Sump question and pre-planning marine tank... confusion re what WWM is/is not  8/1/12
Hello I am in pre planning stage of my dream tank. And I would love to have a sump with dsb and possible algae. I may have an opportunity to get a used 350 gallon aquarium or I'm looking between a 180-275 gallon tank. I'm planning on having a dsb in the main tank;
<And one outside if it were me/mine>
with raised live rock; soft corals after a year of running; led lighting; and planned  fish are school of blue green Chromis; school of Anthias; pair of scarlet shrimp, a couple urchins; a cucumber; California round stingray;
<Mmm, no. Urolophus halleri is a cold/cool water species>
 & maybe a regal tang or possible other cleaning fish and a star or 2. I'll be using fine sand at least 4" and after a tank set up idea just a few questions Can I have a sump without drilling my tank and if so how?
<... gone over and over on WWM. Read here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marsetupindex2.htm
scroll down to the area below "About Plumbing">
Should My protein skimmer with above bio load be rated for the size of the tank or double?
<...? Keep reading>
 Do I need to have power heads in addition to the sump flow?
<... we/WWM is not a question/answer forum but a reference site. What you are asking for is discussed thoroughly, archived on the site... You should learn to/use the indices and search tool>
What's the recommended pipe size for sump plumbing? How do I figure out the needed pump size for the input and output to the sump? Or at least a ball park for one. Don't really have much saltwater stores here so most will be online purchasing minus fish and coral. Will probably also have a dsb in sump with algae will the be efficient nitrate control or is there anything else that I can do? Is there any complications in having a 36 watt uv sterilizer in the sump to help prevent ick or other parasite outbreaks? Thanks for your time and answers. And if you have any  recommendations please inform. And thanks again sbmarvin.
<Maybe a good reference book or two as well... Take your time... there's much to learn, enjoy, and unfortunately a good deal of mis and dis-information about. Write us when you have read, have specific questions/concerns. Cheers, Bob Fenner>

Quick question about picture KB  6/26/12
Hi guys,
After reading the rules, I noticed it said to limit the picture(s) to a few hundred KB's. I have a photo of my Pagoda Cup Coral that I was wanting to attach and ask a question, but it is 225KB and I was unsure if this was to <too> big.
<Mmm, not; this will do>
All of my photos are on my cell phone and I send them from my phone attached to an email. Will this be to large and if so is there a way I can make it smaller on my phone?
<Mmm, I don't know much (make that I know very little) re phone images and  their manipulation. T'were it me, I'd send such pix to my own desk/lap top machine and resize, optimize them there>
 I know that under the statement of how many KB, it says if you need help resizing the photo to click 'here' but I am unable to access the link via my cell phone. I live on top of a mountain far from anyone and we do not have typical internet access with a computer, which is why I use my cell phone.
<Ahh! I have seen folks linking up their phones w/ their laptops...>
Any help or advice will be greatly appreciated. Thank you very much in advance guys.
Cheers,
Stephanie L.
<And you, Bob Fenner>

 for Mr. Fenner... No prev. corr.   6/27/12
I have read your links with great interest and want to thank you for pointing me in the right direction.
<Please re-send w/ the original correspondence. I don't recall the gist of our discussion>
the little guy(?) is still alive, I fed him a krill (it was all I had that was thawed).  Tomorrow, if its still alive, I will see if it will eat some squid or maybe a piece of shrimp.  What else besides Spirulina wafers?
Should I worry about antibiotics? What kind/type?  I really want this little guy to survive.  I know you said that prognosis is not good, but I can hope..........

Re: Help with identification 5/28/11
Hi!
Thanks for getting back to me. Unfortunately, I am not very savvy when it comes to sizing pictures. I have no idea how to make my images smaller.
Am I out of luck?
Damon
<There are many ways to resize images. If you have a Mac, then iPhoto and Preview will both do it very easily. I assume there are similar applications for other operating systems. There are also websites that
resize images for free. If you're curious, the reasons why we send back images that are too big is that they [a] fill up our e-mail quota, meaning e-mails from other people get bounced back; and [b] they take a long time for us, the crew members here at WWM, to download, which wastes the time we volunteer here. We used to turn a blind eye to this problem, but in recent years more and more people ignore our request for small images (around 500 KB is ideal, or about 600 by 800 pixels). So now we have to be firm, and in
return for help from us at WWM, we do insist that people writing in doing take the trouble to help us out this way. Hope this clears things up,
Neale.>

Aquarium, not WWM 3/28/2011
Hello Good morning
<Hello Douglas>
To whom this may concern My name is James Douglas and am with Douglas Inc, I will like to make an inquiry from you company. Please I will like you to advice back if you still deal in AQUARIUM if yes I will like you to advice back with the price for this type
Dimension , 8.5x1.8x6 38 GAL. COLOUR SS ,CW OR NWC or email me the types and price you have currently in stock also will like to know if you accept credit card as form of payment. I will be looking forward to hear from you.
<We are not an etailer, an informational site only.>
Thanks.
<You're welcome. James (Salty Dog)>
Douglas

Pictures of 540 gallon Saltwater Tank that Chris Faiola is Managing (ATTN: SCOTT) 11/12/10
Scott:
Here are the photos. Check them out.
Hey Chris,
These were dropped into my box. We have multiple Scotts around here, so please do include previous correspondence so we know who to hand these to.
Also, can you please resend in web appropriate sizes, like 100-200 kb per photo. These photos have nuked the webmail here!
Thanks,
Scott V.
Re: Pictures of 540 gallon Saltwater Tank that Chris Faiola is Managing (ATTN: SCOTT)
I am not resending those. Forward what I sent to Scott T. Thanks.
I can't. All here works on a common mailbox. The photos you sent filled it up. When I got up to answer queries this morning the mailbox was filled up with the photos. This means others that write in will not come through.
Had no choice but to delete them. I have brought this to Scott T's attention, but the photos are gone. Do resend them if you wish in a smaller file size. See:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/WWMAdminSubWebIndex/question_page.htm
Re: Pictures of 540 gallon Saltwater Tank that Chris Faiola is Managing (ATTN: SCOTT)... learning
There is no such thing as "Web Appropriate Size" by the way. Those were taken with a regular camera.
Um, there is. Investigate resolution versus that of any computer monitor.
A 6 mb photo will not show at 100% on any monitor or TV. All in the instructions per contacting us.

African Dwarf Frog - White Knee Joints (plus Neale having a bit of a rant about manners, WWM, etc'¦) 10/17/10
First, I'd like to say that I was really enjoying reading all the information you have posted on your website.
<Thanks for the kind words.>
My daughter's school recently studied the ADF and afterwards, allowed the students to take the frogs home. I didn't realize there was so much involved in raising these frogs as the school only kept them in a tank with dechlorinated water and fed them brine shrimp flakes.
<Just goes to show that Paul Simon was on to something when he wrote "Kodachrome".>
I, on the other hand, put it in a 5 gallon tank with a filter system and a heater.
<A good start.>
I noticed this frog starting to get white knee caps and decided to search for the reason for this.
<Can be a variety of things. It's normal for frogs to shed skin, so that's one explanation. It's also not uncommon for frogs to produce unusual amounts of mucous when exposed to less-than-perfect environmental conditions. Prolonged exposure to poor environmental conditions can lead to opportunistic infections of the skin, and dead skin turns white, so white patches can be a sign of sickness. Do please read:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/fwsubwebindex/FrogsArtNeale.htm
>
Since we just got the frog and the setup a few days ago, I am not prepared to tell you the stats of the water condition.
<I see. Well, frogs are aquatic fairly hardy, and if you do 20% water changes every day or two, you stand a good chance of going through the cycling process without any serious hiccups. On the other hand, prolonged exposure to non-zero ammonia and nitrite levels can, will make frogs sick.>
I will be going out tomorrow to get the testing kit needed to do so.
<At minimum, acquire a pH test kit and a nitrite test kit. Other kits on top of these may be helpful, but these are the two must-haves.>
We feed it the wet frozen brine shrimp and I will look into getting it a variety of food, like the wet frozen bloodworms, etc.
<Good.>
I am not sure if it was mentioned that this could be fungal or not.
<Fungal infections tend to look like cotton wool threads.>
The frog does look a bit pale in comparison to the photos I've seen. It does appear to be very active and has eaten a little bit. If fungal, what do you recommend? Do I get the Maracyn II?
<The Maracyn family of products are antibiotics, and they therefore treat bacteria. Their usefulness against fungal infections is near-zero, in just the same way antibiotics don't treat viruses like flu. I'd hold off adding
any medications until you've established what the problem is. Nine times out of ten, sick frogs are sick because of poor environment. Fix the environment, and the frog generally gets better under its own steam.
Scatter-gun approaches with medications are as dangerous to pet animals as they are to humans.>
Secondly, I'm not sure you will give me an answer after I say this or not, but I'll take my chances.
<Go ahead.>
I find some of your comments to be very rude.
<You do?>
Whether typing in all caps, properly capitalizing nouns, etc., is no reason to come down so hard on these people who are writing to you.
<I see your point, and from your perspective it may seem unreasonable. But here's the deal. When someone sends a proper e-mail to us, it has three effects. Firstly, it shows they respect us enough to make an effort. We're volunteers as well as experts, and believe me, if we didn't basically enjoy helping people, we wouldn't be here. Secondly, clear English helps us understand their message, and in turn, makes it easier for us to give them better advice. It also makes the site more accessible to other readers, not
all of whom are 17-year-old American boys, so the nearer "Queen's English" the message, the more accessible that message it to someone for whom English isn't their first language. Finally, clear English is what Google and other search engines catalogue. This site is only online because advertising pays its way. Without Google hits, we'd have far fewer site visitors, and the advertisements would pay far less. I can understand that some people don't want to spend the extra nanosecond writing "because" instead of "cuz", and I also understand there are some people out there who don't say "please" or "thank-you". But these things matter, and they matter to us, and in helping us to help others, they matter to you too.>
I mean, if they didn't care, why would they contact you to begin with.
<Yes, but if you follow along that line of reasoning, why say "thank-you" to a waiter, after all, it's his job to bring you a meal. In fact since we're volunteers, the nicer you are to us, the better we feel about helping
you. It's called enlightened self-interest, and it's the most powerful force for good on this planet: doing the right thing because it's profitable.>
As for myself, I do care - that's why I'm writing to you - to get the proper advice to take care of the pet I have.
<As I can tell, and as I respect.>
I didn't realize I had to be a perfect scholar to get advice.
<We honestly don't expect perfect English; all we expect is [a] politeness and [b] basic spelling and grammar. It's easy enough to tell from e-mail addresses whether someone is writing from New Hampshire or New Delhi, and I think you'll find we act/react accordingly.>
My advice to you, stop criticizing these people for the small stuff and give them credit for contacting you in the first place.
<Speaking personally, any criticism we hand out is pretty trivial. It's not like we beat people over the head with the Oxford English Dictionary!
Imagine you spent an hour a day volunteering -- as I do -- helping others out. Mostly it's fun, and in some cases people have gone on to become Facebook friends and what have you. But after answering seventeen messages on sick goldfish, just how enthused would *you* be to answer a question from someone who didn't bother to use capitals, to say hello, to say thank-you, and instead wrote the whole thing as a text message. I have to tell you, those are the messages I dread and frankly tend to ignore. Maybe they get done the next day, when I've got a bit more energy. If I do answer them, all I do is send a link to an article they should read. No fun for me, and I dare say not much fun for them. The world is full of people who think the world owes them a living. We're in a society where mega-corporations force retail and service staff to be cheery and polite, no matter how much of a jerk the customer is. Parents seem to have stopped teaching their children manners, and frankly, if their parents have manners, they don't seem to use them. Both here in England and in the US, the functional literacy of the average person *is going down* with each generation because they've somehow decided good English doesn't matter. But here, in this little corner of the Internet, is a place where manners and good English are valued, and if you use 'em, you'll get more for your money. Oops, we're free, that's right, and we're free precisely because good English is the currency of Search Engine Optimisation.>
Thank you and have a good night.
<I will indeed.>
Kim
<Thanks for writing. Cheers, Neale.>
Re: African Dwarf Frog - White Knee Joints (plus Neale having a bit of a rant about manners, WWM, etc'¦)
Thank you for taking the time to explain your point of view.
<Not a problem.>
I, too, am all about manners and respect. I very much appreciate what volunteers do and understand that they do not get paid for their time. I have three kids (15, 13 and 9). My middle daughter has a fatal illness and the organization that is helping to raise funds for research for a treatment or cure are all volunteers.
<A tragic situation, about which there's nothing I can add here except to wish you all well.>
They work hard so that our kids may hopefully one day have a chance to survive this horrible disease.
<Good to know that their work is appreciated and hopeful.>
My kids are reminded just about every day to use proper manners and always, always, please and thank you. I was brought up very strict and I want my kids to have the same values (really tough in this day and age).
<I would tend to agree.>
But anyway, I was a bit taken back by some of the comments and I tend to take things personally.
<I'm sure there are times we step over the mark, but there are other times we do bite our tongues. My own British sense of humour sometimes comes across as sarcastic, just as the American sense of humour often comes across to me as flippant. It's always difficult getting the balance right.>
I really try to do the right thing. I appreciate what you do, and yes, I'm sure it's a bit boring to have to read the same questions/comments day in and day out. But on the other hand, what may be boring to you is a world of help for me.
<That's our hope. We can't pretend to be helping sick children, but we do try to do what we can to help others.>
Thank you again.
Kim
PS: I'll work on the tank environment and hopefully that will work. :-)
<Real good. African Dwarf Frogs aren't especially hard to maintain, but it will take 4-6 weeks to mature a new filter, and until that happens, water quality in an aquarium can, will be poor. My best to both you and your daughter, Neale.>

Google search not working..? 10/20/10
Hi! I just tried to do a search on your website using the Google Search engine and, in addition to the radio click buttons to select "Web" and "WetWebMedia" being gone, there were no results returned.
Updating? Something gone awry?
Just thought I'd let you know!
Lea
<Thank you... are working on my end. Both the specialized:
http://wetwebmedia.com/Googlesearch.htm
and more general (homepage) Google versions. I'd try rebooting, checking to see if you've somehow blocked Google (I think some of MS's auto-upgrades/loads... i.e. Bing competition, does this).
Bob Fenner>
Ignore email
It's back up. weird. Thanks!
<Welcome. B>

Can you please remove my full name from the site? 9/22/10
Hi Guys,
It's been a while since I have asked you a question, but I always found the site very useful and have told countless others to visit it for help. I am wondering if you would be willing to do me a favor.
Several years ago, I asked a question regarding a puffer fish and blue tang that I had and their behavior in my 65 gallon tank. I signed my question with my full name. Here is a link to the page:
XXXX
Ordinarily, I would not mind my full name being on a public website, but I was just informed by a prospective employer that when they conducted a Google search of my name prior to a second round interview, it came up with a title header of "FAQs on XXXX" and my full name.
Of course, they realized what it was after reading the site, but they were quick to point out that finding that on Google was initially fairly off-putting.
I don't care if you keep my first name, but I do request that my last name, "XXXX" be deleted from the site. My biggest fear is that other future potential employers might not click on the link to read what the site is about.
Please help me out.
Thanks,
<Done... and a note to others. DON'T use your "real name" if you don't want others to be able to find it. BobF>

Re: Clown loach disease, manners, lack of 8/28/10
Well my iPod puts that generic reply with all emails from it.
<Indeed. But that wasn't really my point. My comment was more about your lack of manners. I'm a volunteer, I took time from my busy life to help you solve a problem in an expert way, yet you didn't even say thank-you and instead straightaway asked a new question. That's bad manners. If you can't take a gentle hint from me, then God help you when life starts beating the importance of good manners into you the hard way!>
So I do apologize if that offends.
<I am certainly not offended by your iPod.>
Quite frankly you can XXXXXX. Mark Crisp
<Just as soon not, if it's all the same. Cheers, Neale.>
Bad manners. (ala a resp. to Neale ayer) 8/29/10
Hi, Brett here from Alabama. Sorry, no questions today. I just wanted to drop a line and thank you all for the excellent service you provide to all of us out here with less experience than yourselves. I have been reading the daily FAQ's since I discovered this wonderful site. It is the highlight of my day (I should probably get some friends that aren't fish). I wanted to
let you know that there are many people out here that really appreciate what you all are doing. It is a shame that some people are so self-centered that they are completely oblivious to the feeling of others. It is also a shame that in this world of instant gratification, where a person has the world at their fingertips, that manners and good grammar were the first things to fly out of the window. I'm sure that it must get quite frustrating and discouraging dealing with that on a regular basis. So, keep up the great work, and don't let it get you down. I for one don't know what I would do without this amazingly insightful resource. Thanks for all you do, Brett.
<Thank you for coming forward Brett. Your kind, encouraging words are humanizing. Bob Fenner>
Indeed Brett, thank you for your kind words. Much appreciated.
Cheers, Neale

Re: What is the Ball of slimy stuff from the Anemone - 6/11/10
Hi Bob,
<Big J>
Thanks for all your help.. I have started to use the search features as you suggested....
<Ah good... knowledge is indeed power. Be powerful in what you know, and as importantly, what you can readily find>
I really appreciate your time and patience with people like us.
<A pleasure, even honour, to serve, assist others>
Have a good day.
Joanna
<And you, BobF>
Re: What is the Ball of slimy stuff from the Anemone - 6/11/10
Hi Bob,
I got all the information I needed using the search... You guys are the best...
Thanks
Joanna
<Thank you, B>

Order, No sale 6/5/10
*Dear Sir/Madam*
<Hello>
* Good Morning to you, my name is Michael Jones and I am sending you this email in regards with the inquiry of some aquarium I will like to know if you do have a fresh water aquarium and its prices for the ones that you do have in stock and also I will like to know if you do accept credit card as a method of payment and I hope to hear from you soon with the above that I have requested till then talk to you soon .*
*Regards*
*Michael Jones*
<Sorry this site is informational only, we have nothing for sale through our website.>
<Chris>

Re: Tubastrea aurea, Now searching/using WWM, ideas for ed. 4/15/10
Hi,
<Hello Suze>
Thanks for the link. Is there a way I can find the articles on the saltwater reef tank keeping vs. the FAQ's as I think many times I am reading what people have in their systems and becoming a little confused.
<Mmm, yes... if I understand your question, perusing the Indices... all is interlinked.... for SW starting here:
http://wetwebmedia.com/marine/index.htm
the blue characters are links... and the super-indices, like the marine, are linked (on the left shared border) on all pages... the FAQs files are always labeled as such, with article titles lacking this designator>
I truly only want to keep the system viable with as little chemical warfare as possible. For years we have had only the frogspawn and open brain coral.
We also have had for the same length of time pulsating xenia on their own corner although they do like to spread. I eliminated the mushrooms I had initially started with putting them into their own system (except for a rock of beautiful blue ones that can easily be removed if need be).
<Good>
I have tried the soft corals such as leather early on and they never grew well so stuck with the LPS.
With a 75 gal tank compact fluorescent lighting 65 watt x4 I was hoping to add about 2 more LPS coral. Since my coral are all blue green it seems I was looking to add color.
I am ever so glad for the link and loved reading all in the area with the links of articles on top.
Thank you so much.
PS I have snorkeled around Moorea and wonder if Fiji or the atolls in Fr. Polynesia.
<?>
We also snorkeled the Pacific side off Quepos, Costa Rica finding cloudy water, little coral but pretty fish.
<The Atlantic side is much more tropical>
I would love to take a University course offering this type of biology. I work in the medical field
and have a degree with biology/chemistry but more into humans than sea life.
<Ahh, understood. I have academic background in both>
Ever think of offering online classes?
Sue
<Yes... and even did so/me of these years ago through other sites. I will definitely add your suggestion to our "wish list" of experiences to offer.
Thank you. BobF>

Aquarium Order.. ? 3/7/2010
Hello Let Me Inaugurate Myself My Name Its Rev.Paul Gates And I Am Sending You This Email To Order Of Some Aquarium And Here Are The Dimension I Want To Be Estimate On:
1. on sea strart aquarium
2. 72 long x 18 wide 24 tall
3. 125 gallone all glass aquarium
4. 72 long 18 wide 22 tall
Quantity:10
And You Can Also Email Me With The Once You Have So That I Would Make My Destination On That And Also Please This Its Very Essential So I Need You To
Get Back To Me ASAP.And Also Email Me With The Method Of Credit Card You Accept As A Form Of Payment And Your Contact Details.
Note:I Want This Email To Be Respond By The Owner Or The Manager
Thank You
May God Bless You
Rev.Paul Gates
<What?>
Re: Aquarium Order.. ? 3/8/10
Bob,
The message about placing an order for a bunch of fish tanks is a common spam. It's a credit card fraud.
Cheers, Neale
Ahhh! Thank you, BobF.

