Yes, I have heard the horror stories about them. At the time I set up the tank they were the in thing to do. Now, I am scared to death to try and remove it. Any one else have any thoughts on this? If I am going to remove it, now is the time to do it before the corals come back. Fish wouldn't be able to handle another cycling at this time, so unless I can figure out how to remove it without a cycle, it's staying. It's a one piece unit, so removing it in sections isn't an option.
I know, I can get another tank!!! Move these guys to it.... Ok, don't get too excited...not going to happen. At least not another large one. A nano sounds cool right now though.
Will be doing another WC today. Stats this AM, without a WC yesterday!
Ammonia = 1.2
Nitrites <0.1
Nitrates = 5-10
Phosphates = 1.0
Also tested my tap water, 0 on both nitrate and phosphates.
Other Questions:
Should I clean the top of the gravel yet? There is some loose stuff on top, but it is what I would consider clean (white to red looking and no algae in top 1", a dirty green/brown looking below that). The fish are hunting through the top to find stuff to eat (nearly starving them). I'm not used to my fish hunting for food, daddy usually feeds them well.
When should I resume normal feeding? I started feeding a cube of mysis shrimp and a cube of green stuff (couple diff varieties) each day as of Wednesday. So, went 4 days without feeding and now I feed less than 1/2 normal feeding (however, no corals to also catch some of that). Since I don't want the ammonias to rise again, I'm trying to keep feeding to a minimum. The more aggressive fish are getting food, but the others aren't. My larger yellow tang is getting a sunken belly, can I feed any "tang food" yet? Don't know the name of this live plant that is red, they just call it tang food at the store.