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  1. Old Tom

    Nitrates won't go down!!

    Nitrates are certainly an issues in this hobby and one that is difficult to solve. Sounds like you have the nitrogen cycle under control as the ammonia is being converted to nitrites by the nitrifying bacteria and the nitrites are then being converted to nitrates. This is all a good thing since...
  2. Old Tom

    Newbie

    Welcome and welcome to a great and rewarding hobby, costly but rewarding. You have decided to go with a Fish only tank, with the live rock your cycle time should not be very long. May I offer a suggestion? Test the water for ammonia and determine if you have any detectable levels now, if you do...
  3. Old Tom

    is a foxface a good idea

    Foxface and Yellow Tangs (Tangs in General) are very territorial so if you want to have these fish together in the same tank (70 gallons or more) then they should be added at approximately the same time; i.e. with in a day or two of each other. Once the fish has established the tank as its...
  4. Old Tom

    Feeding Clowns

    large species of fish do grow larger, but not to the size they would in the wild; I will used a yellow tang as an example; anyone that has been to Hawaii and snorkled on the reef will encounter the yellow tang. You will see that they will be sometime the size of a half sheet of paper or more...
  5. Old Tom

    Feeding Clowns

    Depending on the clowns they grow to different sizes and they will max out according to the available swim space as well. Often marine fish never get the size they would in the wild as the space in our tanks is just too restrictive. A 55 gallon tank will have about 35 to 40 gallons of water when...
  6. Old Tom

    Glad to be re-learning the hobby again, after being out of it for many years. Boy, have things chang

    My wife is from Roseville. I grew up in a small town called Memphis, my father was the head mason on the Macomb colleges. My great grandparents were Schoenherr's as in Schoenherr Road and 23 mile. I moved away so many years ago after college; I have lived here in southern California now going...
  7. Old Tom

    Large Rose Bubble tip just split ?

    Great job on the split, this is how they multiple-or one way. There is so little actually known about anemone's but spliting to multiply is one of the things we do know. Sounds like others have had great success as well, in all my yeas i have not been so lucky.
  8. Old Tom

    Adding a few Jamaican beach items to my tank

    Of course you can add them, the risk is that they may have some unknown bacteria, but then that is the risk we all take when we add live sand and live rock tot he tank. As kbuser said; if the items have dried then take the oppertunity and clen them a bit better so that you don't have any dried...
  9. Old Tom

    toadstool

    All is good advice, the length of tie to attach is really dependent on your water quality and chemistry. Soft corals do need magnesium and a little iodine. with prestine water and good chemistry it should attach in about two weeks. Keep it in low water movement conditions until it has attached.
  10. Old Tom

    Glad to be re-learning the hobby again, after being out of it for many years. Boy, have things chang

    David G: Where in Michigan, I grew up in a very small town north of Detroit. I ventured into this hobby in the early 70's when the only fish shops were in the Detroit area. Moved out here in the mid 70's and have enjoyed the hobby tremendously. Yes the hobby has changed over the years and the...
  11. Old Tom

    Placement?

    Depending on the corals their placement in the tank is highly varible, sun corals not so much. sun Corals just need to be fed so you need to be able to get to them to fee them after the lights are out. As for clown fish and anemones, while clowns will adjust to most anemones there are differnt...
  12. Old Tom

    Twin spot goby

    Spot on, these little guys also need a lot of additional live foods. Thanks for the added information we sometimes get focused on the question and forget to give a complete answer.
  13. Old Tom

    Ammonia and Nitrates High

    Stop feeding for a few days, the fish will survive and the ammonia should go down, let me ask how is the Nitrite? Ammonia is not good but Nitrites is deadly so if ammonia is being converted to Nitrites and then rapidly to Nitrates you have a good bacteria population, this would suggest you are...
  14. Old Tom

    Tank upgrade

    Went from a 70 Gallon to a 180 and wish I had gone bigger. Larger tanks give a wider range of options for fish and corals. There are some real pitfalls in the large tanks; the lighting costs. Traditional lighting to purchase will be very expensive and to operate also very costly, water changes...
  15. Old Tom

    moving tank

    Ouch having to move a tank just a few inches is a lot of work, I would agree. Depending on the size of the tank and the sand/rock load inside you will have a job on your hands-not to be a negative Nelllie here. As a general rule of thumb hobbyist have about one to two pounds of sand per gallon...
  16. Old Tom

    wave makers

    I made my own by getting two timers with multiple outlets from Lowes. The times can be adjusted for 30 minute increments and so I plugged in the powerheads into the timers one at each end of the tank and have them go on and off at different times during the day and night. Seems to be working well.
  17. Old Tom

    Sit on top refugium

    My only sump is a refugium with a protein skimmer in the receiving side of the tank. the refugium has been up and working now for about 8 years and i am sold on the benifits. I know there is a lot of controversy that surrounds a refugium but as for this old fart i think they are the only way to...
  18. Old Tom

    Why Do Inverts Die Right Away

    Sanils are generally very hardy animals as they come from the shallow water areas where water temperatures vary a great deal from day to night and the salinity of water changes rapidly from rain and evaporation. I have many snails in my tank and just flow to adjust temp before adding to main...
  19. Old Tom

    New to LF - Need help raisin' ma fishes

    I know they aren't the "Flashy" fish in the trade but they are the durable fish, I do enjoy the damsels and Clowns are a member of the damsel family. A pair of clowns would be nice in that size with a few dark blue damsels and a yellow goby. Would give yo nice color and an easy tank to care for...
  20. Old Tom

    Apparently we all have 1 thing in common ..

    Welcome to a great hobby Mike, been around the block a few ties in the past years and yes we all one thing in common-we will spend a lot of money on this fascinating hobby just for the pure enjoyment and satisfaction of having a living reef in our home. I hope you enjoy the hobby as much I have...
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