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I think the mandarin is a bad idea. They consume copepods, lots of copepods. So many that it typically takes a very mature 55 or 100 gallon tank to produce enough pods. Otherwise, even if you have chaeto for them, you are into providing store-bought copepods, which sell around here for...

Healthy live rock will already have a substantial bacterial load so that you won't see a cycle. You are also working with a fairly large volume of water, so the actual amount of ammonium required to produce a measured amount is considerable - one fish rotting might not do it. In theory you...

A humu will absolutely start a fight sooner or later. They have a reputation of being peaceful until one morning when they wake up and kill everything in the tank.

Popeye can be caused by damage to the eye, such as by using a net to move the fish, or even by scraping against a rock. I would remove the fish to your hospital tank (you do have one, right?), and treat it with a broad spectrum antibiotic. It is unusual for a fish with this problem to refuse...

I'm concerned about the tang in a 55. What else is in the tank?

In addition to what Flower said, if a heater fails it seems to be a rule of the universe that it will fail in the ON position. If neither heater is large enough to heat the tank alone you won't be having very expensive boiled fish for dinner.

There may be some confusion about the accuracy of API nitrate kits. They measure nitrate, sheer as some other kits measure nitrate nitrogen. If a correction for this is not made the API kit will seem to read 4 times as high as, for example, Salifert's kit. I am in the process of gathering...

Quote: Originally Posted by Flower Thank you professor, I didn't know that either. I just knew that my shrimps were fine, and my nitrates were reading 80+ a shrimp should be dead at 40 LOL...I will stay with SeaChem, at least those tests have a regent so I can double check that the test...

Quote: Originally Posted by Flower Hi, Welcome to the site! First, if you use an API test kit, it reads outrageous high on nitrates. Second...LOL...we all know to never purchase our critters from *****. I do get my fish food, salt mix, additives and such from them...but NOTHING alive...

Quote: Originally Posted by Flower Hi, The entire tank is held together with a little strip of silicone, and a thin little plastic piece that runs along the top and bottom ridge. Scoop a bucket of wet sand and to get an idea on how heavy it really is. Yes, folks have done it...some with...

You could put a gate valve on the outlet of the return pump, but I think it makes more sense to size the pump correctly to handle the rated capacity of the overflow, and no more.

You are right on the edge with a 40 gallon system. Both the Labouti and mystery wrasses do better in larger systems (over 50 gallons). So...doubling them up might just produce enough crowding that you could have some aggressiveness. They would be more peaceful if you had only females. Of...

Is there a basement below the tank (worried about the weight of the system, would hate to see it become a basement display, it looks to nice!)

You can probably house some of the moderate-light requiring corals with those lights, probably not anenomes, certainly not clams. Be sure that the bulbs are fresh - I change mine every 6 months (that reminds me...it's time to order a new set, there goes a big chunk of $$$).

You are right, I did miss that. A hex might be fun to try to convert, but a lot of work that could be better spent elsewhere. Back to your original question: That skimmer can only be used in a sump. There are hang-on-back (HOB) skimmers, but for the most part they are not very effective...

My experience with inverts in my FO tanks has been mixed. I have a red serpent starfish that is 2 years old and several Mexican turbos and one hermit in my 220 that also go back more than a year. But there are plenty of empty shells on the substrate, indicating past losses. Inverts are far...

How long had you had the animals that died? What is the sg of the tank?

Quote: Originally Posted by Pstanley I went home yesterday and looked at where everything would go. Just a few more (probably stupid) questions........when running the PVC (or flexible tube) from the overflow to the sump, do I gradually go from the height of the overflow to the sump or do I...

In our lab, where no living things are involved, we would never consider running any chemical assay without running a known standard to check our results. That carries over to when I test my tank water for anything critical - pH, calcium, sg and a few others. Standard solutions are relatively...

I nominate the dragon wrasse - they eat a variety of crustaceans, starfish and sea hares. That is also the reason your rockwork seems to look a little different every morning (just guessing).