such a waste. Hopefully I don't eat these words down the road after losing hundreds of dollars worth of fish..

ugh... so after I've been up and running for a little over a month with my 75 gallon looks like I've got ich on my baby blue hippo tang. It looks pretty textbook, a couple white sand sized spots, one on his body and a couple on his fins. he's rubbed against the rocks a couple times which removed any doubt I had. Other than that he still looks healthy and eats like a pig. my only 2 other fish right now are 2 tank raised clowns, 1 orange and 1 black. So after doing hours of research it looks like there are 2 ways most ppl deal with it. They either A) treat the fish and accept ich living in the system, just reducing stress and boosting the immune system with things like garlic and supplements, or B) Quarantine the fish for 4-8 weeks ridding my Display completely of it. Being that I only have 3 fish I think I'm gonna go the route of quarantining and now need to decide which medications to go with. From what I've read copper and hypo salinity are the 2 only tried and true methods, but never do both at the same time. What brands of medications have you had success with? and do you guys recommend freshwater baths? if so for how long? Looks like this is gonna be a pain to deal with but I'm glad I didn't go crazy stocking my tank early on.

Yeah they are just still a little brown, I guess its more an aesthetics thing. Do you think it will be fine with just the 1 cycle in the wash and hang dry?

Hey quick question. I just ran my filter sock through my washer with just water, still came out a little brown so I think I'm gonna put a little bleach. The only kinds of bleach in my house right now are ultra clorox advantage (ingredients: sodium hypochlorate, sodium hydroxide, and surfactants) and ultra clorox rain clean (ingredients: sodium hypochlorate, sodium hydroxide). would either of these be ok or do I definately need to use standard bleach?

Hey guys, so I'm in the process of cycling my 75 gallon. The tank is acrylic that I bought used and it had lots of scratches that I thought I could live with when water was in the tank. The more I look at my tank though, the more it bugs me. There's a big section in the front that has so many small scratches that it appears fogged up from far away. I just wanted to see if there's any products or methods people recommend for removing or reducing them. I can live with the occasional big deep scratch but fogging up a whole section of the tank is such an eyesore. Since I already have water and live rock in it, probably any method using a kind of polish chemical is out of the question. Anyone ever use this kit http://www.marinedepot.com/Lifegard_Aquatics_Acrylic_Scratch_Removal_Kit_72000_Tank_Cleaning_Kits_for_Saltwater_Aquariums-Lifegard_Aquatics-RB1551-FIMTCK-4-vi.html ? Also I wonder if I could by the micro mesh sheets individually and save myself $20-30, like getting some of these: http://www.micromark.com/MICRO-MESH-8-000-GRIT-4-x-6-,7606.html?sc=WGB&utm_source=GoogleBase&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=GoogleBase

yeah after sitting here trying to think things out I figured that would be easiest way and that way I won't have to mess with the skimmer design. Probably won't be too hard since it's an acrylic sump. Anyways I appreciate all of your help. It's good to know I can come here for some quick answers to any kind of troubleshooting.

oh and also by the way, the collection cup isnt on, maybe that's why you think the standpipe is so tall?

oh well stand size would still be an issue because I just measured it and I have ~2.5inches of room from the top of the collection cup to the top of the stand and I would need a good 3 inches or so for the outlet to go over the sump if i raised the whole skimmer. but now that you mention it, couldn't I shorten the pipe below the T, if you see in the picture, there's about 1 1/2 inches of room between the last elbow and the sump wall. Would that lower the water level or do you think i'd still have issues?

I'm not quite following, would you be able to diagram what you are suggesting? Are you talking about cutting down the pipe under the T? And with that way could I keep the plumbing the way I have it?

Ugh that's what I was worried about hearing... I only have less than an 2 inches of room from the top of the skimmer to the top of the stand so raising the skimmer up to go over the sump is really out of the question. I guess the only way this is going to work is drilling the sump which is really going to be a pain in the butt since its already down in my stand with water... Well thanks, I guess this is one of those things I just learned the hard way... lol.

