Blog Comments

Sorry... I forgot the link http://www.aquahub.com/store/index.html just in case you wanna check them out.

I've been a huge fan of AquaHub for since 2006. Great company indeed. Thanks for the nice feedback.

Coral Magazine is very popular.

Thanks Bunches!
What about periodicals? Are there any must read magazines... actual or online?
Jim

Yes, Volume 3 is ideal. And The Conscientious Aquarist (2nd edition) by Bob Fenner is another good read.

Great start! Sprung's coral book and invertebrate books are great quick reference(i think this is even in their titles!). Aquarium Corals from borneman(sp?). Volume three of the reef aquarium series is supposedly more up to date as it was published recently, but don't own it so I cannot comment! Hope that helps!

Thanks Marc,
That's just what I needed to know. Are there any articles that you can remember on what to do to ensure your electrical outlet strips remain dry that you could recommend? Just received a new light fixture and while working on the tank just a little water landed on one of the MH ballasts... fryed it suprisingly fast! Next project... rearrange the electrical to provide for more water safety.
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More pictures. This one has a date on the front of the timer to remind me when I installed the metal halide (or VHO) bulb.

The only thing you need to do is get a grounded timer, one with three holes instead of merely two. Chirstmas lights are usually lower voltage and often times are not grounded. So instead of a $5 timer, you'll pay $10. I've used mechanical and digital timers. The reason I prefer digital is that usually those come with a battery inside to keep the time accurate even if a power outage occurs. With mechanicals, you have to turn the dial to get them back on time if they were off for a small duration, since they will otherwise run your light period later because of the lost time / lag. Hope that makes sense.

I think most people run theirs 24/7. Do water changes from the main tank.

If you want to just set it up as needed, you could either keep some live rock in your existing sump that you can remove and drop in QT or run a hob filter on the sump and then transfer when you QT. You would need to let the rock dry in between uses I think, just for optimum safety. Of course, if you medicate the QT that is a whole other ball of wax to contend with.

Either way, bare bones is the way to go; pvc pipe works for hiding spots and can be sanitized easily, a heater, and minimal lights(unless you QT corals too).

Thanks all for your insights... I guess a QT it is! Now just one more thing... how do I establish it? I have seen pics here and other places of QT's that appear to be pretty bare bones tanks... not much sand or LR to speak of. What precisely should or should not a QT contain. Do I keep it set up 24/7 or just when I need it. The DT has only just begun relatively speaking... about 8 fish, two small softies and a small rose bubble nem.... with a bunch of inverts.
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Jim

would go with a qt tank too very handy!

I don't think you can have a frag + QT tank. A QT tank is there for disease prevention, you quarantine new fish so that they develop any disease they might have, overcome it, and get moved into DT after a number of weeks in healthy condition. Same thing for corals you QT, you want to see if pests like flatworms appear, etc.

If you use it also as a frag tank you'll have to treat all the other corals and/pr live rock to eliminate disease vectors or pests in case they appear in the fish/coral you quarantine, That wouldn't work.

I understand you need to be able to wipe the QT clean, using stuff that kills pests and diseases, between uses.

why not a frag tank that you qt new items in? you can do both with that, also you can qt some smaller fish in there with frags, but i say independently as a frag/qt

If you dont already have a qt, then make it a qt.

I'd vote for QT tank. We all know it is a good idea to have one, although it is tricky to maintain a healthy one...

Are you going to be adding to your main tank, ie are you already fully stocked?

If yes, then frag tank plumbed to the main.
If no, then QT. I'd run it without a sump/fuge.

Let me add some more noise to the equation though. Why not a wholly new tank, like a macro/lagoon type setup or maybe a biotope?

how often and how much water are you moving when doing water changes? the signs may be attributed to the nitrates being where they are considering neither care much for nitrates in a tank, so do some water changes to bring those closer to zero and if you are running a refugium some chaeto will also help maintain them at a lower level a bit

Hey DJ,
It's staying put about halfway up in the tank... hasnt moved much since it found that spot after introducing it to the tank. The leather is also about halfway up.

Hey Cyano,
Have had the leather for about3 months... it was actually a hitchhiker on some live rock that we bought from a guy breaking down a tank. The nem does eat... silverside chunks mostly... yesterday fed it a cube of frozen brine shrimp. Been feeding it about every 2-3 days. Parameters are pretty good... Nitrite =0, ammonia =0, salinity = 1.026, alkalinity good, nitrates 20-30.

Thanks guys for lending your expertise!

I am running a 75 gallon 48" long in mine at 54 watts x6 so 324 total watts with individual reflectors and my rose BTA stays halfway up the tank. Even though it isn't the most accurate way to judge wattage 2.88 watts per gallon is definitely on the low side considering using that judgement bulb tip anemones call for a minimum of 4 watts per gallon (once again I know it isn't an accurate judgement but with no meter it is the easiest method off hand). the other things we need to know/consider is how long had you had them? what is their placement in the tank? does the anemone still eat? do you feed it? how often? tank parameters? If you are not used to having an anemone they do a lot of appearance changes that can seem bad if not ready for them but if it is still holding onto the rock work, eating, holding food, and not bleaching I would say it is still ok but keep in mind anemones have slow metabolisms so it can take days or weeks for them to show a decline and the same goes for recovery.