Re: My fantail goldfish 2/19/10
thank you for all the feedback. I have attached some pictures... the singled out shiny scales in pictures 1 and 4 are the only shiny parts on the fish besides around it's face. And pictures 2 and 3 are visuals on the bump on it's lip.
Thanks again
<Nothing attached. Do be sure to read out requirement for images no larger than 500 KB each, here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/WWMAdminSubWebIndex/question_page.htm
Don't send the raw images produced by your camera. Cheers, Neale.>
My fantail goldfish... FAQ on Pix sending...
sorry that didn't have the pictures. this one does. but I have to resend the other 2 pictures on a different email
thank you for all the feedback. I have attached some pictures... the singled out shiny scales in pictures 1 and 4 are the only shiny parts on the fish besides around it's face. And pictures 2 and 3 are visuals on the bump on it's lip.
Thanks again
<Please send these images again, keeping ALL PHOTOS to smaller than 500 KB in size. If necessary, use something like iPhoto to resize the images and/or crop them down to the relevant bits. We do ask this from all
correspondents. It's on the page where you go our e-mail.
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/WWMAdminSubWebIndex/question_page.htm
You send 20 MB of images, and that's almost filled our e-mail "space",
meaning that anyone else who sends photos is going to have their messages bounced back. Plus, I don't really want to tie up my computer while it's downloading lots of huge photos! Cheers, Neale.>

Question About File Sizes For More Than 1 Attached Photo 1/13/10
Hi WWM,
<Hello Sue>
I sent an email a few days ago with a few photos and some questions but realized after I sent it that I forgot to reduce the size of the photos.
I'm so sorry!!! Not sure if you even got the email, but if you did I hope it didn't cause you any problems.
<Likely not.>
I am going to try to resend, and read your guidelines about keeping the size to a few hundred kb, but it sounded like that was assuming just a single photo attached.
Do you mean a few hundred KB total for ALL the photos attached, or a few hundred KB per photo.
<Per photo.>
Thanks, and again my apologies if the email disrupted anything.
<Not a problem Sue, and have a nice day. James (Salty Dog)>
Sue
Re Question About File Sizes For More Than 1 Attached Photo 1/13/10
Thanks James! Have a nice day yourself!
<You're welcome Sue. James (Salty Dog)>

Identification 12/24/09
hi I am, Godffrey Nazaire conducting a thesis entitle "Macroinvertebrate diversity in mangrove swamp of Barrio Ilang, Davao City" would like to ask from you if you can help me identifying this species of fiddler crab attached here.
hoping for your kind consideration
hoping for your positive response
god bless
Godffrey
University of Southeastern Philippines
<Hello Godffrey. May I share some tips with you about asking help from academics. First, start by checking that they work in your field. My own PhD is in geology, and while I help out at WetWebMedia with regard to freshwater and brackish water fishkeeping, I am not a fiddler crab systematist. Next, be sure to start your message with a personal, relevant greeting. Asking someone to identify an organism -- in other words, asking them to spend their time doing your work -- is a significant favour. Many academics are happy to help, and thoroughly enjoying talking with other people interested in their aspect of science. But most academics will expect a personalised message. Perhaps mention how much you enjoyed reading one of their papers, or that you are particularly interested in some bit of science they are working on. If another academic mentioned their name, then say so. Make it clear that you know them and their science, and didn't just find their name on Google. Finally, don't send the same message to a bunch of people at the same time. Each message should be unique. By looking at the "To:" field on your message, I can see you sent it to at least five different people. That doesn't make me, the reader, feel special. Here at WetWebMedia we are all volunteers, and we each spend anything up to an hour a day answering e-mails from people with sick fish, plants and invertebrates. I'm sure the other academics you wrote to also have pressures on their time. It is therefore very important you make the recipient of your message *want* to reply, rather than make them annoyed. I'm taking the time writing this all out precisely because I was once a BSc student and a PhD student, and I certainly want you to enjoy your scientific education and get the most from your interactions with other scientists. So I hope you take this reply for what it is, advice that should make your communications with other scientists much more successful.
One last thing, at WWM we do specifically ask people keep attachments down to 500 KB or less (yours was over 6 MB). Big messages clog up our limited e-mail Inbox capacity, meaning other people -- often with emergencies -- have their messages bounced back. And I'm sure I'm not the only person who does not like to see Word .doc attachments in unsolicited e-mails. These can contain viruses, and often recipients prefer not to take the risk of opening them. If you need to send an image, send a JPEG, preferably reduced in size. Good luck and Merry Christmas, Neale.>

question
hi, i know you get this question a lot. i am very intrested in getting a
reef and fish saltwater tank. the problom is i am so confused from reading
a lot on the web that i have no clu as to what i need. i keep reading about
sumps and skimmers and tanks under the main tank . i have no idea as to
what i need. i will say that when i do something i like to do it the write
way and if that means spending more money then thats what ill do. can you
please list me the items thatyou would want in your tank from a to z. thank
you.
<No way at all to guide you to do without knowing what you have and want to do with it. The most important link to read for now:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/QueryCorrsRefPg.htm Scott V.>

question on me fish tank
hello I have just found your web sit and the question and answer page did
not help me none I have got what looks to be a ghost black knife fish but
it does not have the white strips on the tail so I am not sure which knife
fish it is any way I had some community fish a bottom feeder and the knife
fish in a 20 gallon tank for about a year now every thing was fine until
about 2 weeks ago I had got ick some how I thought it was the fact that my
daughter had put some cheeses in the water and I had screen top and my cat
pushed it in the water I had been treating the tank with nox ick for those
two weeks did a 3/4 water change that did not help so I finally did a full
water change today when I noticed the knife fish had the ick and lost all
but two community fish but now the knife fish has got little red spots on
the tail area and is not acting right he is hanging out during the day
which he never does up top of the tank and has cloudy eyes what can I do to
help him I do not won't to lose him he is the coolest fish I have ever had
please help
Sylvia
<Holy run-on sentence, Batman! Please read through here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/QueryCorrsRefPg.htm and resubmit your question.
-JustinN>

sir, plz tel me a easy way to make Beef heart mixture and how to prisurve it? tel me any prisurve itve to prisurve the Beef heart mixture in normal temparature plz tel me (NNS, = non-native speaker) 10/5/09
<Hello. Please review our modest requirements for questions, here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/faqstips.htm
The top part, shaded blue, is the critical part. Basic grammar, traditional spellings rather than "net speak" or bizarre abbreviations, capital letters -- nothing more (or less) than basic High School-level English is required. Why? Because these questions are shared with the world, and that means Google needs to catalogue them, and people for whom English isn't a first language will expect to be able to read them. So help us to help them, and then we'll help you. It's a simple deal, and we do ask this from everyone before they write, not just you. Thanks! Will N..>
Sorry crew
Actualy today i was sending mails through opera mini from my mobile there is no key for back space. Sorry <No problem, just do be aware of this in the future. Will N.>

Highlighting words feature -- 08/06/09
Bob... I saw the highlight search terms query. This is actually NOT easy to do on your own. I know you say you've done it, but what you've done is lightly just hit the "cached" option on your Google results. Unfortunately, you can't do so when searching within WWM.
However, I can make this very easy by just adding a simple "in page search/highlight" feature to the DWT. I've done so (temporarily!!)
for the Business Index (because it's small). I hope you won't be irked that I did this... I just didn't know of any other way to show it to you without actually doing it to one of the subwebs. But no
worries if you don't like it, I can remove it in <5min (with no trouble). It works quite nicely though... and I know I've heard A LOT of people express a wish for such a thing (both an in-page search and a highlighter-- to ease/expedite searching).
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/AqBizSubWebIndex/Biz%20Index/Biz%20index.htm
Let me know what you think.
<Very nice... Is there some way to add a bit more labeling... e.g. "Words to be Highlighted"... I'd add to the root, other subwebs if this won't add to much download time per. B>
Cheers,
Sara

Re: Highlighting words feature -- 08/06/09
Cool... I do think it will be helpful. Yes, I can add more labeling.
Um, how's this...
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/AqBizSubWebIndex/Bettabiz.htm
<Even better>
The only "trouble" is, as you know, with the marine subweb, it takes several hours for any change to the DWT to save to all the pages (as it does, for example, whenever you add a sponsor). I can do the other
subwebs and just wait for you to tell me when a good time to do the marine one might be.
Cheers,
Sara
<Past four PM PST today if you can/please... Am out for the HHH Vball then. B>
Re: Highlighting words feature
Will do... have fun at v-ball! -Sara M.
<Thank you. B>

Re: Highlighted Search Words 8/6/09
Hi Bob,
Not quite sure what you mean.
<Ahh, please use the search tool here:
http://wetwebmedia.com/WWMAdminSubWebIndex/question_page.htm>
I am not a software writer. I don't know how this is accomplished. I just know that I have seen it done. But certainly would do what I could to help you.
-Bob
<The other Bob>

SW Nitrite: No information, no reading. 8/5/2009
Hey yesterday I noticed my clown wasn't as active as usual so I did a nitrite check it turned out they were too high so I did a 20% water change and got the nitrites back down will my fish be alright or should I do something he looks fine but I just wanna check with a pro
<There are hundreds of pages on the website covering this as well as filter maintenance. Please search the website before submitting a question. Also, please use proper grammar\punctuation.>
<MikeV>

Sick Green Pipe Organ Coral: I love guessing... 5/29/2009
<Hi>
They have not opened in a week. warier levels are good
<?>
salt is good help ? do they go dormant ? please help
<Need much more information. how big is your tank, how is it filtered, who is it lit, what is in there with it? You can start reading here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/blue,pip.htm
In the future, do read here before submitting.
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/WWMAdminSubWebIndex/question_page.htm
specifically:
a) Please check your grammar and spelling... as all content is answered, then posted on this website and read over MANY times by others.
b) Please write in complete sentences,
c) PLEASE, NO MESSAGES IN ALL CAPITALS!
d) If you want to send attachments (particularly of photographs), please limit photo size to a few hundred Kbytes... and send along as jpegs or bmps.
e) DO send us as much pertinent information/data as you have. DON'T worry re length of your message... We NEED to know what you have in terms of the system, its history of operation, water quality tests, livestock, observable data... >
<MikeV>

How to write like a wanker 5/17/09
Given our constant struggle with text messages, leet speak and other such things on the WWM postbag, I thought you might enjoy this article. Oddly, the spellings are American English, but the expletives seem to be British English ones (e.g., "arse" for "ass").
Cheers, Neale
http://www.guidenet.net/resources/wanker.html
<Gosh, this is great... And penned in 02! Am sharing. BobF>

Spam and Zombie Emails 4/16/09
Hello All~
Wanted to let you know that an email has been sent to almost everyone in my contact list that shows to have been generated by me. In the subject field it either reads 'heyy...' or 'Hello' followed by your name or email address and the text indicates that there is a website that you can click on to find out who has blocked you on Yahoo messenger. This did not come from me ~please delete.
<Ah, no problem Monica. We get a couple dozen emails a day from "zombie" computers. It is marked as spam but is filtered more for content, not the email address. Heck, much of what I personally send along to the Crew addy is automatically put into the spam quarantine! You will be fine, if you have questions in the future they will get through.>
Sorry for the inconvenience.
Hope all of you are well~
<We are as far as I am aware!>
Monica
<Scott V.>

marine ich... writing before searching, reading 1/14/09 Hey All, <Jim> Thank you again for the help. I purchased a fire fish <Are social animals> from the LFS and I believe it has ich . I am currently setting up a quarantine tank to treat it. Are there any specific products you recommend for treatment? <Yes... posted> Also, can shrimp get ich ? <No> I have a fire shrimp that I have noticed its color fading and today when I looked closer it is covered in very tiny white dots. If it is ich how can I treat the shrimp? <Reading> thanks a bunch Jim <Help yourself... start here: http://wetwebmedia.com/WWMAdminSubWebIndex/question_page.htm Bob Fenner>

Filter out people who can't spell! 8/30/08 Hi Bob, As Mark Morford says, a genius idea: Behold the YouTube Comment Snob. Wonder if it would work on WWM! Cheers, Neale http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2008/08/29/notes082908.DTL <Brilliant! Or the StupidFilter... Bush 43... what a crack-up. Cheers, B>

Re: Refugium Sand... really, just using, not abusing WWM 8/2/08 ""I started my refugium about 2 years ago it is doing great. I using a 20 gallon tank and I'm using Prolifera Caulerpa and some Feather Caulerpa in it. <Mmm, I would switch, get rid of these... look to other, more useful groups of algae... Read here: http://wetwebmedia.com/marine/maintenance/index.htm scroll down...> { I like the Prolifera Caulerpa I'm pulling out the Feather Caulerpa and I have 3other kinds } And I'm using a MJ 900 to pump the water up to the refugium. and my sand is about 4.5'' deep. (Is it normal for the sand to start turning black?) <... not good> { I didn't think so } I think it may have a smell also. Do I need to remove the sand and start over or can clean it? If I can clean it what would be the best way? <... you're joking? Or just lazy? Or refuse to follow directions? Go elsewhere> "" { Whats up do you think I'm stupid? <<Mmm, no... check above, that was not one of the choices suggested...> The only stupid question is the one that is not asked.. <Umm, we disagree here> All I wanted to know is if I can use my sand again or do I have to start over. <<... posted...>> And lazy it took a bit more work to wash out the old sand rather than washing the dust from a new bag of sand. I'm going to seed the old sand with some wild live sand that I can get from my LFS Aqua Touch Phoenix AZ } <<An excellent store/outlet>> ""Please excuse my grammar Thanks wdbill <No... use the tools available before sending... including the search tool, indices on WWM... Your info. and likely much more of use to you is archived there. Bob Fenner>"" { Do like poeple to answer there own questions? I have your Book. So why are you talking down to me.I bet face to face you would talk down to me or anyone with a question that you may be able to answer. I just wanted to know some of your ideas on this Thanks Bill F } <My ideas are actually about "all posted"... AND as stated from where you were able to write us, we ask that people search before writing... there are tens of thousands (not a mis print) of folks who use this tool/reference everyday... WWM is NOT a personalized question/answer bb, nor a bar and grill, nor... It IS a reference, in print, to be used as such... with people writing in if there is (and there are indeed) issues that aren't covered at all or sufficiently per their specific situations... Yours are very general, and the material and much more ancillary information (that you will/would find of use had you looked, read) to augment your particular circumstances... I ask you, try to put yourself in my/our place... This/WWM is NOT a job... it is free/gratis/of no cost to you... Use it properly or go elsewhere. Bob Fenner>

Condi Question... PLEASE! Search, read before you write 7/26/08 Hello I purchased what I believe to be a Condy anemone (mostly clear tips that turn white when deflated with a pink base) and I believe some of the information I got when I purchased it was false. <A photo please> Let me start by saying that my 20 gallon long tank is only 8 weeks old, it has 1 lb of live rock a blue damsel, domino damsel and velvet blue damsel along with two emerald crabs as tank mates. <... over and mis-stocked... Let's stop right here and send you back to our site... where you were directed to search before wasting y/our time writing us... READ re each of these species. What you have jammed in here won't work> Although the anemone stayed bloomed and spread out the first few hours after feeding it a piece of krill it immediately retracted. I assumed because it was digesting and awoke the next morning to a fully bloomed anemone again. However after feeding my fish that morning the anemone shrank in size and retracted most of its tentacles inside its body. Since which time the blue and velvet blue have been picking at it non stop. Now your web site says they can sting which made me wonder if I really have a Condy at all because both the employee at the shop it was purchased and my husband handled it with bare hands, with no result. Can they harm the anemone doing this or vice versa can the anemone harm the fish? A test of my water confirms everything is still normal. But another stark contrast from you is that it needs an improved lighting system, the employee assured me that this one will do fine under factory lighting. Is this true or will this anemone be dead soon due to poor lighting? <This and much more you need to know is already posted/archived... Maybe start reading here: http://wetwebmedia.com/WWMAdminSubWebIndex/question_page.htm Bob Fenner>

Apology and one question - 07/10/08 Dear W.W.M. Crew: I've just read some of the horrible remarks that have been made by others, as they complain about your requests for proper spelling and grammar, and as they curse and complain about other things. I am SO grateful for the service that you provide, that I became physically ill, due to their remarks. I am sorry that you have ever received such unnecessary garbage. Here is my question: I am working on an aquarium project, following up on suggestions that were made by Neale. Is there a way that I can submit a question or two, and have it directed to Neale, as opposed to someone who has NOT been involved in our email conversation? THANK YOU, Jake <Hello Jake. I shouldn't be too concerned about the occasional negative feedback we get. That's part of life, and everyone's entitled to their opinion, whether justified or not. In any event, the nice replies and comments we get so far outweigh the occasional gripe that I don't think any of us are fussed about them. Anyway, as for getting messages to me personally, feel free to add something to the Subject line. If I'm about (which isn't all the time) someone else on the team will put it into my mailbox. But do remember we don't keep records of correspondence. So while I'm happy to provide additional comments to a particular issue, if it's been more than a day or two since the last reply, do add a summary of the preceding discussion to your message. Cheers, Neale.>

A lot of tank questions. Reading, nano set-up, reading, algae control, reading, format... 1/30/08 Hm. This makes. . . Attempt #4 to send though am waiting a couple days in between for good measure). <Mmm, strange... have not heard of trouble otherwise... and this is the first time I've seen this msg.. Maybe our spam filter?> PLEASE forgive me if you've gotten them all, just my email seems to be doing that "yum, email is tasty" bit when I hit send. . . Using a different one this time. Anyway. . . Thank you for being there to read people's emails and answer questions. And thank you for taking the time to read the horribly long story-of-my-life type message. Let me start by saying I recently (mid-last year?) Stopped taking LFS advise. I seem to always find the people who ?he's never steered me wrong ever!? and get the ?ooooh, no, you'll have no problems keeping a tang in a 2 gallon freshwater pico tank!? sort of advise <advice> from them(I?m not actually dumb enough to have fallen for that though, luckily. Though pretty much every other bad bit of advise I likely have at one time. I could nearly write a book on all the idiotic things I have believed.) Hence my not listening anymore and trying to tune it out when I go in for fish food and overhear the person telling a guy to buy a school of tetras and few blue gouramis for the 10 gallon tank that was set up that weekend. I try to get by the least of the 5 evils whenever possible. And have stocked up a lot of questions, most of which I know are answered on here, but my brain and search engines really don't play nicely together. The first tank I've got is a 10 gallon nano-reef. No fish, can't seem to keep any of them alive (had no problems when the tank was first set up, yet after a bad move I've lost any other one I've tried :( a couple clowns when it was in a 20 gallon and a couple of Chrysiptera parasema at couple of separate times after, <These Pomacentrids need more room...> so I am keeping it just coral at the moment) I've got some Chaeto in it to soak up extra nutrients, but it seems to grow like a weed and looks bad in the main tank. Is there some way to keep it controlled? <Remote it in a sump/refugium, keep it trimmed otherwise...> I really don't have room on the back of the tank for a big hob to put it in, yet I like to have it in there. I've been toying with the idea of turning a small clear kitchen storage canister into a canister filter for it, <Can be done... Have you read this: http://wetwebmedia.com/hagenrefugart.htm> would I be able to put the Chaeto in that without a special light, or would I need to rig something up over that? <A light would be very useful... there are some nice small units available commercially> Also. Lately, I seem to be having an outbreak. . . of. . . Caulerpa? How'd that happen? I haven't added any LR to the tank in over 8 months, and no dry rock for a little over 6. <Spores, propitious circumstances...> Yet the other day I pulled a good bit out. 3 species, one of the feather-leaved ones, grape and some species I can't seem to find an id for looks almost like little green mushrooms on the runner). Now I see a bit growing back into the tank again. How do I get rid of it, just keep pulling? <Reading...: http://wetwebmedia.com/caulerpacomp.htm> And, if I do like I did last time, when I knock everything in the tank over trying to get a single rock out/clean, is that going to hurt anything? That seems to put a cloud of gunk up into the water column that I can't imagine being good for the tank. <Hopefully not> Second tank is a 29 gallon, newly set up as a planted tank. I was given a 65 watt pc fixture for it, but that needs a light (badly.) I set up the tank way too quickly, out of just being too impatient with myself (no excuse) I know everyone says that the 65(67?)K bulbs are best for plants, <? You're off a decimal...> but are the 10Ks just as good? <Let's stop right here... It's obvious you haven't tried looking all this up for yourself... what you enquire about thus far is gone over and over on WWM... Please learn to and use the indices and search tool as posted here: http://wetwebmedia.com/WWMAdminSubWebIndex/question_page.htm Am just skipping the rest... see my note below.> I've seen some places say it is just a matter of preference, and others say that there is a huge difference in growth. The technical info just makes my head spin and all I need to know is if I can get a 10K bulb locally or if I really need to order one from online. . . Also, I've been told that with that much light if I do not have CO2 all I will be growing is an algae farm. But I can't get more info than that. . . I can't afford pressurised. Way out of my price range. I was looking at the Hydor green NRG CO2(are they any good? Apparently no one on the forums I'm on has used them before. Maybe you guys have heard a good/bad review?) system at first, yet the refills are really expensive. Can you put a home-made yeast based concoction in there when the CO2 level starts to get low, or do you have to buy theirs? If you must use theirs, is DIY nearly as good as that system? And of course, I had an apple snail well over a year old) that died in there behind something and I didn't know about it until I had an ammonia spike a bit green in the test tube >_< way too high!) I did a 10 gallon water change and it seems to have pulled all of the ammonia out (I'm going to keep monitoring it though) if that was the only problem with the tank that should stabilise it and prevent any more spikes, right? Last question about that tank. Another famous stocking question (yay, don't you just get so sick of answering these?) Currently the tank has a lot of ?refugees? from the 60 gallon I had. It was my planted tank, though never looked good, so I decided to turn it back into an Oscar tank plus I missed my last Oscar too much!) I gave away most of the fish and being that the tank was stocked at the recommendation of one of those bad stores, it was way too many. . .) 1 male sword* 8 male guppies TINY guys! Even after being raised in a 60 gallon tank none is larger than an inch. . . Too much inbreeding?)** 10 neon tetras thinking about upping that to 12) 4 ottocinclus(getting algae wafers) 1 Panaque maccus(I think? Closest ?clown pleco? I can seem to find. He's also going to be moved from the tank quite soon, given to a friend whose got a bigger tank) and unfortunately 4 Cory cats. 2 ?spotted?(look to be Corydoras agassizii) and 2 albinos, because I was guaranteed that they?d all be happy together since they?re all cories. I want to give 2 of them away and keep 2. Would either one be better in a 29 than the other? Once I give the 2 away I am going to get a couple more of the sort I have kept(how many should I have in my school? With the other fish I've already got.) [*the sword is a loner because he was a ?feeder fry? I took home with a group of other ones and he is the only one who lived. He's NOT going to be replaced when he dies of old age, but seems to not have solo problems. He's always willing to eat and seems to be any less active than the swords I see in stores/the other fish in my tank. **the guppies also won?t ever be replaced. All of them were bred in my big tank, and are little gems.] The next is a 10 gallon. It has fluorite and chain swords along with java moss in it. And some form of tiny bladderwort. I had it divided with 2 bettas in it, but for some reason both died within days of each other this week. I Think the one was really old at the store because he had raggedy fins and was slightly underweight(either that or he was just in really poor shape from those blasted cups) I had him for around 6 months, though he never seemed to improve or decline and the other guy for around 3(wasn?t divided until then) and he seemed to be in fine health. The first guy went on Tuesday of last week, and on Thursday when I was off work and had time to do a water change the other(healthier) guy was dead. He hadn?t been showing any sort of illness at all. I figured it may have been ammonia from not pulling the other guy out quickly enough, but did a water change anyway and when I finally got a new test kit on Saturday(couldn?t find my last one) I was getting 0s for ammonia nitrate and nitrite. Like I do from the identical(other than what species of plants are in it) tank that is directly next to it(about 4" away, so if something had gotten into the water I'm sure the other one would be showing it by now?) I?d really like to use it for a crowntail I've got so he can have better water, but I'm somewhat afraid of putting another fish in there since I don't know what killed my last ones. Do you think it?d be safe, or would I be risking something(I used the same siphon on the other 10 without thinking about it and those boys are both completely fine still) If not how can I sanitise the fluorite and plants? Also, in those tanks how necessary is it to actually change the water? I've never gotten any nitrate readings in either of them(I know the test kit works, nitrate shows up with it in other tanks) Is there anying that the water adds to the tank that the fish can't get from their food? Okay. Finally the LAST tank I have questions about(I can almost hear you sighing in relief!) is the 60 gallon I've got my baby Oscar in(he?s quite the handsome little devil, about 4", a tiger albino, and already a beggar!) My history with oscars is just as tainted as the rest of the tanks I've had. The last one. Aye. I?ll let you hear a bit of why I don't listen to pet stores anymore. I was looking at a bunch of cute babies(little ones, a couple inches) at the store and was told that for my 10 gallon gravel bottomed tank that I should get 2 oscars and 2 firemouths. No joke. A couple months after I found out how much of a complete idiot I was I bought the 60 gallon and returned 1 of the oscars and the firemouth that was still alive. And was promptly talked into 5 silver dollars and a common pleco. 2 of the silvers kept dying after being replaced so I stuck with 3. On that 60 I had a hornwort plant(well underlit and was always shedding like mad as a result) and around 2-3" of gravel. As predicted that was impossible to keep clean and it was a nitrate factory. When the test kit was finally staying blood red after 75% water changes I gave them all away and decided to go with the peaceful community. Flash forward to the current setup. I've got just enough gravel to cover the bottom of the tank, some driftwood with anubias and java ferns(the ferns seem to be doing better, so I'm probably going to take the anubias out and put more ferns in there, unless little bit decides to shred them) and a rena xp3(350 GPH) It?s got 4 sponges a basket 2/3 full of bio rings and a layer of floss in it. While the Oscar is still small I want to optimise my filtration. Should I leave just a couple of the sponges(1 less coarse, 1 more coarse) and a bit of the floss and fill the rest with bio-rings? Or should I just fill the rest of my empty space with the rings? I've also got a penguin filter that moves the same amount of water. Should I add that? And if so what can I use for media? All of the commercial pads for them have carbon, and call it superstition but since I quit running carbon I've not had a single sick fish except ones that were sickly when I got them. Figure it isn?t bad if I need to get something out of the water, but until then I don't see any need to have it in my system. Should I just take the carbon out of those or get something else to put in there? Lastly, I have a small striped raphael catfish(Platydorus something?) I do remember that with my last O, no matter the food size I gave him, he?d always blow about half of it out his gills. Hence having the pleco(as a ?cleaner? that seemed to put out more waste than he ate!) in the original tank. I figured the extra food that I?ll need to add at night for the cat/ extra water change time wouldn?t hurt and I wanted something to clean the uneaten food from the tank bottom instead of just letting it rot. I?d looked around online and saw that most people(on Oscar forums anyway) suggest synodontis species or the raphaels as good cleaning tankmates. The only synos sold locally are either ones that get to be close to 2 feet long, or didn't look like eupterus, though they were labelled as such. And I definitely did not want to get one only to find out that I got another species that would get to 18+". So I got a raphael instead. When I looked them up on planet catfish the article did not have anything about them needing to be in schools, yet I've seen that on one of your faqs. Does this mean I made yet another mistake by buying him? I Know the tank wouldn?t be able to get by with an entire school of them in it. . . Thank you again for reading this long winded thing. And for being there to answer undereducated hobbyist?s(like me) questions! <Going forward. LOOK first for your answers (and much more you will find in the way of related/ancillary material in the process) and "break up" your questions a bit... re topic, type of system... for others perusal. Cheers, Bob Fenner>

