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That's a great tip - thanks!

Oh my, if this wasn't so tragic it would be a comedy. I'm really sorry for your loss but these people do not deserve your money.

Any thoughts of going to a single large external pump to replace the sump full? Three phase pumps never start backwards.

This is interesting to me. Without thinking too hard about it I would have thought that the Magnesium and Strontium would precipitate out of solution due to the high PH of limewater. Now I'm on a mission to prove my instincts wrong. Thanks for the mission Snake. BTW there is no carbonate in...

Many external overflows do not lose siphon when the return pump stops. Since the siphon is still active it can pull water through the venture tubing for as long as the intake and outlet of the powerhead are submerged. Once the water level in the tank drops below the powerhead the venture will...

If you mean your sand bed then yeah... I think I know what that is. :p If it's something else then no, not sure what that is. If your sand bed and live rock has good waterflow in an established tank then there really is just no way you have detectable Nitrite. Someone is pulling your leg...

I'm a firm believer in testing the water so that problems can be addressed before it affects the fish and inverts.

Caution with the powerhead. In a power outage it can start a reverse siphon and drain the tank all the way down to the powerhead nozzle and flood the sump.

What is this "bacteria bed"? I've not heard of this. Something new? Is it some type of plenum system?

A couple thoughts: Get your own test kits. It's nice to know you're getting the real results even if you do trust the people at the LFS. What are the numbers? If you have Nitrites then your biologic filtration is not working properly. Something is killing off your bacteria, something is...

why so many pumps?

Nitrite is harmless until you get into really high levels. That said, it does indicate one of three things: 1 - Something has disturbed and degraded your biologic filtration. 2 - Some type of organic material is rotting in your system and your biologic filtration cannot keep up with the load...

Hmmm. I guess I just assume people run their skimmers 24/7.

Fish tend to simply avoid areas like that.

The skimmer should supply all of the gas exchange needed. I don't know what the problem here could be.

If this guy said adding a dozen fish in 3 days is ok then never talk to this ... person again. Ever. Those two Clownfish are usually not compatible either. In a year or so they will mature and the Skunk will kill the Ocellaris. What is an "invertebrate for the clowns"?

Yeah, just put a white piece of paper at the far end of the tank and look at it through the water. If it looks like a Beaslbob tank then running some GAC for a couple days is going to make your corals a lot happier.

I didn't. I always had a canister of new carbon ready to go in case of a chemical contamination. In addition to that I ran carbon for a couple days whenever I noticed gelbstof accumulation (greenish tint).

To answer your question of what went wrong - it's ammonia poisoning. Without a cycled tank there is not enough bacteria to consume the ammonia produced from the fish waste. The ammonia basically burns away their gills until they suffocate.

Good advice here. One silver lining in this - you now know that your local fish store does not share your concern for your pets. They knew that putting your fish in an uncycled tank would cause them extreme torture, they just didn't let you know that.