Recent content by stevemcadoo

I dont know about the type you have inyour tank but I have had measeled cowries in a tank with star polyps and mushrooms , and they ate both. I witnessed the mushroom eating. It only takes a second for it to eat it. I took it out and no more disappearing soft corals. They will live for a...

Standing at the lighting display I can see that 175 watt MV bulbs look bright with a blue tint. It looks like 12000k metal halide only brighter. Seems like it would work on a reef tank. Has anyone ever tried? Done a test on that? Anyone know the PAR and kelvin temp? I do know they are very...

I have two kinds of large hairy mushrooms and they too, eat. My little multicolored ones really dont seem to eat but keep reproducing. I feed my hairy mushrooms chopped fish that I put in the blender with 1/4 cup of water. I blend it real good and suck it up with a 60cc syringe that has a...

Brian , I suppose you mean reef type lfs. There is a Petmart in St. Pete(dont know address-good reef tanks-good prices- lots of sw fish. Also in Tampa- Marine Warehouse(dont know add.)Large reef section and good prices. Look them up in the yellow pages, their in there. Good luck and have...

If it is Florida rock you have a very bad critter and need to get him out now. We have a bristle worm that lives in and under rocks known here as a fire worm. It has whitish bumps that turn into big puffs of very painful stingers! and they get very big. I have seen them 6-8 inches long. and...

I've got them also, in the over flow and in the sump and skimmer. The might be sponges(they feel like em)or they might be some kind of sea squirt. I have not looked at them closely or with a magnifing glass. There are some about 1/2 inch long. I also have some purple, hard spikes about 1/16...

Yep , thats a black edged moray. They get about 24-28 inches max. They are common in the Gulf of Mexico off the west coast of Florida. I have had them in aquariums and they do fine. Watch out for those teeth-I've got a scar on my right pointer finger from one when I was about 10 years old ...

I've got a pair of Coral banded shrimp and many cerinth snails(the atlantic turbo snail) and some other snails and they are still going strong with no snail deaths for 2 years or so. I would say its not the shrimp also. Check your water. Aclimate better.

Ihave a pair of Coral banded shrimp and had a pair of skunk cleaners(Lysmata amboiensis) and the coral banded shrimps did eventualy kill both cleaner shrimp. Now the cbs did have the aquarium first and got the ideal cave type location that they like and the cleaners kept trying to get in the...

I had 2 Lysmata amboiensis ( I suppose this is the cleaner shrimp you are talking about) This is the skunk cleaner. Yes they are hermaphrodites. When one sheds , the other will mate with it, even if the male? has eggs. That is the only time they can mate. They are fertilized and do change...

I grow my mangroves outside in full light(thats what they live in,in the wild), and they do fine. I have a friend who has some growing under(and over) NOs and VHOs. If you can grow just about any other plant under NO lights(plant grow type)you should be able to grow them with 18 watts of NO...

I also have some of the mint green type and it is turning orange where it is getting exposed to the light.( I suppose that is whats happening). It has stayed green for a long time but is growing out into the light and turning orange to red the further up it goes. No other coralline in turning...

Your mangroves look pretty good for northerm Cal.! I have started some in salt water and had them out side but I put the seeds? in shallower water,about 2 " of the seed in gravel and 1/2 " of water over the gravel. In the wild they grow at the waters edge and are out of the water half the time...

I use natural sea water and have for 40+ years. I have never used synthetic, even though everyone uses it. The only problems I have had are-sometimes you get coralline algae spores and get a crust going on the glass, also you might get feather dusters- I'm talking an infestation, on the glass...

Looks great! Have you turned off the pumps and let it settle and drain to the sumps? It looks like you might not have enough reserve. But your sumps are pretty tall, so maybe youll be ok. I didnt understand why you gated the returns. Did you not want the flow or did your overflow not handle...