I learned to use the search tool and I bought your book 11/3/07 Hello Bob, <Mark> I learned to use the search tool and I bought your book. I apologize for not researching the FAQ's before asking my questions and wasting your time. <No worries> As penance, I made a donation to support your site. <Heeee! I absolve you> I have noticed that many people make the same mistake as me...not doing proper research before asking a question. When this occurs, why not recommend in your response that the offending party do just that? Mark Gilbank <Perhaps we've had too much western "acculturation"... Could be re-termed Judeo-Christian brain-washing. Cheers, BobF>

Re: Lion fish and over stocking ... Using WWM Do you need live rock for seahorses and how much (scrape the lions ) Last note how do i get rid of excessive algae growth especially hair algae <... please learn to/use the search tool, indices: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/WWMAdminSubWebIndex/question_page.htm

Re: BTA & Candy Cane Coral Concerns 9/12/07 Hello, <Hi Jackie, Mich here again.> I wonder if you could resend your response to my email. <Certainly! I will include below.> Outlook Administer removed it because it was seen as SPAM. <Wonderful Spam... wonderful Spam... Spam... Spam... Spam...> I have sense <or since> added you to my safe list, which will enable me to receive emails from you. <Excellent!> Thanks, <Welcome! Mich> Jacqueline S. Morris

New entrant into the Saltwater arena, wisenheimer, lazy or just ignorant re WWM? - 08/31/07 Hi, <Dinesh> I have just got a Saltwater aquarium wherein i have 1 maroon clown, <Can be a terror in time, places...> 1 yellow tailed damsel , 1 blue damsel and 1 anemone (maroon in colour and short bulb like tentacles). <Mmm, do you know which species?> The size of my tank is 3 feet wide 4 feet height <!> and 1 feet depth. It has rocks and sand in it. Approximately 200 lts of water <Nah... doesn't compute> I have one blue light and i pink light. <...> The anemone has climbed 3/4 th. way up on the glass and my clown does not play with it . (it's been only 3 days that the have all met). <... are you pulling old Bob the Fishman's fins here?> My question is on adequate lighting for this size of a tank, and what to feed the clown, damsels and the anemone and how often to feed them. regds Dinesh <Please read here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/WWMAdminSubWebIndex/question_page.htm and learn to use the Indices on WWM... your answers and much more that you're likely unaware of but essential to know, is posted/archived there. Bob Fenner> Some reading now! SW... a jokester? 8/18/07 Hi my name is David. I have a 55 gallon fishtank and I wanted to set up a reef aquarium with soft coral and sea anemones. I am also adding a Radiata Lionfish and a Sand Sifting Sea Star as well. Is there any anemone fish that can live with that combination? I have done my research and have come up empty handed. Please help <... You're joking? Please... what you list won't work... read here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marine/index.htm the pretty blue writing are links. Bob Fenner>

Re: Refugium make-up 8/16/07 Hi Bob, <David> Thanks ever so for the quick response. [Had a quiet chuckle with your Chaetomorpha (i.e. spaghetti) western quip :-)] <Wish the present Net would allow me to whistle the theme tune...> No questions this time just a few responses to share. I will now use fine coral sand instead of the aragonite for the DSB. I have heaps of live rock rubble so I will throw more in to the refugium. <Good times two> Unfortunately the sump/refugium is as big as is practical to fit under the display tank. Aesthetics (or rather my wife) <Heee!> prevent me from situating it outside the cabinetry. It will have 80l in the overflow chamber/sump and another 80l in the refugium. Once up and running I will perform a transit water overflow test and increase the size of the baffles accordingly. <Well-stated> By my rudimentary calculations I believe I will be able to increase these by a further 50mm (2") and still leave enough volume for pump failure. This will add 10 litres to the sump and another 10 litres to the refugium bringing the total to 180l. This represents roughly 20% of the main display tank (650l). <Mmm, yes> Further down the track I have a plan to introduce an outside sump/refugium which will receive overflow from the main display first, which will then gravity feed to the under the display sump/refugium, before being returned. I am not limited by space here so I have thoughts on a largish 500l tank split 100l for overflow capture and 400l for the refugium. This will mean I will effectively have 2 refugiums and the water volume by comparison to the main display will effectively be doubled. <Nice!> This is probably as big a project as the main display itself which is underway. It will involve erecting a purpose built housing adjacent to the outside wall, more holes in the wall (I already have plumbing going to/from an external chiller and separate plumbing for automated RO water top ups and 10% weekly water exchanges, more holes for external electrics, and then the whole tank sits on a tin base which has separate floor level plumbing for emergency flooding to an outside drain.), so many holes in fact I'm considering removing the wall. :-) <Might be best here... and not to kibitz too much... wouldn't a walk-in space with power, water/sink and drain line be great there?> So now to your question of me. Re "How'd you like to write them, come up with a/the scheme to re-organize, move?". Sadly my life is full raising a family of 4 kids between the ages of 5 & 10. <Yeeikes! I have a hard enough time keeping up with our dogs! Oh, and Pete, our roomie> What little spare time I do have will be preciously spent resurrecting my marine hobby which I hope to introduce the kids into. However I do have one small suggestion for the advice on posts on your 'Ask the WWM crew a question' page. I notice that many of the emails start off on one subject and then drift off into other non-related areas. This means that valuable responses can be missed if someone is researching a particular topic and the response has been filed under a different category. <Yes... getting "corrected" with time, efforts to sub-divide, make the headings/categories more focused, limited> Whenever I post I send separate mails for each topic knowing that they will likely end up in different areas. Would it be worthwhile maybe advising others to do the same? <Mmm, yes... unless the input, other info. is related somewhat... I do place such "FAQs" in more than one "box" often enough...> Maybe something like "e. Have more than one topic? - then send more than one mail." or such like. As I say just a thought, but do keep up the great work - yours is an invaluable resource to good fish keeping husbandry as are your books (I have the lot). Cheers Dave <Thank you for this valuable input and your kind acknowledgments Dave... Bob Fenner>

Re: Fish ID... Novaculichthys taeniourus (Dragon Wrasse) - 08/06/07 Thank you <<Quite welcome. EricR>> Backgrounds, Courtesies, And Maybe A Crew Member In The Making - 08/06/07 Hi, <<Hello Wikus>> My name is actually Afrikaans. I'm from South Africa. <<Ahh...I see>> It's really nice to get a response after a simple thank you. <<Indeed...a simple courtesy>> I appreciate the work you guys are doing and hope to be able to do the same someday. <<We're happy to be of service...perhaps you will join us one day>> All of the best, Wikus <<And to you in kind. EricR>>

I couldn't help myself! 7/25/07 Crew, <Mike> I can't believe the grief you receive trying to help people with problems/questions who come to you! I had to comment on a couple of items in the daily FAQs. In regard to the individual upset about the search feature, a quick way to find what you want in a page full of threads is to do the Google search, open one of the links suggested, then in the pull-down menu of your web browser click edit, then find. Type in what word/phrase you are looking for and click "find next". Continue clicking "find next" until you are at exactly what you went to the page for. For the individual who "knows how many crabs s/he has", I "knew" I had no mithrax crabs in my tank until I found one hiding in the rock. Hitchhiker indeed! Mike <Thank you for this input and commiseration. Bob Fenner>

Searching for info on WWM - 07/24/07 Dear Crew, I saw this in the dailies today, and wanted to respond to it: <I thank you> >Searching for info, on WWM, elsewhere... - 07/22/07 >I have been using this site for six months. ><Me? Ten years or so> >My question or maybe suggestion is that when I do a search and click one of the results I am then >sent to page with at least thirty 'related discussion' posts and it is very difficult to find the one >that pertains to me. ><Mmm, depending on the logic, subject, limit of the topic... likely about all you can do... The site >is arranged to avail relevant, related info> >While there is always good info to be read on these other posts, it is frustrating and time consuming enough that I turn to another reef site. <Go there> >Isn't there any way to make it so that when I search for something on say 'Deltec skimmer' the only link that I click brings up ONLY 'Deltec skimmer' posts as opposed to the general forum on skimmers. ><Write the folks at Google such questions... not our search tool. RMF> >Thank you for all your hard work, ><Welcome> >Todd After you have used the google search feature, and it brings you to a page with multiple posts, it is easy enough to find what you are looking for by either pressing "Ctrl" and "F" simultaneously or by selecting "Edit" and then "Find" in the Internet Explorer toolbar. This brings up a search dialog for that page that you can paste your search term into (In this example it was 'Deltec skimmer' and it will bring you to the exact part of that page that it is on. Daniel <Bingo. BobF>

Re: Yellow Watchman Goby 1 - Hermit Crab 0... New WWM... 6/22/07 I sent in an email on the 19th Subject: Yellow Watchman Goby 1 - Hermit Crab 0 with two questions one about the Yellow Watchman Goby the other about some corals. Isn't a time sensitive thing but I read that some emails get dropped so I wanted to check. Previous emails have been responded to with amazing speed. Thanks for all your help, ~Matthew <Haven't seen such... we're on the slippery and steep slide learning curve of a new ISP and webmail program... Please re-send. BobF> Ok what size should I make the pictures? - 04/23/07 <Keep the resolution, but shrink them with compression. If you start with .JPG files, you will have better luck with this. Or, send them one at a time and I will resize them for you. Each time you send one, I will send it back to you for reattachment in your final email. I have plenty of photo-editing software for this.> I sent one email and they were too big so I cut them in half to 220k. Now they are too small <I understand. Am sorry, but or server only has 10MB, and one message with half of that capacity really limits our ability to receive others' emails. -GrahamT>

Re: WWM, the "Simon Cowell" of the pet fish world? Lighting issues as well... 4/9/07 Thanks <You're welcome.> - I will continue to research as you suggested <Great…do particularly look into the Sanjay Joshi articles I recommended.> - For clarity sake, my comment with regard to elitist is not that of knowledge or experience, which we agree you have more than me hence the questions. <I understood this portion of your correspondence quite well.> It is more the manor of response that at times comes across a little harsh for those just seeking help. <Mmm….yes; you have said this before. But can your provide a specific incidence, we have, and have had many different participating crew members..> Sometimes people are desperate and are franticly seeking some knowledgeable help and occasionally they are met with a slap in the face in the form of an e-mailed response. Such as asking them to do their research, <Lance this is where we will always disagree my friend. This is not a slap in the face or a purpose attempt to belittle folks. It is an attempt to however encourage people to learn to do their own reading, to in some manor become confident in their individual/learned knowledgeable…, many times WWM is emailed with questions that could be met with an immediate answer had the individual used the WWM google function. I am also of the opinion that spoon-feeding people will only hurt them long term. And as a practicing atheist….while I'm not a bible reader by any means at all…I do believe this quote (the many form of it) fits: "Give a man a fish and he eats for a day…tech him to fish and he eats for a lifetime." The same principle applies here.> which for a lot of people asking you the question is a form of doing research. <Yes but not an effective one, the detail catalogued in our articles, articles else wear are far more comprehensive than any single e-mail correspondence. I like to think of the crew as the entity that points someone in the right direction when they are stuck or get confliction information…we are not meant to be the sole means of research.> <<Well-stated Adam. RMF>> Anyway, just my opinion and only my opinion which you did ask for. <Yes I did, thank you.> I admittedly am new to the hobby and will certainly make my mistakes. <As we all have.> My intent is to seek the knowledge that I will need to maintain a healthy tank. <Much information abounds on this subject.> Also the truth is what I am seeking, I would accept someone advising me that I am doing something wrong. But why so harsh <Define harsh…instead of criticizing the crew, perhaps you could give us an example of this harshness or better yet describe for us in detail how you believe a query should be answered.> - I also see this in e-mail posts from other people. <Where?> Maybe take it easy a little, just a thought. I do respect the knowledge that WWM possesses and will continue to read it pages. <Thank you for this, though I (and likely most of the crew) will disagree.> <<Mmm, the medium is the message... what does this mean? Sometimes to me, that the format can be/is more compelling than the content itself. RMF>> Lance <Adam J.>

Re: WWM, the "Simon Cowell" of the pet fish world? Lighting issues as well... 4/9/07 Point taken and well stated - Although we may disagree, I appreciate the professional response with explanation of your point of view. My apologies for previous issues, I think I now better understand where you are coming from on certain points and appreciate the opportunity to express mine. Thanks, <Thank you for this Lance, the thoughts are appreciated and we are always open to suggestions.> Lance - A reader with a new (better) perspective. <AJ>

RE: SAILFIN BLENNY 3/26/07 LOOKING FOR A FOOD SUPPLEMENT - I HAVE NOT BEEN SUCCESSFUL WITH SUPPLEMENTED FOODS. I HAVE TRIED FORMULA TWO, ALGAE SHEETS, WAFERS, FLAKE FOODS AND PELLETS. IT WILL ONLY EAT OFF OF THE GLASS AND ROCKS AND IS GETTING VERY SKINNY (NOT ENOUGH IN TANK). I EVEN PLACED IT IN ISOLATION AND PROVIDED FOODS BUT TO NO AVAIL. ANY OTHER THOUGHTS - I FEAR THAT IT WILL STARVE TO DEATH. <Please... re-key and re-send your msg... NOT IN ALL CAP.s> Forget it! <Mmm, tis your choice, my friend. We are an all-volunteer service, provided for a world-wide community free of charge, and our only 'cost of usage' is the request of a little common courtesy when it comes to the text format as it arrives to us. If you're not willing to do what little we ask, we're not willing to assist. It's a pretty simple dichotomy, if you ask me. Get what you give. -JustinN> <<Well done Justin... and to cap it off... the info. requested is posted on WWM... in an article I penned, placed. B>>

Some folks just "don't get it" 03/26/07 You seem to be forgetting that my original question was not answered but ignored - I had to resend the question. Generally I was hoping to get some assistance with a problem but was met with belittlement and no answer. I was then asked for an update and was told to restate the question because someone must have forgotten. <<We don't "hold onto" such questions... too much volume, not enough human or computer RAM... RMF>> After restating the question I'm told that the format was wrong (caps)- excuse me for not being perfect for you purpose - It shouldn't be that hard to just offer some advise or direct me else ware. You seem to be asking for "common courtesy". Well give and you shall receive as you might say I also find it funny that it takes you minutes to be raid me when it take days to provide a real answer - funny how that works. <Kindly have a read here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/WWMAdminSubWebIndex/question_page.htm and http://www.wetwebmedia.com/faqstips.htm. You are NOT special in this case, we are simply asking what is expected of EVERYONE who expects a response from us. Again, this is an ALL-VOLUNTEER staff, who spends well over 100 hours a day collectively logged into a mail server answering questions such as yours. We receive upwards of 50+ queries a day; is it fair to us to have to correct every single one of these when they don't conform to the very simple standards that we expect? There are not enough hours in the day, to retype entire queries simply because someone feels that they deserve more attention than another. Sorry, bud. No sale. The information you want is posted, the attitude is undeserved. Remember this very simple point, my friend: You contacted US, not vice versa. -JustinN>

Size those attachments! 3/1/07 I whole heartedly apologize for that as I had purposely limited the number of images to what I felt would be manageable. I did not see any directions as I just went to contact info and sent the email. I will not make the mistake twice. Thank you for responding! Thanks, Brad <Ahh, apology accepted... Our mailserver unfortunately only has a ten meg capacity... We've tried to have this enlarged... but no go thus far. Hence we ask that folks limit the size of graphics to no more than a few hundred Kbytes. Cheers, BobF>

Language Issues: Proper Use of Affect and Effect 02/17/07 Hi Crew <Hi Karen, Mich here.> I know you spend an inordinate amount of time and effort correcting poor grammar and spelling from your questioners and it is much appreciated amongst everything else. <Hmm, you noticed? Hehe!> However, as the site is used by a lot of non-native speakers of English and I see the words Effect and Affect are often muddled in meaning. Will you take on board the following comments in the spirit they are offered (better communication of important information)? <Oh yes! Most assuredly!> These words do not have the same meaning but CAN be used in the same context. e.g. Water movement can be effected by the use of an additional powerhead (stationary water made to move) Water movement can be affected by the use of an additional powerhead (existing water movement changed) Water changes effect a dilution of pollutants and hence affect water quality in a positive manner. Chemical warfare between corals may affect growth and effect death of one party. Effects: makes happen, brings about. Affects: changes, influences. (Not the complete dictionary definition : ) ) <At one point in my life I learned a little saying that helped me use these two words properly (something along the lines of "I before E except after C".) but I am no longer able to recall the reminder, but remember it being quite useful. If anyone knows please share.> Keep up the great work, Karen <Will do our best! -Mich>

Re: Language Issues Proper Use of Affect and Effect 2/18/07 Mich <Karen> I think you would be referring to something like this "Affect," except for the specialists mentioned below, is a verb, meaning to cause change in something. "His headache affected his ability to concentrate." Verbs are words of action. So think "A" ?#8364;" Affect, Action ?#8364;" something is Acting on something else. "Effect" is usually a noun, a word for a thing, in this case a result of something. "Aspirin had the desired effect, and he aced the exam." Think "E" for End Product. This is a way to tell a verb and a noun apart lol BUT won't help the crew that much. The crew and others are having problems with the two VERBS, affect and effect. :) So much for the most common situations. <Hehee!> A less common (but useful) form of "effect" is a verb meaning to bring about or cause to happen. "She effected a revolution with her challenge to the grading system." TTFN Karen <Karen, thank you for sharing, helping. It is appreciated. -Mich>

I would like to send some marine fish photos...How do you prefer that to be done?... 2/16/07 Thanks <Mmm, jpgs of a few hundred Kbytes as attachments... BobF>

A suggestion, maybe a link to add? 2/9/07 Good afternoon Bob, if it is indeed you. <Tis Nicole> I noticed you received a query today from someone who had not capitalized their proper nouns or the beginning of their sentences, and they had around eight questions in all. I was wondering if it might not be easier for you to redirect these sorts of questions to the site I volunteer at? <Mmm, not easy... but will post your message> The site is www.allexperts.com. After you click on Animals/Pets and then Pet Fish, there are three categories to choose from: Fish, Freshwater Aquarium, and Saltwater Aquarium. There are 15 experts in Freshwater Aquarium currently. A few of these also volunteer in the category Fish. I know one of them has a PhD - and it certainly isn't me! I'm not exactly sure about the credentials of anybody else... I answer seven questions a day (we set limits in our own individual Preferences) and most of the others answer five a day or so. The questions are posted verbatim, so we either reject them for a specific reason, or answer them the way they are. We appear to have no expectation to follow English conventions in our replies, although I do the best I can as a "common" courtesy...the quotation marks because it is all but common, as you know! <Oh yes> I suspect you have been overwhelmed with questions lately. A few of these read as though they should be directed to message boards, or forums of a more informal nature, so I thought I would suggest allexperts.com...perhaps you can include us in your Links page? Thank you for you! Along with this wet world which you founded. Nicole <Will gladly post this as well. Thank you for your input and efforts in general. Bob Fenner>

Re: More poor English... about FW ich? 1/14/07 ok I think I found the source of my problem in my tank I have a algae eater too and I found two white spot on its fins do I need to clean out my tak to save my last two fish and put the one fish in qurintine my tank is a 5 gallon tank I dont know the ph levels or the tem I am new to this fish thing how cold or how warm should I have my tank we olny have the tank since xmas. should I take all the fish out and clean out my take to get rid of the ich <All of the information you request is already posted, available on our site. Likewise, you are still not following our conventions for question requests. I once again implore you to read here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/WWMAdminSubWebIndex/question_page.htm and http://www.wetwebmedia.com/faqstips.htm thoroughly, and recompose your letter with punctuation, capitalization, and proper grammar. -JustinN>

Post-script from a FAQ querier...FYI 1/6/07 Bob, I've been helping this gentleman by the name of John out with his FW nitrate levels, and I wanted to forward you the post-script he attached to his last correspondence. I told him I'd send along to you, as you're in charge of the site:-) Best, Jorie "P.S. snip this PS out, but could you use a faq on sending pictures, the site mentions kb's etc with regard to sending attached pictures, most people don't understand this. I would happily write you a guide on sending pictures for those using Windows XP (so about 90% of those reading your site by my reckoning (Linux users should know better LOL)). It would be nice to give something back. Let me know if that would help, I struggle with fish care but writing help files/faq's is my living, do let me know if I can help. The Windows world needs to know that the right mouse button is there for a reason, I see it as my mission to educate them :-) Thanks again John" <I thank you for your offer, and we will gladly post your guide here. Please send it along to either my addr. or the Crews. Bob Fenner> Hey Crew 1/3/07 Happy New Year crew, <And to you Brandon> I was wondering if ya'll have been having e-mail issues?!? <Oh, yes... thanks for not giving up...> I have sent the same question 3 times over the past 2 months and have yet to receive a reply. The question had a 77mb <Yikes! We only have (total) a webmail service that allows ten megs en toto... Could have gotten bumped for this alone... Need to re-size, send images of a few hundred Kbytes... per our instruction set re writing us: http://wetwebmedia.com/WWMAdminSubWebIndex/question_page.htm> picture attached and was concerning brittle star fish. I have not received a bounce back from your server so I am assuming that it got lost in the shuffle. Please let me know so I know if I should re-send the e-mail again. Thanks, Brandon <Please re-size, attach and re-send. Cheers, Bob Fenner> Sorry Bob, I misquoted... The size of the image was 75Kb not Mb... I will try to resend the e-mail right now. <Ah, good> Thanks, Brandon <BobF>

Email Received? 12/29/06 Hi, <Hello Stephanie, Mich here.> I've sent a few emails to the wet web crew over the last week or so, but haven't received a response. <I do not recall seeing your email address. What was the subject of your email?> I did have a picture attached (resized). It doesn't appear that my emails have bounced back, and I don't see the reply posted anywhere...Is my mail getting through? <I do not think it is getting through.> Or did I fail the minimum IQ required for a question (he heee... really hope that's not the case)? <Most certainly not the case!> Sorry to pester you, I feel like I'm harassing you folks... but that's not my intent. <No worries! I do not think you email was received.> I just want to be sure something didn't filter out my email because of the attachment. <I don't think it would be related to the attachment, but there have been occasional issue with our server.> Response or no, I really do appreciate this website and the wealth of information available through it! ...and so do my fish.... <Great to hear!> Stephanie D. <Please try resending. Please note, it is always good if the subject line doesn't sound like stock tips, sales, porn, or drugs. We get incredible amounts of junk mail! Thanks! -Mich> <<These email losses "happen" all too frequently... don't know if the trouble lies on our ISP/Webmail server end, the recipients, or somewhere in-between... Troublesome. BobF>> Re: My snail is dying - 12/12/06 where's the reply? I didn't see it anywhere! <Hmm.. Thanks for this, Leslie. Here is the reply I added to Mich's previous correspondence.> <Hey Leslie, JustinN with you this morning. I noticed your post about your snail, and thought I'd chime in a bit as well. I would agree with Mich that it sounds as if there's a lack of calcium and minerals in your water provided for the snail. One quick and simple solution is to add a clean cuttlebone to the tank for the snail. This should help him out some. Hope this helps you! Good luck! -JustinN> <Bob, I think I know what's going on here... I think that when we're using dual brackets, its being recognized by email clients as HTML code... Its trying to treat the comment as executable. Just a thought. -JustinN> <<Ahh! A definite possibility n the outbound. RMF>> See Daily FAQ page for "missing" responses - Re: Second letter sent - please help, somewhat urgent now.... sick betta and compatibility. 12/5/06 Hi Crew, <Hello Emma - I did indeed respond to your questions when you initially sent them, but it seems as though our site is having some server troubles. I apologize for the response not reaching you quicker. I found my reply to you categorized in the daily FAQ's here, about half-way down: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwdailyfaqs.htm I think I've answered your queries, but if not, please let me know. Best of luck, Jorie> <<RMF is wondering, worrying that the world of this and that "blocking" software is having its way with all of us>> Goldfishes...? WWM, English, Re-sending... Receiving 12/4/06 Ahoy Crew, Just wondering if you received my message or not since it's been a few days and I've read in a few places that it only takes 24 hr (usually) for a response. Also wondering if perhaps I might've crossed your "typing in proper capitalization" rule, if I did I apologize and I can resend. But please note that I earn my way of living by working at a place that involves me typing very, very fast and where capitalization isn't important, only typing in verbatim. I also read your response to another (apparently) younger gentleman who hadn't typed with proper caps, yet his letter to you was still completely legible. Please also remember the internet is not a place of formalities. With myspace, and facebook, and xanga, and livejournal and all those instant messengers running rampant, you should be lucky there aren't any u's, or ur's, or 4's for fors or other such nonsense. <"We" are not "them"... proper English is the "coin of our realm"... folks either pay or we return their efforts> Basically, please be kind. Each person is doing their best. What if you had a retarded child who asked for your help with their tank? Would you blow them off for improper grammar? Or what about someone who was born deaf and has only known ASL (American Sign Language) their entire life, which is not broken English but instead an entirely different language using English words? I do appreciate what you're doing, it's obvious that you have helped a lot of people with their quandaries. But couldn't you be a little less, oh.. stuck up about it? If you can read it, post it. Don't waste your time retyping something so it looks pretty. Fishies lives hang in the balance! :-) Good luck guys, and don't take things too seriously. Sincerely, Ashley <Ashley... did you receive a response? It may well be that our mail-server is gone awry yet again. If you don't see such w/in a day, please do re-send. Bob Fenner> Re: electric blue ahli spitting out food , labored breathing ... illiteracy 11/30/06 do I get an individual response? or where do I find it on your website? Vicky <An individual response was sent to you yesterday by Bob, as well as was posted to the Daily Q&A section of WetWebMedia. In a day or so, it will be sorted into FAQ's outlining Cichlids. We respond to all emails at their original email address, and post the correspondence to our page. Your original message, and Bob's response, is as follows. -JustinN> Why the sudden lack of answers?... Don't know... not received 11/18/06 Dear Crew, <Danny> After eight attempts at an answer, I have decided that you are either inept or suffer from an intense lack of caring, although it might be both. I sent the original letter with a sincere hope that it would be answered and with no failure delivery notice, I assumed you got it. After the third and fourth letter, I became more cynical and pessimistic. <Something strange here... we respond to all... Must not have been getting... though this is here... Perhaps "something" on your end> When I wrote the eighth letter asking about a species of fish, I did not expect a response since I had already decided this website is governed by fools. Please take this as personally as your self-esteem will allow and although I cannot in any way affect your website, learn from it. <Mmm, I assume you're not a jokester or mentally ill... If you, others have difficulties reaching our mail server, you're welcome to send to my personal addr: [email protected] Bob Fenner>

