Morgan

Jason Just break off the rotting head. There is no know medication that will stop it that I know off. You have to do it fast as it can spread. Best if you can isolate it in another tank. Check your water parameter, as the dying head usually pollute and causes other problems. Good luck.

Hi Keith "deep sand bed do i need any undergravle plate ?" No, this for freshwater only. "if leave it there will there be a lot of dirt stuck inbetween ??" Using #1 sand, which is fine sand not big coral chips. Protein Skimmer, try to get one that has a powerhead to generate bubbles (venturi) instead of air pump. Lights You can still go for 1 white light (6.5KK to 10KK) and 1 actinic (violet) if it only fish. Try to maximise the amount you can have over the tank as you may want to put in coral in the future. You can have the lights on for 7 to 12 hours. Not critical for fish only.

Hi Keith Do not use the top filter, you'll need to keep the top areas free for lights. Go for a deep sand bed with #1 size sand at least 3" deep. This is for biological filteration. Bioballs are mainly used for freshwater tank. If possible don't use them. Also buy a good protein skimmer. You cannot go without this piece of equipment. You will also need powerheads for circulation. That is all you'll need for equipment.

Go for 10mm if the tank is 4'x2'x2'.

Jason You have a feather starfish. Impossible/Diffcuilt to keep as feeding is a problem. Not sure whether they feed on phytoplankton or zooplankton.

Hi liverock "Conditions: Lights: 1 x 18W PL, 1 x 18W Actinic PL, 1 x 11W 50/50 PL Surface area: 1 foot x 1 foot x 2 feet deep." Your lighting is not good for maintaining clams. The intensity is not strong enough. Clams may not last a year under this condition. If you already have 1, you will find that the mantle of the clam will extend to very large after a few months, this is becos it trying to photosynthisized as much as possible. And also the colour will gradually fade. After that it is downhill all the way.

Hi guys, Bought a six line wrasse today to test whether it will eat the flatworm. So far, he is more interested in the copepods. Currently I have a mandarin in there which I think is also not too interested in the flatworm. <_<

Hi Stenopus Hispidus You are really lucky to have spotted it. Nice clams you have there. Should take a look at your tank

Hi Stenopus Hispidus Are you sure that maxima sometime get mixed together with crocea? Even the brown ones. So far the brown ones I have seen are squamosa.

Hi guys, If macro algae like caulerpa does not grow well (provided that the lighting is good) in your tank then your water quailty maybe a problem. These normally grow like crazy under good condition covering corals.... Sometime you wish that they do not grow in the tank Thinning have to be carried out very frequently to prevent them from going asexual. Fluctuation of salinity is one reason that can cause the whole culture to crash. But then they will grow out again from the LR.

Maximas is not the biggest, gigas is. No idea about price locally as I have not seen them for sale.

Read this article http://www.animalnetwork.com/fish2/aqfm/19...ell/default.asp

Hi mv3i The clams you have are all croceas.

Just to tag along. I am also interested in keeping this anthias. Heard that it is very diffcuilt. AT also advise me not to keep it.

Light requirement: HIGH Food requirement: Photosynthesis, juvenile: phytoplankton Survival at 30C constant: probably not. Speices: 2 species are found in the LFS. Croceas- come in mainly blues, greens or brownish. HIGH light requirement. Squamosa - Shades of brown. Light requirement not as high as croceas.

"btw , would like to know what kind of lights for the sump to encourage plant ( GOOD ALGAE) GROWTH" A normal flourescent lamp will do. "is it really neccessary to get a ph monitor and a calcium reactor and a CO2 with it for the maintaince of the PH" No, the calcuim reactor/CO2 is used to maintain Calcium in the water and NOT ph. PH monitor is normally use with control to turn off the reactor if the ph of the water drop.

Hey guys I do not live on a farm. I do not have that kind of space. What I am planning is a very small scale frag growing tank (4'x2'x2'). Thanks robe for the suggestion. Glass is not feasible. Too heavy and risky to handle. I'll stick to polycabonate.

Hi mv3i What colour do you really want? 10KK will give you white light, and actinic give violet. If you want to have a bluish cast over the tank then add more actinic. It is all a matter of preference. What corals need is intensity, Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR) which is the measurement of the wavelenght between 400nm to 700nm. Bulbs that have a high PAR value are the iwasaki and these bulb has a yellowish tone. Normally these are supplement with very high wattage of actinic to cancel of the yellow. Radium 20KK are blue bulb. Not really high on the PAR value..

Hi mv3i My flatworm problem will not go away that easily. There are literally millions of thems. I leave them alone for the moment.

Hi bawater Do not know about tanzy but culturing LR take up a lot of space. They need good water flow and moderate lighting for the coraline to grow. Beside that, where to get the base rock (Dead coral boulders). Do not like the idea of DIY using cement. Not worth the effort. Will take up your offer of help during the weekend through. Thanks. loonz Glass is too heavy and break easily to DIY yourself shelter. If you get a contractor, then it can be done but it going to be expensive cos the glass has to be tempered to prevent from cracking under temperature. Octopus does not eat flatworm!

Saw 1 Chevron Tang at Sealife on Sat. Price: $100.

You can grow macro algae in the sump for nutrient export. Just provide sufficient light and harvest regularly. MH is not required. As to type of algae, culpera are the easiest but tend to go asexual ie die off. Also can try some of the brown/red marco. 1 point to note is that you must maintain the salinity in a narrow range. Large fluctuation (more than 0.002) will or may cause die off. Algae to spare? I could give you some but then again I may pass my flatworm problem to you.

Tanzy I am not planning to sell anything, but the idea has cross my mind. Yes, I am planning to nuke my flatworm. Have yet to find a suitable way. Option available: 6 line leopard greenex qunnine Most drastic is to tear down the whole tank and start again.

Hi mv3i Cleaner wrasse does not pick on clams but they are diffcuil to keep for long. Specialised diet. BTW what type of light are you using. Pendant MH?

Tanzy LOL Will be growing acros mostly. Also moving some of my agressive torch, frogspawn into it and plenty of flatworm.