Adam

Hey, Ive had my tank up and running for a few months decorated with live rock and a medium sized piece of decorative type driftwood...I've been having a nitrate issue for quite a while and am wondering if this could be a result of the wood decaying in the salt water?? I've heard that SW will promote the wood decay but I hadnt had any problems until now. My setup is a 50gal, with 30lbs live rock, a XP2 canister filter and protein skimmer. I had hoped that the skimmer would alleviate the nitrate problem but it hasnt as of yet. Any ideas or feedback??

I am a little behind with this newbie question as I've already purchased some live rock. But I often hear people speak about augmenting their live rock with base rock. I still have never hear what exactly base rock is and where you find it...is this just lower grade live rock? I don't recall seeing just "base rock" for sale anywhere...although I've never specifically looked for it. I have a 50g with only 10lbs of live rock right now and I'm interested in filling it out but don't have the $8/lb to add 40 more lbs of live rock...I suppose Im just trying to be cheap in a hobby that doesnt exactly accomodate the thrifty!! Any input would be great! Thanks!

I'm just wondering if on your travels, anybody has recently seen decent looking live rock at any stores in the Edmonton area?

Well its been about 2 weeks since I first added my live rock to this new aquarium to start the cycling. I've since been testing the water and I've got undetecable ammonia and nitrite levels with higher levels of nitrate ...are these parameters suitable to begin adding some livestock? I read some where that these should all ideally be at zero, and others say that some hardy species might suitable at this point. I've been reading a lot but can't seem to decide on what to get for this FOWLR system. Anyone have any suggestions on whether or not the timing is right yet and what might be some good, interesting, initial additions?? Thanks for all your help everyone!

I actually got it from a store in Edmonton called Aquarium Illusions ( www.aquariumillusions.com ). They had a lot of decent stuff and the guy seemed fairly helpful. It cost 8$/lb and the other piece of rock I got there also had some of the green star polyps on it ...I'll definately go back there. As far as the mushroom goes, I guess I will just have to watch its progress because for right now I'm not really looking at putting too much for coral into the tank.

Well, I think I've come to the conclusion that I have green star polyps here but does anyone have any other guesses on what I've got in the middle of the pic? I've heard, so far, that it may be some kind of carpet anenome or some kind of mushroom...any more ideas??

Here is a photo...you can see theres sort of a "mushroom" in the middle of the pic and then on the right side theres a whole bunch of what are probably some kind of polyp I would think...?

Well I'm just getting started with my new salt water tank and purchased my first batch of live rock the other day...I've since noticed a few interesting things sprout up on the rock and have no clue what they are, if they need to be fed etc. Would anyone know of any good resources of where to find this info? I've taken a couple of pics to send to anyone who might know a thing or two about this kind of stuff. Cheers!

Hows it goin everyone!? I'm from Edmonton and new to the whole fish thing. I just started a 50 gal salt water aquarium and am looking forward to learning everything I can from the site and everyone involved. Hope to chat with everyone soon Cheers