WWM - 11/13/06 Hello ... out of sheer frustration I am emailing you to ask HOW to post a question. <Mmm, oh! This is it!> I also went to a site recommended by your site, registered, logged in, and can't seem to ask there either. Keep getting error message. Feel like I am trying to ask for blueprint of Fort Knox, lol. Thanks, Jean <Heeee! Where's the gold? Do just send your queries, input to [email protected]... we respond directly... Bob Fenner> Lost Email? No, Just Delayed - Our Apologies. - 10/18/06 Can someone help me? I'm sending this again, as I'm unsure if you have received it the first time. <Yes, we received it; I apologize, we are absolutely swamped with e-mails at the moment...> Jorie has so far been the one to answer my questions, so that is why I directed the email there. But if Jorie has been unable to answer for some reason, I don't mind input from someone else, thanks! :-) <Pam, again I apologize for the delay. Do see my previous e-mail (sent a few minutes ago) for substantive help. Jorie>

Question to Bob Fenner about contact info of Avinash Singh Hi Bob, I have found your conversation with Avinash Singh about breeding Lysmata debelius shrimps... I have found on the internet that this guy has completed his Master thesis doing this project. Could you please contact me with him ? Any e-mail ? I am really interested as an hobbyist to breed my shrimps and I would like to contact this guy. Please do what you can, Thanks! Przemek Iwaszczyszyn <I wish I could... will find, place your note next to his in the hope he will contact us re... Would you like your email addy posted on the Net/WWM? We don't accumulate, post generally. Bob Fenner> Re: Question to Bob Fenner about contact info of Avinash Singh 10/4/06 No, I would rather not have my e-mail openly on the www. <Ahh... me neither> He is probably not visiting our forum anymore since his project is finished he probably has moved to the next thing... If you do not have his e-mail than do nothing. <Again, we don't retain generally, nor give out folks personal email addresses w/o their express consent> Thanks! <Real good. BobF>

foggy glass, attitude 8/8/06 was just curious. don't care if you post this or not, but an email back would be greatly appreciated. my roomie and i both have salt water tanks going, blah, blah blah. we both work at a seafood restaurant, and they gave us their lobster tanks, along with the sumps and everything. a pretty sweet, and expensive setup. anyway's, my roommate got his going, but we've noticed that the tanks are like triple layered with glass.

A Thank You ... using WWM! 7/28/06 Crew, <<Tom with you this time, Alex.>> Not a question, but a quick thanks for all of your work. Story: One (not so) fine day I noticed some short red wormlike things trailing out of my Bolivian Rams' anuses. After less than five minutes on WWM, I found a question from a person who had the same species of fish that also had Camallanus worms, and saw how to treat it. Within a day of discovering the worms, thanks to your site, I had purchased PraziPro and started treating the fish in a quarantine. Unfortunately, it was too late to save one of the rams, but the other, along with the Zebra Danios that shared the tank, appear to have turned the corner in terms of vitality, eating, etc. The point? Within five minutes of opening my web browser, I: found someone that had the same problem, diagnosed the problem, found the actual ingredient to treat the fish, found a common product name containing said ingredient, and found how to effectively treat using the medication. Many, many thanks for this great resource - my fish and I are in your debt! <<A wonderful testimonial, Alex. While I can't take credit for saving your fish, I assure you that I'm proud to be associated with this fantastic group of folks. For all of us, I thank you kindly for your complimentary post and wish you continued good fortune in this great hobby of ours!>> Alex <<My best. Tom>>

Hello? Anyone there? 7/28/06 Dear Crew, I am writing this to find out if I am doing something incorrectly in regards to emailing you. This is probably my third attempt at trying to reach you in which I have never received a response. I have written in on several different issues, then resent those at least 2 other times, but never heard back. I send the email directly from the site, but for some reason my emails never seem to reach you, or so I think. I thought I would attempt contact you without forwarding my inquiry at this time. I did send it on Sunday early afternoon, then resent it again the day before yesterday. Can you tell me if there is something I am missing here? Am I just being impatient? Sincerely, Tiffani <Is the right address, method... Thank you for following up... we continue to have "missing email" issues with DP (our ISP)... All are generally responded to w/in 24 hours... BobF>

Re: Upgrading questions... too rude to follow directions 7/24/06 Thank you for the help and directions. <Welcome> As far as the "too rude to follow directions" comment, that was not my intent. <Ahh, thank you for this clarification> The wealth of information on your site is a little overwhelming and, at times, hard to maneuver through. <Mmm, there is a "bunch to know"... or maybe better put, that one can know... and knowing more increases ones chances for success, and enjoyment...> I was looking for some quick, concise information in doing something I had never done before and was a little nervous about doing. <I see> Thank you, once again, for the help you provided. Ron Daley <Thank you, Bob Fenner> Re: toadstool question, explanation of English trouble/s 7/20/06 To Bob Fenner, <Dave> I'm sorry for the poor grammar. I was born mentally handicapped and have a hard time forming sentences properly and typing. <I too was "classified" as deficient and spent the first five years in "school" with folks whose big event of the day was "filling their pants"... I learned to learn by using the tools cited...> I had someone help me this time. Thank you for your quick response and help. My tank is my only hobby and I'm afraid to lose it. I do appreciate it, Thank you <As I do your participation. Do consider using, learning through the spelling and grammar checking tools on your word processor... They will help you help educate yourself... Bob Fenner, learning every day>

MY ANGEL FISHES HAS STARTED TO DIE OUT BUT THEIR FOOD HABITS AND WATER CHEMISTRY IS ALRIGHT WHAT SHOULD i DO <http://www.wetwebmedia.com/faqstips.htm Please look at the above link and conform your message (i.e., use sentence case capitalization, and provide basic information about your setup, including tank size, other inhabitants, water parameter readings, etc. There's absolutely nothing I can do to help you with the single sentence you've provided above. Jorie> Less hand-holding... 7/8/06 please ignore last email, have gained confidence, don't need to hold crews hand all the time, lol. <Yay!> forums and website proving very helpful - ty so much. will only get in touch if necessary. :) <Good! BobF>

Re: Tank Inhabitant Question, Proper American/English please 7/1/06 Ok. Now I think I understand about the grammar and spelling. Originally I thought you were referring to the scientific names only. If i <"I"> am right, you want correct spelling to include emails in your archives. I will do my best in future to get out of email grammar mode! <Yes, these are posted on a daily basis for public reading. The less editing we have to do allows us to answer more queries per day. Is not an 8 hour day, the crew is strictly made up of volunteers with minimal time available.> Thanks again! <You're welcome. James (Salty Dog)> Sam

Unanswered Email? - 06/20/2006 Hey guys (again), <Good Evening Eddy> I just realized that my last email has gone unanswered. It was one about maintenance of a 55 gallon tank. It has been three days, but if you guys are backed up with questions or something, that's cool, I can wait. By the way, just thought I'd tell you guys that I got a job at my LFS! It's pretty cool because they're not one of those crappy stores with all of the Oscars in a 5 gallon or something. Thanks Again! <Sometimes emails get lost in the fray. This is completely unintentional and we hate when it happens, but its part of the game. I apologize if you haven't gotten an answer, however resend your email and we'll see what we can do! Congrats on the new job also! Do some good with that opportunity there! Have a great one, Jen S.> Eddy

ich: salt and heat question ... Lost Mail Woes 6/18/06 About the question I sent you a couple of weeks ago - I was disappointed I didn't get a response, <Mmm, we have a great deal of such "lost mail"... very frustrating> but in thinking about it (I don't have a copy of the sent message) I'm not sure if I said "please" and "thank you", especially since I bothered you at a personal e-mail address. <Not a problem. I generally send all either here, or a copy of the response to WWM to post> I saw your e-mail as a link in one of the Ich articles I read and just assumed it was ok to write. Bad form and I'm sorry about that. For what it's worth, the heat/salt treatment seems to be working but I'm still very curious about my question about salt concentration. If you choose not to respond I respect that and will not bother you again. Jason <Don't recall seeing this. Please re-send. BobF>

T5s, Depth, and Corals - II - 06/17/2006 Thanks for the reply. <Glad to be of service.> I will check the web site later today. And sorry about the stationary, I will send any further questions in plain text. <MUCH appreciated, thanks!!> Thanks, Tim Wagner <All the best to you, -Sabrina>

Knifefish Tankmates - 06/07/06 Hi, I like ur website <But not enough to respect our guidelines, avoid netspeak> Can a 7 inch black ghost Knifefish and some tinfoil barbs live with African cichlids (juveniles) like yellow labs and powder blue cichlids? <Not a good mix> My friend used to have these fish together and nothing happened, It looked like if they minded their own business. <Only for a while. How is the knife to compete for food here?> Some people say that it is wise to start adding less aggressive fish first and then work your way up to stabilize the compatibility rather than mixing aggressive fish first when stocking ur tank. <This is a good general guideline. Bob Fenner> >>actually ongoing vague questions that are sufficiently covered on WWM 5/25/06 Sorry Bob. Sometimes it's easier to continue asking questions of the experts than to go do the research on your own. ;Thanks again. <Uhh... there are a few tens of thousands of visitors to our sites daily... Please learn to/use the indices, search tool... There is generally much "added" material than folks directly ask, know to ask... part of the "magic" of such compilatory tools as WWM. Cheers, BobF

The two-way street that is in/consideration, writing to us at WWM - 5/2/2006 Thank you for the English lesson. I have read all of that page before i, sorry I emailed you. you didn't answer my question. i wanted to know how many times a week I should feed them. I didn't write to you to be ridiculed. if you don't like your job, then find a new one. <<This is Lisa now, here to inform you that this is not any of our 'jobs'. This is an all volunteer staff.>> I simply can't believe how rude you people are to those that write for information. <<This is untrue. I/we have people that write in on a regular basis, and with whom I have never had a harsh word, from them to me, or otherwise. I can't believe how rude you are to expect us to re-write your emails and not even have the decency to capitalize your sentences and use grammar/spell check, which I can see from your above paragraph, you still won't do. I do wonder where some people's sense of entitlement comes from.. We get tones of emails everyday, which we all answer gladly, and offer as much helpful information as we can. Then to get an email from someone that assumes we have all the time in the world to take out of our days to answer something not even written properly is more than frustrating. This site is viewed by many people, all over the world, and accuracy in language is paramount for everyone's understanding of the material here.>> If you don't want to respond to questions, then you shouldn't have that option on your website. <<We love answering emails, just not re-typing hundreds per day, which I'm sure you can understand.>> On your site you tell people over and over they need to soak there food in vitamins and then you make a smart remark when I told you how I soak there <<their>> food. I realize you are suppose to know everything that is why you have this job right, <<No, and this is not our job, it's our pleasure to volunteer our time to help those willing to help themselves.>> well you could at least give me some insight not respond with "...." Thank you, and "I" would appreciate any help you would be "willing" to give me. If you don't want to respond please let someone who will do so. <<Any of the crew would be more than happy to help you if you would only take the time to compose a proper email. That's all we ask. I really don't think that is mean. Lisa.>> Re: Carpet Anemone/Compatibility/Anemone Systems 04/17/2006 <<James, need more link/s, guidance than this. RMF>> Check your links... Bob, That link should have covered it. My intention was for her to read Anemones In Captive Systems so she would get some information on anemones in general. In that same article. ......."Carpet Anemones: Named for their immense size (sometimes more than a meter/yard across) and "pile"; numerous colored tentacles. Very difficult aquarium specimens that "shed", otherwise can/do sting and poison tankmates.", Carpet Anemones is highlighted and links to an article titled "Carpet Anemones In Captive Systems". I realize this has not been written yet but does provide links to all the carpet anemone FAQ's. I guess I could have simplified this for her by giving her general requirements and link her to the carpet anemone FAQ's. Thank you for the critique. James <I understand your intent... am (just) concerned that if folks do simply go to too-general linked files they won't read them through. Thank you for this explanation. BobF, who would add another more-specific link at times> Re: <<James, need more link/s, guidance than this. RMF>> Check your links... 4/18/06 Bob, Thanks. Will be more specific, especially with difficult to keep species as these. Hopefully she will write back and I can redeem myself. James <Heee! No need for redemption (term always makes me think of S & H Green Stamps!). B>

Cured Live Rock/Nitrogen Cycle Confusion II, Actually: comment on FAQs, search tool use - 04/13/06 Thanks for the advice Eric. <<My pleasure Chris>> One thing I have to say - for every 10 questions I have, about 9 are answered by your docs and FAQ's on the site, so your archives and search engines are definitely a very valuable resource! <<Ah, thank you for this! It's good to hear they are used...and appreciated!>> Have a great Easter weekend. Chris <<And to you in kind my friend, EricR>>

Question about salt water tank set up... Like, "what is it"? 3/29/06 Hi there Bob, how are you, ? <Fine> I am need to salt water aquatic tank, and so ancient about it already ( not even having a tank yet) . I had order a 90 gallon tank with over flow shut off valve built in. but, having a difficult to decide what is good to buy the rest of the stuff, so many choices out there) to start, I was planning on buying the Aqua C EV- 120 , or ev-180 , with or with out JG fitting,, I am little lost what to do only on that part, also, <?> can you please let me know about what brand and items I would also need, I would want a good sump ( please let me know what size is good) with refugium, and etc.. please help me with which Aqua C skimmer and other items might need to finish getting all the items. thank you so much, kind regards, Rick <All posted on WWM. Time to read Rick, make lists... enjoy the process. Bob Fenner>

Queries - 03/26/2006 Hi, I asked a question earlier about stocking and compatibility and I was wondering how I go about getting the answer. Do you send an email to the asker, or do you only post the answered? <We do both> I guess this is a dumb question because if you only post the answers I will be in the same situation I am in now. Thanks, cro. <See the "Daily FAQs" if your question was recent, or the archived FAQs files by category... it's possible the query was "lost", so you may re-submit it. BobF> Read: Follow instructions or don't write us 3/24/06 Hello Again Mr. Fenner, I apologize if I offended your senses with my original e-mail. I may have made some grammar errors, but at least I can spell and use punctuation. Most of it is just bad habit. I am a 47 year old woman with an 8th grade education. Most of what I have learned in those years, has been through experience. I don't think I am doing too bad. It sort of made me feel bad the way you reprimanded me. Perhaps you could have mentioned the errors without belittling me. Again I thank you for your great website, your time, and your help. Sincerely, Carole Jurrens <Mmm, to be clear... It is not my intention to be/appear rude, but to be erudite: Concise, clear, to the point. In the link: http://wetwebmedia.com/WWMAdminSubWebIndex/question_page.htm and Tips, you will find we demand that folks use Proper English (the coin of our realm) in writing us. Having spent a few hours per day most of the last decade or so building this tool with friends, I am adamant that it not be a parade of poor examples. Re your age and academic background, if you have concerns re this, do consider "going back" to school. There is time. In the meanwhile, I encourage you to do as I, and use the spelling and grammar checkers on your system. Greatly instructive... See under "Tools"). Bob Fenner> Hello again, Perhaps you should use your own philosophy and practice what you preach. http://dictionary.reference.com/search?r=2&q=innocuous Good day sir. <Thank you. BobF> What happened? Re: Unanswered Emails 3/23/06 Hi. I want to thank you all for the valuable information your site provides. I sent in a question about 2 weeks ago, which I've not gotten an answer to.<Erin, Jen here. I know the mail server has been having some problems. I'm sure it just got lost.> I hope my email met all of your requirements for posting, <I'm sure it did, especially because it seems you've read the FAQs.> and know that you've stated in the past that some emails don't go through. I'm hoping this is simply an email problem and not a result of my own error with the email. I really need help with the ID of something in my tank, as I think it's health may be degrading, and I'm not even sure what it is. I've seen some indications of people sending emails directly to Mr. Fenner, and wanted to see if this is an acceptable alternative. <Alright, send the email through to the crew again, preferably with some pics of the unknown animal and I'm sure someone will answer. Thanks, Jen S.> Thank You for your time. Erin

How do I send a picture of identification to you??? 3/20/06 <As a sized (a few hundred kilobytes max. please) jpg, or bmp, attached. Bob Fenner>

Knowledge is Power, My Friend - 3/16/2006 Ok so, I wanted to know how to make my mom fish better, and you gave me a website to read. MY FISH WAS DIEING AND YOU WANTED ME TO READ A WEBSITE????? <<I was not the one to respond to your letter, but I will take this one. These 'website' pages you were referred to are made of a massive amount of time, energy, expertise and caring, by an ALL VOLUNTEER staff.>> This was an emergency and I needed an answer fast, hence why I did email instead of reading up on it! <<I find it rather rude that you would expect people to re-write the answers to questions that have already been answered, because you didn't want to read up on it. I understand that it was an emergency, but if you used the Google search toolbar available on WWM, you may well have found your answer just as fast, if not faster. You also could have been proud that you need not be spoon-fed information that is readily available to those willing to find it.>> so I started to read the page you gave me (34 SHEETS OF PAPER and 18,659 WORDS!!!), after fifteen minutes she DIED. That's right, while reading a website with no useful info on what I asked for my beautiful baby girl died! Next time if someone asks an emergency question give them the answer! not a freakin website to read!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! <<Next time you have a question that has already been answered, read. Again, I would like to remind you that no one is paid to be here, we do so because we care. Please be polite enough to at least read what people have put forth. I do wonder where you get your sense of entitlement.>> Thanks to this, her fry will grow up without a mom nice to know eh? <<Thanks to your lack of willingness to learn, yes, it is unfortunate. Lisa.>> Lighting - 03/12/2006 I'm back needing your assistance again. I have just purchased a 150 gal glass aquarium, 60x24x24. I intend to have a large sump in the stand, and would like to dedicate this aquarium to anemones and very light load of fish. I've started making the stand and have opted to build a canopy and house the lights there. You have advised me in the past before I decided to build a canopy that an HQI setup would be ideal. So now I'm a little confused about the "retro" options available to me. First of all is the number of bulbs...2 or 3 in 60 inches. Second is wattage and temperature of these bulbs. Last is the confusion over whether I need PC's and moonlights in addition to the MH's. As always...Thank you in advance for your advise and your website. I love it. Gary <Then use it... Bob Fenner> Misc. questions that are answered already on WWM - 03/12/2006 Is it true a lower salinity level and lower temperature helps reduce ich . Do anemones require anything special added to water such as iodine , etc. I heard about sump pumps, do they work better than canister filters . Do sump do any better job controlling parasites such as ich. I have so many different opinions on UV sterilizers, 1 person swears buy them, 1 person thinks they are a joke. Any opinions. I have a quarantine tank . In treating fish with ich , is there any special way , I should be treating the fish, I had a tang, I thought he was getting better , then he died I was using a quarantine tank with about 16 gallons of water . I was changing the water everyday( 4 to 5 gallons per day) , salt content and temperature was the same as tank or similar. I was using the chemical called rid ich + treatment I had air in tank and skimmer. Any thing I was doing wrong Can you tell me the proper setup for quarantine tank . Thanks . <Keep reading. Bob Fenner>

Re: Ich Question ... actually the high price of militant stupidity - 03/11/2006 that is as good as it gets, I do not know anything better to write, thanks for promptly getting back to me and helping with my problem, sorry I am not able to promote your web site as well as you would like, I need advice on fish, not grammer, sorry I am not up to your high standards for published writing, I just need advice, and quick, which I thought was a concern of yalls, to help, but I guess not. If you can not help me with my problem, or simply don't want to, then that is how yall want to be...thanks, or no thanks...<Wes, what you must understand here is that each of the crewmembers who answer these queries are volunteering their time to do so. We all have other jobs/obligations. Most of us do not have all day to spend doing this, most, only about one hour per day. Keep in mind that these queries have to be edited before posting on our daily FAQ's on the Wet Web Site. We do strive to promote a professional looking site and with our limited time available to answer queries, we certainly don't have time to edit them, at least in this magnitude. It also clearly states on the web site tips for sending queries. One of them is asking that a spelling/grammar check be made. Most email programs do offer a spelling and grammar check tool and all that is required is to click on it. We are not asking you to have author qualities, just simple correct spelling, capitalizing where required, things we all learned in grade school. I do suggest using the google search tool on our web site as most if not all of your questions are answered there concerning your query. Thank you. James (Salty Dog)> Please Read... and write right - 3/5/2006 not much in the topic i know but i have a lot to ask. but first, i have cichlids and when they all die i am going to start saltwater. in one of my questions if the fish are not in finding Nemo i really don't know what it is... 1) what is the smallest size aquarium that a person can have saltwater fish? (size of fish.... maybe clown fish. nothing big) 2) what is the easiest fish to have in a saltwater tank? (if clown fish, YEY!) 3) how stupid can someone be to kill coral (a beginner...) 4) is hard coral more expensive than soft vice versa? 5) is it necessary to have live rocks to have coral? veronica <<Veronica, please use proper grammar, spelling, and punctuation when writing to us, and search WWM before sending. All of these questions are covered, extensively. Lisa>> "Fix your English and re-send" - 02/25/06 I do believe the respondent meant: Please, if you write us, take the time to do so in proper language. It takes enough time, as it is, to respond to questions asked, let alone correct those emails that do not even try to be grammatically correct. Come on Dan, I know you can do it!!! <<Lisa.>> A Troublesome Feeder and Fish Compatibility ... just read - 2/21/2006 Hi crew. I have a couple of questions pertaining to selecting a couple of fish for my tank. It is 330 gallons, with the full reef setup (halides, UV sterilizers, a protein skimmer etc.). The tank currently houses 12 green Chromis, 1 royal Gramma, 1 red Dartfish, 1 juvenile Naso tang, 2 skunk cleaner shrimp, 2 small anemones (live rock hitchhikers), several fanworms, 13 turbo snails, @12 hermit crabs, 14 Nassarius snails, and two brittle stars. The water parameters are good, and we are planning on getting a Ricordea or Discosoma polyp colony soon. My first question concerns the Naso tang. We bought it last weekend from a reputable dealer with whom we've had past good experiences. The tang had a few small scratches due to being kept with an aggressive triggerfish. We brought it home, acclimated it properly, and it was soon behaving normally in our tank. <Quarantine?> It even allowed itself to be cleaned by the shrimp the first night we had it. <... could be trouble...> The problem is feeding it. We have been feeding Formula 2 flakes, Formula 1 frozen chunks, Mysid shrimp, and sushi Nori, but it has only eaten a few green flakes. The Nori disappears, but we haven't seen the Naso eat it because it has become very reclusive (coming out almost only for feeding time) hiding in the shrimps' cave most of the day. Do you have any suggestions for getting the tang to feed? <Yep... are posted> We purchased an aquarium brand garlic extract to try to coax it to eat, but it hasn't seemed any more interested. The turbo snails eat basically all of the algae in the tank otherwise. In the future, we plan on trying to get at least one more larger reef-compatible fish. Is a longnose butterflyfish or Foxface safe? <... also posted> Last of all, we ave been told that two different kinds of tangs can be kept together if they differ enough in body shape. Would a sailfin tang be okay to keep with the Naso if that rule is true? Thank you for your time and help. -G.G. <Please... search, read before sending mailed queries. Bob Fenner>

