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Let me start by saying I was a successful reef guy for 15 years and go sick of the constant battles with nutrients vs algae growth and the balance that reefs need to look good or grow coral. I decided to get into the freshwater side again and figured it would be simple. Boy was I wrong. It's...

I just closed down my reef and since I have a gallon of gfo and my reactor, I thought about running it to keep down the phosphates. Anyone out there do this? Will the freshwater cause it to leach metal or cause any other issues. Hate to throw a gallon of gfo away.

Hey guys, I had a reef for the last 15 years and just shut it down. Tired of all the excessive maintenance, high cost and constant battles with issues. I'm going back to freshwater. I've had many freshwater tanks in the past, but I've always had hang on back filters or sumps with bio balls and...

Hopefully others will learn from my refugium mistakes. Specifically, choose your micro algae cautiously. I've had my fuge for a couple years, and I've been battling a type of red (furry) looking algae the whole time. It blocks the water flow, light and eventually trys to make its way into the...

Just wondering what ATI bulb configurations everyone is running? For example: Sps dominated 90 gallon 24" deep 4 bulb fixture with (2) aquablue special, (1) purple plus, (1) blue plus etc. Or 6 bulb fixture etc

I have several of these popping up in different places. They seem to be about the diameter of an eraser, and grow taller. Light green in color with very small brown polyps. I imagine they can't be good.

I just built a canopy out of pine. I stained it and put 3 coats of polyurethane on it. It was for a 20 gallon tank. My problem is that the top lid has warped (within) three days of use. I'm not sure if it's because I used real pine wood and not plywood. I also don't know if it's the heat...

I've been waiting for this day for a long time. As soon as I saw the price drop to $399, I went straight my local fish store and the rest is history. I'm going to be installing them early next week, and I'm going to document everything. And when I say everything, I mean how the sps and other...

I've been noticing everyone speaks so high of them. I'm just wondering why, I had them a while back and saw no positive or negative over wave-point bulbs with my corals. They both have similar spectrums, 12k, super blues, actinics, and purples. At my fish store, the ATI's cost almost double...

Well going off of Carey's advice, I dropped $75 (with free shipping) on this Ebay ro-di unit. http://www.ebay.com/itm/110691607171?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649 I have to say, what a great purchase experience and amazing unit. I paid the eBay seller at 3pm on Wednesday...

I've been doing some research on the aquaillumination sol's, and I have a couple questions regarding their published par ratings. First does anyone know if the par numbers they post on their website is in open air or through water? Also are those par ratings for the white or super blue...

I'm just getting ready to order a dual fixture for my sps tank. Anyone have hands on good or bad experiences with them. I've been doing a lot of research and they look like the best Led system available. I'm not looking for a do it yourself system, and I love the fact that the "kelvin" can be...

Years ago I bought a acrylic tank, and the store sold it as a 125 gallon. The dimensions are 60"L x 18"W x 24"T. Then a while back I bought another tank, a 90 gallon acrylic. Its dimensions are the same other than the length which 48" instead of 60". Then in researching gallons and size on...

I'm not very experienced with snail identification. This is the first time I've seen him, he was on the back wall and was maybe an inch long. He had a small flat shell that covered just a small portion of his body. He was very stuck to the wall, and when I tried to grab him with tweezers, his...

I've been in the reef hobby for about 15 years and feel I understand pretty much everything one could know. But here's my problem. I just started a large freshwater tank and I have no idea what I should test for, or what the test results should be. I have a 125 gallon tank, 50 gallon sump...

I always wash my filter socks with hot water in the washer. Anyone tried using baking soda, just wondering if it could help clean the socks better. We use bicarbonate to raise our kh anyway.

I've never had get good luck with reef fish, and I think its because my feeding habits weren't correct. What is the proper feeding schedule for most fish? I'm know it depends on what fish and what they eat, but should it be everyday or every other day. Some experienced reefers say every other...

Over the last 15 years I've started a total of 5 reefs, 2 currently still running (after moves etc). Three of my tanks I used uncured live rock straight from the box and the other two, cured. The cured came from local fish store curing tanks. The uncured came pretty wet / moist in the box and...

I have a 90 gallon sea clear 2 acrylic tank with built in filtration. I don't like the design, so I want to add a sump with refuge below. My two questions are, 1. Is it a bad idea to add a 1 1/2 horizontal (instead of vertical) bulkhead for my drain to the sump? 2. Since drilling an inlet...

Anyone else heard this? I love my ecoxotic leds I have now, the panorama modules. When I called tech support to ask a question, they told me next week there will be new panoramas out. The leds will be upgraded to 1.7 watts each, from the 1 watt each now. Mine work really well already, can't...

I just started a new reef tank four weeks ago. Had high nitrates a couple weeks into so I started a Phosban reactor with NPX bioplastics on the advice of my LFS. A few days later I couldn't figure out why my tank just kept getting gradually more and more cloudy, but I think I've finally figured...

Just thought I would post my coralline algae observation. For over a year with my red sea max factory lights (t5) I had very little coralline growth. My water parameters were perfect, but still next to no growth other than a over my powerheads. After a move, I had to sell that tank. I...

I'm looking to transition from t5's to metal halides. I like the look of halides better. The few questions that weigh on my mind are 1. I see two different types of bulbs, mogul base and double ended. Is one better than the other? 2. How do you choose the right watt bulb? My tank is 48"...

Always wondered, is the bacteria that turns ammonia into nitrite, then into nitrate, then in phosphate, are they the same or are they different strains of nitrifing bacteria. If they are different, how do get a higher population of the nitrate to phosphate type?