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More to the point, how big a tank are we talking about? For a larger tank you may want something a lot better. Over the years the SCWD has not exactly had rave reviews. Look for something better.

Long term success with antheas usually require a large tank, and a school of them. They also need almost constant feeding. Make sure you can meet these requirements before you decide to keep the fish.

I am someone who made a similar mistake many years ago, and tried to keep my aquariums going and go to college. Now the advice I'm going to give you is not going to be pleasant, but it's really the best thing to do. With college, and especially with a full time job, you just don't have the...

My take on this is don't dose anything unless there is no other way. Before you start to do this make sure you actually need to. Test the calcium and alkalinity levels of your tank and compare them to test done on SW that you mixed and let circulate a few days. If the levels are close, you don't...

You mention a wet dry system and a canister (the Fuval) and 300 lbs or LR. Before you go out and spend money on a refugium, I recommend you get the existing filtration system upgraded. You don't mention a skimmer. If you don't have one I recommend you spend the money there first. It will do a...

IMO, you have a skimmer that is generally considered marginal. OK but not great. I wouldn't spend a log of money getting it working, but a small pump or powerhead to run it would be ok, since you could use that other places. Off hand I think you need one that's about 1200 - 1500 gph, but I'm...

Sponges in a canister filter, or any other filter for that matter, are a mechanical filter element. They need to be kept clean. This usually means cleaning them at least weekly. With a hang on the tank filter, or with a sump, you just pull out the sponge, clean and replace it. With a canister...

If you are going to go with a tank that large, you might want to consider going with a new tank with starfire (low iron) glass. Yes, it's going to cost more than something used, but by the time your done, the tank is one of the less expensive components of a reef, and since it's going to be...

While glass covers are not ideal, I do find that they keep the humidity down in the room, and the evaporation rate down in the tank. They keep out all that dirt that collects on them, and is otherwise going to go into you reef. They keep fish that tend to "carpet surf" in the tank. Yes, they do...

Like many other things in this hobby, the answer depends upon what you are trying to do. Generally you'll get a lot more PAR out of a lower color temp bulb, but as you get down to the 6500K range the light will look very yellow, almost what you would expect from an incandescent bulb. Usually...

To put it simple a controller is a device that can measure and record a bunch of parameters, and based upon that turn other devices on or off. A controller may measure and record - Time of day pH ORP Temp Dissolved Oxygen and others A controller can turn on and off Lights Pumps Most other...

It is possible to build a skimmer. I looked into doing this a few years back, but the plans I found on the net were mostly for smaller air driven skimmers, or small venturi skimmers. I will say the skimmer design is very subtle, and minor changes can make major differences in performance. If...

Aquascapeing is a very personal thing, so it's almost impossible to give exact directions, but here are a few things to take into consideration. Avoid the rock wall many seem to create. I prefer to support the rock on short lengths of PVC pipe or eggcrate. This lets water circulate under the...

Just remember that all those night time creepy crawly things will be out, and might "get you"! (just teasing) Actually, late at might can be a good time to work on the sytem, since you are not likely to be disturbed. Good luck.

Generally the power outages you are going to get are going to be less than 12 hours. For that I have several small air pumps that run on a D cell and run a single airstone. In the event of power failure I'll add them to the tank. A computer type UPS is nice, but usually not a solution, since...

The "old [style] berlin method" is still the basis of most reef systems today. So your really not that "out of date". Most of what has occurred is that people build on the basic system. Many add a refugium to grow pors or macro algaes. You can add a lot of high tech equipment, but I would...

As pointed out in previous posts, the product does work. However, I suspect that long term you'll end up with an outbreak of some other problem algae. Please follow up in a few months with a post about what the ultimate results were.

I would recommend that you go with putting the second tank on it's own sump. Yes, there are advantages to having a combined system, but there is one big disadvantage. If the system crashes, you loose everything. Keeping two separate systems gives you some backup in case of disaster to one or...

I do not recommend the use of any red slime remover products. Yes, they do work, see the above posts. However, if you have a problem with with it, the cause is excess phosphates and/or nitrates. Unless you correct the cause, all your do is get rid of the cyano, only to have it replaced with some...

Metal halides generate a lot of heat. This is why you usually see them suspended above the tank, usually at a distance between 10 and 18 inches. You could use any fixture that you can easily suspend. You could also use MH pendants. However, like anything else, some are better quality than...