Removal of posting ... 2/8/06 hello, is there anyway to remove one of my postings on your website? it is under coldwater systems entitled XXXX. not a big deal, but would prefer to keep my name and residence off internet and google search. through experience of your website, i have come to realize people leave only first names typically. it would be much appreciated. thanks, XXXX <... have removed your name, addr... Don't send anything on the Net you don't fully expect to be posted... > understood. thank you. sorry for the hassle. am a big fan. how does the info get removed from google search though? can still access my name through the search engine linking me to your website. thanks again, XXXX <Mmm, I think that next time the crawler from Google et al. comes by (no more than a day likely) the referent will be gone... BobF> One more question Bob- 2/7/06 <... please include previous corr... Am so feeble-memoried that I can barely find my keys...> You know how you said my tank is overstocked? Well i am giving the tang away to a friend with a 120 gallon tank. But is it safe to add more coral (soft) and not be overstocked? thanks <?... don't know... who are you? What is the make-up of your system? Where are my keys? Dang! BobF>

Anemone, WWM Searching for info. - 2/4/2006 I am sorry to take your time. I have tried to find the answers to my questions but have not done very well. <I've gots to write up a "pop up" that gives instructions, examples of how to use the Google Search tool on WWM... the stats server shows its use to be less than 100 sessions any given day... out of tens of thousands of visitors...> I have inherited a salt water system and am trying to take a crash course on keeping it as it is to beautiful to discard. It seems to be doing well. The system has three anemones <... not likely for long> about three inches apiece. They are all right together and during the day look like one but at night they shrink and become separate. <Not unusual behavior.> From my reading I would assume they are carpet anemones as they are flat, kind of brownish with short (half inch) tentacles that are green. Two of the three are splitting. Is this normal? <Umm, not likely... due to stress> Is there something I should be doing other than feeding them and will they all get along being that close together? Again, sorry to take your time. Thank You Bob <... no need to apologize... see WWM re Anemone Behavior... Here on Google: http://www.google.com/custom?q=anemone+behavior&sitesearch=wetwebmedia.com You need to find what this species is here... Can be searched... Anemone Identification... Bob Fenner> Suggestions for "Ask WWM a Question" 1/1/06 No need to respond! Just passing along some ideas hoping they are not too costly to implement if you like them. Idea 1) Require question askers become registered users. Note: All areas of the site except this section would not require registration. Although you do ask visitors to try finding their answers first as well as post a 'Tips' for asking questions on the site, perhaps being a little stronger about this request would help. <Maybe... but couldn't, wouldn't folks just put in "phony", that is, spurious information for their registration?> Idea 2) When a visitor clicks the 'ask a question' link, have 'Tips' come up where the visitor must 'check a box' that they followed the tips advice first. <Oooh, I do like this> I know this is doubling up, but a great chance to 'sell' the importance of the process. Examples: When listing tips, perhaps you could say, we offer a Goggle search within 'this' site due to the vast amount of information already available. When asking that existing info in a continued exchange be copy and pasted in, share how doing so allows all who serve on the WWM site to work as a team. I can't believe you have to ask for spellchecked messages, <Such is the state of our citizens, users... sigh... Were there but a way to zing, zap such laziness via the Net....> but it wouldn't hurt to point out that the WWM team are held to high professional working standards and you deem it reasonable to expect the same in return. (Anthony clued me into to this fact) <No wonder he's gone!> Consider asking authors to read and edit out unnecessary or repeated information before sending their questions. It will help assure a timely response and also prove helpful to expedite the research process. <Agreed> Lastly, perhaps you can consider a new practice of thanking authors for providing their water specifications and deleting out all those scoring in normal ranges to reduce the size of posts. <Hard to judge... well, make that impossible (for me natch) to ascertain what/which data is extraneous... in the present... or future... to us/me or other browsers...> Debi Stanley-Viloria <Thanks much for your insight, input. Bob Fenner. Miguel, can we make a smaller "pop up" sort of "Tips" window as Deb suggests here?>

Constructive Criticism - 12/30/2005 Dear Mr. Fenner/WWM-crew <Hi there Tim!> Re: email exchange of 11/25/05 entitled "My new aquarium thingummy, basic lack of regard for using WWM.. "with Bryna. <Ahh...This one (for all reading) "My new aquarium thingummy, basic lack of regard for using WWM im <No such word: I'm> getting into a saltwater tank after years of fascination with tropical fish. I purchased a 25 gallon nanocube tank, with the blue lights so I can get coral later, I have living Fiji rock and live sand, I also have an Amphiprion tricinctus, and a Pterapogon kauderni. so far so good, the temp has stabilized at approx. 77 degrees F. the cardinal isn't eating, however. I am feeding them what the store owner told me was best: "Ocean Nutrition : Formula Two" I know the cardinal likes to eat feeder shrimp, marine flesh etc. What's the difference? <What?> The ingredients say it has salmon in it, is that enough? <Obviously not> I'm looking for some basic tips, I'm a super beginner. Got the tank last week, added the fishes yesterday. Also, do I need an anemone for the clown? I know they go well with Stichodactyla mertensii, good for the cardinal too? I know the cardinals like long- spined sea urchins, is that okay for the clown? I'm just looking for some reassurance! thanks! ( also, any suggestions on what I can add? coral? other fish? etc? -Bryna <Uh, try looking over our site: www.WetWebMedia.com see the search tool? See the indices? Try them, you'll like them. Bob Fenner>" I have enjoyed reading through your website. As a free, detailed source of information it can't be beat. <Glad you've enjoyed it.> I assume though that you are interested in feedback, and indeed I am a bit embarrassed to bring this up. <All opinions welcome friend.> I could not help but comment though on this exchange of emails regarding the above. It seems there was an unnecessary breakdown in civility. Would this happen in normal conversation? <Actually I believe it would for most people. Imagine dedicating your time to teaching others (on any subject). Making an extensive effort to present a clear concise explanation for all different aspects/angles. Imagine compiling all of your knowledge and thoughts, presenting them to a group (somewhat like a class followed by open discussion) and then allowing those that need further clarification or better yet those wishing to push beyond established borders to "raise their hand". When an individual begins by clearly demonstrating that they have not paid you the least bit of attention, it feels quite like a slap in the face. It's blatantly disrespectful and I believe irritating to anyone who has ever put forth such an effort.> While concern for our marine charges should supercede concern for feelings of the owners, it just doesn't seem necessary to be overly condescending on the occasional misinformed beginning hobbyist. <I agree. However I feel there's a distinct difference between one who is misinformed and one who has not made the first effort to inform themselves or follow the established protocol for seeking such answers (outlined when one clicks "Ask the crew a question").> Maybe it is intended to haze a lazy hobbyist into action, dissuade the uncommitted one, or just plain blow off some steam after reading thousands of emails. <No, I don't feel this is accurate.> I doubt these types of approaches ever achieve their goal though. <All depends on the receptiveness of the individual I suppose, but I think you are right.> It does however leave a sour taste with at least some readers. Is it really necessary (even if you are spending uncountable hours answering thousands of insipid or repetitive emails for free)? <Necessary...probably not, a natural reaction...probably so. Don't you feel (at least slightly) that it wastes your time as much as ours? The time taken on such could have been spent on the other individuals who listened/studied fervently, instead however they must wait for their response, sometimes much longer than we would like. I believe that it's not intended to condescend to others but rather uphold/encourage some system of progressive exchange.> How about just a brief, neutral, general reply referencing to the website? <I understand, though seldom does such sugar coating ever achieve its goal either.> No disrespect intended, just feedback. <None perceived. Tim, I can only speak for myself on this so it's possible I've misconceived the intentions of others, I don't feel that is the case however.> Sincerely Tim Whiteley Everett, Washington <Thank you for the time and consideration. - Josh>

Questions and procedures Dear Mr. Fenner, I sent in a rather long and detailed description of my situation and a question to you through the Amazon Honor system link. <I know nothing re these> Should I expect an answer on the WetWebMedia site, or will I get an e- mail answering my question? <Please send along any correspondence to this email address> I have just discovered your site and enjoy it very much; its a bargain at the price. I am happy to support such an effective informational site. Respectfully, Bruce McAllister <Thank you for your kind words, and donation. Bob Fenner>

Re: missing e-mail 12/16/05 Hi crew, I think I'll have to give up trying to get this algae ID'd. I have probably sent these pictures to you about 5 times now trying different formats and methods but the only time I can get a response is when I don't attach the pictures! I am still a massive fan of your site and visit every day thinking of new things to learn about so don't worry, I'm not bitter! I work with computers so I know how unreliable they are and how difficult it can be to get to the root of a technical glitch. Incidentally, I did a search on WWM to see if my original query had been answered but not replied to and the search function found a question on the Daily Q&A page (wetwebmedia.com/daily_faqs.htm) which contained the following text "Leif <Adam J.> <<The issue seems to be with the html tagging/code, and how our mailserver software operates and handles this. The problem is not just with" and when I clicked on the link to take me to that page, this was no where to be found. I am sorry for being a pain but could you possibly give me any pointers on how you might be able to receive these pictures? Maybe a different e-mail address? Any help would be appreciated. I have pasted the previous correspondences to the bottom of this mail. Thanks Leif <Please do try sending to my email: [email protected] with the pix as attachments... reasonably sized jpg's if possible. Bob Fenner>

Re: Mixing Tangs in an 8' tank 12/13/05 Thanks Salty dog, I do weekly water changes and alternate Vita-chem and Selcon and feed a variety of good frozen food and algae strips. My fish eat better than I do! <My dogs eat better than I do. Kim, in future replies to queries, please reply with the original query.> Thanks again! <You're most welcome and Happy Holidays to you. James (Salty Dog)> Kim

E-mail frustration and pictures…. 12/9/05 Hello again, <Hi.> I'm sorry to be a pain <No worries, we here at WWM are forgiving people…….most of the time.> but it seems that every time I send you a mail with the pictures attached it goes missing, <Mmm, yes we do have some "technical-difficulties" at times, as frustrating as this may be I would just be but when I e-mail you without the pictures you reply. <I can assure you this is not on purpose, I apologize and urge you to try again.> (please see the forwarded messages) <I see. I would send another email, because we'll never be able to give you a positive i.d without on that algae without it.> Can you suggest an alternative format or e-mail address that I can send these pictures to? <JPEG should be okay, though we get them in BMP format and GIF as well…probably a few others that I'm not aware of.> Originally they were sent as JPEG files (virus checked) but they must be causing some kind of problem. Thanks and sorry for the hassle. <Please don't be discouraged, I look forward to helping you. Have any tips for this gentleman Marina?> Leif <Adam J.> <<The issue seems to be with the html tagging/code, and how our mailserver software operates and handles this. The problem is not just with emails sent with photos, it pops up at weird times. Bob's "fix" is to have folks email directly to his hotmail account, however, from what I understand hotmail will not allow some messages to get through anyway, marking as spam, viral (so to speak), or some such other problem. Then he forwards from his email account (which is probably quite full and may be bouncing messages). So, you can try emailing to < [email protected]> - but we won't see it till he gets back and forwards. Marina>>

Apologies... Correction - Hey, This is Nice... 11/28/05 Palyotoxin = Palytoxin And after my careful spelling inspection too! Paul <<Why Paul, I'm.. I'm verklempt! An actual spelling error follow-up. Thank you very much for this (will be of great help while placing this, too!). Marina and the WWM Crew>>

WWM Etiquette - Questions About Questions - 11/25/2005 Greetings from Colorado to the WWM Crew: <And salutations from the Crew to you!> I am nearly two months into my fist marine aquarium, <An exciting time, to be sure.> and have read many books and FAQs before putting the first drop of salt water into my tank. I am trying to be a very conscientious aquarist on all fronts. <Your (future) livestock will thank you.> My last e-mail was sent to you several weeks ago, and did not get a response. <I beg your forgiveness on this.... Our email system has been "acting up", and we actually had some big-ish issues a few weeks back of lost/dropped emails or ones that didn't have the "tray" that includes our ability to reply....> I am fearful that I broke some rule, or failed to observe proper etiquette. If so, please forgive me. <Oh, no; not in the least. We tend to answer very nearly any legitimate question sent to us.> My question this time is simple. Do you have a list of do's and don'ts for WWM readers? <Mm, just this: http://wetwebmedia.com/faqstips.htm and a few other, similar pages.> I am aware that 1) pictures should be as small as possible, 2) people should first search for information before asking questions, and 3) attempts should be made to use proper English, grammar and spelling. <All correct.> I wonder if you would prefer one e-mail with several questions, or several e-mails with one question each. <My preference, and I believe Bob's preference as well (and likely all the rest of us), is that all your questions be sent in one larger email.... it is easier to get a "feel" for your system, and be thorough about answering your questions, if all are "lumped" together.... Furthermore, in replies or future questions concerning similar or the same questions you asked before, it is GREATLY helpful if you can copy any previous correspondences to better help us help you. You can also put Attn: and the Crewmember's name who helped you in the subject line to make it easier for us to route your question to the right person.> Do you prefer that a person give details of tank volume, depth, chemistry, lighting and maintenance with each question? <Mm, if possible/pertinent, yes. Usually we're flying on a lack of information - giving "too much" info is nearly impossible.> Should questions be limited to one per week, month, or year? <Just as necessary. We're here for ya.> I wonder if it would benefit both your team and your faithful audience to have a spot on the "Website Index" for a comprehensive set of ground rules? <Maybe.... The link for asking the Crew a question takes folks to what I feel is a pretty blatant chunk of information/suggestions, but seems that it must be lacking as we do still get questions in all caps, no capitalization, or written in "webbish". Argh!> As always, thanks for the help, <And thank you for your kind consideration in this issue.> Brad in Basalt <Sabrina in Silicon Valley> P.S. I would like to let your great sponsors know that I use an AquaC skimmer, Seachem products and other recommended items. Is there a proper way to do that? <Sure! Just drop 'em an email or give 'em a call. I'm sure they'd be glad to know their advertising is worthwhile. Wishing you well, -Sabrina>

Fish death, city slicker, poor English - II - 11/24/2005 Thank you <Sabrina here, in Bob's stead, as he's out.> I am working my way through your publication Reef Invertebrates, if it fails to help me improve my reef fish husbandry perhaps it might help me improve my English. <Heh! Hopefully both. If it makes you feel better, there is a free classifieds publication in my hometown, and in one of the "For Sale" ads, there is always a listing for "Pipe Corrals - any size".... and every single time - EVERY time - it catches my eye, and I think, "Hey! They spelled 'corals' wrong!", and it takes me a little bit to realize they're actually advertising fencing for horses. Sigh. All the best to you, -Sabrina>

It's All in The FAQs - 11/14/2005 Hi <Hello.> I am planning on getting a Lionfish of any kind, and I had a few questions. Firstly, I only have a 25 gallon tank and I was wondering if a Lionfish could fit in a tank that small. I was also wondering what else I would need for the needs of a Lionfish and a marine tank? Also, I was wondering what else if any other hints you could me seeing as how I am fairly new at this. <Well at least you know what kind of fish you want. Have you even checked out our livestock FAQs? All of this and much more is waiting for you there. - Josh>

How Not to Ask a Question and No Mercy for the Lazy 11/22/05 i have gone threw 3 algae eaters so far and i dont no y they keep dieing maybe u can shed some light here for me please ty <<Harvey, I don't know how you found us, but you have not only sent us an email in "netspeak" (along with other egregious errors one of us would be obliged to re-type), but you have given us NO information whatsoever! How is anyone supposed to help you like this? Go onto the site and instead of spending time writing to us, READ! Chances are it's already there. In the meantime, STOP buying fish! Also, see here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/faqstips.htm and here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/QueryCorrsRefPg.htm and finally, here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/faqsonfaqs.htm. Marina>>

Cracked Pane, English 11/20/05 Hi, I have read alot <No such word> of your FAQ's that are similar to my case but many have conflicting answers. <Really? Non-informative, like the prez> I have a small 18g tank that a friend gave me. The only problem is that the tank has a crack in it. The tank dimensions are: 65cm length, 36 High and 30 Wide ( I think that is about 18 Gallons, I'm Australian <"A"> and we work in Litres). <<I'm American, we use conversion tools found online. Marina>> Anyway the crack is about 3/4 down the bottom pane and goes from edge to edge width ways. I have Got some 1/4" Plexiglas spare and am wondering whether I can some how save my tank. Yours Sincerely, Joel <Is posted on WWM: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/aqrepairfaqs.htm and the Related FAQs linked above. Go, read there. Bob Fenner>

Lack Of Info, Spellchecker, Using Netspeak, Etc. - 11/20/05 To whom it may concern, <<Looks like it concerns me today.>> I have a 65 gallon tank with two 10 gallon tanks on the side and a 30 gallon for my filtration. I have wet and dry filter. I also have a 250 skimmer. I at least know that I have 75 lbs of live rock , and I need to know what I can do to make it a lot healthier , because I'm not getting a lot of plant life, It's going good but I'm not getting a lot out of my rocks. <<?>> I have 14 turbo tiger snails, I have 10 astrio snails, <<Astrea>> I have 9 blue leg Hurmetts, <<hermits>> 3 sifting stars, and I have a emperial crab. <<"An", not "a".>> <<Emperor>> So could you give me some advice. If you have any questions feel free to email me and I'll give ya more information to best of my knowledge. <<Not nearly enough info here to go on...but regardless, all can be found on our website. Start here and continue with the indices in blue at the top of the page: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marineSetUp.htm >> Thanks for your time. <<Regards, EricR>>

Mystery query re marine filtration 11/20/05 What more filtration would I need for that tank, <Which?> I have a HOB filter AquaClear 70. I know I need a skimmer but am not sure what is the best brand to get. Also will a 200 watt heater suffice. Thanks <All posted on WWM. Go there, read. Bob Fenner>

Ammonia, Consideration of Others' Time is Lacking 11/10/05 Bob, purchased your book, you're web site is awesome, but don't have the time to navigate the thousands of options. <I strongly encourage you to acquire the skills, practice of executing searches, choosing the cached version (so as to pick out key terms)... a very useful skill for all such Net uses> I have a large colony of dark red calciferous algae in my marine tank (55 gallon few live rock, undergravel filter, mostly fish, healthy, few invertebrates). Red algae covers side walls of glass tank and covers crushed coral substrate to the point I filter, rake substrate to remove excess. Tank chemistry seems fine, although I always have small total ammonia level(<.025 ppm) maybe due to not vacuuming undergravel plenum?) Please advise? <Please read here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/nh3marfaqs.htm ... and the other linked Related files above. Bob Fenner>

Down Home Where the Anemones Roam - Anemone Roaming... 11/9/05 Okay, I have any escape artist on my hand. A true percula who some how finds a way out of my tank. Last week I found him in my over-flow box, <Shades of "Nemo"!> stuck in the pre-filter just before being sucked down the pipe into the wet dry. Two nights ago he jumped up the current from the over-flow of my protein skimmer. I found him on his last breathe and threw him back into the tank. Friday morning I bought an electric green long tentacle anemone, in efforts to calm him down. <...?> The anemone still has not posted up anywhere and is just kinda roaming and rolling around in the current. <Not good> He will not stick anywhere, and the clown will not go in him. Do you have any tips or advice for me to get the anemone to find a home, and is that the reason the clown will not go in him. Thanks <Uhh, please read here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marine/inverts/cnidaria/anthozoa/anemoneplacemtfaqs.htm and the linked files above. Bob Fenner>

GIGO Means "Garbage In, Garbage Out" 11/9/05 Hey thanks for not answering any of my questions, not very helpful. Is an LTA the wrong anemone for a True Percula? Of the three local fish stores two say yes one says no. What do you think? any tips to help him find a home and stop just rolling around? Its been 5 days. <... we have a site... the acronym... WWM... tens of thousands of visitors per day... thank goodness or something of the sort that most folks have the courtesy to read our "FAQs on FAQs" and "Asking a Query"... as requested... Please do so... your answers are posted (over and over) there. Bob Fenner>

Is There Any Way to Get People to Stop Sending Emails in html?? 10/31/05 Re: Quarantine and Copper Hi, Thanks for the reply. I understand that copper does not treat the cyst or anything on the fish themselves. It treats the free swimming stage right? My question was about the protocol for using copper, and how it is often recommended to be used for two weeks, followed by another couple weeks of monitoring the previously infected fish. What I don't understand is why would it not be ok, to obtain a fish, place it in quarantine for a couple weeks to gain its strength, and then manditorily treat certain species, with copper, that are more prone to ich (i.e. tangs) for two weeks. And with the copper levels still at therapeutic levels, immediately transfer the specimen into the main tank to insure that no free swimming parasites had a chance to attach themselves and go unnoticed? Wouldn't this insure that no parasites are transferred? Also could you or someone tell me where I can find a list livestock wholesalers on the east coast? Thanks again, Brandon <<Where's our crewmember's response? Has to be picked apart by yours truly. MH>> Re: Quarantine and Copper<html><div style='background-color:'><DIV class=RTE> <P>Hi,</P> <P>Thanks for the reply. <You're welcome> I understand that copper does not treat the cyst or anything on the fish themselves. It treats the free swimming stage right? <Correct> My question was about the protocol for using copper, and how it is often recommended to be used for two weeks, followed by another couple weeks of monitoring the previously infected fish. What I don't understand is why would it not be ok, to obtain a fish, place it in quarantine for a couple weeks to gain its strength, and then manditorily treat certain species, with copper, that are more prone to ich (i.e. tangs) for two weeks. And with the copper levels still at therapeutic levels, immediately transfer the specimen into the main tank to insure that no free swimming parasites had a chance to attach themselves and go unnoticed? Wouldn't this insure that no parasites are transferred? <As I mentioned before, it takes 21-28 days of treatment to ensure the parasite is destroyed. The newly attached cysts are very difficult to see initially until they enlarge and are ready to burst. You really shouldn't treat any fish unless it has a known disease. Copper especially, can cause undo stress on the fish. We don't take medicine unless we are sick, correct?></P> <P>Also could you or someone tell me where I can find a list livestock wholesalers on the east coast?</P> <I don't think there are any, at least that I know of on the east coast. It would add a considerable shipping charge from the collection point to the dealer. Bob may inject something here. James (Salty Dog)> <P>Thanks again,</P> <P>Brandon<BR><BR></P></DIV>

Aquarium set up 10/31/05 Hello I will get right to the point: I have a 48" x 25" x 25" tank with a overflow and a 55G tank in stand for refugium? I would like to set this tank up as a Hard coral Tank. Can you tell me what to run on this tank for the following. Water Movement? Lighting? Substrate? skimming? <All of this information can be easily obtained by using the handy dandy google search tool on the wetwebmedia.com website. the four topics that you are wondering about have hundreds/thousands of faq's related to them. I could answer those questions completely but I would be here all day long. I would definitely do at least a few months of research before starting a sps, LPS, aquarium. Those species are some of the most difficult to keep in captivity!!.> Any other hints would be appreciated. I have all of your guys books so if you know sections I could look up? <Wetwebmedia.com would be of more help in this situation...also check out some of Julian Sprung's coral books!. good luck my friend, IanB>

Tang and Cyano query 10/20/05 [Bob... am sending this from my yahoo account as I'm having troubles still/again with the WWM mail server! It will not let me send a reply... the forward, reply, send buttons are deactivated! Not sure if this is my pc or a WWM mailserver glitch.] <Mmm, I have a few such "mail issues" every week.... Sabrina is going to have her husband T.R. look into another mail server system. RMF>> Hysterical bits of info. re ich, SW 10/4/05 Sorry I have one damsel the size of a quarter and one trigger about 5 inches long, saltwater tank been up for a year, should I just use newly prepared saltwater, I don't think the ick infested water should go in the hospital tank? <Uhhh, what? Please go, read re ich, treatment on WWM. Bob Fenner> (no subject 10/3/05 James, Unfortunately the reply you sent me was not received. I know your site is busy, so I would not have bothered you by repeating the same question. If possible could you please send the answer again. <You need to reply with original email/question as I cannot remember who sent what. Thank you. James (Salty Dog)> Thank You for your time, NDT

