lduncan

Not quite. But i've heard of a reef keeper in Italy dosing HGH (human growth hormone). Might have a bit of trouble getting your hands on somatotropin here though, unless you've got some celebrity contacts that is. ;-) Layton

I found this interesting. Maybe caulerpa toxins are more of a problem than people realise? Why are there very few fish and no crabs etc?

Maybe C. taxiflora

I know it was meant to be lighthearted. Clearly some of them are just people talking crap. Some of the statements are actually true, some are possible, and some of them are good questions. I count about 5 in that list which i would say are true / possible / or a question I have asked. Layton

Subtle as a brick. (But as usual completely inaccurate). At least the guide now sheds some light on it: "... shown to cause slow tissue loss in SPS corals" "... lead to tissue necrosis and therefore death." "... tissue loss starting from the coral tips or the complete loss of all tissue within a short period of time (i.e. rapid tissue necrosis, RTN)." "... can lead to tissue loss from the base, especially in weak corals and corals which are already damaged." "... slowly progressing tissue loss from the base." "... as well as complete loss or all tissue in certain corals during your tanks dark period." "... fast tissue loss of an entire coral branch over a short period of time." Even the guide is telling you it's not good, in it's own subtle way. At least no one can go in blind now though. Also I guess it's good they reformulated some of their products too. Each to their own. Just keep the bullshit out of it though, base stuff on fact rather than marketing speak, and made up quotes. Layton

Just on pause for a bit, other uni assignments are taking over at the moment. Exams are coming up soon too. Done a bit of work on the gui code structure and stuff, but nothing really too visible. There are a few problems with the first prototype board, so they need to be fixed, and a second prototype made, which I'll probably do within the next month / month and a half. This will likely be the final board, so it will take a bit more work in taking into account the housing, connector layout and stuff like that. Layton

You run rowaphos right?

Don't forget the iron. Layton

I've used it before no problems. It does seem to need to sit longer to stabilise (a couple of days) than other salts like red sea or instant ocean. Layton

You know

But if your going to spend US$400 on a fish, at least chose one that looks nice Beauty is in the eye of the beholder I guess. Layton

Everything i've seen says they are just genetic mutations of percs or ocellaris clowns, not a separate species in themselves. Layton

Reminds me of the flowerhorns, and mutated goldfish trends in freshwater. People paying ridiculous prices for deformed fish. I bet the breeders think they hit the jackpot when they find a few misbared clowns in a hatch.

Best: Upgrading to a deltec skimmer. Worst: Moving the tank, getting stung by fire coral, getting stung by the fire coral for the second time, those damn monti eating nudibranchs killing two large montipora.... Layton

One thing I think is underestimated with leathers is the need for quite strong water flow. The are a large mass of living tissue producing waste. The way corals get rid of waste is through the water movement around them. Leathers can easily adapt to higher flows. Layton

KH (alkalinity) is an important parameter. You should get a test kit and see what it is. Layton

One of the benefits of UV and Ozone is that it can neutralise these toxins by breaking up the carbon carbon double bond found in aromatic rings. These are found in turpenes, which seem to be the most common toxins released by corals. Layton

Is it a Lobophytum by any chance? I had one for a year and a half before it decided it had polyps. Layton

I'd agree. Snails come from inherently dirty areas. So their carbonate structures are likely loaded with phosphate. Layton

This company is commercially breeding some of the harder to get pigmy angels: http://www.rcthawaii.com/ Including Centropyge interruptus for only US$749

Bacteria are pretty good too. If the shrimp died, it wouldn't take long for it to disappear. Layton

Any aluminium, plus a bit of brasso and elbow grease will give a nice reflective sheet. Definitely not the cheapest, but maybe the most convenient source here: http://www.dse.co.nz/cgi-bin/dse.storef ... View/H2560 Layton

Around $90 for a 400W ballast and starter down here. Layton

It's kind of funny actually. I never intended to have a barebottom tank, it was just that i was too lazy to really clean the sand and put it back in after the tank move. I also never intended to cook the rocks, it just happened after I upgraded the skimmer. So, it was all really by accident. Layton

I agree. It is a process which should only happen once though. There is generally no periodic tank tear down to cook the rocks. It happens when organic levels in the tank water are lower than those in the rock. In my case, this was after a massive skimmer upgrade. It's sort of like an osmosis process. Once the rock is cooked, and the tank is kept clean, the process won't happen again. Layton