So if I have learned anything in the 3 1/2 years I have been at this, it's that there is always an exception to the rule and nothing is guaranteed. I would love to say that in the time I've been at this I know everything, or that I at least know more than the rest of you, ha ha ha. Just when I thought I knew something, the rules changed. I have chalked up any success I have had to dumb luck and enough knowledge to spot a problem. As a 40B set up this tank has been running for a year and a half. As a system it has been doing well for over 3 years. I have gone from T-5 lighting to T-5 + halide and than just halide. I have up graded the skimmer, and added more LR. For quite some time I could throw a dying coral in this system only to watch it recover and thrive in record breaking time. I had some success w/ sps coral, watching them grow week to week and color up in colors that blew my mind.

It has felt lately like there is one problem after another, and I have become leary of making any changes big or small.

All problems seem to have started about the time I moved my hippo tang to the bigger system. He moved and the algae moved in, than summer hit. Summer and the change to halides happened about the same time, leaving temps hitting 85 on a daily bases. I blame the tang for getting bigger and high temps for the algae explosion. So I start dosing MB7 and am still doing so w/ results as small as those results are. About to start w/ the carbon.

So due to some inpatients I get a sea hare, hopping it will make manual remove go a little quicker. It died in my tank, creating mass amounts of cycno.

I have been doing 40% wc weekly, and did 2 the first week after the hare had died. Siphoned the sand bed, and this seems to have handled the cycno, but things still aren't right.

Help me get to chapter 6, my perfect reef!!