Systems details 9/19.5/05 Hi, <Clare> I've written you a couple times before, and you haven't been responding so I hope I am reaching you guys.... <Yes, thank you for persisting... we do have some anomalous mail problems...> anyway I emailed you about live rock my setup ideas, and miscellaneous reasons, so I thought you would like to know the details of my filtration, and give me your thoughts on them. Protein Skimmer: Sea Life systems brand (heard of them?) <Yes> Wet Dry filter: Sea Life Systems premier 125 gallon capacity ( I have a 75 gallon tank). Other components: Maxi Jet 900 submersible pump and power head from marineland I think measured flow is 230 GPH?? (a little low?) <Maybe...> Also have a Rio Hyperflow 20 HF, I also have the CA 2200 aqua pump/ powerhead. All of these purchases were the best recommended at my LFS, what do you guys think (if you even know what I'm talking about :) <Do like the Maxi Jet line... (Custom) Sea Life products... were okay... Bob Fenner> Thanks, Clare

Tank set up 09/13/2005 Thank you. I will probably be writing again with questions. Congratulations on the wedding of your daughter. <Thank you Debra. In the future, always respond with the original query as these queries do not come directly to us. They go into an inbox and whoever sorts and places has no idea which crew member you were referring to. James (Salty dog)> Debra

Lacking Info, Using Search Tools - 09/02/2005 I'm sorry, but I don't think I understand... I have a freshwater tank, and you gave me a marine, salt water, site. <Mm, there is no previous correspondence attached with this.... I have no way of knowing even what your original question was, or who answered, so no idea to whom to route this.... In any case, our freshwater subweb is located here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwsubwebindex.htm . There is an enormous wealth of information here.> On my internet I cannot use your search site or for that matter google, <We actually repaired a great many Google search bars within our pages today.... Uh, your AOL access should permit you to make use of google.com.... and also our google search bars.... If it does not, it is possible you have some spyware issues.... might be time for an updated version of your anti-spyware/virus software.> so may you please help me out a little bit more? <Not without info :) Try our search tools and our freshwater subweb, and otherwise, please include all information about your question.> Thank you! Christine <Wishing you well, -Sabrina>

Corals, anenomones and sponges 8/30/05 hi again and thank you for your quick response to my earlier question, however i have a couple more if you would be so kind. 1. has the number of species of coral,anemones and sponges decreased significantly over the last 500 million years? <No> 2. are most marine turtles carnivorous? <No> 3. and is it true that coralline algae is only found in coral reefs? <No> Thank you for all your help Kind regards <Please do your homework elsewhere. Bob Fenner>

Re: corals, anenomones and sponges 8/30/05 Thanks for your concern however this is not home work i am currently doing a survey of information related websites so that they can be published in a well known and long running uk national wildlife and nature magazine order of helpfulness and and the quality of the responses top 10! with free advertising of the featured sites. please be sure to check out national press! Regards <Ah, sorry for the misunderstanding... Judged from your mis-spellings, grammar that you were a child with school questions. BobF>

Problem searching the FAQ's 8/27/05 I really enjoy your site and believe that I could probably find any answer I would ever need here. The problem is that my eyes are going crossed! When I put my phrase/ question into the search what comes up is the initial page of all the FAQ'S matching my search, with a little snippet of the specific article. The problem is when I click on one that seems to relate I am taken to the FAQ page where that question is located and I have to read through 25 or more questions to try and find the one that relates to MY question. All other search sites usually highlight your phrase so that you can easily scroll down to find what you need. Is there a way to do this on your site, and if not why do you not have this valuable addition? Thank you for your time, and all of the help that you give to so many of us! Tanis Montminy <There is indeed a way to search and have the keywords you input highlighted... search outside of WWM using the terms WetWebMedia and .... and look at the cached versions... Bob Fenner> Live rock... worms as plants, not-cycled new marine system 8/22/05 I recently purchased a 75 Gallon Oceanic Saltwater tank and set it up approximately two weeks ago with 40 lbs of sand. After one week, <... too soon, was this system cycled by then?> I added 10lbs of live sand, 15lbs of live rock, 5 small Blue Legged Hermit Crabs, one medium sized Blue Legged Hermit Crab, One small Red Legged Crab, two Yellow Tail Damsels, and One Blue Damsel. While watching the tiny creatures move around in the tank, I noticed several little red feather duster looking things sneaking out of the white circular tubes on a piece of live rock. These tiny beautifully colored plants <Not plants> seem to notice movement and dart inside whenever anything gets close. Can you please help me identify them and will I need to feed them anything? <... please see here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/index.html Learn to/use the search tool, indices... Bob Fenner>

NITRITE-LEVEL 8/18/05 I AM CALVIN PROBLEM: TANK IS 4 WEEKS OLD. TWO SMALL GOLDFISH IN TANK FOR THREE WEEKS NOW.. IT IS A 50 GALLON TANK / FRESHWATER . MY NITRITE LEVEL IS STILL HIGH-- I WANT TO ADD MORE GOLD FISH, WHAT AM I DOING WRONG??? CALVIN <Calvin.... Please re-send this question, not in all caps.... All questions/answers are posted on our dailies, and must be at least decently formatted. We don't have the manpower to re-type queries like this, as we are an all-volunteer crew with little time. Please see here for more information: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/QueryCorrsRefPg.htm . Thank you, -Sabrina>

Worms, freind or foe... common courtesy and using WWM 8/14/05 hey crew!, am really stumped about some worms i found in my tank. they're about 1/4 an inch long, front end is red, back end is black. they look bristley, but do not match other pictures i have seen of bristle worms. my peacock flounder is helping keep their population down, but are they something i should worry about? any links or comments would be extremel helpful. thank you! -andrew <Andrew... your spelling, grammar is atrocious... Please read here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/polychaetes.htm and the linked files above. Bob Fenner>

The Net, at least WWM, is not a toy 8/4/05 Dear Bob: I am Amanda's father. Thank you for corresponding with my daughter about her goldfish. I would like to apologize for her not "learn(ing) to proof your correspondence and read where you were referred to previously", but perhaps since she is only twelve years old, you could cut her just a little bit of slack and maybe lighten up a little bit. By the way, she did read where she was referred to previously. Have a nice day, Rick Rasor <Impossible to tell the age et al. of folks who write in... Perhaps you should supervise your children. BobF>

Feather Duster behavior 7/31/05 A quick question (well, two..) My Feather Duster has almost entirely crawled out of it's tube and keeps twisting in the water - is this bad news? <Read here: http://wetwebmedia.com/featherbehfaqs.htm> Secondly, I have suddenly acquired about 30/40 small white multi-legged Centipede look-alikes in and around the tank (I think they have evacuated the living rock). Any idea what they are and is it likely to be bad news that they have suddenly emerged? Many, many thanks in advance. Steve Morse. <.... and here: http://wetwebmedia.com/polychaeidfaqs.htm Please... learn to use our site. Bob Fenner>

Noisome Najas follow-up 7/10/05 You sent me an email about the question I had for you about, how to get rid of Najas. But the link you gave me _www.aquacenterinc.com/chemicals/chemicals_3.asp_ ( http://www.aquacenterinc.com/chemicals/chemicals_3.asp) , says I am not authorized to open. <Bizarre... I am able to... Do you have a "pop up blocker" or such software active? You might need to turn this off. Bob Fenner> OK, Bob, you're always dishin' it out... 7/5/05 It's a great site, and your knowledge and generosity with same are positively godlike, so please understand the wide grin with which I submit the following comment, and accept it in the spirit in which it is given. <Yeeikes. Thanks much for this... err, much thanks for this... aberrant aversion! Bob Fenner> The word you want is averse, not adverse. Despite your possible adverse reaction, I find I am not averse to correcting your word usage. Ever yr humble servant, Melinda Johansson Betta article 07/02/05 Just read your article in Pet Age. <An industry periodical> Just wanted to tell you great job. Schuyler Sloane (Mr. sky) Founder and president of The Northeast Philadelphia Aquarium Society Visit us on the web @ www.phillyfishclub.com <Thank you for this... Want to impart my thanks to the editor there... We had a "misunderstanding" or better, lack of understanding re the content of this piece... This series is more "pro" toward advertisers, extant products... But I am adverse to promoting poor practices, products and techniques that are harmful or just non-beneficial to our aquatic charges. In this case, the little death traps which are unfiltered, unheated "bowls" for Bettas mainly. To her credit and perseverance, the article was not tossed... or much modified. Bob Fenner>

A Thousand Thanks! 6/31/05 This is an email simply of profuse thanks. Recently, the health of my goldfish took a sudden plummet that had me extremely startled. Despite my years of experience, I was quickly at my wit's end as how to ameliorate the situation and lucked upon your site in something of a panicked desperation. While my initial course of action was to rifle out an email in hopes of a custom-tailored magic bullet, your insistence on searching previous questions turned me towards the archive, and led me to discover more valuable information there than I could have dreamt to find. <Ahhhh!> The breadth of the advice, and insight of your knowledge not only helped to save my fish, but taught me a great many things that I thought I already knew. <Outstanding... our intention.> I am so much happier to be able to send this email of gratitude now, than to have sent one in panic that only wasted everyone's time. Again, thanks so much for all your help (even though it all took place without you knowing) from both me and my fish. Sincerely, Rob Karlovetz <Glad to read of your success. Thank you for your kind, encouraging words. Bob Fenner> Re: answering questions I was wondering how long does it take for you to respond to e-mail questions or you only post the answers to questions on the website? I sent a question about 5 days ago. thanks <Mmm, I try to answer any/all that get more than a day old... don't see yours, and we have had some real troubles with our mail server... some queries, input come through with no way (tray) to respond... Please do re-send. Bob Fenner>

Has anyone gotten my email? I have posted my question twice - once Monday the 16th and once Friday the 20th and have not heard back or seen it posted. I attached two photos - one was 77.5 Kb and the other 95.3 KB, so I don't think the picture size is a problem. Am I doing something wrong that I am not getting an answer? Thanks for getting back to me - Jeanne <Mmm, I don't see any such mail with your name on it Jeanne. We do have troubles at times with incoming (folks telling us they've sent some, we can't find...) and some comes (I believe HTML, coding issues) that lacks our "tray" of tools to respond to... Please do re-send... with your pix (jpg's or bmp's attached)... If all else fails, please send along to my personal email < [email protected]> Bob Fenner>

My Apologies Dear Bob, I wanted to tell you that I have been visiting your site every day now for about a year, and only after the fact that I sent you two consecutive emails, I found all the answers I needed already posted from other visitors. I would think this would get very irritating. I don't know about anyone else, but I just get so excited sometimes about my plans, that I get ahead of myself, and feel like I need a answer directly to me. It has sort of happened with past emails, but not like these ones where exactly what I was looking for was already posted. You hear it in probably 70% of your emails, but y'all ( I live in Nevada now so I have to say y'all) provide an incredible amount of information that is very easy to navigate, (unlike others) and I just wanted to say thanks and sorry. Sincerely, Mike.......who'll read double time before writing again. <Thank you so much Mike... tis so that about half of queries are pretty much already answered (sometimes over and over) on the archive FAQs (Frequently Accessed Queries)... Bob Fenner>

Tips on Asking Questions & Observations on Communications Mr. Fenner; <Mr. Anderson> For several months I have been tapping this fabulous resource you have created, as I prepare to set up a new aquarium after a long time away from the hobby. I have learned much from you and Crew about both aquaria and people. Thank you for sharing. <Welcome> In my meandering through WWM I have found occasional dialogue regarding the courtesy of good communication. You and the Crew respectfully ask for proper spelling, punctuation, use of capitalization, etc., so you can more efficiently and accurately respond to our endless requests. We requestors, incredibly, feel you should somehow figure out what we actually intended to ask and get about the task of fulfilling our requests, regardless of our ineptitude in presenting the question. Please forgive me, but I occasionally (ok, often) find glee in your grief while dealing with our rudeness. <Heeee! Is a hoot at times> I had the privilege of working for a large machine vision (computers with cameras) firm. The president was the engineer who started the company. He found himself consumed with the business end of things and, as so often happens, could participate very little in the technical challenges he enjoyed (sound familiar?). For both business and personal reasons, he encouraged his engineers to send him ideas and questions. If he encountered bad spelling, punctuation, or other gross abuse of language or communication while reading a note from his engineers, he immediately dropped the note into the trash. I asked him if he was concerned about missing valuable information with this blunt and brutal response. He replied that if it is not important enough for the author to write correctly, it is not important enough to take the time to read. <Mmm, I can "see" t/his point... but in our circumstances here it is impossible to judge at times whether we are dealing with children, folks of diminished capacity, non-English/American "speakers"> I will make every effort to communicate clearly and politely, to postpone the time when you feel you must adopt this drastic position. Be well. John Anderson <Thank you for sharing. Bob Fenner> The Patience of Job I have been reading the posts on your site everyday for a little over a year now. I have learned a great deal. I have had problems that have arisen, but never asked a question. Every single question I have had, has already been answered somewhere on your site. I learned to use the search engine to find my answers, as well as entering alternative phrases when I didn't find exactly what I was looking for the first time. I have seen the "less than cordial" emails from people demanding answers, or asking the same questions over and over, apparently trying to elicit an answer that suits them. The lack of respect for your crew and the time that it takes to repeatedly answer the same questions over and over is a prime example of the "Me" generation. They want it, and they want it now! They cant even type a sentence that makes sense and they couldn't spell cat, if you gave them the first three letters. <Dan, thank you for your email. It's nice to get mail like this from people such as yourself that obviously appreciates what the crew does for fellow aquarists. Unfortunately from time to time we do get these emails from "Me" people. People that demanding are usually the ones who get answered last. And then there are the people that keep asking the same questions over and over. But for the most part, it is very gratifying to help the appreciative aquarists out and prevent them from making mistakes that myself and the crew have been through countless times. Thank you again! Regards, James (Salty Dog) and the Crew @ Wet Web Media>

Who were you corresponding with re: your 150? Hi Cindy, Marina here with a quick question for you. I see you've got two messages, both regarding the treatments you've begun for marine ich. One message appears to be a response to a previous query. Unfortunately, because the previous text was not included, I don't know who to place this for. Whenever possible, we like to keep continuity going, work with the same people, would you mind mailing us back, let us know who you were working with? Also, if you can include the previous correspondence that would really be helpful, including for the person who wrote you back. Thanks! Marina

If You Don't Have a Spellchecking Program... And my computer has no spell-check or grammar check programs installed. Sorry for any inconvenience, but you are dependent upon my ability to type and spell correctly. How am I doing? Thanks, Shelia Jarrett <<Shelia, the message re: spell-checking, etc. was sent by me specifically, Marina. Please, we only ask that folks do this in order to save us a great deal of time/effort. Your email/s comprise only a small fraction of what we receive each day. It is my job to edit, spell-check, etc. If you're running a Windows or Linux operating system, there is a free program, one that I use EXCLUSIVELY, called OpenOffice. You can download it at http://www.openoffice.org/ - it uses both its own file extensions AND Microsoft file extensions. I don't know if it's available for Mac computers, though. Also, know that we DO understand that for many, many people, fish are not just a pretty ornament. I do hope your fish recover fully. Marina>> <<P.S. I also live in a rural community, so I understand exactly what it's like not having availability to certain things (like a GOOD pet/fish shop), or a decent grocery store. Best of luck.>>

If You Don't Have a Spellchecking Program - II Marina, Thanks for information on free spell-check; after I sent this e-mail I did find my Outlook express has entry to click for spell-check (oops!). Fish seem to have recovered fully and I have since had time to view different articles posted on WWM; I appreciate your concern. I have since learned quite a lot and still need to look through other posted articles to ensure continued health and happiness. Shelia Jarrett <<Shelia, you're very welcome, and no worries re: finding it via Outlook. We're glad to know that we've brought about help for you and your fish. Chuck seems to have a real handle on a lot of these fishes, I think your pets will pull through well. In the meantime, what transpired, with follow-up, is now archived for as long as WWM and the WorldWideWeb last. Marina>>

Missing web article Hi Bob, <Hello Derrick!> I've been enjoying your website for several months now. My wife and I are fairly new to the marine aquarium hobby. We're planning several vacations over the next couple of months and I was looking for advice on your website. I saw the article "Going on Holiday w/o Your Marines", but when I clicked on the link, the article was nothing more than the title. I'm assuming something's wrong with the web page and wanted to bring it to your attention. Keep up the great work! <Will endeavor to do so... This piece is just not penned as yet... the article area is a "place marker" for the FAQs...> This has been a truly wonderful hobby, that's become much more. I never really thought of fish a pets, but wow, what wonderful personality some fish can have. Derrick <Ah yes... perhaps you will write this article... Bob Fenner>

Ich/Velvet, dangerous practices, hokey products Thank you very much James,<You're welcome> I have good news. I went to a PetCo near me and read as many medications that they had there. I found one called QuICk Cure. I bought it and treated my butterfly very quickly without harming the snails. I used it for 2 days now and she only has 3 small spots of brown on her on side, and no ick. So after this incident I'm looking into a ecoAQUALIZER for my 75 gallon tank. Also could you please point out some good tank mates for my file and butterfly cause I know that Filefish are real docile and I'm having a hard time picking tank mates for him. <Jason, in the future reply to the original query. We answer many queries daily and sometimes I just don't know all the details of the original query. That is the problem with this one. Don't remember what size tank you have. For compatibility, you can go to www.liveaquaria.com. They have a compatibility chart that will help you in your selection(s), or do a google search on Wet Web, keyword compatibility. Much information there also. James (Salty Dog)> Sincerely, Jason Re: Ick and Popeye MORE ICH! Hello WWM crew! I have my questions of the day. First, as you know I have all my fish are in a 55 gallon qt. tank due to an ich outbreak. I treated once with Quick Cure for the recommended 5 days. I did almost daily water changes, cleaning up bottom. The treatment ended Sunday, on Thurs. more ich. what I want to know is if the ich can remain on the fish for 7 days and is unaffected by treatment, how can a 5 day treatment help? I hate to keep medicating these fish over and over again. I cannot use copper due to a Flame Angel. How much Quick Cure can these poor fish take? Do you have a better suggestion on how to disperse this med? Also, my Flame has Popeye from the ich, I am currently using Epsom salt which relieved some of the swelling. I also noticed my Chromis looked like he also was wearing bifocals and seems to have a small piece of fin missing. I have ordered Furan-2 [cant find it in LFS] I had read it can be used with Formalin, can it be used w/ Formalin/Malachite green combo ? And last question, totally unrelated. I have 2 cleaner shrimp in my now empty 125 gal. I also noticed more bugs [copepods, I guess] and worms out and about. Yesterday I was watching these bugs in the corner of the tank ,off and on trying to figure out what they were. Last night I turned on the lights for a while and noticed this fuzz where the bugs were, then a million tiny things swimming up in the water. Now my first thought was that they were baby bugs although they didn't look the same so it dawned on me, could it have been baby cleaner shrimp? I never saw any eggs and maybe the bugs were eating them. Also both cleaner shrimp were catching them and eating them. I know that if the fish were in the tank, they'd all be eaten, is there any chance one or two out of this million will survive? thanks for your help and time, Kim <These questions are all answered here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/index.html Use the search tool. Bob Fenner>

Dwarf angel: Need to search, study on WWM Hi. Wetwebmedia has been an invaluable resource in my fish keeping endeavors. I purchased a dwarf eiblii angel about two weeks ago and put it in my ten gallon quarantine tank. Things were going well, until this morning when I noticed something on it that looks like velvet or ich (it is hard to tell). I am planning to do a freshwater dip, then perform water changes of about a gallon a day over the next several days to lower the salinity in the tank to 1.010. I know that dwarf angels are sensitive to copper, so should I use the Cupramine by SeaChem or another product, such as quick cure, instead? Thank you too much again. Rob <Please read here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/index.html put in the terms, dwarf angel disease, the products you list (that should be capitalized), the term "copper use"... read. Bob Fenner>

Re: sick dwarf eiblii Hi. I emailed yesterday? about a very sick dwarf eiblii angel. The fish ate fine the first week of quarantine but now will not touch anything. I have tried Mysis, formula 2, and angel formula and it won't touch any of the three. It also wouldn't touch any of the algae on the piece of rock I have in the quarantine to help control ammonia. Is there anything else I should try? The stomach is very shrunken and the fishes health appears to be fading fast. Thank you. Rob <Yes... try the search tool here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/index.html or the indices to look up the FAQs files on Angelfish feeding/nutrition. Bob Fenner>

Google 101, or how to find enlightenment on WWM Dudes & Dudettes, <Robert> Of course I must begin by complimenting the help you give and the countless lives you've saved. (Hee!, just pictured Bob & Antoine in Mother Teresa outfits!) <Yeeikes! Find a happy place, find a happy place...> For those countless requests for highlighted search results, I humbly offer this workaround: Search as you normally would, and when you get your results, resist the temptation to click on that rather cryptic page title in blue. Instead, look at each result for the word "Cached" near the end of the line, immediately after the green URL. This will take you to Google's cache of the page, with all your search terms automagically highlighted. Presto! Depending on how often your site is crawled, the results may be a day or so out of date. Since the majority of questions have been asked & answered many times before, this shouldn't matter much... Hope this helps. Robert <Ah, yes... thank you for your input. Bob (out of habit and mostly mind) Fenner>

Thanks for your tolerance! Hello, WWM Crew! <Hey, Mike G here.> Unlike your typical e-mail, I don't have a question to ask; I don't even need a response to this message! I simply wanted to thank you all for your time put into WWM and its services. I also wanted to thank you for putting up with the "minor meanies" without taking it out on the rest of us. <It is all part of the job. Emails like this even out the score. Your thanks are very much appreciated, and I think that I speak on everyone's' behalf here at WWM.> I was prompted to write this by the disgust I felt when reading "Anonymous Eel (Sure Ain't F/W!): Part II & We are So Rude.. How Rude are We?" on today's FAQ. <Ahh, sorry for the delayed response on this one. :-) It happens - again, never will there be anything decidedly good without its critics.> Honestly, this person talks about "common curtesy" (spelling error preserved), while writing in an obviously sarcastic tone... *sigh*. If I were Mike G, I'd have wanted to inflict a contusion through the use of a blunt object traveling at speed (i.e., punch the person!). <Hehehe... Physical blows do not translate well over the internet.> Anyway, thanks again! <You're welcome. (Once again, speaking on everyone's' behalf) Mike G> Scott Baker (A Non-Meanie, minor or otherwise ;) )

- Highlighting in the Search Tool - A funny, if ironic, segue--when you go to "ask the WWM crew a question," first you get asked to search the forums for your answer... well is what I'm asking about! Is there any way you can set up the search engine to highlight the search terms from your query on the page it pulls up? <Unfortunately not... at least not directly. If you install the Google search bar, that tool has a highlight option and will highlight keywords in the pages you search for, including those using Google against Wet Web Media.> You know as well as I that there are massive amounts of posts on those pages, and there is no way, other than to sift through them top to bottom, to find your answer. A search tool that highlight the terms in the returned query would be such a huge improvement, and would save hours of pouring over emails to find what I'm looking for (although I have to admit I learn a lot in the process! <Understand, but because we use Google, we're at their mercy as to how the "search tool" behaves.> But then again, I usually forget what it is I was trying to find in the first place). Please forgive me if this is not a novel subject and cannot be remedied -- I must admit I did not "search" for my answer! <No worries, this is a question that does come up, sometimes more frequently than others.> Cheers! Jessezm in Atlanta <Cheers, J -- >

Reply to...??? Thank you for your reply James (salty dog), it has been a great help to me. No doubt I will be back once I start to set up my mini-reef! In the mean time, much respect for what you all do. Thanks once again. <Jenny, in the future, reply with the original query. We get so many queries a day that when a thank you comes, I sometimes do not remember what the query was about without seeing the original message in the text. Just do a "reply to". Thanks, James (Salty Dog)> Using WWM, not abusing the crew I just recently add a 1 1/2 inch Gold Gourami into my 30-gallon tank. My older 3 1/2 inch Blue Gourami chased him around and bit off most of his fins. Is there anything I can do to stop the aggression? Jahner <Please use the Google search tool: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ put in the terms "Gourami, Aggression" and read. Bob Fenner>

