Lynn, Great tips! Thank you!!
Dr. Hank, That's pretty cool about the lights. Let me know.
Goldenmean, I know what you mean. I'm on the TBS website DAILY even though it never changes. I guess I'm just dreaming of my liverock plan.
I have to share a fish tank horror story
with you all. Back in the day when I bought my tank I didn't know the first thing about it and I didn't research it very well. I hired this couple to come clean it once a month and change the water. I will describe the process. Please sit down while reading. Very scary.
Couple shows up. (Dude & Chick) Dude walks up to the tank (which is full of fish) and without bothering to rinse his hands sticks his arm in up to the pit and starts rubbing filter floss around the glass. I ask "Is it ok to put my hands in there?" Dude says "Yep." Chick starts sucking the water out with one of the siphons you have to move up and down to get started. Chick pulls out my green coral skeletons and dumps them into a vat of something. Pulls them out sparkling white and plops them in the tank. Me - "What is that stuff? It's awesome! I normally have to let them sit outside in the sun forever to get rid of the green!" Chick "Gunk Off. You can buy it at home depot in the cleaning supplies section." Me - "Wow, and it's safe to put right back in the tank?" Chick - "Yep." Dude pumps 20 gallons of pre-mixed water back into the tank. Dude takes out his testing kit. (Nice! They are testing my water!) Dude proceeds to take the trates, trites, etc then dumps the used test tubes into my tank. Me - "Won't that hurt the fish?" Dude - "Nope." Dude pulls out ph buffer and dumps about a cup on the floor of my tank. Then grabs my bag of sea salt mix and dumps about two cups on the sand bad as well. I'm watching carefully so I know the correct way to clean my tank. They finish up and the water looks all greenish from the sediment stirred up. I ask how long until it will be clear again. Chick goes to the truck and brings back some sort of pool clarifier (yes, as in swimming pool) and pours a little in. Chick says it will be clear again in about 30 min. Sure enough it was. $75 and I got to learn how to take care of my tank as well!
OMG. To think I had them coming monthly for about a year. I don't know how anything survived.