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:ROFL: Oddball is da man! Wonderful post! i've been looking for this info a long time. Local shipping practices have always seemed haphazard and error-prone if you ask me. Your info would help establish a great standard to adopt right away. I hope to one day post some info on our...

The quickest option is to cycle the tank water artificially with an ammonia solution. It's okay to use commercially-available bacteria colony starters, but there is no short cut to the amount of time required to grow a biofilter bacterial colony robust enough enough to handle a regular livestock...

Don't mind if I do.:) Bristle worms are fatal to clams. If you really need to get rid of them, here's a great way to trap them: roll up a small 4x4 inch sheet or half-inch polyurethane foam and stick a bit of smelly mussel or shrimp meat inside. Tie the foamtube with some string (not too...

You can now buy net-caught (cyanide-free) fish from the Philippines. But you must ask the seller for a certification from the MAC (Marine Aquarium Council). Many of us have been fighting for, or supporting, local efforts to educate ornamental fisherfolk about the dangers of cyanide fishing, and...

A lawnmower blenny will not stop until he's gobbled up all that hair algae. I have no idea if he'll survive a predator tank. He's pretty speedy, though, and if he can seek refuge in a number of hiding places, he may just do the trick.

Yes, your tank could've cycled quickly, perhaps because the ammonia source wasn't really significant. Simply putting bioballs in water doesn't mean bacteria will grow on them. Have you begun adding livestock besides the blenny and snails? The ammonia from new livestock will begin to feed and...

I think it would be better not to wash our some of the old sand, maybe a fourth of it, and just transfer that into the new tank. Washing out the sand will also wash away the denitrifying bacteria in it which would help seed your new tank. Besides, simply moving sand into a new tank will release...

No problem with the nitrate eaters, man. Personally, I like to keep some nitrate in my system to encourage macroalgae growth. Also, a jaubert plenum could provide some long-term nitrate control naturally. My reco is: keep some of the Phosban and Chempure on hand for emergencies like...

You could build your own hood and fill it with daylight flurorescents.Those bulbs are rated at 6500K--which means they are adequate for most corals. Take a look at the GARF website and check out their lighting specs. They grow spectacular coral without expensive metal halides. I think the reason...

Wouldn't it be best to purchase the tank first to be absolutely sure where the holes are going to be? What's the rush?

A wet dry bio is okay. Anything to keep ammonia & nitrites down. I recommend you read up on SW chemistry to get your head around how you can best keep your water reef-friendly. Fewer mistakes down the road.

Yeh! Sharks rule!:headbang2 Hey, Gunny: - Avoid setting up large tanks on wooden floors (if that's what your second floor has) Keep in mind saltwater weighs in excess of 8 lbs per gallon--and that doesn't yet include the live rock, tank, and hardware. So a 200 gallon tank could end up...

IMO, it should take between 2-3 weeks to grow an adequate-sized colony of nitrifying bacteria in your sump and live rock. I normally cycle a tank with progressively stronger solutions of ammonium chloride. That way, I can avoid ammonia spikes and hydrogen sulfide buildups in the substrate. I've...

One of two tanks in the world that should be a must-see for tankheads like me! The other one's in Okinawa, Japan. And yup, they've also got whalesharks! What dreams are made of, eh? :D

This worked really well for me: Take some polyurethane foam about as big as your hand that you can fashion or tie into a tight tube with some string. Tie up one end really tight and, with your finger, jam a piece of shrimp or crabmeat as deep as you can into the foam tube. Bristleworms...

A good rule of thumb is: if your filtration gear can process the entire tank volume in an hour, then you're good to go. Thing is, there's tons of other ways to set up filtration. Your hang-ons are fine but they do tend to be nitrate factories. That means you're going to need to be doing...

Leafy sea dragons are da bomb!!! :woot:

Pure inspiration is what it is! Thanks Arapaimag! I've always dreamt of a monster SW reef tank. Now I know it's do-able. One dreamer to another: thanks, man! I needed that.

But isn't fishkeeping essentially for human entertainment anyway? I keep natural breeds and hybrids, including flower horns, for the same reason: I think they're awesome and beautiful creatures. Moreover, aren't many of the fish in trade bred to fetch the highest prices? IMO, the...

:WHOA: That sucks! I could try to get you one or two from over here. I see them all the time.