Recent content by pr0teus

tds stands for 'total dissolved solids'. you can buy an electronic tester to take tds readings. i *think* the tds is supposed to tell you how 'clean' your water is.

i'd buy it.

sometimes the hermits will attack a snail, if the hermit wants the snail's shell. having said that, sometimes the snails die and then the hermits do their job and scavenge. if you think your snails are dying to something in the water, check your calcium level. i remember when i first started...

duuuuuuuuuuude you got to try to make coffee with ro/di water... it's really gooooooooooooooood

yeah you have to "play" with the pipe configuration... my bakpak would "gurgle" and "snore", but after a little fiddling with the pipes and removal of the sponge, everything was sounding nice + quiet again. if you can get the water coming out of the pipe to flow circular around the inside of...

My Niger Trigger is sorta smart. When he sees me open the hood on the tank, he starts to swim near the surface and spits water.

oh it's huge... there's like a small colony of them underneath that rock. i remember i saw it a long time ago and it wasnt that big (like a year or so ago). i just redid the rock arrangement in my tank and found it still there. i'll take more pics next time i'm fiddling with my tank.

Hi all, Just wondering what these were: 1st pic- see the little tube in the area of the yellow circle. it's got a white long tentacle sticking out. what is this? 2nd pic- what is this big white thingy under my rock? is it a type of sponge? thanks for looking.

just thought i'd share this link with you. it's got tons of great info.. http://www.reefs.org/library/newbieguide.htm i'll try to answer some of the questions based on stuff i've learned from this forum, but i'll try to keep everything basic so someone more experienced can chime in... just...

linky no worky for me :cry:

well i guess this makes my decision easier... i was debating a coralilfe or csl pc lights setup... hopefully i can find some nice close out sales!

A good skimmer is AquaC's Remora. I have one on my 29 and it works great. Another one to look at is the CPR BakPak, but the Remora performs better in my opinion. If you're looking to buy a skimmer online, Premium Aquatics and Marine Depot are 2 good places to order from. The Remora will cost...

billyzbear, response to your question about the safety of the clean-up crew: luckily, my niger trigger isn't a bad fish and eats everything that it can get a hold of. however, you do worry sometimes that crabs or snails will start disappearing. i say just throw some in there and not worry...

bristleworms are bad in the sense that they can damage your corals or something. i've also read that they can be good when they root around in the substrate eating detritus. perhaps someone can post some more helpful info...

I've had a Humu Humu (Picasso) Trigger, Niger Trigger, and Spotted Hawkfish. Out of those 3, the Spotted Hawk was the only one who ate one of my clean up crew members.