[thelocust]

Originally Posted by UnderWorldAquatics

I believe that he wanted to keep the tank more natural, as in not bare and desolate like most of our hospitl clean tanks...

Hey -- ben here from thelocust.org here! I noticed I was getting hits from this forum, and decided to see what the fuss was about.

I went down there to Richard's house in North Carolina as a guest of Bruce Davidson from Sandy's Pet Shop here in Louisville. I don't know a saltwater aquarium from my elbow -- Bruce and I were travelling down there for a model sailplane competition and we stopped by Richard's house!

As to the "algae problem", I think I can shed some light... According to Richard, he was on vacation and the guy he had doing maintenance made some pretty boneheaded (boneheaded to you salty geeks) moves. I don't remember the exact details, but something about a water changeout with regular tap water, and I seem to remember something about a high-than-normal water temperature to boot. I may not know much about saltwater aquariums, but I know that warm, hard water is algae's playground!

So, from what I gathered, Richard normally has a "clean" tank. Bruce jokingly told me that "it was okay for you lay people to take pictures of his tank like this, but I'm not going to out of respect".

Nonetheless, the tank and all the setup he has at his house is really fascinating! He also had a small "breeder" tank with these little spiny worms in it -- too cool!