Achilles Tang

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I suggest you take Rumour's advice seriously. Get the skimmer before the lighting... as I am sure you are not keeping any corals now that require a MH anyway. Get your water quality up to speed with a good skimmer right away. That should be a priority. You have nutrient-loaded water (evidenced by the cyano) and putting up an MH is a bad bad idea because later you will battle far worse algae than cyano that will take MONTHS to get rid off. Keeping anthias means feeding them regularly enough daily. Without a skimmer.... your bioload will remain the same... with nothing to export out.... it's a timebomb. Your thinking that a sump to reduce your bioload is wrong... it's just dilution... and as I said.. with nothing to export nutrients... it'll accumulate again quickly and back to square one. Without sounding like a broken record.... GET A SKIMMER FIRST!!!

Pigeon soup should be boiled not fried... what do you want a Tesla Coil for?

Sure it's not a tiny nudibranch?

SOME people can't take any criticism... especially those who have been in the business for a long time. SOME are more humble and admit their mistakes/short-comings and are open to suggestions. SOME are actually conscientious enough not to sell to people who don't have the right setup/knowledge even if they have the money. I think many of us know which shops are these.

Pacificbetta, I have posted my stand already on this matter a few posts up. Well, I don't know how much of a moral authority I can be or an influence... but I think I have made my stand pretty clear. If you're in doubt or wish further clarification or have any suggestions on how much or what precisely I should do, please share your thoughts openly. Or more importantly, what the rest of the hobbyists, as a club, can do. While I appreciate your frankness, not everyone has the same moral high ground as you. This hobby is peopled by individuals of different thoughts, convictions and budget and if we really take the highest horse like some members of the public, we shouldn't even be in this hobby.

Hose or pvc pipes? If it's pvc piping, consider a permanent weld with a true union for easy maintenance and dismantling. If not, use plumbers tape (white tape) as suggested by hoppinghippos. If it's rubber hose to hose barb, use a metal clamp to secure it.

You don't have a nitrate test kit?? How did you even know you got pass your cycling period?? Seriously, you have to get the basic steps right. Can you tell us more about your system? Your soft corals really look like they are in bad shape. To rectify nitrates: 1. Water change. 30% every few days until removed (cheapest but labour intensive) 2. Use nitrate-removing additives like AZ-NO3. (Emergency use but requires skimmer) 3. Setup a DSB system (too late now I guess). 4. Buy a denitrator unit (expensive, troublesome) 5. Upgrade your skimmer. 6. Reduce overfeeding/stop overstocking.

Eurobraced tanks don't have this problem?

They need regular daily feedings of live phytoplankton or good quality substitutes. Sponges are filter-feeders so take care of them accordingly.

HON

Use the 'search' function (top right corner of the forum). Keywords: 'coralline algae'... this topic has been covered many many many times.

Is that Berrykin's tank??

LR can be 'cultivated' again. These white rocks are still colonised by beneficial bacteria so they still have a function. If all the coralline algae has died off, it is probably due to poor water quality coupled with low levels of calcium. Get your water quality up and parameters, esp PH & Alk consistent. Calcium levels should be maintained at around 400. Get a pc of quality LR, full of coralline algae and use that to seed your tank. Increase your water circulation as that really helps your coralline algae to grow faster. Blow it onto your coralline-encrusted rock and dead rocks. 'seed' your tank by scraping the coralline algae or rubbing two pcs of coralline-encrusted rocks. Do not allow nuisance/filamentous algae to grow on the dead rocks as coralline algae will not be able to compete with them.

Great tank, william! I have yet to see it in person! One day! One day!

Upgrade your skimmer... that helped me a lot because my bioload/feeding was too much for my old skimmer... i battled cyano and hair algae for many months.

Hi... 3 weeks old you say? You just added in livestock? Have you tested your water parameters? I believe you may still be in the cycling period.

Could you explain your 3 phases of filtration in detail? And where did you hear this from?

Too ex!

Piece of rubbish if you ask me... they work for a very short while... before they stop swivelling... and the tiny rubber suction cups lose their grip and the seriously overweight powerhead falls down. Listen to what hobbyists say about this powerhead in our Product Review here.

Soft corals do not have a stony calcium carbonate skeleton base.... they are soft in structure and they glue themselves onto rocky structures. They do not require a lot of calcium and sunlight generally. Hard corals on the other hand, build skeletons and therefore require a lot of calcium to do so. These are 'reef builders', in the sense that they actually form the bulk of the reef structure as they grow upwards and outwards... and their dead skeletons form the reef structure upon which other marine creatures built themselves on. Gatecrasher... yes... a brain coral has a stony skeleton and is therefore a hard coral.

must.... must re... restrain... my myself.... *removes hand from keyboard* AARRGGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!

It depends on the reflector spread. Too low and you will get less light reaching the sides. Too high up and you lose intensity. Too low also means you will get more salt spray/creep into your light fixtures. And you have to watch for water splashes as it may crack your bulb or your protective glass cover if the temperature change is too much.

That information is a myth. Anemones and clownfishes do not NEED each other but will co-exist as a symbiotic relationship in the wild for mutual benefits. Both won't die or fare any poorer in a reef tank where they don't have natural enemies. Clownfishes do not share anemones unless they are first a mated pair or have at least established a pecking order and the anemone is big enough. Probably your clownfishes are both of the same ###### and will not pair up at all. Are they of the same size? AT

FOWLR tanks can have higher water temps. Reef tanks should be maintained around 25 to 26 (below 30).