Blog Comments

Just curious how you caught it, I am trying to catch one right now and I have been unsuccessful so far. He doesn't come out at all and I have only seen him peering from his home in the LR. Just curious because I do not want to hurt him I just want to get him out and give him to a friend. Thanks

I have a 5 year old SPS dom. reef. Approx, 9 months ago, Marc came over and within 2 minutes asked me howlong I've had the Mantis Shrimp. I laughed at the sarcastic comment, only to discover that I indeed have a recluse occupant in my tank. No worries here, haven't had any problems or losses.

Good for you! Mantis shrimp are incredible biological marvels with more complex visual pigments than any known animal, among the fastest limb movements, and just all around interesting. I can understand why they aren't compatible with the average mixed reef, but I'm glad you saw past them being
"the doom of your tank"

Meant to include a couple of links for reference if anyone else is interested learning more about mantis shrimp:

Here is Dr. Roy Caldwell's awesome species directory for mantis shrimp:
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/arthrop...raca/royslist/

Here is his "Introduction to Stomatopods"
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/arthrop...omatopoda.html

Here is another fascinating web site with information on Stomatopods:
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/aquarius/

if your skimmer is producing skimmate and your tank is clean, livestock is healthy and water params are maintained, there is absolutely no reason why you should feel like you need to change or upgrade your skimmer.

I've seen him lecture on this point and found a forum where he mentions the idea of skimmers vs algae.
http://forum.marinedepot.com/Topic100283-9-1.aspx

Do you have a reference to 'Borneman makes a great point of this'?..is this an artilce available online somewhere?

i have spent some time reading a couple of good papers by Feldman and Maers

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2010/1/aafeature
and
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/pdf/...st-2009-01.pdf

Don't underrate the benefits of used equipment, I think you'd be able to find a great upgrade for 50% less of new, or maybe even trading. ASM, Aqua C and Octopus are great models. For me, I like the Aqua C EV-120 only because it doesn't use a needlewheel pump, but, I have a ASM G3 as a backup.
I would look at what's your fish stocking density for starters for sizing. IME, the skimmer primary benefit is water aeration. The secondary benefit (for me) is an export of phosphates, since I dose my kalk in my skimmer compartment. And although I pull out about a gallon a week (for only running my skimmer of 8 hrs a day), it's export is mostly phytoplankton with almost no dry weight. Borneman makes a great point of this.
I think for most who have "normal" tanks, and who don't have big frag farming operation in their systems with tons of chemo warfare, the trend for overskimming is just overkill. Pound for pound (or pound for brown...Viva Zappa!) IME, chaeto and RDSB will remove more nutrient when compared to skimmer.

I have a 75 also, and I'm using the new Octopus 160 skimmer. Let me tell you, the neck on that thing is wide! More than the older xtreme 200 series, and in 2-4 days I have to take it out and clean it because it can't get any dirtier.

It's a tad bit over your price tag, but well worth it.

Be sure to clean that sludge out of the neck when you empty the cup. A dirty neck will greatly inhibit your skimmers performance. if your getting excessive algae growth, or have other water quality issues then it may be time to upgrade. Some people need to upgrade, some just want the newest toy.