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I had a lawnmower Blenny that was great at eating algae. Unfortunately once my tank matured there was not much algae for him or the 9 large turbo snails I had to eat. The Blenny passed away and I rehomed the turbo snails :oops:

Welcome to the club!

If looking for snails some combination of Turbo, Trochus and Asterina would likely help. I try not to keep too many Turbos since they can get large in size (that means they are doing their job) and my tank has historically gotten to a point where there is little algae on the rocks and I fear...

I used to grow phyto but the room the basic setup was in gotten taken to be an office over unfortunately. I want to see if I can grow copepods without an air line and without feeding live phyto. I believe it should be possible but will see! I know this is not optimal setup but I only need...

I have ordered copepods from Algae Barn, Reef Nutrition, Reef Cleaners, Reef by Steele, and Dinkin’s Aquarics. The only vendor where I didn’t like the quality was Reef by Steele, but when I sent in a compliant I got a refund immediately. I may have just got a bad batch. I generally believe...

I have had the sand in my tank for 20 months now and haven’t noticed anything odd in the ICP test. I agree that live sand (from the ocean) can look fantastic. I spent a lot of time looking at threads and videos on the Tampa Bay Saltwater live sand and almost went that route since some of the...

The most pods I have ever had in my tank was 2-3 months in when I had ulva growing in my refugium and the only fish I had were not pod eaters (ie, a pair of clownfish, tang, rabbit fish, and a hawkfish). I had os many pods I could see them crawling all over the glass, mostly by the sand bed...

I don’t think adding phyto increases algae growth. I used to for my own phyto. I once dumped close to a gallon of high concentration phyto into my 125 gallon system and it actually caused phosphate levels to drop within 24 hours and the water and rocks looked crystal clear.

I have used three types of sand: CaribSea Special Grade, Reef Flakes, and Aquaforest Bio Sand. The AF is by far my favorite. It holds up better to high flow than the CaribSea despite being smaller grain, does not grow algae unlike the larger Reef Flakes, and is gleaming white in color. Here...

Once a week I drop in a thawed frozen clam tied to a small rock. I open the clam mouth jsut large enough so only the Cooperband can pick at it. If opened larger then my wrasses and Yellow Tang eat most of it :)

I am not sure but this is a brine shrimp company that sells to public aquariums and also private labels their brine shrimp products. I am sure if you asked they would provide an answer. Wherever they get their brine shrimp and mysis from it is very high quality (ie, rinses clean and nice sized...

For those who ever thought out using ozone, the Poseidon 200 is on sale for $209 (tax included and free shipping). This is the cheapest I have ever seen. I have this unit already and it has worked flawlessly: https://premiumaquatics.com/collections/deal-of-the-day If anyone picks this up and...

I echo @MichaelB that you should not rely on a Hanna salinity checker. It is not reliably accurate (I have been through three of them and still have one sitting in the cabinet beneath my tank). The TM Hydrometer is widely cited as gold standard. I personally use a VeeGee Refractometer most...

I got a Copperband two moths ago. He eats really well. I previously just let my fish feed on pellets while I was away (sometimes for 1-2 weeks at a time). With the Copperband I am going to get the AF4 to help reduce the risk of the fish getting stressed. Several fish don’t compete well for the...

I use a chemical wash bottle filled with RODI. That way you don’t have to deal with salt creep: https://a.co/d/97GC9yw I currently use a metal strainer but may switch to plastic since the metal strainer is rusting a bit. I don’t believe the rinsing has a huge impact on phosphates but is...

UV can theoretically help but I would not depend on it to get rid of ich or the various kinds uglies. I can’t tell any difference in my system when I have the UV on or off. I keep it on since I have the system installed. I have not replaced the bulb for over two years even though I have a...

I have been rinsing my food for the last 1.5 years. I did so because I was dealing with a massive outbreak of vermitids and wanted to reduce particulates in the water. Eventually I starved out the vermitids (primarily via using DIY coral snow daily and shifting from less pellets to rinsed...

Bren Shrimp Direct. Their brine shrimp and mysis rinse out very clean and have the the same or lower level of particulates I have seen relative to the various other brands available in stores. Price also cannot be beat, albeit it has been a while since I did comparison shopping. I place an...

Fenbendazole will take these out. You can purchase flake food with this infused. If you don’t want it buy a bunch online I also have some laying around since I keep for medicated quarantine of new fish. This form factor is easier to use then metro for quarantine purposes. If the outbreak is...

why make a new arch? If you don’t like the zoas why not just take out the arch, scrape the rock down with a hard wire brush, and put the ar ch back in? If very paranoid you could pour on some boiling water or jsut leave the arch in the sun for a week or two and the zoas won’t come back.