tHEcONCH

Yep, you'll need a true mated pair if you want to keep just 2.

If the floor is uneven then sit it all on a piece of carpet and/or plywood. Paint the stand with marine grade paint (and make sure you prepare the metal properly).

Its also likely that your Insurance Company will void any cover for losses unless you take 'every practicable step' to minimise loss. Just run a cord from your neighbours, or hire a generator for the day - or just get a battery powered airstone to keep the water moving and cover with blankets.

Get your metal worker friends to weld complete bottom rails at the end of the legs - the same as what is under the edge of the tank. You need to spread the weight across as many floor boards (and preferably the bearers they sit on) as possible - either that, or sit the metal stand on a thick piece of plywood.

Make sure you don't use Melafix in your tank if you have any species of Pencil Fish - kills them in seconds

Like a few others on here, I have acquired a Mandarin Fish and thought it might be a good idea to start a thread dedicated to sharing info and care tips. If you find any good info please post a link here and share your experiences (good and bad) so that we can learn from each other. Judging by the number of marine snail eggs I see laid in my RSM vs the number of new snails, I suspect that my Mandarin eats the baby snails pretty readily, so perhaps getting a breeding population of snails in your tank is a good idea if you are going to keep one. Here are some links to some good info: http://www.melevsreef.com/mandarin_care.html http://www2.hawaii.edu/~delbeek/delb15.html http://www.marineaquariumadvice.com/fee ... dus-2.html

Eerrr..... looks like I've joined this discussion a bit late! As you guys probably know I don't use RO/DI water in my RSM, but I feed heavily so as a percentage of total nutrient/waste input the content of my tap water is probably insignificant - that said, if I were going to concentrate on SPS I'd probably invest in RO/DI. I'm keen to see the test results!

DON'T PANIC - Resting on the bottom from time-to-time is normal behaviour for Oscars. Check your water parameters just in case, but you'll probably find your fish is just chill'n.

Out the back at Organism.

DON'T PANIC - Resting on the bottom from time-to-time is normal behaviour for Oscars. Check your water parameters just in case, but you'll probably find your fish is just chill'n.

Its available from most pet/fish stores, but don't use it unless the disease progresses rapidly - its pretty toxic stuff and you should avoid useing it if you can.

:lol:

Thanks to jolliolli for permission to use the Finrot photo

I spend about 10 hours a week maintaining tanks - a lot of that bucketing water whilst listening to music, so its not that bad.

Here's an extract from an article I wrote - does it look like this? Thanks jolliolli for the pic... Fin Rot Fin Rot is usually a symptom of illness rather than an illness per se, although in some cases it can result from direct bacterial or fungal infection. What it looks like: Fin Rot begins at the edge of the fins (or at an injury site) and progresses rapidly toward the fin base. It results in a ragged 'torn' fin edge often with a whitish edge (dying / dead flesh). Once it reaches the base of the fin, the fish will not be able to regrow the fin, and infection may spread into the fishes body. What causes it: Fin Rot can be caused by physical injury, poor water conditions, poor diet, general stress, or appear in connection with a primary general systemic infection (usually gut infections). It is most often seen in weakened fish. What to do: Because it is a symptom, it is important to identify the likely cause before an appropriate treatement can begin. Small infections will often heal without further treatemnt if the cause is found and remedied. The most likely causes are poor water or gut infections. Test water parameters and rectify where necessary. Look for signs of gut infections (see below) and if found treat the gut infection with an appropriate drug. If these causes can be ruled out and there is no other obvious cause, or if it progresses very quickly, treat with Furan2.

Yea, I know... I'm getting 'round to it :oops:

The mixer is in the Kitchen, the tanks are down the hallway in a spare room, so I'd need a 15 metre hose! I've got new mixers to go in when I do up the bathroom, so when that is done hopefully I'll be able to rig something up. And I'll have one less tank by then anyway.

I suspect doing that might make you feel better, but not the fish

Yep :-? Still, I only have half the tanks I had six months ago, so its much better now. 2000 litres per week by bucket sucked arse (and the Wife always got cranky when I used up all the hot water)

Anyone? Maybe I'll just we-write the descriptions, dump the pictures, and it should be a 'sticky' rather than an article?

What? Don't ad meds or fiddle with the temp because they are fighting, just re-establish their tank and wait for them to sort it out. If they have bred then they are a true pair and most likely just 'testing' each other as part of their courtship.

Pairs are good, although I have one tank with one male and two females - he shows them both a good time (sometimes at the same time :lol: )

It is probably Diaphana if it has a compact branching structure, rather than an encrusting/ball shape.

So does anyone keep Dendrophyllia?

Golden Pencils for sure. The males have a bit more red in them.