Posts by darrie53

Has anyone seen a hermit crab that is within another shell? For a second it almost seems like a snail is sucking the hermit crab up and for whatever reason it's not releasing the hermit crab.

After a few thoughts of reading people’s mistakes, or issues that they are facing when getting into the hobby (or already being in it), what are some things you would do differently or correctly?

Let’s try to keep it serious and avoid the silly things that we might think is a jokes since many newcomers might not understand or know.

How do you end up killing or removing any type of invasive corals? I have a few friends that have some NASTY green plays that are taking over their tank (I originally thought they looked pretty cool but now it's trying to take over other corals and all of the rocks).

Has anyone else noticed that the pH changes in your tanks from when it's daytime (and the lights are on) and then changes again once it turns nighttime (when the lights are turned off)?

Do you tend to make a plan of where you will keep your equipment ahead of time when setting up the tank, thinking of what to keep, or do you buy all of what you may need and try to figure it out once it's all there? I am in the latter and don’t do anything major planning outside of how to hide piping or tubing behind the tank and tucked away.

I think it might work for smaller tanks, like nano tanks if you can get a small HOB designed for them - and but for bigger tanks, it might be problematic since they don’t have a huge flow rate compared to canister filters, or use sums, etc.

Since it really depends on what brand you have, and how old your skimmer is, do you find any maintenance that you have to do to keep it running efficiently?

Do you have any issues finding parts, replacing specific things, or getting ahold of manuals to even find out how to take things apart if you aren’t the original owner?

How often do you all test for magnesium, and what test kit do you end up using that you find most accurate?

I am wanting to build a mangrove tank with macro algae, gorgonians, etc. and acquired a handful of mangrove pods.

However, I'm seeing threads about how slow these grow in a tank and was wondering if there was a way to purchase a more established mangrove and what species might grow faster?

Looks like Petsmart has some deals going on now, following the Walmart week of deals aspect. So far seems like a less-than-normal sale (compared to previous years).

100% like a were rainy day, so were earthy like for freshwater tanks. Saltwater seem like you are at the beach.

Are there any special requirements when transferring clams from one tank to another?

Are there specifically any helpful tips along these questions;

1. Is there any special aspects when holding these outside of water for a few seconds?
2. Should I clean the shell to make it look fresh or let it be?
3. Easiest way to remove the clam from a rock or area that it’s been at for awhile?

Do any of you pressure wash your acrylic tanks? I’m debating on doing this with some of my larger ones since it would be a breeze to wash off any algae or limestone that builds up over time in places that are hard to reach when I do a wipe-down of the front display side.

Has anyone setup one of these units from Reef Factory, and if so is it worth the cost of the unit? I love the fact that they made this to compete with Alkatronic, but it seems to just be a testing machine compared to one that would add in a buffer as needed after testing.

I don’t think that I have ever heard of someone wanting to add that in a saltwater tank, but yes it can be done for fish that might be used to darker waters or saltwater areas like Florida swamp areas. I’d just make sure you check the pH and hardness since tannins drop both of those values.

Yeah I’d say dependent on the tank size that would be a pretty good price overall. The bigger you get though, the more is becomes a higher and higher cost since you need more/better overall equipment to handle the additional water volume.

Has anyone used computer fans to act as a chiller before, and if so what was your experience?

What would you say the average new tank setup cost would be, including all of the required equipment for an common size marine tank?

Try to have your saltwater mixed in one of those spare plastic tanks that normally store kike chemicals for farms or bug sprayers to use (try to get one new to avoid any contamination with what it held prior). Then you just have to turn that into a hose to your tank for filling up and its cake (since it's way easier to make a huge batch of saltwater at once in my eyes than making it for a few gallons).

If you have been able to get an uncommon fish pairing that works well, with no fighting, and adequate foraging roam for both, in two species where there is some possibility of conflict, state the two species that you found to be compatible and how you managed to make it work in your tank?

What tank size and can you post a photo of what that tank looks like?