Recent content by Rikko

I'm sure epoxy releases "something" for a time after we consider it cured, but I think it's quite benign. This stuff really isn't that different from the epoxy putty that is sold, and that's thrown into tanks immediately after mixing. Update after a (work) week: fish are still behaving normally...

I would just toss the canister and replace it with a power head - the live rock and skimmer ARE your filters and the canister is at best just another redundancy you don't really need. Canisters can also be noisy when air bubbles get sucked in or air cavitates. I've also had a lot of bad luck...

How disturbed did your sand bed get during the move? There are all kinds of anoxic nasties sitting in a sand bed - if too much got disturbed you could be seeing the results of a cloud of hydrogen sulfide/methane/other foul crap getting mixed into your (aerobic) main water column. Only thing I...

I've read a lot of posts about faux sand beds, but never much of a dummy's step by step guide so figured I'd post my experiences. I have a 120 gal Megaflow AGA that started with about a 3" sand bed, then I slowly started removing it during water changes because I wasn't too happy with my coral...

After I got my refractometer I tested about a half dozen hydrometers in the store I worked and friends and whatnot.. All hydrometers were accurate - some were never even cleaned. The "worst" one I found was 0.001 higher than the refrac.

As with any tragic story, mine began with a girl...

I had abismal luck with them but my girlfriend has had a bunch of them for going on 2 years now.. I suspect the gentle flow in the tank plays a large part. You may also find that they'll take new anemones if the opportunity arises.. She had one with only one anemone who one day found an...

I was under the impression that B-Ionic was just calcium and carbonate.. Should have the same net effects as CaCl/NaCwhatever.. Is there any extra goodness in it? I had a few heads of my various Euphyllia die from time to time.. I suspected light and/or flow in each case. I think flow because...

I went for 31-40. I typically only reply when I see a thread that is dancing around a topic I have a good bit of experience with or else I've done sufficient research in an area to be able to contribute something to an otherwise unconclusive. If there's a thread where two or three pros have...

I have a filter sock (custom sump) and before washing it I put about a gallon of fresh water into the washer and set it on the wash/spin cycle (for about a minute total) to get any detergent residue mostly flushed out. I also had it suggested to wash it with washing soda. I did... And I found...

Re: Knowse's link.. Note they're found as high as British Columbia, and as low as California.. That's some pretty chilly water regardless - I think our water is a whopping 13 degrees at the moment. I wouldn't give it very good odds at surviving long in full tropical temperatures. If you want to...

It looks sort of like my old 65, except it's doing well.. :D I dig your lighting canopy - nicely done.

Having used both (formerly T5, now PC/MH), I would judge solely on the bulbs you have available to you. I always had lousy selection of bulbs for my T5s and didn't really like the spectrum.. The current PCs I have are Coralife 50/50s which are much more appealing to me. I would probably think...

I would definitely replace the pump - powerheads by and large are weak and not well suited for skimmers like the Berlin. Most skimmer like that seem to perform better with a pump that can provide thrust with a fair bit of backpressure. Like Rob said - maybe look into a Mag drive pump or...

Should be fine - my GF keeps hers under 220W of PC in a 48" tank which scales about the same as yours. It's doing well and doesn't wander a lot - only thing is that it hasn't split it over a year.