Recent content by gerowe

I also soak mine in vinegar--about 1 hour every 2 weeks unless problems arise. That seems to work very well for me. George

I've used Copperbands as a control in 2 different tanks and they have never bothered any corals even after all the aiptasia have been eaten. This is the only form of control that has worked for me. The Butterfly is also IMO a great fish. They will, however, eat tube worms. George

In some recent threads there have been a few anecdotal comments about reefers running 400W Radium bulbs on MV ballasts intended for Iwasaki bulbs. Has anyone had any personal experience doing this? If so, so the bulbs looks blue (as they tend to on regular MH ballasts) or the bright white/blue...

We've had a Powder Blue for over 3 years--first in a 120G tank, since July in a 300G. We feed it spirulina and vibagro mostly--no sea veggies, nori, etc. It eats like a pig, is very fat, has great color, and has grown considerably since we got him. Every few months it starts to rub on the...

I believe that the Aqualine Buske 250K bulbs need to be fired by an HQI ballast and so would likely not work--or not work well--on the ballast you've already got. I'm not sure about this, but you might call PFO to double check before commiting to the AQ bulbs, which are, I've been told, quite...

I have a tank that's been going for two months now with the dsb about 50% silica sand. No problems so far. In fact, I'd use more next time. George

In my experience Iwasaki 400W bulbs run considerably whiter (and brighter) on MV ballasts. (I once did a side by side comparison between a bulb run on a regular PFO MH ballast and one run on a PFO MV ballast.) Indeed, to my eyes they do no seem yellow at all, although I still supplement them...

Have had one for 3 years in a 120G, now in a 300G tank. Gets along well with all our other fish, eats everything we put in the tank--spirulina, vibragro, brine shrimp--has never bothered any corals as far as we know. George

I'm also from the Northwest and just added about 200 lbs. of new silica sand (along with about 300 lbs. of Southdown). It was called "Oregon Coast Sand" and I purchased it at a local garden supply. It's very fine, tho' a bit darker than the Southdown. For what it's worth, I didn't wash it...

For what it's worth, I've recently set up a large tank with about half silica sand and half aragonite (over 300 lbs. each). I purchased the former at a local landscape supplier. It supposedly comes from the Oregon coast and is even finer than southdown, tho' not as white. I'm very happy with...

Eugene as well. George

For what it's worth, I've set up a 300G tank this year for considerably less than some of the figures quoted above. Here's the breakdown (the figures are approximate): Custom Tank with overflows + shipping: $2000 2 2x400W PFO Retro kits/sockets/reflectors: $480 4 Iwasaki 400W bulbs: $240...