NO-Fluoros: No-Go? and no more HTML! Hello Crew, <Hey, Mike G here. Before I answer your question, can I ask that you (or anyone else asking a question to the crew, for that matter) PLEASE do not include HTML formatting in your email. Yes, it was very pretty with all of the (very many) colors, and bolding, and underlining, but when I opened it to respond, the message was like a train wreck. It took me around 15 minutes to sort everything out, which was time taken away from other people with queries as well as delayed my response a bit.> I have a little bit of a dilemma. I was thinking of buying a 10gal tank from a person, because it sounded like a good deal. I just wanted the fish, but the tank includes a powerhead, a filter, a mature male Ocellaris Clown fish, a Kenya Tree, a Xenia, and possibly one other soft coral. The issue that I have is that I do not have anything besides regular fluorescent lighting. <Sounds like a problem indeed!> I read Anthony's article and he states: Standard Output Fluorescent lighting (SO or NO)? "The same general attributes as per above for high intensity fluorescent tubes with the limitation of its potential to support symbiotic invertebrates at depth. Recommended only for the least demanding animals in shallow aquaria 40 cm or less in depth." Is it possible that Standard Fluorescent lighting will support these corals due to the very small size and depth of this tank or will I need something more powerful like a 20" pc light? <I would recommend purchasing the PC light. Everything would be SO much better off. With the NO Fluoros, I'll bet the creatures could survive, but certainly not thrive. The advantages of getting a PC light to replace the NO Fluoros are staggering.> Thank you in advance for sharing your knowledge. Thank you. <You're welcome. Hope this helps you out.>

NO-Fluoros: No-Go? and no more HTML! Hello Crew, <Hey, Mike G here. Before I answer your question, can I ask that you (or anyone else asking a question to the crew, for that matter) PLEASE do not include HTML formatting in your email. Yes, it was very pretty with all of the (very many) colors, and bolding, and underlining, but when I opened it to respond, the message was like a train wreck. It took me around 15 minutes to sort everything out, which was time taken away from other people with queries as well as delayed my response a bit.> I have a little bit of a dilemma. I was thinking of buying a 10gal tank from a person, because it sounded like a good deal. I just wanted the fish, but the tank includes a powerhead, a filter, a mature male Ocellaris Clown fish, a Kenya Tree, a Xenia, and possibly one other soft coral. The issue that I have is that I do not have anything besides regular fluorescent lighting. <Sounds like a problem indeed!> I read Anthony's article and he states: Standard Output Fluorescent lighting (SO or NO)? "The same general attributes as per above for high intensity fluorescent tubes with the limitation of its potential to support symbiotic invertebrates at depth. Recommended only for the least demanding animals in shallow aquaria 40 cm or less in depth." Is it possible that Standard Fluorescent lighting will support these corals due to the very small size and depth of this tank or will I need something more powerful like a 20" pc light? <I would recommend purchasing the PC light. Everything would be SO much better off. With the NO Fluoros, I'll bet the creatures could survive, but certainly not thrive. The advantages of getting a PC light to replace the NO Fluoros are staggering.> Thank you in advance for sharing your knowledge. Thank you. <You're welcome. Hope this helps you out.>

Part II: The Answers (To What? Better yet, To Whom?) Thu, 17 Mar 2005 Hello, this is Brandon again. Here are the answers to your questions (except water quality, still working on that): Filtration: Carbon Filter using two dual filters, which are made specifically for the tank. A tube comes down from the main area of the filter into the bottom part of the tank, this is what sucks up algae and others stuff. It sucks it up to the main part which filters the water and sends the cleaned water back into the tank at the top. History: The have had the fish tank for 8 years. We have had probably 3 to 4 different sets of fish in it. Most of them were tropical. We have had the filter for the same amount of time, as well as the heater, the light and all the other components. Between each set of fish the tank and filter, were taken outside and thoroughly, and I mean thoroughly, cleaned. Feeding: For the most part I have fed the Sharks, Plecostomus, and Tiger Barbs tropical fish flakes, Premium which enhance color. However, to give them a different change, recently(5 days ago) I created a mixture of tiny bottom feeder sprinkles, goldfish food (floating small pellets) and Tropical Flake, Premium food. Length of Barbs: Hmmm...? I am not sure but I would say about 5-7 months... <Months is a length/size?> AND, until this last month or two they have been doing fine, till this sickness. O yeah. I started off with 9 Barbs, so they could school, but all died off but 2. **The Following was said in an Irish persons voice: "Happy Saint Patrick's Day Laddy! Your support is greatly appreciated by a fish lover like me-self!" From Brandon "O" Richard (no I'm not Irish) <Brandon... I have no idea what you're referring to w/o your sending our previous correspondence. Bob Fenner>

Whatever Happened to...? >Hey... >>Hey. >I sent you an email on the 11th of March, I think it was... and I have not heard back from you guys, nor have I seen a response in your updated pages. >>Odd, but not unheard of. Sometimes messages get inadvertently placed into the wrong folder, deleted, so on. >I'm really sorry to bug you guys, I realize you have a ton of email to answer. I'm beginning to suspect maybe my first email was too long and rambling, to be answered at all. >>That is NEVER the case, Liz. >If that's the case, I understand. OR, perhaps you didn't get the email in the first place. Thanks, Liz >>Liz, our apologies for the missing message. Would you mind resending it? Marina

- Email Filtering Crazy Words - Bob: <JasonC this time...> I was wondering if you have some sort of email filtering software installed. <We do but it only scans for the most basic of keywords in the subject that are bonafide spam - things like Viagra and Vicodin. Even so, these are not deleted out of hand but moved to a folder for review before deletion... you using any crazy words in your subject?> I am not getting any responses to an email I have sent a few times over the past 13 days, but I am not getting any "cannot deliver" messages either. <Very odd...> Any ideas? <Are you trying to attach something large perhaps? I mean... it's hard to say as this email made it through our limited amount of filtering... don't know what would make your other email different... perhaps you do.> Rich <Cheers, J -- >

Several Questions - How Should I Send Them? Hello! <Hi Chase. James for Bob, today> Dear Mr. Fenner, I have many several questions to ask you. I was wondering if I should ask them all in one email or on a bunch of separate emails? Remember I have A LOT of questions. Thank you. I think you guys are wonderful to put forward your time and give honest advice to aquarists. Thank you again so much. < Chase, what you need to do first is search the Wet Web. Many or all of your answers can be found here. If you can't find the answer you're looking for, then try to condense your query to specific points you are inquiring about. It would be better to send different emails only if they apply to different subjects. It's much easier to sort/place them in the Wet Web for viewing by other hobbyists. James (Salty Dog)>

Corrections to emails 11 March 2005 Hello, all. <Hi Simon, MacL here with you.> I share your interest in proper spelling and grammar, and was surprised to see that my spelling of "forgo" had been "corrected" to "forego" for placement on your website. <Actually Simon I don't really have much to do that after I get to answer your questions.> For the record, "forgo" without the 'e' is correctly used when meaning "going without" and "forego" is (more) correctly used when meaning "going before". So the correction was unwarranted, though I won't take it personally! (To complicate things, "forego" can ALSO correctly be used to mean "going without", so what you changed it to is not incorrect. Though as a purist I never use one where the other would be clearer.) <I am sure this will go to the powers at be who will take your words as they are intended. I'm sure no offense was intended just trying very hard to make this the best site that can be made.> Very best regards, Simon. (P.S. I am now entirely ich-clear and the whole tank is doing wonderfully. Thanks to all.) <That is tremendous and I'm very glad to hear the update, thank you. MacL>

Corrections update 11 march 2005 Oh, and sorry to nitpick but, similarly, you changed my "unmistakably" to "unmistakably", though both are correct. (And, I would argue, my spelling is, at least for a traditionalist, more correct!) I promise I won't draw your attention to any more examples, even if I should find any. <As an English major I hope you feel free to pick away. I think that just brings out how often things can be done in multiple ways. Take care Simon, MacL>

The Spell-Checker, Marina, Responds.. Hello Simon, Mac, Yes, once the messages are sent out, Mac has no other control over what happens. A few things should be pointed out that may help elucidate the situation. First, know that we have many emails daily that are sent in all manner of forms; typed out in all uppercase letters, or all lowercase. Punctuation issues run from none whatsoever, to some of the oddest forms any literate human can think of. Add to that the considerations of line-compression for space, titling when others forget, and last (but hardly least), checking spelling - not just of those asking questions, but of those answering. My point is that time is of the essence, and I cannot read each and every word of each and every post. This means that I generally fall back on the FrontPage spellchecker, adding words as necessary. So, to address the word forego, you are correct, both usages are correct and acceptable, but apparently not to FrontPage. When I see the red line, it brings said word to my attention, and I make my call then and there. I simply prefer "forego" to "forgo". However, to address the word "unmistakably", upon re-referring myself to each of my three major dictionaries (Webster's New World College Dictionary, Fourth Edition; Webster's Universal Unabridged Dictionary, Second Edition {weighing in at an appreciable 10+lbs.}; The New Lexicon Webster's Dictionary {two volume set}), make no mistake, "unmistakably" is spelled sans "e" after the "k", both usages are not correct. Do you mind if I correct your spelling of "traditionalist"? Marina

Using WWM Hey Bob, <Hey Mike> I have a few quick questions. 1.) Do starfish need any special lighting? 2.) Would my Picasso Trigger eat a starfish, snail, or crab? That's it for now. I really appreciate your responses. You are a much more reliable source than a random website. Thanks Mike <No, thank you... These and many other follow-up questions are already answered on WWM: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ Use the indices or search tool... Bob Fenner>

Need a bit of direction, using WWM Sorry to pester you, Robert, for I am sure you are very busy, but sometime when you get a moment, I'd just like to know how best to utilize your wonderful website. I have signed up and done the little information thing about myself, but as a web user neophyte...I'm not sure what to do next. <Mmm, am sorry to realize that our simple sites may have become as user-unfriendly as my experiences of yore with computer science bibliographic tools..> Do other people read the little blurb about myself and touch base if they like, or do I need to go another step and start writing in to the chat room sort of thing? I have questions firstly about plant supplies and sources, and then secondly, about culturing them. Thanks a lot, Lynn <Let's see... the first thing you might do is peruse the various indices... you can follow these sequentially... e.g. from the homepage... choose "Marine", "Freshwater"... as the category you're interested in... Clicking on one of these will take you to further sub-indices... and ultimately to the (blue) links of article and FAQs files... and in turn, these have linked files (above the title/subject) of related nature. Now, one could also just use the Google search tool on the homepage or indices as well to find the same article, FAQs files of interest... AND we do have a BB (WetWebFotos.com) that you can chat with (unqualified) hobbyists as well... And lastly, there is always writing us at WWM. Bob Fenner>

-Slightly irritated?- For sake of writing this I am compressing the last two emails you sent into one to save time and space. <This is Justin> Ahhhh that's good man, I'd love to get "the real you" out there for other people to see the kind of person you really are. <The Real Bob Fenner.... I do not know if the Server space and bandwidth is large enough to do 3d modeling in real time.> In a message dated 2/27/2005 12:35:48 PM Eastern Standard Time, [email protected] writes: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/faqstips.htm Once again Bob, there is NO excuse to be unprofessional and rude. I'm done talking to you man. <Well from answering a lot of your questions and seeing that you wrote in at least 4 times in one day, mostly on information clearly stated in our FAQ's on Q/T usage and upkeep, I am surprised that we could answer all of your emails in any capacity and even spent any more time than to tell you to read over the site. 95% of the information you have requested is somewhere here in the FAQ's. And the webpage that you were sent does ask that you read over and search the site BEFORE you ask questions, so that we can best help those that our previous posts and answers did not. Also, seeing that we get an avalanche of emails and you got 2 answered just from me, as well as from Bob and very professionally as well I might add, I do not think you should be so quick to jump on people who are volunteering their time and knowledge to help as many people as we can. Only by not answering your emails could we be taken as rude since this site holds the collective knowledge and opinions of at least 200 years in the hobby and business. If you have questions after reading an email I would highly recommend you go to the www.WetWebFotos.com forums and posting them there, where most of the crew here posts as well to answer peoples questions. That venue is better equipped to handle multiple questions that are not all in one or two emails. If you would rather go elsewhere to get help, that is your choice. Good luck. Justin (Jager)>

-Slightly irritated 2?- I understand, but if possible (which this site gives me the opportunity with an Email address), I'd rather speak personally to someone from their 1st hand experience, not experience from a bunch of people. <Well you are drawing from the experiences of all the people here when you email in…..> And some of the questions I had were not answered precisely on the FAQ's when I researched them. Hence, I sent an email to speak with someone. But I understand the point you are trying to make and I take it that it's an inconvenience to answer emails. So I won't BOTHER this company anymore, since you are basically telling me not to email you and to do my own research. Take it easy Justin <Well we are not a company, just a few volunteers, which means we do not get paid for our time, so answering emails isn't so easy when you are trying to answer a lot from many people and still have the normal job, family, and life, but it is a labor of love for the hobby and knowing that we offer the best source of information most people will get. We generally point you to the FAQ's because we have answered hundreds of questions and your answers mostly lie within them. I know they are not the exact problems you are having but it's a general thing where you can see what works what doesn't and what we recommend. As for the WetWebFotos site, the forums there are run and setup by a crew member (LorenzoG) and I answer most posts there as well. So if you wish to have someone specific please simply post with my forum name there and I will get to it when I can. Most of the people on that forum have the experience you seek a well. However WE here cannot handle the questions you have in multiple emails as I said, if you can take the time to coalesce your questions into one email and send it we would be happy to try and answer it the best we can. If you do email here, take your time and really put in exact things we can help with like water quality numbers, good observations of the fish, times of med usage, tank mates, everything you can think of as well as the questions you need answered in a shortened and complete format so we know what to help with exactly. If it helps, please put my name in the subject so that it gets routed to my folder rather than another crew member's, who may have not handled your issues before. Otherwise there isn't much we can do in the flood of mail when we get things that are not concise and all together, other than to point you in the direction of the FAQ's simply due to time constraints, and the fact that we do this on the side, NOT, as most people who are upset with our answers seem to think, as a paying job. You're only bothering per se when your emails aren't really asking anything, they are just insulting. If you would like my help with something that we cannot help with here, as you have a new question for each email we answer as a good example, I urge you to post it in the WetWebForums with my name (Jager) in the topic heading under the correct section and I will try to help as best I can. but we here have a lot of people just like you with lots of questions, so when the emails keep coming back to back with what seems to be things we have answered before hand in the FAQ's then it is easy to simply redirect you there. However the best way as I said before is to use the forums, as I respond faster there usually. Best of luck. Justin (Jager)>

Caddy WWM Shack Some of you guys have real poor attitudes, lucky your not in front of me right now. You shouldn't put yourself out there and have an email to contact you for help if you can't handle dealing with people and have no people skills WHATSOEVER!! Some of you sound like a bunch of caddy women, undesirables. Sounds like you had a bad life growing up Bob, all this anger inside of you. I'll go elsewhere for help when I need it and deal with people who are professional and have good communication skills. And by the way, coming from first hand experience, stay where your at... under the water with fish. You would NEVER make it in the real world communicating with other people. Have a nice day <Please read here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/faqstips.htm BobF>

We Post All Hey Bob, why don't you post that last email on your website, lol <We post all. BobF>

Limpets Digestion - More Schoolwork for James? I am currently doing biology coursework. Can anyone tell me how the Patella vulgata digests algae? <You need to do a search on "Patella vulgata", and I'm sure you will find the info your looking for. James (Salty Dog)>

Motoro Injury - No Emails with All Caps Accepted! I re-keyed my message yesterday as you requested. It took less than 12 hours for you to scold me for using all caps. We are into the 2nd day without the all important help to possibly save my stingray. I apologize again. I was not shouting. I'm just not fast at typing and I had to rush in order to avoid reprimand from my employer. <Please read here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/WWMAdminSubWebIndex/question_page.htm >

WWM insider info. Wow thanks so much for your prompt reply.. how do you guys make money? Can we make donations for your time or something? Thank you. <Mmm, we don't... make money that is. We have some industry sponsors whose kind payments we use for paying content providers, our editors of the CA magazine, web-hosting, miscellaneous costs... and an Amazon.com "begging bowl" posted on the homepage and index pages for folks who want to contribute... The time it would take, the lack of desire to administer the sites as paying entities, the whole attitude of this "being a job" is something I wanted/want to avoid. We are all volunteers... of our own will, seeking to aid others in being successful in the interest. Bob Fenner>

Blue Tang? Do my Schoolwork Because I Can't Use Google.. Hey I was wondering who are Blue Tang predators? Who is its prey? What depths can it live in? Is it a nocturnal or daytime animal? Is it endangered? Does it have partnerships with other animals? Does the animal have a purpose to the coral? Well I need this for a project so get it to me A.S.A.P! Thank you very much! <Need to know if it is the Powder Blue Tang or the Regal Tang you are referring to. James (Salty Dog)>

Do my Schoolwork for Me! II Never mind. I guess I can't do it anymore because I can't tell you what kind it is cause I don't know. Well do you know if a Barracuda is endangered or not? Well E-mail back please A.S.A.P! Thanks. <Not to my knowledge. James (Salty Dog)>

Veruca Salt Strikes Again - Do my Schoolwork for Me! III It should be to your knowledge! Shouldn't it? <Kendall, I'll direct you to a site where you can go regarding the endangerment (if any) of the barracuda. floridaconservation.org James (Salty Dog)>

Re: School Project - How Could You..? Don't Post my E-mail On Site! Bob: I asked you recently about a school project. I was just on the Wet Web Media Website and noticed that the exact e-mail you sent me was there. So, I searched it on Google to see if anything would show up. It did. You have absolutely NO right to post an e-mail I wrote on your site. I did not authorize you, therefore, it is NOT okay. If you had asked me, I probably would have said yes, but since you did not ask me, I DEMAND that you remove that e-mail from that site. If you want people to know how to cite you, maybe you should POST IT ON THE SITE! I wrote that e-mail. I don't care if it has information that other people could use. I in NO way authorized you. Lauren <We post all... what is the referent to find, delete your email? You would do well to either NOT use the NET period or STATE explicitly that you do not want your mail posted.... I assure you, we go to great pains to NOT post people's addresses over a concern for privacy... As a side-note to you... DO realize the government archives ALL internet transmission. Bob Fenner> <<... to date there are about 100k "FAQs"... w/o your stating where yours are... we have no way of tracing them. RMF>>

Boyd Bros. Product Photos Hey bob how are things. about the product shots for the web any format you like better then others? Russell Boyd <Jpegs and bitmaps are best... of size of use on the Net (a few kb, 92 or so dpi)... and if you get re-done, want to have appear in our books, as tiffs of size... these last are best sent on a CD. Bob Fenner, who has used your food now... and can report it is very well received, does not cloud water...> WWM volunteer in earnest Bienvenidos Mike! Some notes from one of those who places queries, sometimes answers, to get you started. Some of our methods have changed from times past, most notably that we no longer disperse queries into people's folders upon arrival. This will make the notes/messages you've previously read a little confusing at first. We plan on you having a lot of questions in any event, don't worry, we'll get it sorted. First, currently the purpose of each person having their own folder is so that queries can be FIRST moved into their own folders before replying. This way we help ensure that no questions are missed while others are answered more than once. There are slip-ups, to be sure, but this new (to those of us who've been here a while) method works quite well. When you access the crew email, you'll see, along with individual folders for each member, folders named: "BRACKISH" "FRESHWATER" "MARINE" "PONDS" And "Emails with image" What happens when we get a new query is they're first sorted into their appropriate categories (we have gotten a couple from folks who have many systems and will ask fresh and saltwater questions, no worries there, one of us will handle that "filing"). You will not have a query or message placed into your folder by anyone OTHER THAN yourself UNLESS it is specifically addressed to you. This often happens when you begin working with someone and they have further questions, updates, etc. So, you can go into each category and pull questions that are #1: those you feel comfortable answering, and/or #2: more than two or three days old. ***Every once in a while you will get those with attached images, Bob and those of us working directly on the site need for all such queries to go into the "Emails with images" folder. This is THE best way for us to get those images uploaded onto the server so that they may be posted with your answered query. This is fun, because those posts get put into a fancy table, images are lots of fun and add interest, and those ones always stand out. At this point, I can guarantee you'll have more questions, I am happy to answer directly, help walk you through until you're familiar with our madness and methods. Now, there will be some requests we'll make of you that may, at first, seem nitpicky, but there are good reasons for them. The first one, the one Jason had the hardest time getting ME to remember (I finally had to put a Post-It on my monitor so I'd remember!), is to *please* TITLE the queries. Personally, I like the make them fun, but the main goal is to make the title brief, and such that we can easily "file" the queries into the site's FAQs categories after posting in the dailies. If they're not titled, then it takes extra time to either create a title or c&p from the subject line. Next, we never include anyone's email address in the body of the text unless specifically requested to do so. This is quite important, this site is very "Googled". James (Salty Dog) puts them to a next line, which makes it easy for me to highlight the whole line and ctrl+x them. If they're included into a line of text then it becomes harder to pick apart. Also, the readers of the site like to get to know us all as individuals, please identify yourself somewhere in the body of the text. Generally we either introduce ourselves ("Good evening, Steve Allen with you"), or sign after answering. Whenever possible, we try to redirect folks back to the site. I've frequently found that even using a general web Google I'm directed right back to WWM, so it's often just as easy to direct them to our on-site Googlebar, or link directly. Know, also, that it's perfectly alright to cross-reference to other sites, bulletin boards, etc. The main goal is to get out GOOD information that helps ensure peoples' success. I think we all hate to read when someone keeps buying fish after fish (or whatever specimen) and killing them all. Speaking of lines of text, we try to "compress" the text, that is to say that we take out extra lines of space (such as what you see between each paragraph or set of comments I have here). This has to do with the viewing space, and continuity, flow. If you'd like examples of any of this, I'll be more than happy to show you what we're aiming for. Jason addresses the "carroting", take an opportunity to look at how each of us handles separation of querier and answerer (are those words?). The carrots become invaluable. Jason does not care for how I separate my answers, however, I personally need a way to "keep my place" - I am easily/often distracted and need a way to quickly and easily get back to where I was, and I also need a way to pick apart the question(s) so I can answer as best I can. The goal is to make the information quickly and easily digestible to the reader. Finally, please expect to find that we ALL have contradictory opinions. It's alright, just try to not give out plain wrong information (the nitrification cycle, for instance, is a fairly cut and dried, scientifically established bit of information). But, for instance what lighting works best for a given specimen, methods of cycling, those sorts of things tend to be more subjective and based on experience. If you have a question or disagree with something someone's said, no feelings are hurt if you bring it up through these emails. Remember, also, that we, as a group, are often each others' best resource. If you want to answer something but aren't certain, please do put it out there for help from the rest of us. I think it's time for me to close this, I actually had some wine tonight and I don't want to ramble (probably too late for that) though I'm positive I've forgotten SOMETHING. Don't want to hit you with too much all at once. (I hear they call me "The Novelist". That's probably the nicest thing they call me..) Marina Privacy concern Hi WWM Crew, <Jeremy> I was wondering if it's possible to remove from full name from the following urls? My name shows up in searches on Google. To protect my privacy I would prefer that it didn't. If you could change "Jeremy XXXX" to just "Jeremy", I would greatly appreciate it! I understand that it can take months for the search engines to re-index the site, so I know my name won't disappear instantly. www.wetwebmedia.com/quarfaqs3.htm wetwebmedia.com/kalkh20faq2.htm wetwebmedia.com/clnfshdisfaq4.htm wetwebmedia.com/marine/inverts/arthropoda/shrimp/clnshrmfaqii.htms Thanks for your time and patience, Jeremy <Will do... and should actually update within a day or so... we are "crawled" a few times daily. Bob Fenner> <<Folks, call yourself "Hinky Blinky" for all we care... but PLEASE do NOT send info. you do NOT wish to be recorded/archived, seen to us. Thank you. BobF>>

