Recent content by al

ok, 1 week ago my tang died. his body was shrinking in behind his head (brain dehydration i'm told). i took him out right away. anyways, now since then, 3 other fish have died and 2 more are going to die soon (clown/damsel). both the remaining clown and damsel are breathing heavy and have ich...

i gave him a 2 minute FW dip. he layed down on his side during it, then I put him back into my tank and he started eating!!! but i still think he's gonna die (while i'm away for the holiday). i am amazed though with how long he has lasted and how he seems fine (besides the ich). his jutting...

i got home from work today to see my sailfin tang (1 week old) covered in ich. i fed him and he ate a ton, but i noticed that his stomach (well, neck i guess, between his mouth and lower fins) was jutting out. it almost looks like he ate a rock or something, but i doubt it. i don't know what to...

i have a yellow damsel which i hate more than our president and i can't get rid of it. any trapping/capturing ideas without completely breaking down the tank? thanks -al

i accidently dropped my polyp rock onto my green tree coral over a month ago. the tree coral shrivelled up for a short time (an hour), then stood back up. it hasn't opened up nearly as much as it did before the accident though, it only reaches maybe 50% the size of what it used to be. any...

my ph is around 8.4, which is weird. in the past year it has never strayed from 8.2. i recently moved to a new part of town and have a feeling that the tap water is different. i don't plan on investing in an R/O unit. i've been thinking about buying distilled water from the grocery store...

well, my kh tester said saltwater will be around 8-10 (units) of KH, and i measured around 6 or 7. the brand of the test escapes me at the moment, but basically you add drops of solution until the water turns from blue to yellow, and the number of drops is your degree of KH. is this low or...

how do you raise your alk if it's a little too low? thanks -al

hi, do shrimp re-grow their legs after losing them? i over-dosed my tank with calcium (don't ask) and my shrimp molted, and along with his outer shell came his legs! he looks pretty busted up, so i did a 15% change to lower the Ca concentration. thanks_ -al

hi i have a brain coral, a tree coral, and some mushrooms. will hermit crabs hurt/annoy/damage/kill any of these? i just bought 20 hermit crabs to take care of an algae problem and saw a few climbing on the brain today. i got kind of nervous. i believe that they are dwarf red tip hermit crabs...

what are the cons of allowing direct sunlight to hit the fishtank? my tank is about 2 feet away from my west facing window, so it receives lots of sunlight, through a cream/white pull down shade. i haven't had any algae problems yet, tank has been set up almost a year. my lighting rig gives me...

well, i started out with 4 on friday, and 1 has died each day since entroducing them. goby picked on first victim during his welcoming party, and then yesterday one got beat up by his remaining bro's...2 are left, one of which is definitely larger in size. my LFS guy said that they are...

i bought 3 green chromis on friday. they were acclimated properly, and my water conditions are good. today i saw one of them pecking another. is this normal due to the new environment? the one being attacked was pretty stressed, as he changed shades to a darker color. other tank inhabitants are...

thanks for the responses! my tank is 30 gallons. -al

hey everyone! i currently have 10lbs of LR and 20lbs of LS in my tank. my tank has been running since october and currently houses a goby, clown, 4 green chromis, 3 shrimp and a starfish. i purchased 30lbs of base rock from reefer rocks. can i add it all at once? since it's dead, it doesn't...