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Over the years I have used both diatom filters and ozone. I have found diatom filters to be useful from time to time, more as a supplemental filter to be used when you want to really "muck out" the tank. I've had several over the years, but only use it about once or twice a year. I'd rate the...

I looked into these Kati-Ani units years ago. If your interested here are a few links. Here is a link with some general information. Note that I consider some of the comments suspect and questionable, so read it with a "grain of salt" (no pun intended) -...

I'd be really surprised if that were the case, but you could try a SPS frag. I do agree with KillGoby on putting leathers in an SPS tank.

That is a tough call, because there are people that swear by UV, and others that find it useless and do not use it. After having tried UV, I did not see any real benefits, and no longer use it. I say save your money. But, you will also see many others that use UV and think the world of it, and...

I'm assuming you used the reef devil deluxe in your sump rather than externally. In this application, it would be very sensitive. These skimmers are easily effected by the water level in the sump, so unless you use a auto top off system, they can be tricky. In my own system I use the ETSS 600...

Ok, but how do you know the new test kit is good and the old one bad? It could easily be the other way around, or like the old proverb says "A man with two watches never knows what time it is, use one or three". In other words, get yourself a lab grade test kit like LaMotte or Hatch, and compare.

I think any quality skimmer would work just fine for you. The trick is simply to avoid the low cost junk out there, and to size the skimmer correctly. Manufactures tend to be "very optimistic" when rating skimmers, choose one that is rated for a tank about double your size. In your case this...

Not to put too fine a point on it, but you are having problems with some corals that are considered easy to not too difficult. Until you resolve these problems, and can keep soft corals, I recommend you avoid SPS corals. Most of them require just about perfect water conditions. Try a few...

Hatching out brine shrimp is not that hard, but it's a lot of work for a food with little nutrient value. Adult brine shrimp have very little. Newly hatched brine shrimp only have food value for a short period of time after hatching. Shortly, they use up all their food value by growing. Unless...

The royal gramma might be viewing the pygmy angel as another royal gramma, both fish have yellow heads and purple bodies. I think one of them will need to go, but keep in mind pygmy angles can be nasty also.

This would likely be a poor choice, since they have similar feeding requirements to mandarin gobies. However, it might work, if you can get the fish feeding on a lot of different, generally available frozen foods.

The bulbs you have in your fixture are double ended. Usually fixtures using such bulbs also have a decent reflector behind them. In effect, the effective light you get out of them is usually a lot more than you would get out of a similar fixture with single ended bulbs. You could purchase the...

When you say that "one may be pinkish in color", do you mean that the bulb starts off that way and then goes to it's normal color, or does the bulb stay that color once warmed up? Also, what brand of bulbs are you using? Perhaps that brand has "know problems". It's not too unusual for MH bulbs...

Most likely the ballast has a short in it. I have had this happen before. As pointed out by mfisher2112, it could be in the other wiring, so check that also. Just to make sure it's not the bulb, swap the bulbs and see if the problem follows the bulb. If it does it's the bulb. If not it's the...

Well, since it's in Somers Point, if the LFS doesn't work out, there is always the bar and restaurant scene, so the trip wouldn't be a total loss. :D

I know a couple of people online that have used Solaris LED lighting. They seem to like it a lot. However, you do need to consider that anyone that spent thousands on a lighting systems is seldom going to come out and say how stupid they were with buying it. ;D My take it that it is excellent...

Carlo, The tank size decour you suggest sounds ideal. I'd consider a Moorish Idol a lot more timid that a copperband butterfly. Maybe timid is the wrong word, perhaps skittish is closer. The least little thing scars them, and sends them charging off behind a rock or into a cave. They may loose...

I tried a Moorish Idol once. It looked great in the store, and fed there. I put it into my 125 gal reef, and rearanged the rock work so it could easily swim behind it. The fish is very skittish. It was eating krill and similar shrimp foods, but wouldn't touch other frozen or dry foods. It also...

If you have a metal fixture or reflectors, you should connect the ground from the power cord to those also, in addition to the ballast. If not, you can strip and connect the wire shown to the ground from the power cord. I prefer to soldier the connections inside the fixture, before installing a...

An RO/DI unit is one item that can generally be shopped for by price, as long as it meets some minimum requirements. One thing that you will find is that a small unit, say 25 gpd, costs almost as much as a 100 gpd unit, assuming all the features are the same. So the choice for you becomes one...