Achilles Tang

Suggest you provide us the following info first. Your answer is directly related to your clam's condition and we can help you troubleshoot from there.

Contraphos? Its supposed to be the same as Rowaphos but many of us feel that Rowa's better. You can try the other brands like Seachem's Phosguard.. it also takes up silicates.

Be careful of light banding. It'll spoil the look of the tank. Having a blue MH between 2 yellow ones is a bad idea! Unless you buy three seperate pendants and raise the middle one with the 20k much higher so the reflector can spread wide enough to cover the whole tank. I suggest you get 2 x 10k MH and supplement with enough blue/actinic T5s along the length of the tank for coverage.

Trust me.... everyone who views my tank agrees that my 3ft width makes aquascaping so much more easier & natural looking as opposed to how most people rockscape a narrower tank... ie. a steep reef wall. With width, I can create two cliffs with shorter hills in front of them, a valley between them and a space for a field (talking in terms of LANDscape) You're welcome to visit my tank to get an idea! AT

Forgot another point. Every tank is different in terms of aquascaping. You have to inspect the specimen and visualise how to mount the specimen for optimal light and water circulation, bearing in mind that given optimal conditions, SPS corals may grow extremely fast and take up lots of physical space, causing coral aggression, light blockage over other corals & affecting water circulation.

Hi HS, Glad to see that you've gotten over the blue patch. My recommendation for newbies is not to try SPS until they gain enough experience. Let me explain, a new tank will go through a lot of instability problems and SPS corals are not that forgiving, unlike softies or most LPS. An easy to keep SPS coral (if you know which ones are) may survive but the goal of keeping SPS corals is to see them exhibit beautiful colours and have a beautiful growth form. I am sure you will also need more time to ungrade your equipment such as a very good skimmer, a Calcium Reactor, stronger lights, a good chiller, good water circulation system etc and pick up some good coral books or surf extensively to specialized SPS forums to learn about to keep SPS corals. Don't rush into SPS keeping because it is a very expensive exercise and it is AN ADDICTION of which many of us have big holes in our wallets! Cheers, AT

AGM, you have been so quiet lately! How have you been? Good to see your tank's doing well! Excellent!

Its just a question right? SPS connoisseurs are very much like durian connoisseurs in the sense that when we will pick up the specimen, we'll smell it - SPS can smell sweet, tanngy, strong, light, delicious, stingning to the downright offensive! You can guess the short term health of the specimen if visual inspection fails. We're like diamond connoisseurs by how we look intensely at its colour, growth form, polyps. We inspect for damage, RTN, STN, bleaching, parasites. It pays to read about the many different SPS corals and learning how to identify them because you have to know what kind of conditions different species thrive in - be it water flow, lighting, proximity to other corals, water conditions etc. You have to choose carefully because its very much like choosing a prized koi or arrowana... it may turn out to a great disappointment (much of the time) or become a real beauty! In discussions with fellow SPS aficionados, we always talk about 'colour potential', 'growth forms & speed', 'colour retention' etc, personal observations and other areas of husbandry specifically related to SPS. Hope this helps.

You have to blanch terrestrial greens in hot water to break down the tough cellulose content before feeding your tangs or they won't be able to digest it fully. IMO, it is better to feed them seeweed or nori which is much cheaper and more nutritious.

I will nominate the Bartlett Anthia as the most beautiful and the easiest to feed.

Arrgh! 620 at last try!!

Hmmm..... we can called it Tanzy's Blend or Tanzy's funky old mud or something!

The chiller inlet and outlet hoses must not be next to each other in a sump. You are effectively 'short-circuiting' the chiller. The water volume in that compartment in the sump will take in chilled water and return chilled water faster than the rest of the sump and the main tank. That is why your chiller is 'sensing' that your tank is cold enough and cuts off. And then when warmer water flows back into the small sump compartment... it starts back up again. This frequent on and off will kill your compressor in no time. Always place the inlet and outlet as far away from each other as you can.

And Alvy, your design is based on......

Besides the DOUBLE Deionized water properties (whatever it means), the claim that it COMBATS algae is not entirely accurate because it it is not an active agent that 'attacks' the growth of algae. It's properties are just neutral ... not fueling any growth of algae as would most good additive brands are expected not to. If precipitating phosphates is considered 'combating' algae, kalkwasser should be consider a weed killer then!

Ahh.. that's been posted before. Steve Weast! One of my favourite tanks!

Hi Alpha, you're new here! Welcome to SRC!

EYE lighting sells control gear with enclosures that runs their bulbs. I use their 400w 6500k SE bulbs with very good results, all my SPS are growing very fast with good colour. Those who use the saki bulbs love them for this aspect. True full spectrum, high PAR, long life and very affordable. You just need to use blue bulbs to balance out the harsh yellow-green colour and its a fantastic white look. Oh, btw... you may want to hold on to your horses about that purchase, because EYE Lighting wants to work out something with SRC very very soon! Standby for a news flash soon!

If you use vinegar, you have to change out the vinegar once you see the bubbling has stopped and a lot of stuff has come out of the pipes. Try using a stronger pump to dislodge the stuff. It is better to use a stronger acid to finish the job faster.

Boxfish??? These are not reef-safe fishes. It's a risk.

You're on a roll, dude!

Ehhh... from my experience, all other factors aside like water quality and parameters' stability... that's 100% correct! But if I were you, I'll invest most of my money on a very good skimmer, tunze streams and a calcium reactor with the lights as a last priority. Water first. Lights last. Most people always think its the other way around.

Hear hear! Dispar's a big boy now! So our favourite arachnid I hope.

Peace, Corrado, let's just take him up on his word ok? If he says he is not related in anyway to this Ocean's Blend product, then let's give him the benefit of doubt that he's not lying to us. I look forward to a clear succinct reply point by point by our proposition speaker, Mr Hotbod! Its clearly an intellect debate here so lets not get too emotional or the fun will go out of it!