Recent content by RandyC

If any of the BTAs are easily movable, i would put a BTA in a small basket (just big enough to hold the BTA) floating at the top or clamped to the side of the tank with the clowns. If none of the BTAs can be moved and you really want to try to get them into the BTA, you can try to use a "clown...

You're spending too many brain cells on this. Refractometers do not measure salinity directly. It's the index of refraction they measure and than translate to a scale that is non-linear. Refractive index change for 0-5 ppt is not the same as 30-35 ppt. This "issue" is probably worse with less...

The technical, by the code, answer is if the light fixture has a metal enclosure, you should have it grounded in case a hot wire (120V) touches the light fixture and makes the light fixture itself "hot." This can pose a fire and electrocution risk. There are some plastic insulated or doubly...

if the foot is on the bottom glass, I'd just move the sand out of the way and use a credit card to gently scrape it off before it gets on the rock which would make it a more difficult task.

I have chaeto in Castro Valley.

Before you start mucking with dosing things, I'm guessing since you don't have that much coral for that size tank, coral growth is not what is creating a calcium deficiency. My guess is your salt mix you used first was already deficient. What salt did you use to start? First thing I would do is...

GFO is not a really a great medium to remove tin either, though it will absorb a small amount of tin. GFO is better at removing highly charged ions like phosphates or silicates. If you have a high amount of tin and want to remove it, PolyFilter or CurpriSorb is a much better choice. Not sure...

Those places look nice for a coral swap. If my vote counts for anything and we decide to go with one of these venues, I think Newark would be better since it's "kinda" in the middle of the bay.

Why should we not be supporting them? Because they don't QT? Or because they have high volume? There is no risk difference from Neptune or Aquatic Collection or Violet. They all don't QT, they all have high volume and they all import. What's your issue with Violet? I'm not defending them by any...

At times, antibiotics are a necessary answer to the problem. I'm not against using antibiotics in these cases. But the problem lies when used without reason, incorrectly or as a "dip".

Technical answer about antibiotics. Amoxicillin is a broad spectrum antibiotic that inhibits cell wall production in bacteria. Ciprofloxicin is a broad spectrum antibiotic in the quinolone family of antibiotics that stops certain enzymes from replicating DNA. How it helps with torches...

They are not the same. Two totally different classes of antibiotics and how they function.

Call me crazy, but planning an outdoor frag swap in San Jose/East Bay seems like a dicey decision in late spring or early summer unless you want to risk having coral stew. Even in the shade with the possibility of 90-100F temp for 2-4 hours will probably make a decent number of containers filled...

Those spirals look more like sporbid worms than eggs. If they're hard, definitely sporbid worms. Eggs tend to be more clustered and are typically more brownish in color than white. I've never actually seen white bug eggs (not sure anyone has ever documented it that I've seen). Here's a picture...

I just saw it knock some off. I have no idea if it would be an effective treatment plan nor do I know if it even kills them.