Hey guys so I'm setting up my skimmer for my first saltwater tank. its a reef octopus 4 inch recirculating I'm plumbing externally. My sump wall was too tall so i end up plumbing it elbowing up and back down. Here's a pic: My issue is the water level rises WAAAYYYY too fast and fills my cup within like a minute. So I know absolutely nothing about how these work and I've spilled plenty of water trying to solve this problem. It's become a real pain... So my guess would be that having the piping elbow up and back down is restricting the flow too much resulting in the water to go back into the skimmer. I really hope there's an easy solution to this because I really want to avoid having to drill into my sump or doing something drastic. Maybe I could drill a hole in a certain spot to alleviate some pressure? Please help... thanks.

My order just arrived today!!! Holy crap they put so much packaging popcorn in their orders lol. My god their base rock is HUGE! One is bigger than basketball size. Although I don't want to, I'm gonna have to break some of these pieces apart, which is a shame. A+ on my experience with them. Just placed another order today before it ends.

oh wow that sounds like a great deal. I'm just worried that the "you get what you pay for" voice in the back of my head will come back to haunt me. Either way, it's gonna beat me worrying about spilling buckets of water in my trunk every time I drive down to Upscales or Rose City .

Hey so with the Bulk Reef Supply group buy going on right now, I figure this would be a great chance for me to snag an RO/DI unit for a pretty good price. I've heard pretty good things online about BRS's unit, but I'm wondering if I really need the 5 stage model vs. the 4 stage. It's only like a $30 difference but I'm on a tight budget especially since I went on a crazy spending spree through them, lol. It seems like if I can get 0 TDS with the 4 stage model it should fit my needs since I'm just starting up a 75 gallon. Just wanted to get some input from people who had experience with RO/DI units.

Ugh! this really took a blow out of my pocket, lol. Really excited though since I'll have pretty much everything to get my 75 gallon up and cycling. They are really fast to ship. I ordered a few hours ago and already have a ups tracking number. Should get everything by Monday!

Hey so I'm fairly new to this forum. So if I'm understanding this right, all I have to do is set up an account with BRS, pm you and on that one Tuesday you guys decide to do the group buy, I would get a preferred customer discount with them and the reward points go toward that charity? wow that sounds great since I'm starting out my 75 gallon and have a bunch of live rock and equipment I need to get. So from your experiences, is BRS a good website to order from? How's their customer service?

Hey guys, so I have kind of an issue. I have a 75 gallon acrylic tank with a center built in overflow. the hole in the tank is 1 3/4" with a 1" bulkhead. my problem is with my stand. So I had bought the tank and stand used off craigslist and I had to have my neighbor drill in the hole to the stand since the previous owner didn't use the overflow. the problem is that I can fit the bulkhead through the hole, but there's no room for me to screw in the bolt to tighten it from the bottom. I was wondering if I just used silicone sealant to seal in the bulkhead from inside the tank if that would be enough to prevent leaks. I know that sounds risky but I figure if silicone can hold a tank together, it could keep a bulkhead sealed. I could always try and see if I could drill the hole bigger on my stand, but the way it is built, I'm worried it would compromise its structural integrity. thanks.

I think once I get it up and cycled, I'm going to start out with a pair of clowns. despite them being so cliche i still think they are cool fish. from there maybe a dwarf angel. But ideally I want a porcupine puffer and niger trigger. And it may just be a pipe dream since I've read so many horror stories, but I really want a clown trigger. I know size may be a issue down the road, but I want to be able to say that at one point I've owned those fish, even if it means me having to donate or sell them down the road. it's going to be a slow process for me since I'm strapped for cash, but I'm really excited!

Thanks guys. Yeah I plan on making a build thread soon will post pictures. I'm going fowlr because I'm really more into the cool fish aspect of aquariums. I don't have the reef bug.. yet.. but I think it will be a year or 2 before I even consider it. So far I've been to 2 of the sponsor stores, rosecity aquariums and upscales. Rosecity was cool,had a great selection of livestock. I have to say though the guy in upscales is awesome. He was really informative and even drew diagrams on little post its to show me how stand pipes work in internal overflows. Really great place and helped give me a good idea of how I want my sump set up.