Recent content by M.E.Milz

Yea, I also want to know. My wife keeps pestering me to add some fish with "personality" to the reef tank - you know, box fish and puffers. :) Hmmmm, favorite fish???????? Current - reef tank: Juv. Impetitor Angel Current - FO: toss-up between Hawaiian Dragon Moray and Annularis Angel...

I would say generally no. Most of the less aggressive triggers, the Niger for example, tend to grow very fast. I have a Niger that has grown from 2-3" to over 6-7" in about a year. On the other hand, my Huma is still around 5-6" even though I have had him for over 6 years. Moreover, my Huma...

Something doesn't add up. The tank was level when empty, but then settled 1/2" at one end when filled. So either the carpet or the concrete floor settled 1/2". That seems like a lot. I would make sure that something more serious isn't happening. As far as leveling the tank, the easiest way...

Yes, it will still be effective. However, you might be better off using live rock rubble. I was able to buy some of this from my LFS for $2.00 /lb. Just ask them if you can buy the small/tiny chunks of live rock that have accumulated in the bottom of their live rock tanks. Or you can brak up...

One thing that might really surprise you is that as the equipment (pumps in particular) gets bigger, it also gets a lot louder and generates a lot more heat. If you can, you should try to locate all your equipment such as pumps, your sump, reactors, etc. in another room or in the basement...

I have had the same experience. Based on their relatively low cost (as compared to other fish), and their rep for being hardy, I have brought home royal grammas 3-4 times over the past 6-7 years. But they have always ended up dead (usually, they just disappear). I have gotten these fish from...

My approach, although I have yet to perfect it, is to try and partition off a portion of the tank with plexiglass or netting. Once the fish swims into the section I block it off. It then should be relatively easy to catch the fish in this smaller area absent of rock, corals, etc. My first...

There are lots of pumps that will work, but you first need to figure out what kind of flow requirements you want.

The eggcrate is plenty strong if you form 3-dimensional structures with the use of cable ties. However, my approach has been to bury an eggcrate shelf just below the surface of my DSB upon which the live rock is supported. The shelf is elevated off of the bottom of the tank by intersecting...

You can eliminate the issue of restricting animal/critter movement if you use plastic light diffuser (eggcrate) to build the base for your rockwork. If you do a search in the DIY section, you should be able to find detailed info on the set-up.

As an example of what I am talking about, read the thread "Catching Damsels".

The best approach is to make a list of fish & inverts that you would like to eventually have in your tank, and then either post it here or talk to someone knowledgeable to find out if they are all compatible. It is easy to make a mistake when you stock the tank piecemeal. For example, you...

Sure, the zebra has a rep (and actually is) a pussy cat. But the White Mouth and the Hawaiian Dragon do not have such an easy going rep. I would say that these two types of morays are as agressive, or more so, than snowflakes. FWIW, by far the most agressiive fish I have in my FOWLR tank (the...

Maybe I am the exception, but when it comes to eels, I worry more about adding fish that might pick on the eel then I do about what types of fish the eel might eat. For example, I have a 2' dragon moray, a 2' white mouth moray, and a 3' zebra moray in the same tank with several damsels (along...

I run a calcium reactor on both my reef and FOWLR tanks. However, I still need to add buffer on occasion to counteract the impact of the large volume of RO top-offs. I have been back and forth on Strontium, Iodine and Mag additives, and have not seen much of an impact either way...