tHEcONCH

Wood softens water by releasing tanins and humic acid (generally considered beneficial for South American fish) which react with the carbonates in your water lowering the pH and reducing its buffering capacity. If your pH keeps dropping a large amount that suggests more than just the action of the plants, although theoretically a lot of plants could release a lot of C02 at night which could become Carbonic Acid, consuming carbonates etc. and driving the pH down... but I would be suprised if the effect was that dramatic. Plants will have an optimum, but are generally pretty tolerant. I've never found it to be the limiting factor - light usually is. If you are worried about it I would add some coral rubble into your filter to act as a buffer.

Correct.

Take it to the vet - for your own peace of mind as well as the cat's health

Errr.... don't they need electricity too?

:lol: AAAYYYYYYYYYEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cover them with blankets

Need I worry about this? My Modern coral has grown to the point where is is beginning to lie all over the other corals. No-one has unleashed an attack on anyone else at this stage, but might any of the other corals it is touching (or might it) decide to destroy its neighbour for 'lebensraum'? Other than the Stag, these seem like pretty mild mannered neighbours. Does anyone know better? Incidentally, check out the big bristle worms cruising around...

Hey Wilson, after all of that it looks as if the mystery transparent Xenia was white afterall:

You might also get away with crushing up flake or fish pellet food and wafting that over it

Only the finest particles, phytoplankton and fine, very small, bacterial aggregates, make it to the bottom of the food groove. These particles are conveyed directly to the mouth where they are eaten. It is important to realize that the worm eats food based only on two things. First, the particles must have the correct density so that they will flow in the water currents in such a way as to impact the surface and stick there. Second, the particles must be the correct size to allow them sink to the bottom of the food groove. If they are too small, they likely will not have enough mass to even impact the mucus with enough force to stick. If they are too large, they are either simply rejected, or used to reinforce the tube. Only if their sizes are, as Goldilocks, said, “Just right,†will they be eaten. The animal makes not overt choices in what it feeds upon. It neither tastes nor sees its food. However, it uses a sophisticated piece of organic machinery to catch and sort small particulate materials that are about the same size as an average piece of phytoplankton. In fact, the crown of a feather duster worm is well designed to be a phytoplankton trap. To thrive, these animals need plenty of phytoplankton in their water to feed upon, for that is all they normally feed on, and indeed, it is all they normally have as food. Hmmm.. so I'd suggest turning the pumps off for half an hour and using a syringe or Turkey Baster to gently squirt something like ReefRoids (expensive, but a lifetime supply for your worm) into the duster. You might also leave the pumps on but skimmer off and clean you glass with a magnetic cleaner which will introduce lots of fine bacteria etc into the water for it to catch. I get all sorts of critters coming out to play when I do that

Unless you are talking about those big ones which are available to buy from time-to-time, in which case yes, feed it with meaty foods. Here's a link burgled from that other site: http://www.dtplankton.com/articles/filterfood.html

Correct - thanks for pointing that out :oops:

:lol:

Agreed

Caveat Emptor, Dixon

Meh, don't worry about it. They are obviously a bit stupid.

Definitely, but the others are essential. Re the temporary tank, you can defintely do that, although you'll have to make sure you have plenty of spare water on hand just in case you need to do a water change in case of a nitrite spike etc.

Oh, and Richie Cunningham - I've had my suspicions about him ever since he stole The Fonz's motorbike and crashed it.

You will need Nitrate, Alkalinity (GH) and low range Phosphate (the Salifert one), and if you intend to keep LPS or SPS you'll also need Calcium. I know people collect NSW from Sumner, but Taylors would be better (fewer 'Bondi cigars')

I've had two Aqua one heaters - both failed after three months. I now use Jaeger exclusively.

I have no problem with that - them and serial rapists, kiddy fiddlers, and gansta rappers.

Although I run all my tanks (fresh and salty) at 27 with good results (IMO)

Yep, I agree. Unfortunately the dog is now suffering / paying for the owners (in)action.

Dogs should be killed where they present an unreasonable danger to the public, and unfortunately this one does. You might be able to trace the reasons why back to the owner, but that is largely irrelivant now. Sad but true. Look the other way Ghandi...

Awesome as always