That's good to know about the amphipods - I didn't want to die, haha.
With the
nitrates,a t least I know it's not the water source - tests 0 before I mix it into my tank... and I was doing 25-gallon changes every week - I thought that'd be big enough to get it handled by now, and my patience is wearing thin! (In the beginning, though, I didn't know I had to disturb the sand and blow
detritus off the rocks.)
The canister filter: Shouldn't I be able to handle it by cleaning it frequently? I have a feeling that my method of rinsing the sponges in used salt water isn't enough to get all the
detritus out and maybe I
should try to put it through the washing machine like someone (from wetwebmedia) once suggested to me.
Joe's Juice: I'll give it a try - but I SO hate paying for shipping when I buy stuff. It's actually preventing me from buying some replacement suction cups for an old powerhead - NO I won't pay $8 shipping for a 65-cent item - ew.
Speaking of small powerheads - if I DID have to pay $9 for suction cups for an old Rio 600 powerhead, does anyone have any suggestions for a replacement small powerhead instead? It's just for the 12-Gallon quarantine tank. I was thinking a Maxi-Jet 400, since I like my Maxi-Jet 1200's in my
DT...
I'd say the sand bed and
LR were big storers of
detritus, supplying the
nitrates. It had probably been building up for a year without being disturbed when I got the tank, and there is always plenty of white
detritus coming out of the sand when it's stirred. Also, I have no snails - will that help at all?
Oh I will DEFINITELY design my next system by the book - substrate and all - but still, I need to find a good deal on a tank / stand on Craigslist or something. It's just crazy expensive. My boyfriend thought I was insane for spending $200 on a rock... luckily he didn't ask me what it cost until 2 hours after it was all situated. :P
LIGHTS:
Does anyone know whether I should look into buying these lights? I wanted 2 x 250-Watt
MH, but these are 2 x 175 Watt, and I don't know that they'll be enough to support Anemone / Coral. I also had my heart set on lights w/ night time LEDs... but those lights are only $250 -
the fact that it says "retrofit", though, means I can't use them, if I don't have a canopy, right?
Thanks for the response - I'll be sure to check some of those other links you posted later, when my company
isn't paying me to sit here and read this forum. :P
