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Viva la aptasia!

I'd be concerned that the heater could melt the sump, but I'm no expert on that by a longshot. My thoughts are that you likely are going to run out of room before you get anything in there that's going to make a big difference. You honestly sound enterprising, why not invest in a cheap...

The brown algae is likely diatoms, which are dying because the phosban not only removes phosphates but silicates, which are required by diatoms to form their skeletons. I run phosgard 24/7 in my Fluval FX5.

Cup coral! That's it! It is not aptasia, no worries.

Not really, but you do get a good benefit from the rock since you're just starting your tank. You'll get some die off just on the way home, but the beauty is that you can just stick the rock in the tank and let the die off start the cycling process. I started my 125 this way with pre-cured LR...

I've had visitors before, some kids, and I always give the speech about the care of the animals. I actually use it as a way to inform those who want to see about the importance of environmentalism; I tell them how delicate the creatures are. I'll tell them that a slight change in water can...

Yes it will work, I've seen this done. In the area above the grid, place some LR, in the area below, fill with macroalgae. Note that maintenance is a pain :) Place your lighting vertically along the side of the sump. The biggest problem is that it may not be very effective due to the small size.

Ah, thanks for the info, I shall certainly google, print pics, and go shopping :)

Your pH is way off for saltwater, needs to be between 8 and 8.4, that's a big difference. How did you acclimate the tank? Your nitrate reading can't be correct, hobby kits can't detect that small of an amount, what kit are you using? Can you post a pic of your tank and corals which are affected?

The fluval will let you run carbon at a high rate through your tank, so that's a plus, but you can't grow macroalgae/xenia in it, hence the fuge. I don't run a fuge on my tank due to lack of room. My jellyfish tank will have one :) hehehehehe

Don't get a cheap sterilizer, trust me :) Go with a name brand, I prefer aqua medic.

Low flow rates thru a UV are not necessarily ideal or required. Many UV sterilizers support higher flow rates by exposing the water to the light for longer periods of time over a longer path. The wattage is not as relevant as the length of the path along the bulb. For instance, if I have a...

I like the Aqua Medic Helix, very nice sterilizer.

Not sure about pastel coloring, but the MH bulbs I have are 14K and the corals look a nice blue (as does everything else). Look at a few different setups if you can.

T5s are much more efficient at converting watts to lumens, hence the reason they are cooler (the loss in conversion to lumens is given off as heat). They are much better than PC, and considering the price difference, go for the T5. Don't buy into this watt/gallon nonsense, the output is what...

If you've got a 6' tank you're going to have dark spots. MH is good for about 2 foot, so you may need to invest in another bulb in there. I put four in over my 125 :)

Ok, this is going to be a several-months project; I believe that an imminent divorce is no longer a threat, but if it is, I will need someone to stand in for her and clean the house, cook, watch the kid, etc :) Ok, just j/k. I've got the 29G tank from out of the basement and am looking to...

I don't dose either, I simply mix up RO water with salt in a 26G trashcan in my garage. Your salt will have everything you need in it. For fish-only tanks, go with Instant Ocean, for reef tanks, use Reef Crystals or something like that.

Yeah, they definitely would. I know nothing about their growth rate, but I say feed them and see what happens. You may have the motherload of LFS credit :)

It typically grows like a weed. The various stories for xenia I've read focus on water parameters, but honestly omit more important details. Xenia, like all corals, consume nitrate to some degree; soft corals benefit the most due to a lack of competition for inorganic carbon (I'd post the...