Achilles Tang

Better to be awakened than to live in ignorance. Anyway... NNR is the basis of natural reefkeeping and should be taught from the start.

For NNR (LR or DSB) there is no need for denitrifying bacteria to have any other form of 'food' other than nitrates unlike denitrators which you have to constantly feed the bacteria with alcohol, sugar or other carbon-based food. IMO, you should use denitrators in higher-load tanks like Fish Only tanks when there is insufficient NNR filtration capabilities. Denitrators have the inconvenience of constant monitoring and tuning as the water flow tends to drop over time due to particulates & slime in the water clogging the tubings further, causing the possibility of a totally anaerobic condition causing a crash and releasing hydrogen sulfide back into the tank. You have to weight the pros and cons of using a denitrator.

It's too hairy to be cyanobacterial growth. What that is is probably some kind of red hair algae. Unless cyano's growing on the red hair algae!

A reason why DSBs do not work for some reefers is because their bioload is way too much for the size of their DSB. I am talking about surface area, not just the depth. Also perhaps they have large creatures that disrupt the anaerobic regions by their constant digging & burrowing actions. Of course, you are not supposed to dig up the sand either, allowing oxygen to diffuse to the lower regions of the DSB.

There are actually about 7 ways... you forgot: 1. NNR (Natural Nitrate Reduction) methods like use of a DSB or ample LR of suitable size and density to provide anaerobic conditions for denitrating bacteria that reduces nitrates to harmless nitrogen gas. This method is the most natural & effective way. 2. Use of enzyme-based additives like AZ-NO3 to convert nitrates. AZ-NO3 is very well known for its fast effectiveness but it's one of the most expensive methods. 3. Using sulfur beads in a reactor to reduce the nitrates by bacterial action. (similar to the typical denitrator which needs a carbon source like sugar/alcohol). 4. Binding agents like Polyfilters and zeolite also do bind nitrates although up to a limited capacity.

It has been proven that mangroves are only effective when used in very very large amounts and the typical sump does not cater for that much mangroves. You probably need to have your sump exposed to direct sunlight or MH lights because mangroves need a lot of light!

light brown zoanthids with white centres. I would say the colour description for the mushrooms would be brownish-red with blue tinges.

The left arrow is pointing either pointing to an orange Sun coral or to the zoanthids in front of it. The right arrow is either pointing at the corner of the green star polyp colony or to the bluish mushroom rock.

If you want to do it this way, you better first ensure that your water circulation is excellent. If one solution doesn't dissolve quickly enough and if gathered in enough concentration... that may cause some negative reaction like precipitation when it comes in contact with another concentrated solution. Don't take the risk and don't waste your additives by taking shortcuts... or you'll end up 'short-circuiting' your water.

They are zooplankton feeders. They also need a very very very deep sandbed ie. more than 12"....

Happy Birthday, Hon!

Moving this from the Reef Fish forum to the Invert forum. Please be mindful of where u post so as to reduce the workload on mods. Thanks! AT

What's with the fascination?

You're talking to a war junkie there... I prefer to make love... not war!

My previous fridge was a stainless steel Electrosux. I got myself a new Samsung fridge! Cheap and good!

looks like F-18 hornets to me.

Duh? MIT? How about focusing on Mount Faber instead? Since when u got hold of a spy satelite?

Every tried peeling off a limpet? Bring a crowbar!

So as Deepblue said, the SHOW is over? You would be disappointing everyone with a no-show... this thread is one of the hottest threads in SRC recently! Perhaps we can interview your friend now? What's his nick in SRC?

That's rare coralline-algae covered sand grains...

Off topic but I think this colour morph of Blasto Wellsi is probably rarer than that of other blasto wellsi or merletti species! This is probably worthy of a higher price tag! How much would u bid for this?

A few theoretical questions: You sold off the 'rare gem' because...... 1. You really really liked your friend and was willing to sell it at a loss, not a profit. 2. There are much better gems in your tank than the one you let go, hence no qualms about selling it. You can't reveal where or how much you bought it for because..... 1. You bought it at a very high price & hence the resale value should be even higher. 2. The LFS reluctantly sold you this 'gem' on the basis that you will not say how much they sold it to you for or reveal the collection area as they do not have enough supply of the 'rare' Blastomussa Merleti and u will honour this pact. I am just personally very curious about your perception of this coral in terms of its rarity, attractiveness and value and how you came about with your perceptions. The fact that someone else could share similar perceptions is secondary. Hope you can at least answer the above queries as I can't help but be drawn to this episode of the coral that you are advertising as 'exciting, never-seen-before, highly valuable and impressive'.

Roidan... you overdoing it.... just a little.

I just got myself a new fridge today!! What a coincidence!! The last fridge was giving us a lot of problems! Anyway... I think modern fridges do not need to be raised high. I think the old designs had a fan or something under the unit... or was it the condenser coils?

Wei took over operations???