In Santa Barbara, it never gets above 78. The average is 75 during the summer from what I hear. That is why California is so expensive I guess.

I end up topping off about 5 gallons every 3-4 weeks so my friend will have to replace the RO/DI once or twice in my 5 gallon jug.

edit: alk is at 9.1 and ca is 370, up from 320

are you going to do a DIY auto top off?

I have to figure out how I'm going to set one up on my tank since I'm leaving it at home. It'll be about every month or so that I check on it, while having my parents top it off & sorta feed it. Should be interesting.

Dang I'm in California too, but it tops off at about 116 most summers. We usually get a week or two of those temps in the central valley. Wanna trade?

I have a hermit running around in the tank without a shell lol. Poor guy, I have about 5 extra laying around but he is not going into any of them. Hermits look weird without shells.

Everything looks good as usual. I like the new FTS and it looks like your pulling some good skim their.

Thanks man. the microbubbles are starting to subside and I am getting some good skimmate, yes. This skimmer is worth every penny I spent. My sand is so white now that the nutrients are down and thus, less algae.

HOWEVER, I am starting to get green bubble algae on my rocks. I think it came in on a frag (couldn't see it) and now there are a few patches that have shown up overnight. My emerald crab better get to work

I am already noticing some of my SPS coloring up and new coralline growing now that my Ca and Alk are at proper levels. I also moved my large acan onto the sand have gotten a really nice purple showing up on it. I may have to snap a pic of it.

I hear you about the algae. Have my own battle on my hands right now. But pics are always good! Glad to hear your skimmer is clearing things up though, I may end up upgrading mine sometime though it seems to be doing a pretty good job so far.

So have you ever thought about another clown?

I need ATO too. I'm going to Vegas in June for half a week.

I think I might splurge and get the Tunze Osmolator.

New pep shrimp is dead. I don't have luck with shrimp I guess. Not sure if I will ever be able to keep one alive to eat all this aptasia.

@ lex- I don't think I want another clown. I was thinking the other day that with this skimmer I could handle a 4th fish but I really don't know if there is anything I would want to put in there that would work well with that i have.
@Bill- Ya, an ATO is something that I am currently looking into. They seem like a good idea. The Tunze one looks pretty hardcore. I have heard that I should get a maxijet 900 to hook up to the JBJ ATO since the aqualifter may not be strong enough since I have about 1 liter of evap a day. It is something I will need to look into.

Ya I hear ya, I am definitely limiting myself to 3 or 4 fish. And that's only because I do have the skimmer. But as far as your aptasia problem goes why not try a Berghia Nudibranch? That's not to bad on the evaporation though, I am hoping my Tom's Aqua Lifter will take care of my problem. I really hope I don't have to upgrade lol.

I don't want to get a nudi only to have to get rid of it or let it starve. I may keep trying with the pep shrimp or take a syringe and blast them with boiling water. We shall see.

Ya, though I am sure you could find someone to take them off your hands lol. But Joe's Juice works pretty well too. I have some and it's killed the ones I have blasted though I haven't been keeping up on it the past few weeks so may get a pep as well. Wonder why your shrimp keep passing though, you getting them all from the same place?

I just went through your thread and it's awsome. I also want to keep some sps and a clam on my tank, but I think dozing would be a problem for me. Also what I read you really like acans, I also like them. I also love ric's and zoas. Well your tank looks awsome

Let me know what you go with.

My skimmer is really starting to pull some junk now. It looks like green tea. Working great.

I have never had a problem keeping shrimp alive. The cleaner I have was the first thing I bought almost 20 months ago. Sorry to hear about yours. Glad to see the skimmer is working out.

No trace of the pep shrimp. I give up on shrimps.

I was picking some stray pieces of cheato out of my tank when I noticed two pyramid snails and some eggs under the mantle of my clam I can't remove the clam and scrub it so I had to scrub it in the tank and turkey baster what eggs I could catch. I hope this doesn't end poorly for me.

No No NO NO NO!

