FarmerTy

Couldn't we just do it in place of one of the monthly meetings? I'm always game to unload some more corals.

The high price of skimmers is more associated with the pump than the body. I just don't see you saving that much going this route but it's doable. Hardest part is being able to tune your skimmer without being able to see through it.

Btw, BigAls was the cheapest I found Tech M online if that helps.

Corals look great Kim! That setosa looks like its on fire! I'd zap that bryopsis with peroxide and/or Tech M as soon as possible. It can go plague level in a just a few weeks in the right environment.

One thing I thought of is possibly extending the visual inspection to a week or two. If your CP levels dropped at all while running the ich powder, you could have allowed ich to survive the treatment. Once removed from the CP, if any survive, giving the fish 1-2 weeks without medication allows you to see if it was masked by the medication and perhaps reappear.

There seems nothing wrong with that method. Personally, I like doing the tank transfer method (TTM) for ich, while dosing prazipro on the 2nd and 4th transfers. The hidden benefit of TTM is not really having to worry about ammonia, probably the number one killer of fish in QT. You change the water every 72 hrs hrs so it doesn't have enough time to get toxic in the QT unless you have a substantial amount of livestock.

Present company excluded I guess!

That looks like a wife that is crying for some attention. Canopy? What about me? Don't tell her I said that!

Was that 2nd picture wife approved? [emoji12]

Nice! I saw them on Reef2Reef and they looked amazing! Glad someone local is ordering one I can ogle.

All scapes start as a conglomeration of rocks, its when you add the corals that the whole structure brings on an organic form. The form you used is a great start and will only get better as the corals grow out. The caves are beneficial for our finned friends as well and I'm sure they appreciate it.Your scape is 10x better than my scape on my first tank easily. [emoji106]

Tank looks great! Can you tell us a little more about your setup? Hardware? Livestock?

Mexican turbo snails will wipe out that red turf algae like nothing Kim as an alternative if it grows out again... but peroxide is way more fun.

Meh... Pinthouse South Oh those southies...

I'll give everyone my garage code and they can come by whenever to see my tank. Don't mind us if we're eating dinner or watching a movie, just walk right by us and go take a look at the tank. [emoji12]

I think its more about the indirect impact of a LFS than what you get directly as an experienced reefer. I bet half the tanks you were selling corals to with Coral Imports probably got started with the help of a LFS. Without them, you would have probably had less of a clientele base. When they had issues with their tanks, they probably ran to a LFS to get something immediately rather wait for 2 day shipping. When they had no clue what they were doing, they probably sought advice from a LFS. You'd be surprised how many people I meet while I window shop at the LFS that barely jump on the computer. To them, the LFS is their everything. I often take for granted my familiarity and comfort with the internet and technology... there is a large majority out there that don't have that same situation. In the same vain, can't say I've bought much from a LFS for a long time now but now that my disposable income has grown, I felt less of a need to always make the best financial choice but sometimes make it the best choice for me to contribute to my local community. So lately I have been buying more fish from a LFS... well, really just having them order them for me... same with corals. To me, it's just another way for me to make Austin that much more of a town I want to continue to live in... the same way I still eat local when I can and skip chain restaurants more often than not. I don't want to see more Taco Bells around town then Torchy's Tacos. That's why I buy toys at Terra Toys for my niece and nephew instead of Toys'r Us. To each their own in the end. There is no right or wrong here, just preference and belief.

I'm glad the spots cleared up! Yeah, just keep them healthy and you'll be fine. Ich can still be in the tank but it won't overwhelm them. Only exceptions are probably powder blue tangs and potentially achilles tangs... they have no resistance to ich at all. Though Juiceman has been keeping his achilles just fine in an ich-maintenance tank.

Any update cholder? Did you end up using copper?

How long have you been in the hobby now? 12 years Did you start in freshwater, or go directly to saltwater? Saltwater baby! How did you find out about ARC? I think a google search back in 2007. Did you buy your setup online or at a LFS (Local Fish Store)? Neither, craigslist, and many parts from other reefers on the club. Did you have difficulty when first starting, or was it easy-breezy? Like butter... nice and smooth. Where did you learn the most on how to get started in the hobby? Nanoreef... had a nanocube for 5 years when I first started. Did you seek help from other hobbyists? Same as on ARC, I was a nanoreef newbie and asked lots of questions. Did you seek help from a LFS? No, liked doing my own research... big surprise! Did you seek help from websites? Which ones? wetwebmedia was useful back in the day, as well as reefkeeping. If you had been aware of a mentoring program before you started, would you have been open to help from the start? not if I knew FarmerTy and Timfish were the only choices for mentors... How could we as a community have helped you be more successful from the start? Have instructional videos that explains basic processes on how to setup a tank, how to acclimate corals/fish, how to do a water change, how to test my water, etc.

The mentor program definitely needs revitalizing. I had a mentee bail out of the hobby due to finances, one that got swamped because he opened up his own business, and one that got married and disappeared. All great people but sometimes life just gets in the way.

Is the reefing knowledge base really that new?BTW - the guy at the old River & Reefs on S Congress knew. When I went in there looking for help he was like "Uh, bad idea kid." Also, apparently that place didn't go away, but just moved to S 1st. I'll have to poke my head in there soon. That's true, I'm just getting older and not realizing it. I was keeping corals in 2004 and that's 12 years ago. Dang! Why'd you remind me of how old I am getting! The last time I went into River and Reefs like 5 years ago, I saw 2 tanks that were saltwater. One had a clownfish and the other was empty. Another place I wouldn't hedge my bets on for advice. Haha.

I think 15 years ago, most people didn't have a lick of a clue on how to keep a lot of the fish and corals alive... not to mention an eel. That's terrible that they did that. Honestly, I think I would have expected spotty saltwater knowledge from a place called Bark-N-Purr so I'm going to assume their focus was elsewhere. I'm not going to say the LFS don't have a goal to stay in business, and that business requires them to sell things. You just hope they act ethically and if someone has a new tank, don't tell them to go buy a "insert hard to keep coral/fish here" and that its easy to keep. Even when I was selling at the San Antonio frag swap, I didn't go out of my way to ask every single person if they've kept SPS before? Now if they told me that their tank was new or they've never kept SPS before, I kindly pointed them to some easy to keep stylo to test the system out and to not buy that $50 oregon tort frag because you will assuredly kill it.

Beer:30, next week after work on evening. I say a brewery like 4th tap, Adelbert's, or Circle Brewing would be fun, I'm leaning to 4th tap because I can bring my dog. Something just chill and people can join and leave with ease, unlike a restaurant where we have to coordinate and see how many are in the party, etc. Northies and southies would make sense since its after work but I won't turn away any southies at the door if they think hanging with northies is way cooler. I say we save the houses for our monthly meetings if possible and oogle everyone's tanks then when they host.

Beer:30 is always on the clock for me. Maybe we should organize an informal event, like beers at 4th tap off Metric one night this month. Have a beer, talk tank, swap some frags, and enjoy some nerdy like-minded discussions that generally make our spouses and friends eyes glaze over normally.

Someone say beer? Porter or stout and I'm there! Good points made there as well Dan.