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Neilan, IMHO XM halides are the best, and it's the kind most coral retailers and wholesalers use. Dave

Adult specimens usually do not do well when captured, and thus aren't the focus of the collectors. If you look in shops, the vast majority of fish you see, freshwater or marine, are juveniles, which adapt better to captivity. For example, say you're shopping for a Queen Angelfish, Holacanthus...

Shipping is a bear because TBS's aqua-cultured live rock is shipped in water, so there's minimal die-off in transit. Most of the shipping cost is the weight; all the rock submerged in sea water. I use the aqua-cultured live rock from Tampa Bay Saltwater because I endeavor to use as much aqua...

Biggest blunder when I was eight or nine was to capture all sorts of minnows and killies from an obliging stream, then fill a 10 gallon tank on the floor with water from a 29 gallon above it. Of course, full of fish and water on the floor, which of course wasn't dead flat, the tank burst...

Kevin, Thing to do with a sump refugium is to put it on reverse daylight; that is, when the tank lights are off, the refugium light is on. If you keep macro-algae in the sump, the reverse daylight technique aids in keeping the dissolved Oxygen levels in the tank stable, which is what you want -...

Thanks for the find, Innovator :). See that the price has gone up from the $75 per kit I used to pay. Bought it to corroborate the results from my Phosphate meter. Dave

I don't know if you have a close-up lens, but may we have a photo? Particularly the shell. It's rather doubtful they are pyramid snails with, as you say, none on the snails, so it's possible you have something else all together that's eating something in your tank to proliferate like that. Dave

I know it's counter-intuitive, but if you add more light to your tank you'll gradually eliminate the BGA. Replace the tube immediately; the phosphors have shifted over time allowing the BGA to proliferate. Buying a multi-tube fixture with lights in the 6700 to 10,000K color temperature is a very...

Just FYI, the species is Mastacembelus circumcintus. They reach six inches, and love to bury, with just their eyes and snout visible. Their favorite, and by far the best food for them is worms; suitably-sized live ones or frozen. California black worms are perfect for the live food; aquatic...

Bug, You use long, curved, very very sharp scissors designed for it. Amano sells his for $95 US, but if you do a search for planted tank tools, you'll find what I mean. In any case, keep them away from the kiddies, as they are scalpel sharp; enough to cut a finger to the bone. Isn't a lot of...

It does. The species is Hydrocotyle verticillata. Takes judicious trimming for a dense specimen like that, but verticillata is pretty civilized on it's own. Bright light makes the leaves smaller like that. Dave

Bug, Riccia is actually a floating plant; common name crystalwort. Amano was the first person I know of that actually tied it down to driftwood to use it as a substrate plant. Any piece that'd break off it would float and be a floating plant again. You've probably seen Riccia sold as a floating...

Welcome to AA. For the fish to all drop dead like that, it sounds like an Ammonia surge because the aquarium wasn't cycled yet. Have you bought test kits yet for your water parameters? If not, you need to. API Master Kit is the one you need to get. At the VERY LEAST you need tests for pH...

That's Riccia secured to the bottom of the tank. It's either secured to heavy rocks or some kind of netting to have it across the bottom like that. It's been trimmed to make it look flat like that. Dave

neilanh, To my experience, it takes multiple refugiums to keep mandarins long term. Hang-on models and sump refugiums should be employed if you wish to keep one. Your tank is on the small side for one; they are little fish, but in a larger tank the 'pods have more real estate to proliferate. In...

I keep eight Atlantic Blue Tangs (Acanthurus coeruleus) in an 8x4 tank. The tank was designed for tangs, thus there's 32-feet of linear swimming room as the reef is in the center and is flow through. Only squabbling they ever do is over fresh macro-algae, and in that it's more pushing and...

That looks like Limnophila sessiliflora to me in that corner, rather than a Cabomba. Fact that its growing at all indicates its the Limnophila as well, as a Cabomba wouldn't tolerate the shade in that corner, while the Limnophila would survive it. Dave

Easiest plant to carpet the tank is Echinodorus tennelus - the dwarf chain sword plant. Given time, this little grass-like plant can carpet the largest of tanks. After settling in, each plant will send out runners with daughter plants on the nodes so in a matter of months five becomes 30...

Taylor, A book you should buy in any effort in breeding and raising the larvae of the clownfish. From my published booklist: The Complete Illustrated Breeder's Guide to Marine Aquarium Fishes, by Matthew L. Wittenrich, TFH Publications. - The title of this books is exactly what it says; it...

The catfish sounds like Pimelodus ornatus. You can look here to see if its your guy. Just occurred to me it might be Platydoras costatus. Dave

The Number One piece of equipment you need to buy is a good protein skimmer. A skimmer will remove organic debris before they decay and impinge on your water quality, which in a 10-gallon tank with such a small volume of water, could spell doom in a big hurry. A good skimmer also raises the...

Josh, Its usually where the fish comes from and the effort it takes to ship them to stores. For example, say a fish only exists 150 down on some reef slope. A diver has to dive that deep, capture the fish, then ascend ever so slowly so the fish doesn't get the 'bends' (nitrogen bubbles in the...

For optimum health, Rams need to be kept warmer than most fish enjoy, with 84 to 86 being best. In spring the temp can be slowly raised to 90 over ten days then back down to the mid-80's. They always breed right after the heat. Yes, you can keep Rams in the upper 70's; I keep all my tanks at 77...

I quarantine everything and am very careful to make sure the water change water is the same temperature and chemistry of that in the tank. Thus, I haven't had to deal with disease in a main tank in decades. Once in a blue moon I get a fish in with a spot or two of Ich in quarantine since they...

Howdy jsciacca, and welcome to AA! Nice to see another Southerner on the site. I'm next to you in Arkansas, and have a brother in Nashville. Neither of us are native to our adopted states. Dave