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Does it grow in places where there is little or no water current?

Tale a look at the various reef-safe wrasses - they are gorgeous, peaceful, and will fit in your system nicely.

Many years ago I lived in Utica, New York and traveled to Martin's Aquarium in Philadelphia for livestock. We carried a tank of oxygen, and would inflate the bags ourselves for the long ride back to upstate New York. One day we arrived at Martin's after a half-day drive just as the store burned...

I wouldn't call them "boneheads", but the language police wouldn't permit the words I would use for these thieves to be posted.

Provide less light during the day - zero hours of light for a few days won't hurt, and it will give the herbivores a chance to catch upon the algal growth. Do not use chemicals to control the algae - all that will happen is that it will grow back worse. You need to deal with the underlying...

Did you ever see an ammonia or nitrite spike? The appearance of measurable nitrate levels suggests that the tank is cycled.

These are very good questions, going to the cause of the ammonia spike, but you have to get the ammonia down, and fast. Water changes can help, but for fast lowering of ammonia take a look at ammonia neutralizers such as "AmmoLoc". There are many others, the chemistry is well known. Be sure to...

Wow - your experience is like a guide for how a new fishkeeper should fail while the fish store makes a nice profit! Imforbis is right - get rid of the ornaments, buy some pukani dry rock online (about one pound per gallon of water). Then go to a store that specializes in saltwater fish and buy...

Live water doesn't exist - the bacteria live on solid substrate. Don't use any water processing chemicals, nor skimmer (there's nothing to skim). IMHO lights on or off doesn't matter, but don't leave them on for too long or you'll get algae. Just ghost feed and measure ammonia and nitrite.

If you do use tap water expect to see an outbreak of diatoms soon. As water conditions improve they will go away, so don't worry.

Taking your time is a good plan. Do you have a quarantine tank? If not, then the first thing you should look for after adding livestock is a disease outbreak. A quarantine is not expensive, and it will save you lots of money and aggravation. You should now make a general plan of what livestock...

Hi, Nathaniel. Welcome to the board, and to marine fishkeeping. As you can see from the replies above, you will always get the unvarnished truth here, without the snarkiness often found at other sites. It helps that nobody on this site is interested in selling you anything - we are only...

Australians tend to capture using barbless hooks, while the Phillipine collectors generally just hit the reef with some cyanide to stun the fish. Usually, about 6 weeks later they die of kidney failure, by which time they are in your tank.

I have used algae scrubbers for years, and I find that they do exactly what they claim. There are many kinds of units, ranging from inexpensive diy to expensive downflow, but they all work. Tyne only downside - if I dont harvest the macroalgae weekly it quickly overgrows.

Although it is frequently called algae, Cyanobacteria is an especially ancient form of bacteria which happens to be able to carry out photosynthesis. As such you can eliminate it by depriving it of light or dissolved nutrients. I have also had success by treating it with erythromycin, which...

I agree that the leopard wrasse is probably easier to keep long term, but not in your tank. It looks fairly new, and leopards are very hardy once acclimated to tank living. This means an extended quarantine with prazipro (they are reputed to frequently carry internal parasites), and adjustment...

Wow - this is a textbook case of how a lfs misdirects a novice. Shame on them! IMHO it is very important that you rehome the damsels. Your tank should be able to eventually display some beautiful fish, but should any of the damsels survive the high ammonia levels, they will be come highly...

Some of the most beautiful fish are the reef-safe wrasses. I had a good sized mature male red velvet fairy wrasse who was a great community fish, flashy and always out swimming around. You can see him here.

Reverse osmosis membranes don't do much for chlorine - in fact, chlorine degrades the membranes. That's why RO systems for tap water generally also contain a carbon filtration step to remove this element (among others). RO treatment commonly removes from 90-99% of contaminants, which is why...

I second Beth's advice to have a quarantine tank. It isn't a question of whether a fish will bring in a disease that will wipe out your tank, but when that will happen. A simple, inexpensive quarantine set-up will 100% prevent that. The tank can be as small as a 10 gallon tank with no sand or...