Nitrates

Okay,

TLP has just received a donated 180 gal. tank that was set up for almost a year before the owner was transferred to Hawaii.  Thanks to Tyler & Michelle Perry and Rusty Rusin for their help in moving the tank.

Brent Anderson, TLP President, wants the sand in this tank to be cleaned so I want to add at least two stars to clean and then observe the results. After a while we can transfer the stars to another tank or back to their owner. My ulterior motive in this, has to do with keeping sharks. if it works, you will hear about it.

About the Bubble Coral, try moving it to a different place where both the light and water movement are different. Tell us all the other coral in the tank, especially other LPS(large polyp stony) coral. If another coral is "upwind" from the Bubble that can be a major reason for irritation because the other coral's chemicals are concentrated in the stream of water moving past the Bubble Coral.

Again, if anyone dares to descibe their setup there are several very knowledgable members of this forum that can offer some effective suggestions for reducing nitrates and improving general aquarium health. Also some coral are more sensitive to nitrate.

A "can o' worms" of course. Bristleworms are our friends! I have observed that when they run out of delicious detritus, them consume pieces of substrate. The purpose of this is to eat any organic matter on the surface of the sand particle.

Also, the spawn of the bristleworm is food for zooplankton eating coral! I love bristleworms and find that 99.9% of them are beneficial, but their bristles can be downright irritating for hours!

There are hundreds of types of worms, and microorganisms living within the substrate which create a healthy tank. It takes time (not less than two years) and effort to create a really healthy system which offers an environment where new fish may get sick but actually recover! We may not know the science of exactly how it all fits together, but we do know what works.

There is a treasure of expertise within the members and former members of the WMAS. You are all very smart to be taking advantage of it through this forum and attendance at the WMAS meetings. As one of the remaining few founding members of the WMAS, I think you folks are great.

This my 2 cents worth.

Mark