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In my opinion, if money is no object, the LaMote test kits are excellent. They are very expensive. Sailfert are generally an ok "hobby grade" test kit. Elos test kits are similar to the Sailfert, but use glass test tubes, rather than plastic cups. Elos can be difficult to find. Some of the...

Actually, you are not too bad off. Halmedia is rather easily removed. Some people even like a little bit of it in their tank. Before Chaetomorphia became the "in macro algae" for refugiums, Halmedia was considered desirable.

If you are going to go from a 20gal tank, to something larger, go with something that has a greater front to back dimension. A 29 is still only about 12 inches wide, and trying to aquascape a tall tank like that is very difficult. Consider a true 30, or 40gal breeder or 50 gal tank. Of course...

Of the skimmers you listed, I'd go with the Turboflotor 1000. I would also consider the AquaC remora skimmer. The Berlin Turbo Classic is a fair skimmer, but you can do better. Keep in mind that Drs Foster/Smith, while a good company to deal with, tends to sell low end to medium level...

Control of cyano requires control of nutrients. Mostly this means control of nitrates and phosphates. Do not think that because your test kits read low that you do not have a problem with nitrates and phosphates. These can be taken up by a lot of thigns in a reef system. Put simply, this means...

I suspect your calculation is a little off. I use about 100 lbs or aragonite sand in my 30 gal reef and get a 4" DSB. I suspect you could do your 45 gal tank with about 150 lbs. My advice would be to shop around locally, and buy your sand from a good LFS. With a 45 gal tank, it's not going to...

On the temperature issue. You have quite a few pumps in the tank. Remember each one of them acts like a small heater. Add up all the watts consumed by all of them, and you can see you are adding a lot of heat into the system. To start with I'd remove the Korella's and/or the MJ900's and see...

I would agree, a Y would be prefered over a T, but sometimes a Y is tough to find.

Two 1" drain lines or fittings should be able to be connected to the single 1 1/2 drain line with out any major problems, even with the use of a T fitting. Remember you high school math for the area of a circle? It's pi times the radius squared. A 1" pipe has 1/2" radius, so the cross...

I'm glad to hear the company came through for you, and replaced the unit. However, if the plastic is still the same, you have a good chance of having a similar problem 7 months or so from now. I suggest you stock up on some spare parts, or consider what you will do if you have another failure.

I've used a Vortex XL, and before that, the standard model, for about 40 years. Yes, the design is that old, and more or less unchanged today. This is a filter to be used mostly as a water polisher. It's an extremely fine mechanical filter. The filter is best used when you want to "muck out"...

I would consider a skimmer to be "highly desirable" on most reef systems. Unless you are planning some sort of experimental system, go with a large powerful skimmer. It will save you a lot of problems. The key factor is that a skimmer is one of the few filtration devices that remove waste...

The Ice Cap 660 ballast is for normal output fluorescent, VHO, T5, or PC. Ice cap also sells electronic ballasts for MH. You are likely to find that the 660 is going to be much larger, especially when mounted on it's heat sink, compared to the usual bargain ballasts used in most fixtures. This...

I noticed in the last few posts that people recommended a regal angel and a rock beauty. Both of these are fantastic fish to look at, but both also have very demanding diets. Like some of the other large angels, they tend to be sponge feeders. Make sure you can properly take care of these fish...

I have to agree with the previous post. T5 is by far the better choice. The main reason is that T5s, being they are a single long bulb, are very easy to back up with a good reflector. You just can't do this with a PC bulb, since the bulb has two tubes. A big chunk of the light created by a PC...

There can be several causes of cloudy water. If the tank is new, you'll often get this from the sandbed. If its only slight, just leave things along, and it will go away once the tank is cycled. The bacteria film that forms over everything kind of acts like glue and traps even very fine...

You can do that if you like, but I found the best thing is a simple notebook, and just write down what the readings are. That way you don't even need a computer. BTW, to those of you that still want to use a computer based spreadsheet to record tank information, but don't feel like spending a...

Yes, that is the pump being reffered to.

I've had one, and I'd rate it as fair, but you can do a lot better. It's one of the lower priced skimmers, and it will work, but I recommend you get something a lot better. Yes, it will be more expensive, but you'll be glad you did. Most of the failings of the Red Sea skimmer revolve around it...

In rereading the thread, are we talking about round, about an inch in diameter, U shaped siphon tubes, or those wide, long, sort of square, U shaped siphons, like you see on CPR overflows? I have found those wide, square siphons to be a disaster waiting to happed, and have had multiple floods...