Recent content by panmanmatt

Thanx for the ID. I knew it was a mantis, but have no clue as to how to tell the species.

another angle

I just picked this fellow up from my LFS the other day. They had no info on him what so ever. Any help would be greatly appreciated. He/she is currently about 1-1 1/2 inches in size.

Definitely get the Maxijet

Wilson, I second the notion to stay away from the suckclone. Spend the extra $50-$60 and get the AquaC Remora Pro.

Bobbie--A 5 gallon is way too small to keep seahorses in unless you have dwarves. That is why you didn't see many nanos at seahorse.org. Also cleaner shrimp are a questionable tankmate for horses as they can be aggressive at times and can stress the seahorse by trying to clean it. If you really...

Not GSP looks more like zoanthids to me.

I'm in central NJ near Long Beach Island. Actually exit 69 GSP. I have one LFS up here that is really great like that, the guy actually converted part of his house into a store. Most of my livestock comes from him.

Where abouts in NJ is this store and what is it called? I also live in NJ and am always looking for new stores to check out. Sorry can't help with your questions though.

Also IMO a 15 minute acclimation is not long enough, you should acclimate for at least 30 minutes for fish and 45 min-1 hour for inverts. Look in the Library here and i believe you will find an acclimation guide.

The tests you really want to be concerned with are ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates as they are the three "parts" of the cycle. I agree that your Ph is way high, i keep my tank at 8.2.

Did you acclimate the fish or just drop them in? Of course all your levels read zero, cause your tank hasn't even started to cycle yet. Your tank will need at LEAST 2 weeks or more to cycle even with "cured" LR. You really don't need to add any fish to cycle your tank, the die off from the LR...

Your SG is ok but your PH seems a little high to me, should be closer to 8.2. IMO 1 week is not long enough for a cycle, seems like your's hasn't even started yet with your nitrates still at 0. Have you tested your water at all prior to this time? Did your ammonia and nitrites spike at all? Was...

I use Marine Snow, Kent Phytoplex and LiquidLife Bioplankton for my corals and filter feeders.

You could ad a couple peppermint shrimp to take care of the uneaten food and a few cerith snails to stir the top of the sand bed. Ceriths like to burrow in the sand so in doing so they will stir it up a litle.