Recent content by KenH

The shell of both Squamosa and Maxima can look similar due to the scutes along the edges. The Maxima tends to have smaller projections which tend to be worn down on the lower portion of the shell. Also the shell tends to be less symmetrical as can be seen in the pic below Notice how the shell...

CLK2609, saw your message. I think you have been given some good info here. I run my reactor (A PM CR622) using ARM media and I adjust my CO2 to get a ph of 6.6 in my effluent. This usually amounts to about 100bbp in my setup. The effluent is rapid drips, but not quite a steady stream. I...

In my 225, I have a Hippo, Kole and Yellow Tang. They constantly hang out together. The Kole is not as flashy as the rest, but is attractive and hardy. I am tempted to try an achillies now that I have a large tank if I can find a nice healthy specimen. They tend to be delicate, though I am...

I have had two for over 3 years. The one that is happiest sits on the sand in a low current, moderate lighting area. It is the queen of a 20gal desk tank. It is almost never fed (every couple of months?) and gets no supplements other than a gallon or two water change a week. The tank is...

I agree that Alveopora can be kept reasonably successfully. I have had a colony for 18-24 months. Moderate lighting and low to moderate water flow seem to be important for success. Mine was initially placed close to 400W MH and high water current and did not fair very well until I moved it...

Southfla, Nature's Ocean is actually a very good sand bed material in my opinion. It has a nice assortment of particle sizes and is what I mostly used in my 225Gal. You can certainly add some sugar size sand to it if it makes you feel better, but be prepared for it to cloud your water for a...

Docwells, Perhaps I am misreading your posts. The term gaping generally is applied to clams that open their shells very wide with little mantle extension. The mantle tissue tends to appear like it is flaccid. Gaping is caused by a clam being in poor health and cannot be corrected by rubberbands...

My yellow tang went through a phase where it was pulling strips of shell off at the margin of the shell of my large Derasas. It actually pulled strands that looked very fibrous off and appeared to eat it. There was no obvious algae growth and it did not actually pick at the mantle itself. It...

I've had one that has about doubled in size in five years (3" to about 6"). It has had a hard life at times and I almost killed it twice, once with UV burns and a second time when a large hammer coral overgrew it and killed a large portion of it. I guess it's lucky it has grown at all! I...

Well, when my troubles started, my large Sinularia which I have had for about 5 years had started to develop some rot in spots. I am somewhat convinced (although in this hobby, you can never be sure about anything), that was what triggered my problems. I have no doubt that unhappy soft corals...

Hi Ben, Do you have any LARGE softies of the likes of Sarcs or Sinularia? I had a similar setup (70 w/ two 10K 400W MH). After several years, I had a problem with some of the SPS starting to die back from the base up. I think it was a combination of my softies growing very large and my use of...

If this brown algae is just a light dusting that coats the sandbed and live rock, it's just part of the natural startup cycle and generally goes away on its own within the first month or so. Here is a picture of the type of algae I am talking about. --- Ken

I kept a copperband with clams with no problems. With their mouth structure, I doubt that they would tend to bother clams. As npaden mentioned, they are guaranteed to pretty much wipe out all feather dusters and they can be extremely picky eaters. One of my favorite fish for thier looks. --- Ken

Slojmn1, I have the same camera. All the pictures on my website are taken with a Sony DSC-S70 It's a good camera, but not the ideal camera for tank macros since it tends to want to automate everything. Pictures of fish are the hardest, unless it's a goby that's willing to sit still for you...

Tanu, your tank keeps looking better all the time. My only complaint is that you continue to resist going to a bigger tank. I'd love to see what you could do with aquascaping on a 225G or so tank! --- Ken