tHEcONCH

Very nice!

Well, when I say it is locked on to a rock it could be dug in at the base and spread over the rock - I'll take pics - it was sold to me as a 'red purple malu', although who really knows. It eats brine shrimp!

I'm actually doing a bit of a re-arrange im my tank - I want more movement and to be able to see some corals a bit better - pics coming soon...

Or put it in a bag.

OK - next time I'm trimming it back, I'll put up a post and you can all come and rummage through my bin

Yes

That's another one of mine - he didn't want any more :lol: Next time I chop it back, I'll let you know and you can have a bit - make sure you have a credit card sized bit of live rock ready to go.

Yep - I should have researched it first, but you know, impulse buys 'n all...

Don't do that - death is not instant, in fact it is incredibly painful and cruel. If you have to kill a fish, you need to either sever its spinal column at the base of the skull with a sharp knife (difficult on small fish), or better still put it in a bag and hit it with a brick.

So, as a very general rule SPS like the tank to be as clean as possible, and softies less so?

There's a huge one I put in the bin a few days ago :oops:

So, who out there knows about 'Heteractis malu' Anemones? Any advice on keeping one healthy greatly appreciated...

Nice! Don't forget to leave your old filter on for a week or so to give the new filter time to grow bacteria.

Yea, its strange stuff - you can chop it to bits and bash it with a hammer and it'll just re-attach and keep growing, yet it won't survive a night in a plastic bag :-?

My Xenias grow like weeds - I think they like a bit of food in the water - is the Yellow Umbrella 'Elegans'?

You should have said - I just threw out loads of Xenia (Mauve and Red) - its a weed, I tell you, a weed!

I think its probably more or less effective depending upon how you apply it - you need the aiptasia to eat it, not just retract from having a pile dropped all over it. You have to shake the bejeebers out of it to get rid of the lumps - I'll leave an 18 guage needle for you to collect from John's too.

That's pretty cool - any frags for sale?

Yea, not so much fun. I've found boiling water to be a bit useless - its often not hot enough by the time you apply it to completely kill the aiptasia (which regrows from the stump), yet it kills all your coraline algae. Although its difficult to apply sometimes (the needle supplied is too narrow guage) Joes Juice works pretty well first time around. I got an 18 guage needle which draws the solution up better (although the lumps still block it) and found that much better. Re lights in the RSM, I'm just using standard lights (2 x 55watt T5's - specs here http://www.redseamax.com/redseamax/Red_ ... specs.html ), although I'm replacing the tubes every six months (cf the usual nine months) - although I hear rumours of a metal halide conversion kit. I'll just have to see how the Anemone goes - I'm still a bit new to the marine thing, so hopefully it will like where I've put it. It has locked on to the rock and expanded, so that's good I guess.

Yea, he's going to make a 'show' tank with a little bit of everything - I reckon he should just stick that big anemone and a clownfish or two in there.

For plain aesthetic value, I like Torch corals (Euphilia Glabrecens) - wavy, tentically, alien cool, but my Favourite has to be the Black Sun (Tubastrea Micrantha) - hard work but rewarding to those who make the effort.

Neither Flame Angel seems to have had a negative effect upon the Mandarins health. The Flame speds a lot of time 'grazing' algae, whereas the Mandarin pokes about the rock - oddly enough, they seem to hand around together - the flame leads the way, and the Mandarin buzzes along behind pic'n and prod'n.

Some of the Eheim internal ones will accept other media in place of sponge, but ceramic noodles aren't any good in that application - you need sintered glass - something with massive external area for bacteria to grow on - noodles are put in filters to create turbulence and mechanically filter crud out - a task done just as well by coarse sponge. Internals are also a pain to clean because you have to disturb the tank every time - I'd recommend you go with a better hang-on or even a canister - or take the cheap simple option and do more water changes

Sums it up perfectly - unless you really are willing to dedicate yourself to it, it will be a disappointment

Picked up a couple of nice bits at the weekend