Recent content by jmeader

Most shrimp are very sensitive to ammonia at any level. The only shrimp I know of that can withstand a small amount of ammonia is intertidal grass shrimp, used for feeders.

It's not the flow rate itself that is important but rather the exposure time to the carbon.In other words if you had a long and large volume of carbon, a high flow rate would be fine as it would still get a lot of exposure time but a small short amount of carbon would need a very slow flow rate...

I think you took the best route in getting rid of those aiptasia, nice going. I'm not an expert on the limits of light for corals but I would guess that you would be limited to mushrooms and zoanthids. Others could give you a better idea I'm sure. I've always used 2 bulbs for 2 different ranges...

Urchins will only eat the regular algae but they tear up everything under the algae doing it.

I've had 2 types similar to that. One was soft and the other was like wire. Just pick it out and lower nutrients as you were told. I would add one note though. Red algae generally won't grow or do well without elevated levels of organics in addition to the nitrates and phosphates. A little...

LOL If your going to have problems, then minor ones are the best to have.

I said wait because you have some other nasty cycles coming your way and any increase in the bio load before they finish are going to make them even worse. You do have some clean ups and readjustments to make in the coming months. I would not put a coral or even a sensitive fish into a tank...

Keeping a nano requires a degree of knowledge that will allow you to react very quickly to rather small changes. The degree of difficulty in doing that increases as you move up from live rock to corals, to invertebrates, and tremendously when you add in fish. Small changes that are left...

All I would add is that if you keep the shrimp, quit feeding it for a couple of weeks at least. let the shrimp clean up your live rock.

I have almost always gone out of my way to get caulerpa into my systems as soon as possible. I've used it with great success in keeping my nitrates low. If it grows at all, you have elevated nitrate levels, those levels being above undetectable. I like it for the other toxins it takes out of the...

If you are a little in the dark about a reef tank, you will have a disaster trying to keep a nano. I've seen a lot of good suggestions on this post, but their are a lot of ways you could go on keeping a nano. However; you understandably want to shoot for the moon with fish, inverts, and coral. I...

In my mind, the purpose of buying live rock is to get as much life, also known as biodiversity, to survive in the system I'm providing for them. I kill as little as possible and quarantine for a very extended period of time with no fish, shrimp, coral, or any other form of hosting systems...

It is likely salt clogging the air intake because of salt creep.

Since your lights are suspended from the ceiling you are in the best position to answer your question. Darken the room, then turn on your lights and you should be able to visualize how big a tank you can fit into the lighted area. Use the light shining on your hand to move around and determine...

Try double checking all of your electrical connections, including where the bulbs fit in, to be sure they are clean and not corroded.