Recent content by jda123

Ross knows what he is doing. As said above, he does not reef like many other people, so pay attention to how he does it - mostly he get available energy and building blocks to his corals, not waste products. This is a labor of love, not profit, for the normal hobbyist. Anybody around when...

Shutting down a big tank. Have tons of live sand if anybody wants some to seed. This stuff comes from ocean live rock days, is more than twenty years old. My tanks if full of pods, worms, mini brittle stars and all different colors of coralline algae... all of the good stuff. In Longmont...

I did not read it, but if they don't have you pair any cycles up with nature then it probably won't work too well. You don't even really need the light cycles if you study the natural cycles. I have some light that gets into our walkout basement, but the corals knew when it was time. I never...

I have had acropora spawn in my tank. I have talked to Ross about it a lot too. It just happened. I did not do anything. The key to me seems to be to get the coral a lot of usable resources. Like actually usable. Ammonia or organic nitrogen forms instead of no3, organic phosphate instead...

What do you have for a power outage backup plan? I might have a large computer UPS laying around, which can run a low wattage tunze flow pump (or the like) pointed at the surface for like 2-3 days. It might need new batteries, but these are not expensive on Amazon and cheaper than a new fish...

You need some fish? Shutting a tank down soon.

If they work and are cheap, order a few more immediately. Doubtful that a surge protector will help much, but worth a try - they are just made to be disposable in most cases. Unfortunately, good tech is expensive and cheap tech is not good, so spares for reasonable prices are a good idea.

If you need halide parts and pieces, I have lots that you can have. Let me know.

Are the live still, or already dead? If live, then I would not kill them.

The most important thing is to have a place to offload the excess. Once you get going, you have to keep going and you will likely have a lot of extra. You might be able to sell a bit for a while, but that dwindles. You also cannot have enough clear 2 liter soda bottles.

If you are sure that it is flukes, then try soaking pellets in prazi. You can also get something like this: https://angelfishusa.com/product/anti-parasite-duo-flake/ Generally, if you are using so little prazi to be reef safe, then it won't likely do much inside of a fish. Be careful doing...

I have given short talks and speeches on a step ladder in a backyard - mostly about recruiting, leadership/management and a few other things, but the message got across. I did not even know what NOCO reef club was a thing until this thread. They must be really killing it...

Consider monthly/quarterly progress winners. Can be a new tank that is coming along, or an established tank that is still humming. The key is participation in the thread/board and not so much just a take-a-look snapshot. This way, anybody who participates has a shot.* On another topic, see...

I would wire at least 2x 20 amp. 15a is likely fine if the tank is not too big, but do two. You need flow and return pumps on separate circuits. Then, you split heaters and lighting as well as the rest of the gear. You could need 1500w of heaters if the tank is larger and you like a cool home.

Many old ballasts have surface rust. When you really have to worry is when the ballasts swell like crazy, but they usually quit well before then. If they fire the bulb, then they are OK to use. HUAQUAN HQI ballasts are not easy to find new, or as replacements. You can find used MH ballasts...