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Flame hawkfish-loaded with personality, colorful, highly interactive and hearty. My wife's favorite fish.

I agree that tank size can overcome many inter-fish fights. After all, they coinhabit the ocean. However, you have to take with a grain of salt reports that two normally incompatible fish have survived together in someone's tank. Most of the fish we get in this hobby are juveniles. You may do...

When I last cycled dry rock using Moe's method, it took 4-6 weeks after adding ammonium chloride before ammonium and nitrite levels fell to zero. Other than the ammonium chloride you add nothing under this system, so that's how long it takes if starting from dry rock.

In theory, a UV filter could remove suspended microorganisms that might be harmful to the desirable inhabitants of the tank. In practice, few hobby-level units produce sufficient UV output to make a large difference, and they require continuous maintenance since the spectrum they put out changes...

When I cycle a tank using ammonium chloride it routinely takes 6 weeks to establish adequate bacterial colonies to lower ammonia and nitrite levels to zero. As Imforbis said, patience, patience, patience. Nothing good happens fast in this hobby.

24 hour lights on the macro may be a problem. Growth of photosynthetic organisms uses two different reactions: the light reaction, which takes place using energy from incident light of the proper wavelength, and the dark reaction which takes place in the absence of light. Optimal growth requires...

Welcome! I think you will enjoy it here - nobody is trying to sell you anything except on the idea that having a marine aquarium is challenging and enjoyable.

The easiest way I know of to control algae is to use algae - macroalgae, that is. Chaeto will work fine. Simply put some in a mesh bag or a compartment created by using plastic light grid, or build (or buy) an algae scrubber. Unless you are overfeeding by a lot or running your lights in the...

Just a note from the pedantic grammar Nazis: The word "octopus" is actually Greek, so the plural would be octopuses (or octopodes, but that is rarely used). "Octopi" assumes that the word is Latin, so pluralizes using the Latin form. Otherwise, I completely agree with your post.;)

Many of us run systems with no powered chemical filtration at all, relying on live rock (and maybe some chaeto) to do the job. That doesn't mean that you don't need a pump-circulation, especially when corals are present, is critical, so you will still need powerheads.

It really depends on what you want to accomplish with the rock. Bleaching it will sterilize it completely. Boiling will kill most living things, but leave considerable organic material behind. Its up to you.

Do you see the conflict here? You want a "natural" approach, but want to add chemical filtration, which is very unnatural. I'm not a big fan of chemical filtration - IMHO all you need is some live rock, some chaeto and a sensible schedule of water changes and it is unlikely that your tank will...

Don't think that because the fish came straight from a shipment that it came straight from the ocean. The fish has been in holding tanks, possibly for weeks, then shipped to a broker's tanks, then to a wholesaler's tanks, so it has been around quite a bit and is probably stressed. time will tell.

I think what throws most people off about API nitrate test kits is that they test for nitrate nitrogen, not for actual nitrate, so their numbers are somewhat different from the numbers generated by other kits. There is a correction which, if applied, usually brings API values to the values...

Several butterflies, including the copperband will eat aptasia. However, butterflies are not the easiest of fish to keep, especially the copperband. Many are injured during shipping, and never recover.

I have found that a combination of attacks is most effective. Peppermint shrimp are very useful for the long-term control of aptasiaq, but they only consume small polyps. the larger aptasia need to be killed by direct injection with commercial products, boiling water or even kalkwasser. It takes...

I think you are right about somebody in the display eating them - a few of the inhabitants look are looking particularly happy these days;)

Not only is your stock limited in a 10 gal tank, but you will find it very, very difficult to keep going. Things go wrong in every tank, but the smaller the tank the more quickly things go badly wrong. A 10 gallon marine tank is really suitable for experts and experienced aquariasts.

This is a picture of some kind of worm that appeared in the corner overflow of my 220 gallon tank about two weeks ago. There are now lots of them (you can see a second one in the background) and they are about 1/2-3/4 inches long. The tank has been in operation for at least 10 years, and there...

I converted my 110 gal high into a 3 compartment sump and put it in the basement. I have the skimmer, algae turf scrubber, ATO and some rock down there, so the only equipment in the display upstairs are 2 heaters and 2 powerheads. I love being able to reach everything in the sump without...