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For an ATO you want a pump that can pump a low volume of water over a long period of time. A lot of people like these Aqualifter pumps (offsite link) - http://www.aquahub.com/store/product31.html I happen to use a diaphragm pump like these Reef-filler pumps (offsite link) -...

When it comes to keeping corals or coral morphs like zoanthids, water quality and lighting are everything. Just because your test kits do not show a problem doesn not mean you don't have one. I suggest making water changes using the best quality salt you can get until you have changed about...

You could consider this option. If you are going to do this, I would recommend a large powerful hang on the tank skimmer. I would also use pumps built for flow, such as Tunze streams, rather than power heads. As noted, watch your fish load, and I recommend you look around for something other...

I'm usually not a big fan of canister filters on reef systems. If not cleaned regularly, they tend to become dirt traps, and turn into nitrate factories. If you had a much larger tank, I'd be recommending going with an overflow and sump. However, this can be overkill on a 45 gal tank. In a...

Usually with sandbeds, you either want about 4 inches, so it is deep enough to do proper denitrification, or you want just enough to cover the bottom. When you have something in between, it tends to become a dirt trap, yet it's not deep enough to do a lot of denitrification. I would either...

In my opinion, I would go with the method danthemanj recommended. This is a natural method, and the rock should be maintained in a bucket or tub until ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate all reach 0. Durring the process, you want to keep the rock out of light, since you do not want to start growing...

I don't see any real problem with what you plan to do. I did something similar years ago when I lived at another location. If you are really worried about it, you could install another trap above your main house drain pipe and connect the RO/DI unit's waste water there. The other thing you...

I'm not too surprised. I once had a long nose hawk decide to land on an anemone, and the fish was promptly eaten. Off hand I think this was a carpet anemone. About all you can do is write off the fish, and figure your amemnoe got a very expensive meal. I'm sure the anemone will be fine.

Before you do this, think about it carefully. Since you don't plan to keep SPS corals, it's unlikely you need MH lighting. In addition, you'll get a lot more heat out of MHs, compared to T5s or PCs. So make sure you really understand the various factors involved with MH before you spend the...

I should have also pointed out that air should be kept from kalkwasser. If you expose it to air, it becomes much less effective. This is why it's usually best to use a kalk reactor when using kalkwasser. A reactor will provide a constant supply of water, and at the same time, keep air out.

Generally small bristle worms can be left alone. Really large ones, as in over a foot long, you may want to remove because if it dies, it can foul a lot of water.

Using kalkwasser can be a good idea. However, the use of it depends upon what is right for your system. If you have a system where the calcium is being depleted from the water by the corals and other livestock, and you can't keep up with this via normal water changes, then kalkwasser is a good...

I have mixed feelings about attempts to limit collecting. Like many other issues, there is no simple solution. Yes, I'd like to see more captive breeding, but so far, only a few species have been bread in commercial quantities. Most of them are smaller fish. Being able to breed and raise fish...

Yes they are nice, and the price isn't bad, but I guess I'm an old foggy when it comes to checks. Since it's a business transaction, I always get the plain checks, with just standard printing and so on.

Bulkheads are a specific fitting used when you need to run a pipe through something. See this offsite link - http://www.savko.com/portal/bulkhead.asp Note that it comes in three parts, the fitting itself, a washer, and a nut. A bulkhead is installed in the hole, with the flange of the fitting...

Yes, 6500K bulbs tend to have very high PAR values. As I pointed out, years ago MHs for aquarium use that was all you could get. 175w SE bulbs were sort of standard, and gave plenty of light for the LPS and soft corals being kept at the time. Since the trend today is SPS corals, and a lot of...

When MH lighting for reef systems was first available, about the only bulbs you could get were 6500K. These tend to look yellow, so to get a balanced color in the tank, actinic was often used. Actinic was also used in systems with other types of lighting on the theory that the blue light was...

You could use it, in that it would work, but I would consider it a poor choice. First, you'd want to replace the bulbs with bulbs more suited for a reef system. You also want to use waterproof end caps. Second, the ballasts are coil and core. This consume about 1 1/2 time the power of an...

HPS put out an extremely yellow light, even more so than 6500K MH bulbs. Lighting under HPS tends to wash out all color, sometimes to the point of making the "subject", in this case the tank, look almost like a black and white photo. You may have noticed this under some types street lighting...

With the six line wrasse problem, you may need to make a choice. The coral or the fish may have to go. As for the clown, they often will host in corals they like. This isn't usually a problem, unless it disturbs the coral too much. If you have only a few corals, you can try adding a lot more...