Haha, jealous much?

maybe just a little

everyone else was doing it and I just wanted to be cool... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFW6Q0AK2qs

Love the vid! It's funny I've seen you add them and post pics but till now I guess I didn't realize how many sps you've got in there. Those plus the clam, how much calc are they sucking up?

Thanks. I go from about 440 Ca to 350 in 5 or 6 days. My tank sucks Ca and alk like no other.

Nice video!

also got some Aiptasia X. DIE AIPTASIA!!

can we get a pic with your lights too? i want to see how it looks on your tank. thanks.

The video shows the lights on the tank pretty well. Let me know if there is something specific you want to see.

nice setup, love the video. just in case you dont know this..... you can take the speaker out of that ATO so it will run silent when it fills. nothing like hearing a high pitched squeal @ 3am to let you know your tank is thirsty

Thanks man.

I haven't heard it make any noise other then a slight click when it turns on the pump. What situations make the beeping? I love the ATO btw. I thought it would be really hard to set up, but it was pretty easy and it makes my life so much easier.

mine made a loud squeal every time it filled the tank.... the noise went until the pump was turned off. SO i opened that bad boy up and took the speaker out, now it is oh so silent.... and still works the same i might add. if yours is quiet then luck you .


kind of funny, JBJ actually has instructions on the website on how to remove the speaker. im guessing that they had so many complaints that they stopped putting a speaker in them, maybe why you havent heard anything

Really nice frag man, what is it? how're you liking the ATO? need get one together myself.

great vid! man... I think I am the only one left without an ATO.

That calcium drain is killer!!!

That is a lot of calcium! Love the vid and nice ATO!

Ur not the only one left without an ATO. I still add water to mine in the morning when i dose. I dont loose enough water to bother with more stuff to worry a bout.Tank looks good though So Cal

Thanks guys!

What are you dosing for Calcium?

Seachem Ca powder. There is an iphone app that calculates out how much you need to dose for all seachem products. Very easy.

It is some type of acropora I bought for 5 bucks at the LFS. It was red at the store with green polyps.

I made the mistake of FW dipping my new SPS frag to get rid of unwanted nasties. Now, doing this for a long time will kill SPS I have found. The frag is still colored, though definitely bleached a little with hardly any polyp extension. This is just a cautionary note for anyone who does not know this already.

thats good to know, I don't dip my corals, but now definitely won't FW dip them. Its a really cool looking acro you have, and a really good price! my LFS won't carry sps Hope it pulls through for ya!

Now I guess I HAVE to buy an IPhone Sounds good though I think I am going to pick some up.

Planning on getting an overflow box to try and cut down on the micro bubbles that the AquaC is putting out.

For anyone that uses the overflow with the AquaC, does it help?

The local frag swap is coming up I shouldn't be buying anything new until I get back from Peru, but there will be TONS of SPS there. I will be looking for a frag of Garf Bonsai and maybe more Florida rics. For all those attending Reef-A-Goleta, I look forward to seeing you there!

Yeah works great, there's a little sponge in the bottom that eats the bubbles. Just got wring the sponge out in your dirty water bucket when you WC, it collects all sorts of nasty ####.

It has been awhile since I posted some pics.


Picked up a nice little blue acro with really long polyps yesterday

oooh so jealous

That yellow fish, is that some kind of wrasse ?

It is a yellow candy hogfish but it acts a lot like a wrasse.

Nice acros!

Tank is looking great!

So what's the break down of your corals now? This tank is pretty much all sps at this point yeah?

Big Big Birdsnest. Huge.

Pretty much. I have a couple rics, a couple acans and some zoas but mostly I am focusing on SPS now.
@Oats- Ya, it is BIG. I have been selling pretty nice frags of it for 5 bucks to try and keep it tamed.

Speaking of which SPS, I won a frag of Sunset Montipora in our local reef club's frag raffle Also traded for a frag of Radioactive Dragon Eye zoas. Here are some pics after 15min in my tank. Already opening up. That Sunset Monti will be sick when it colors up!

dude ... acans are looking good

nice fts too!
you should get some more rics