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Free ammonia is the toxic stuff, measure that.

It can take months for base rock to be seeded with the diversity that you normally find on live rock. Since there are already fish in the tank you need to worry about their survival first as the tank cycles. Get an ammonium measurement kit and measure daily. If (when) the levels begin to rise...

Don't count on the floor being reinforced since standard floor joists can support normal plumbing with no problem. Assuming that the floor is to code, a 125 should be no problem either. When I put in my 110 I put angle irons from the front to the back legs of the stand at either end so that...

The biowheel should have enough bacteria to support the same fish that it did in the QT. Just be sure to add fish slowly to give the bacterial colony sufficient time to expand, but that's true of any tank.

I've had tangs in a 55, which is the same length and they did OK while they were small, but they became very aggressive as they grew. I always attributed that to their going insane from the short tank. Just sayin...

What size tank do you have. Hippo tangs need a lot of swimming space: 5-6 feet. Don't be misled by getting a very small one, since they have terrible survival records. 3-5 inches is the smallest I would consider.

Not in my experience. Years ago I added an achilles tang (before I knew what I know now) to a 55 gallon tank that already had a small niger trigger in it. In about 30 seconds the trigger entered the right side of the tang and emerged from the left side. The most expensive 30 seconds of my life.

Most diatoms are photosynthetic, so light will stimulate them to grow and reproduce.

Barry: Don't worry about the diatoms. Either they will disappear: over time as conditions in your tank even out, or the fish that you add will find a source of live food. There is plenty of work to maintaining a marine tank, but diatom management is a task that you can forget about.

Many members of the usual CUC are herbivores, so wait until you see some algae beginning to grow.

No, this is unique to sharks, rays and other cartilaginous fish.

If you are interested in east coast drilling, watch over the next few years. There was just a report of thousands of methane vents in the tectonically stable seabed off of the Carolinas. This means that there are hydrocarbon stores deep below, and the oil companies are beginning to show an...

Sharks are a different story - they handle water and salt balance differently from bony fish. Sharks have an internal salt concentration much lower than in in seawater, which means that salt tends to diffuse into their bodies. That being said, sharks actually have a total dissolved material...

That was me. And the bad news is that now I can't get Nutramar. The "good" news - my mandie died when the heart in my office failed last winter.

Take a look at Turbo's web site. He has full specs on LEDs, sizing, screen manufacture, etc. He uses a mix of red and blue LEDs in a double - sided config.

You sound exactly like the kind of person who will enjoy this exciting ride. Welcome!

For an accurate reading put water into a tall, narrow container, float the hydrometer and wait for the water to settle down.

My scrubbers come from Turbo's Aquatics. He's an electrical engineer who makes these on the side.

Jay - is the Nutramar roe available again?

You are at the upper limits of safe nitrate concentration for invertebrates. Time for some water changes.