Recent content by Maurice2

Making your own fish food Husbanding saltwater fish is an eye-wateringly expensive pastime, in part due to the cost of the fish food purchased from speciality shops. For the past year I have been feeding my fish with home-made food. The results have been very positive: perky, colourful fish and...

Silly me, of course, the lights *smacks forehead on desk* Thanks for the hint guys ! :D

Inexplicable algae: 8 month-old 500-litre tank, sump and protein skimmer. Water is crystal-clear. I've just measured Ph 8.0 (I've added a bit of buffer to get back to 8.2), NO2 0.05, No3 0, NH4 0, PO4 0, Ca 320ppm. Fish are lively and in perfect health, I feed them a varied diet every other...

I have a new Protoeaster lincki, radius about 5cm, gorgeous. Any suggestions on how and what to feed him? TIA :D

As you can see, no visible signs of ich or anything. The rockscape in the tank is all 'dead' rock just for hiding. Anyone for/against copper or wait a while to see if the scratching is just momentary?

I acquired a Sohal Tang 2 weeks ago, he's about 10cm. He's sharing the QT with a Bangaii cardinal, who's been there 3 weeks. The ST has been eating well and looks fine. Water parameters are all OK (zero) 26°, 1.021. Today I notice the ST a little agitated, scratching his mouth/gills and dorsal...

Thanks for the heads-up. He's alone and there's no live rock, so I guess I'll just have to sit it out.

I got a BC last wednesday (5 days ago) and installed him alone in my QT. He's very timid, hiding under a rock all day. I've tried all manner of foods, garliced them, everything, he doesn't *seem* to eat anything, at least I haven't seen him feeding... Question is, how long could he survive...

Beginner, I lost a dozen fish to ich. Now I've setup a QT and I'll be quarantining everything for 6 weeks before it goes into the main. Question: If I keep livestock in a QT for 6 weeks, is it 100% guaranteed that *all* possibililty of ich is removed? If the answer is no, is there any way to...

My main is 480 L, currently 1.023 25°, which I want to stock FOWLR. I've setup a 250L QT and wondered what would be right SG and temp. I'm thinking that slightly less saline would be easier on the fish, maybe 1.019-1.020 and 25°. I'll be quarantining fish and inverts. Any suggestions would...

Sounds like ich. It is practically certain that the other fish will get infected and then practically certain that they will all die. AFAIK, ich if universally fatal. It's move all the fish to another tank and treat with copper, or they'll all be dead within the week. Sorry to be the bringer of...

I have a setup identical to yours and I had the same problem - microscopic particles making the water a little milky. I solved it with a canister mechanical filter (http://www.eheim.com/classic.htm) which takes/feeds from the sump. I filled it half with those small ceramic balls and half with...

Ah, a protein skimmer, not a "physical skimmer", we weren't on the same wavelength. No, I don't have a protein skimmer and I don't think that I need one, at least for the moment. Thank you, essentially the same logic that I went through, my bioload is infinitesimal (two fish, a few shrimps, etc...