Eel of some sort, puffer abuse, using WWM Hello! I have a tank at school (yes, school. I'm in the Aquatic Science class) and we've got a starfish (I'm not really sure what kind) and a puffer (white spotted, I think) and a peppermint shrimp (which is quite big... maybe a little smaller than a tennis ball. Our puffer is sort of scared of it, I think. at least he hasn't tried eating it.) In our tank. One of my lab partners decided to purchase an eel without consulting anyone and now we have no clue if we can put it in our tank. We went ahead and acclimated the eel to our tank and set up this net divider thing down he middle of our 30 gal tank, but we can't keep them that way forever. If we can keep the eel, we can upgrade to a 50 gal tank. Would that be enough room? <Mmm, need to know at least the species of eel we're chatting about. Please read on www.WetWebMedia.com re (there's a search tool, indices... most Morays get too large for even a fifty gallon system.> Also, we had had another puffer in our tank a while back but I'm not really sure what it was either. <You would do well to keep notes... perhaps a permanent record... like those used in... the sciences> It was a greenish-brownish color with white spots (I thought it was a white spotted because that's what the fish store lady said, but it wasn't) and it was always hiding behind a bunch of rocks and such. Occasionally when there were few people around, it was out and about, but most of the time, it stayed hidden and a rather dark color. I know that some people in my class had been poking at it, and I'm not sure if anyone in the other classes have (I think it may have been pulled out of the water too. People in high school aren't very sensitive to fish, in case you haven't noticed from my story). Eventually, I had to move it into its own tank and keep it in the back where no one was allowed to go. It got better for a while (less hiding and more movement), but then after a few weeks, it fell back into the same pattern and eventually stopped responding at all. I'm pretty sure it starved, even though I had started to force feed it. (I'd only done that for about two days) I know there were a bunch of things that I could have done to improve the situation for poor Hash, but I just wanted to know if was the stress that eventually did him in. And that it wasn't what I eventually did (moving him), that killed him. BTW, the entire time, his tank was kept clean with 0 nitrates 0 ammonia and 8.1-8.2 salinity. Thank you very much for your help! ~Jules <Please, help yourself and your livestock. Study, learn, act. Bob Fenner>

Darter and Jellyfish tanks, helping yourself to WWM I am considering putting together a cold water, fast moving tank for darters. Can you recommend a water cooler as well as a powerful pump to create a strong current in a 75 gal tank? Where can I find info in Jellyfish Aquariums. How difficult are they? Thanks , David <Seek and ye shall find. Please read, use the search tool on our homepage: www.WetWebMedia.com re: Chillers, Pump Selection, Jellyfish Systems... Bob Fenner>

Questions you can find answers to on WWM... go there Thank you for your responding to my email so promptly. Could you please answer just a few more questions that I have. 1) I have a 155 gallon tank, is it better to have a bigger sump? 2) I've looked at a 30-49 gallon capacity by Berlin (BS2, BS3). What is your opinion on the Berlin sump or could you recommend any other particular manufacturer. 3) A friend had mentioned getting a wet/dry and taking the balls out....would this work and would this be sufficient? 4) Once my tank is established in 3-6 months, I want to purchase an emperor angel. I've been told I could possibly keep button polyps, and mushrooms with it, but I've also been told that there are no corals that can be kept with it. What is your opinion on this? Thanks again for your response. Daniel A. Strong <All of these questions and ones that will become obvious to you as you read are answered on our site: WetWebMedia.com Please read through the various indices, Articles, archived FAQs files, or use the Google Search tool on the homepage, indices... Bob Fenner> A Very Confused Salty Dog I'm baffled. I'm new to the crew, was asked by Bob to help out. I've been to the sight and was going to answer some queries, so, when I clicked "reply", the query came up in a window, but the sliding bar on the right just moves the screen up and down and not the query. By accident I found that if I left click as if I was going to copy, and move the cursor down, the query would scroll down. I found it kind of awkward to use and obviously I'm missing something. Does anyone have any info as how to best use this site in answering queries? Thank You, James Gasta (Salty Dog) >>>Whassup Salty? Shouldn't you be out shooting something? :) Just hit reply, post a title at the top of the original query as I've done above, then type your answer below, as I've done here. Get rid of all extra spaces and unnecessary garbage, and that's it! Be sure and check spelling of the original query too. If you get too frustrated, just go blow an innocent animal's head off. Hehe, just messing with you. Welcome to the crew James! (good name by the way) Jim<<< WWM Crew Once in you'll find that we have a main Inbox, and to the left you'll see a column of names. There you should see your folder, "Chip" (that's you). Ok, now you're in, and you see you have emails waiting, just for you! What to do, what to do? Alright, click on the subject of the email, and a new window will come up. This is where you can write your reply, first titling it at the top of the message. Before you send it back out, be sure that the box on the right marked "Save message to Sent folder" is checked! Very, very important! It *should* come up already checked, so you ought not have to worry about checking it, just don't un-check it. We ask of all to remember some things when answering: *1 Please compress extraneous spacing between lines. This takes up rather precious reading space, and makes the job of placing answered queries easier. *2 If you get a query in all caps or lowercase, we generally write back asking that the person retype and resend using proper capitalization and punctuation. It's difficult to bag on folks for the spelling, not everyone is a native English-speaker, and of course we have differing educational levels, but most everyone should know how to capitalize "I", proper names, first word of sentence, etc. They should also know how to use a period every once in a while. *3 Remember to either introduce yourself at the beginning of the answer, or sign at the end (remember, don't add spaces, though). This way folks get to know each crewmember, and believe me, they ARE paying attention, and if/when there is a response or follow-up, those of us placing emails into folders will know what goes to whom. This is also why we ask those who are following up to INCLUDE the previous exchanges. *4 If you get a question that you can't really answer you can either bounce it back to the main inbox, or can send out a general email to all of us for feedback. It may very well happen that you'll find something put back, just go ahead and bounce it. *5 If you're going to be gone or unable to answer for three days or longer, remember to let us know AND mark your folder out. This is done by clicking the "Folders" tab upper left, highlighting your folder from the list in the dialog box, then adding something like "SoAndSo-OUT", then click "Modify Folder". Remember to change it back when you've returned. We do ask that you at least check the messages in your folder, if any seem to be emergencies then please put them back into the main inbox. Beyond this I think I really should have saved more of my communiqu? to others regarding how to format your replies, and other issues that address ease of placement and viewing, etc. If you have more questions (and you will), please feel free to email me, I can answer most questions. Thanks to Jim (I believe you're the guilty party here, Jim) for garnering us these knowledgeable blokes. And thanks to Chip and the other new crewmembers (who is Heather?) who are joining us. The more the merrier, and it certainly makes everyone's job a little easier. Alright, I think that's it! Note to Paul-search engine tips Paul: I think I love you. <Whoa! I always like a message that starts with those special and precious words...... "I think"> Will you come to work in our office? <Uh.....> You are the first person that's been able to explain concisely (key word) the best ways to use the search engine. <In one of my responses I assume??> As I am a child of the 60's, I was not raised to be computer-savvy, and have had to learn as I've gone along. <Actually, me too! Life is funny like that.> I haven't been able to find this information anywhere on the webs, and our tech guys always get too technical. <Unfortunately some tech guys are learned to be very technical. They forget how to talk and interact on a non technical level. Happens to all of us at some point.> Thank you, thank you, thank you! <Well, my pleasure I guess. Aim to please and all that. Glad my explanation was of some help, even though I am not sure specifically what I helped you with. Thanks for the follow up, Cyndy. ~Paul> Cyndy Note to Paul-search engine tips The e-mail was entitled "using the search engine to your advantage". <Oh> I've always just used MSN as I can just type my question in and it usually gives me the hit within the first 5 or 6 responses to exactly what I need. Your tips have enabled me to use Google as well. <Great.> Maybe you can solve this mystery, what does "cached" mean? <Cached means that the information (website pictures, text, basically everything) is being held in a space designated on your hard drive for quick access (look at it as temporary storage) It will either automatically be flushed by the program or process or if we are talking web browser cache then you can manually clear it through the options of the web browser, usually.> Many thanks, Cyndy <Have fun ~Paul>

Attachment Woes (6/23/04) Sorry I forgot to attach the pics and when I tried to send them it didn't work, do you have a problem excepting pics at the moment - Sorry about the trouble - Chris <Did you optimize for e-mail. If not, try to reduce to 3-400K in file size. If this is not the issue, try again in a day or two. We have been getting some reports of problems sending pictures to us. Steve Allen.>

Attachment Limits cause BOUNCING! >Hello Bob; >>Hello, Marina in his stead. He's in Germany making quick work of all beer to be found. >I have attempted to send a few images of the shrimp species in question several times, but they kept bouncing back as undeliverable. I was curious if you had a limit on attachments and more so to see if the text would go through. >>Our mail server does indeed have a limit, and I found one particularly large attachment which I have since been forced to delete. We ask everyone to please limit their attachments to no more than 1MB in size, otherwise what has been happening to you is exactly what happens. Our apologies. >Thanks again for your help with this and sorry for the inconvenience. Matthew L. Wittenrich >>No worries, do try now, with the limitation as I mentioned. Pics that are BEST for sending and posting are 300pixels to a side (appropriate ratios apply), and are jpeg of medium quality. Marina

RE: Punctuation - Someone who cares >Thank You for the reply. >>You're quite welcome, Caryn. I hope I was able to put your mind at ease, even if I couldn't exactly help you with identification. >I am sorry about the punctuation, I was not aware that you kept the emails that you recv'd. Thank You again, Caryn >>Ah yes, well, it's the questions and answers that make up the huge bulk of our site and the information held within. They are ultimately among the most important components of this 'place', because we honestly couldn't think up and write all the articles that would be necessary to answer the myriad of questions (well.. some of them, anyway). The note regarding punctuation was for others reading the dailies as much as it was for you, as most folks don't realize how many queries we receive on a daily basis, let alone how many we have to retype. While we don't expect folks to get grammar and spelling completely correct, we do kindly ask that they observe normal rules of punctuation. We really DO appreciate it when someone shows they care! Marina

Web courtesy when e-mailing images... and brain coral 3/18/04 <please only send/resend images to us in a web friendly size of a few tens to a mere couple of hundred kb (under 300) as a help/courtesy to our mailbox space and the many folks that write in my friend. Else we can get clogged pretty fast. Additional shot with a "Siamese Twin" brain, can the brain survive? <they are remarkably hardy and can survive if fed well (fine minced meaty foods 3-5 times weekly. A few months from now it may look anew> got it a couple of weeks back, expect it to acclimatize for a few more weeks before I see bigger expansion like my other brains <agreed... best of luck. Anthony>

RE: Emptying your WWM crew mail box & RE: My Tie Bob: <Steve> Perhaps we can and an instruction to the "Ask a Question" page regarding how to send images, with special attention to the size of the image. I also believe that the site can be set up to bounce attachments over a certain size. I know that my e-mail service does. <Will do so on the morrow> As for my Sponge Bob tie, I am known for my collection of character ties (Sponge Bob, Scooby-Doo, Tigger, Pooh, etc. The really help comfort my young patients and make them feel more at ease in the exam room. Steve. <My BP's up a few tens of millibars just thinking about dem white walls.... Bob>

- About Google Search - Dear crew members, I learn so much from WetWebMedia and reading the questions and answers. I use the search button and get fed up after a while. Most of all when it gets into the Q&A's part. Have you thought of ditching google and using something that will highlight the keyword or phrase that was typed in? <Sure... I've thought about it. I'm sure you are aware that if you install Google's browser toolbar, you can click a highlight button there and get your search terms highlighted that way.> That would make searching your site so much easier. <Would it? Which tool did you have in mind?> I'm not bit^&in because if you never use that idea I will still go though your site. I just won't look at the Q&A part. <You should, the lion's share of the information is there.> I think you guys rock I just wanted to toss out that idea and see if other people thought the same thing. <This is a suggestion I've heard before but have yet to find a tool that also does highlighting. If you have one in mind, please share so we can explore this option.> Karl <Cheers, J -- >

Searching tips Here's some search tips that your users may find helpful. Feel free to edit, post, trash ;), or do what ever you want with them. <Thanks much for this. Will post. Bob Fenner> Paul Using the search engine to your advantage. Using a search engine isn't just typing in the words you're looking for and hitting go, sometimes this will work, but if you use the functions of the engine you'll get a lot better results. The phrase search: to search for complete phrases enclose them in double quotes {"centropyge bicolor"} this will cut down the number of false positives that are returned. It will ONLY return the link if the words Centropyge and bicolor are together on the page. The NOT (-) operator: to remove words from a search {"angel -centropyge"} would find the links that had the word angel in them but NOT the word centropyge. The AND (+) operator: is not used very much as it is automatically inserted in between words. The reason for using it is if the word you are searching for is very common Google will ignore it (I, and, the, how, who, when, etc). There for {+how +to grow algae} would give better results than {how to grow algae}. The OR operator: to search for multiple entries {angel centropyge OR dwarf} will return the links with the words angel and dwarf or the words angel and centropyge in them. This is very handy when searching things that have multiple names like {tang hippo OR regal OR blue OR "pacific blue" OR 'yellow tail blue"}. Please note that the OR must be capitalized or it will not work. Ok now that you have your search narrowed down to a reasonable number of links some of those links are pretty long and can be a pain to find what you are looking for on the page. This is where your browser can help, almost all browsers have a "find on page" function in them that can either be found using the menu bar (usually under "edit") or a hot key (usually {ctrl + f}). To use just open the link and select the "find on page" option and enter your keyword and it will search the text for you.

- Aquatic Abbreviations - Hello ! <And hello to you, JasonC here...> I chanced across a page where the meaning of all the abbreviations (e.g. VHO, MH, LFS, DSB etc.) used is shown, but I just cannot find it again. Can you show me the link to that page, Many Thanks in Advance ! Warmest Regards, Marcus <Well... I don't think we have a page within Wet Web Media, but perhaps it is time now to add one. In the meanwhile, try here, I found this using Google: http://saltyzoo.com/aqua_abbreviations.html Cheers, J -- >

New "ask the crew" page FYI & Latest Update Question Hey crew: Love the new idea; long time coming I am sure. Just FYI; while the blue link takes you to new page, the "Ask the WWM Crew a Question" graphic still has the old straight-to-email link. <Mmm, where? I've changed a bunch of the "ask the crew" links... but must've missed some> Also, as I try to keep up reading the dailies, I noticed there are sometimes a couple of updates within the day, like 3/3.5/03. Understood and wonderful. However, I don't get the reason for being a day ahead. I thought you guys were California "laid-back" types ;). Is your update person in a future time-zone? <Nah, just too little java (not the software) in the AM... got ahead of myself somehow> Just curious, OH - and sorry for not looking up this question first, I won't do it again ;0. Thanks, Rich. <Thank you. Bob F> Re: New "ask the crew" page FYI & Latest Update Question Hey Bob: Right on the Daily Q&A Page http://www.wetwebmedia.com/daily_faqs.htm (my Homepage!) - picture attached. I clicked it accidentally, actually. Anyway, time to read my 77 pages of RO FAQ's and 102 on Cyano. WOW, there is a lot of stuff here! Thanks, Rich. <Ha! Could be worse... how would you like to pen those responses, and move them about? Ho-boy! Oh, please refresh your homepage... think this will "re-do" the link to the new intermediate page... Bob F> - Using the Search Tool - Hello Crew, <Hello, JasonC here...> I was wondering if I am doing something wrong. Every time I use the search engine on your site I get info but when I click on the link I get many, many faqs and its almost impossible to find what I am looking for. Is there a way that if I click on the link it will bring me to that specific article/word or at least have the word highlighted? <Well first the simple answer - because we take advantage of Google, there's no way for us [currently] to add highlights of the query phrase in the search results. As for getting better results... it depends on what you are searching for and the words you are using to find it. Sometimes it helps to put quotations around two or more words in case you are looking for something specific.> Its a real pain to start looking through many articles to find the one thing I want information on. <Perhaps good, perhaps bad, we have over 1,800 articles in the WetWebMedia site and so... there's a lot of material to pull those results from.> I don't mind reading the faq's but when I am in a hurry for information (like at work) I don't have the time to look through all the info. <Well... what you might want to do is go directly to the first link. If it happens to be a FAQ, look at the title/header box at the beginning of the page. There are usually links there that refer back to the key articles to which the FAQ is related. That might be more helpful.> I know that it must be something I'm doing wrong, this is such a well designed data base of info that it seems like a simple request. <I'm not sure it's anything that you are doing wrong - there really is a lot of data there.> Thanks and keep up the GREAT work! Dave <Cheers, J -- >

Re: WWM FAQ Search Hint Crew; I saw the post about the problems with using Google to search the FAQs. I have a helpful suggestion for readers. It is true that searching on a term can lead to a very long FAQ page that has to be read in its entirety to find the specific entry one is looking for. Here's what I do: I import the FAQ page to MS Word. I can then use Word's internal find function to instantly locate each use of the term I searched on. that way, I don't have to scroll through the whole FAQ file when I'm in a hurry and want to find something specific. (Of course, I do find the FAQs informative (and often humorous), so I will often skim the whole file. However, when I'm rushed, using Word (any word processor will do, including WordPad--which is part of Windows) gets me to specific targets quickly. Hope this helps some people--Steve Allen <Great! Thank you for this. Bob Fenner>

Re: Mr. "I don't want to read"... feel sorry for ya Bob, like beating your head against the wall with this guy, if the guy would just click those great links you keep putting up there for him, he would have days of answers to read!, I've been reading for months and there is still more to read!, sir, please use the search engine at the bottom of the page at this link http://www.wetwebmedia.com or can you not see things that are in blue?......Riot... <Thank goodness such behavior is in the minority... Bob Fenner>

A different perspective :) Anthony and crew... I hate to read posts like the one on the FAQ now. I don't understand why people are rude at times because you don't tell them what they want to hear, and call it bad advice. <human nature at times and something we all have done at least once if not more often. Rather a case of shooting the messenger for news we don't want to hear <G>> Though I do love reading most your replies to them ;) <Heehee... the humor is diffusive if not wholly cleansing> I'm glad most people who reference you realize your here to offer your opinions formed of years and years of keeping probably thousands of aquariums. <indeed... and it is just that: our opinion and not gospel. We owe it to ourselves in every act we conduct as consumers (buying cars, homes and various inflatable plastic barnyard animals) to be educated consumers. That means doing adequate homework/research and making a decision based on an informed and intelligent consensus... before buying the good or service> To many people don't understand they are keeping live animals, like a cat or dog. <very much agreed... how many of us would (or should!) put differing values on various living creatures if given to thought. What a horrible thing to do> Many of us really get into our hobby, and want to learn off other peoples opinions, and form my own conclusion. In fact I love that I can email a question to you all, and possibly get more then one reply, of the same topic, by more then one person. I'm sure if they wanted someone to take care of it and do it all for them, you would be happy to point them in the direction of a reputable aquarium service (I'm sure one of you owns one hehe) <for the sake of countless organisms still in the sea, I hope the grumpy anemone guy finds a new and sudden passion for stamp collecting instead <G>. Thanks kindly, my friend. Anthony>

mail answering habits Gang... I was just chatting with our new crew bud David about how we answer WWM e-mail and I was reminded of some habits to share with all. The bottom line is that when we answer mail, we need to make the field of the message as clean as possible for Barb/Bob for posting the next day. <Thank you for this, believe me... the new main svc. takes even more clicks, rolls, time than MSN!> Our finished reply should look exactly like it needs to when placed on the FAQ page the next day (layout). Some of the things we can do to help: *Title all messages with a phrase that sums up the persons question and illuminates the subject for filing purposes. *Please do not leave a space between the title you give and the body of the message (they have to take time to eat up this space on every e-mail before posting). In fact... no blank spaces or short running sentences anywhere (except starting a new line each time the speaker changes between you and them). The goal is to condense these messages to save on space in the long run/big picture. * delete all erroneous mail headings above your title, and all erroneous signatures and old mail below the finished reply. Leave just the clean body of an answered message. This will spare Barb/Bob from tip-toeing around scraps when they cut and paste. It allows them to make a clean and fast sweep of the mouse as they fly through the answered messages for posting. * delete or clean up all stray hashes, marks, short sentences/drifts, headings, etc in the body of the message that make our replies look anything less than what will be posted on the FAQ page. Okey-dokey :) I know that most of us do most of these things already... just convenient timing for a reminder with a new face on board. Thanks kindly, my friends... [Bobster... will you file this in the archives where you see fit for future reference of new crew members. Danke] <You're becoming even more clairvoyant! My gosh, what am I thinking about now? Wimmen and pet-fish magazines, fatty salami (the harder types), and more java (Sorry J and Z, not with a capital "J"); an easy guess for you. Thank you Anthony, all. Bob>

WWM help, Bob and Di out for a day or two Boy, was I off! That would be 50 faq pages completed. <Ho, ho! Rest your eyes... to heck with that, rest your mind! How are you faring, re-ordinating all? Have been doing my best to stick new bits in chronological order, run the spellchecker (stop bruxating!), edit words on new FAQs...> I really don't think you'll mind this at all and don't think readers will either. Those pesky e-mails that have been sent and posted WRITTEN IN ALL CAPS.... I'm re-typing them. <I send these back to the senders for re-keying... and encourage each of the others here to do the same... in the name of encouraging netiquette!> Provides a kinda fun, dizzy effect...but what the hell! B-- <Try to look away from the screen/s occasionally... they're just representations of reality... Thank you Barb, Bob. Umm, Di checked the dates... our hotel res. is for Thurs. night... so, we'll be out on that day till Fri. night... Yay! We gained a day! Thank you, Bob>

Re WWM queries, responses... formatting issues, requests Gang, when responding would you do me a favor and: 1) In reading through the piece if the subject/title doesn't quite describe the contents, make one up? Can be whimsical, but mention where you think (may be one, more places) the FAQ should end-up topic-wise. 2) Delete empty line/spaces? I'm trying to place late in eves and am getting bleary with my click and delete fingers. 3) Use some sort of parenthetical marking that denotes your input, so's the readers can tell whose is whose? 4) Gently admonish folks to pls not key in ALL CAP.s... I send their msg.s back asking them to re-key... 5) Make gross corrections, esp. in proper nouns, scientific names and such that the arcane Billy.G spellcheck (and I) likely are unfamiliar with? All, am very much enjoying and learning (content and format and elsewise) from your keyed input on the sites. Thank you, Bob

Subject: Question Tips Would it be possible to have a page come up before people type there question to cover a few pet peeves? Things like this: 1.) Please give us an exact breakdown of whatever water quality parameters you can test for. What you tested for, the actual numbers, and the brand of kit would all be useful information. Salinity Temperature pH Alkalinity Calcium Ammonia Nitrite Nitrate Phosphate 2.) If this is a follow-up question, please reply with the text from the previous question & answer. We get a large amount of email. Also, you may get a faster response from someone else if the question is simple enough. There are probably other things, but if people added these few items, it would help a lot. -Steven Pro <Great idea... will add note tomorrow on the top of the Dailies page and on homey (whassuuuup?) as well (if Mike doesn't catch me)... to have some folks (good luck here) engage better. How about a note re not to key in all CAP.S? Bob F>

RE: Question Tips < How about a note re not to key in all CAP.S?> I DON'T KNOW WHY THAT BUGS YOU SO MUCH, LIKE YOU HAVE SENSITIVE EARS EYES) OR SOMETHING, FER CHRISSAKE! erhm, phhrrrrtt. ooh, excuse me! You know, with the fancy-schmancy new Datapipe features, I suspect we could create a simple 'email form' that would allow us to do all that Steve asks and more, perhaps provide a little drop-down menu for folks to choose from "Freshwater" or "Saltwater", "General Questions", with some fancy text surrounding it all, regarding testing, required information, etc... if you want a direct reply, enter your email address here... hmm. <I REALLY (ouch!) dislike the "fill in the form" possibility... How to put this? It is not my wish to absolutely delimit others expression (and I suspect I'm not alone here), but to urge folks to develop and voluntarily (i.e. of their own volition), choose to "behave" in a civilized manner. Haven't had any cafe this AM so am not really sure am expressing self clearly... but no on the form idea. Bob F>

Re: Question Tips <Haven't had any cafe this AM so am not really sure am expressing self clearly... but no on the form idea. Clear as a bell, and thank goodness too: I was dreading touching that Microsoft web programming shite... [grins] -Zo <Ah, got my jab-a-java and am glad to find our agreement here. Bob F