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Personally, I'd consider the lighting on the low side, but ok for what you want to keep. I'd try a few zoos and mushrooms and see how they do. I think they will be ok. If not, then you'll need to upgrade the entire lighting system.

You could feed the RO/DI unit hot water, but in a way it's counter productive. While you will get more water, the water from the RO filter will tend to be of lower quality. Of course the DI filter takes up the slack and the DI resins will run out faster. As pointed out you could add a pressure...

You can get plastic clamps, which are ok, but will not hold as tight as a metal clamp. You can also get Diatom Filter "hose clamps" which are actually small thick rubber bands. It's amazing how tight these will grip a hose barb. See them here (offsite link) -...

Maybe. If it's a coil and core ballast and it's that typical 60hz hum you get out of a lot of equipment with transformers in them, it's likley no problem. If it's something else, there could be parts about to fail. If it's an electronic ballast, that would seem to indicate a problem. If...

I have no objection, but I think that is that area the moderators to do that. Perhaps they will consider that giving this thread that honor.

I don't have a picture, but I'll see if I can get one this weekend.

This does work, but muriatic acid is a potentially dangerous chemical. Use it with extreme caution. You should wear proper eye protection and rubber gloves. A lab apron isn't a bad idea. I highly recommend you do this outside, even though a large tank is a pain to move. I also recommend that...

Getting new MH bulbs is always a tough call. Like you I have tried quite a few of the mainstream bulbs, and in some cases, found them wanting. I've even used the 5000K bulbs, and they will grow corals nicely, but they make the tank look very yellow. In my last replacement I purchased three...

I use an ETSS 600 skimmer on my 125 gal reef. It does a good job, especially when compared to the Red Sea Berlin that was in use previously. I did find that to keep a constant water level in the skimmer, the skimmer should be raised, so that the output from the skimmer is above the water level...

The new aquascape is a tremendous improvement! The three flat pieces on the right sill look a little "man made" but once you put a few corals on top, they will look fine. As for edges against the side, that all depends. Some people like to scrape it clean when they clean the front glass. I'm...

For a stand alone heater I also like Ebo-Jager. They are now sole as Jager heaters, and the company is owned by Eheim. If money is no object, I'd use the heater and use a controller with dual set points to operate it, especially if I was using a chiller. In that case, you never want both on at...

These are products that I'd consider obsolete by today's standards, rather than useless or marginal. In other words, they do work, but there are much better ways to do things today. I'd also add trickle filters, normal output fluorescent lighting except over FO systems, canister filters as a...

I have to agree with you here. The one I had did all those things. In addition, the hanger things broke and sent the thing crashing down into my sump, breaking a chunk out of that. Luckily I was home, and was able to fix things quickly and only had a minor flood.

One of the "tricks" to good aquascapeing is that you want the rocks to look like they are a natural formation, rather than something you set up. You did ok with that on the left side. However, the right side doesn't look that way. As I have said before, aquascapeing is very subjective. My...

As mentioned, the brand of salt can have a lot to do with this. Also, are you keeping up with water changes? A typical water change schedule would be 10% per week or 25% per month. If things are way out, it could be a lot more. It's also important to check the parameters of newly mixed salt...

I use an AquaC Remora on my 30 gal reef, and it works out ok. I would think the some what larger Remora Pro would do well for you 55 gal. Price on the net is about $230 + shipping.

Wow! Another item I forgot about. They even go beyond "useless" or "marginal". Not only do they not work in treating the disease, they can often kill other inverts.

Amen to that! I tried several of the Zoo Med powerheads, and in SW they jammed up in only a few days. Great idea, poorly executed. I also agree with "most trace element bottles".

I'll first start that aquascapeing is very subjective, and what I may like you might hate. Since you asked, I'd consider your aquascapeing to be ok, and with a few corals on it and so on it will look fine. OTOH, it's also not in the class of aquascapeing that really makes it stand out. It's...

Over the years I have spent in this hobby, I have spent quite a lot on products that were wither totally useless, or products that were marginal. I'm hoping that this thread will detail a lot of them, so that others will not make the same mistakes. Please post about any products, old or new...