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  1. Sk8r

    Protien-Skimmer...

    WHat you need for a 20 is a HOB skimmer: [hang on back]. Nothing but inflow and outflow tubes go into your tank. They function somewhat like a water treatment plant: sewage in, clean water out. They also help with aeration, a big plus.
  2. Sk8r

    Critique my setup please

    Crushed coral can prove problematic in the long run: it can turn into a brick, losing all ability to process nitrates. The coral banded shrimp may be aggressive toward other inverts. Keeping leathers with stony coral can stunt the growth of both. Leathers emit a chemical keep-away warning that...
  3. Sk8r

    Corals?

    Bubble coral is comparatively low light. You might try a small specimen and see if it feeds, with the proviso that you can return it to the store if it does not.
  4. Sk8r

    what can I do???

    An overabundance of pods helps prevent film algae and other problems.
  5. Sk8r

    New on here, my plans etc.

    Welcome! I have a 52 because I live in an apartment. A 175 would be super, but is the size of a small couch. Cost is some consideration: it's taken me somewhere around 3000.00 by the time I got lights, [metal halide] sump, skimmer, tank, stand; ---you can do it for less. But consider that it...
  6. Sk8r

    I hate testing my tank! Please Help

    Here's another lab trick: you keep a record, you know where on the syringe you were yesterday. So just shoot the fluid all in up to that point, give or take a few drops, then continue to go drop by drop to the critical point. Saves a lot of time. Sure, it's cheating, but the results are still...
  7. Sk8r

    I hate testing my tank! Please Help

    Do you have a color-vision issue? Sometimes it helps to put the tube on a very white base under very strong light, because there is an opacity change as well as color. Really, you need to run the cal and alk test at least once a week, mg once a month, and the others aren't that critical. Sort...
  8. Sk8r

    Most Common Mistake you see....Please add one and move on so all can share..

    Trusting ONE thermometer...
  9. Sk8r

    lots of little Anemone

    Pep's also farm the big ones, eat their tentacles off periodically, and eat the baby ones. I have some real old adults but no new ones to speak of.
  10. Sk8r

    Can some one help me pick a return pump??

    For how large a tank?
  11. Sk8r

    Need help choosing fish

    Best add things one at a time: each new fish [or pair] creates a minuscule spike as the sandbed adjusts and catches up to a new load. Putting in a cleaning crew before you choose your fish is a good idea. Their load is small. They can go in pretty well together. I'm worried that you haven't...
  12. Sk8r

    AutoTOpoff.com

    I have one of these, the dual switch model, and the thing is so sensitive it tends to add topoff water [from an old 5g salt container with a notched rim AND LID!] by the tablespoon: the amount at any one time is not enough to worry about temp. Don't forget to break the siphon on the topoff pump...
  13. Sk8r

    dead hermit carb

    It's also possible it's a molt. the whole front end drops off, with a little wisp of the back
  14. Sk8r

    looking at sps

    You should be good on most things. Your mg may be coming in from the salt. Do you have heavy coralline? That can follow from high mg, so I've heard. My tank runs pretty mg high too, and it's never seemed to be a problem. You should see some of those things drop once you get sps. Wedge a frag of...
  15. Sk8r

    Sally's bullet proof (fact or fiction) & substrate ?

    I use no filtration on my 52g EXCEPT my live rock and live sand, and the protein skimmer. My lights are an mh 250 with 2 actinic, my return pump is a mag 9.5 with a sea swirl, and my skimmer is an Urchin. Mixed lps, sps, nanofish, clam, and sponges. My tank just survived 10 days with a novice...
  16. Sk8r

    looking at sps

    You'll want calcium at 400, alk at 8.3, mg at 1200 give or take. Temp at 80, not much more, and salinity at 1.025, no nitrate, nitrite or ammonia. Once you situate it, do not move it or touch it with your hands: they don't like to be messed with. The montiporas, either digitatas or foliosas...
  17. Sk8r

    What pest is this?

    Some stray button polyps and a bit of valonia [bubble algae]
  18. Sk8r

    Very green to FO/REEF set up

    What needs halides are specifically the fussier acropora stony corals, the branching sticks, and the big clams. Otherwise adequate high output lighting will give you a tank that looks like the pictures... The main thing you need is a good skimmer, and a sump is recommended, sooner or later. The...
  19. Sk8r

    Stocking suggestions for school

    The deal with chromis [and most fish] is that they do not school well unless under threat. IE, if you have a nasty blue velvet damsel to rush about and nip stragglers, they will school everywhere. Schooling is more of an 'us against it' response. If you want a pretty blue fish to flit back and...
  20. Sk8r

    What are these lil' buggers?

    Jake, that thing that looks like a grain of rice with tentacles I'm pretty sure is a baby aiptasia.
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