xeon

Update on the order The order supposedly will ship on Thursday. Reasoning for this was that some small orders came in over the weekend. I did not really understand this answer(excuse?). I would think an order totaling 390lbs. might get better attention. Anyway, I'm not in dire straits for it, but thought I would update the transaction's status.

In reality, I think the ES models from Euroreef are made from extruded as well. I know AquaC uses extruded. IMO, I don't think it is so important to have cast materials in a skimmer. One could make an argument on reactors or other pressure related pieces of equipment, but you will have a hard time convincing me skimmers made out of cast are that much better. A Euroreef or clone would be a good choice. I have an AquaC EV series that I really like. These are the two types of skimmers that come to mind... when you mention a small pump.

I ran across this site that has some decent looking prices in some ballasts. Worth a look I think if you are thinking about DIY'ing some lighting. http://www.lightingcloseout.com/search_ballasts.cfm

Mike, If you have the stud finder that is essentially a magnet that flops up straight over a stud.... then yes it works via magnetism. If you have an electronic stud finder it does not work off of this principle. I will try to be generic. I think the majority of the electronic stud finders work off a capacitance circuit. When the device is over the drywall w/ nothing behind it, the capacitance measure one thing. When you run it over a board (higher density area) behind the drywall, the capacitance changes. This is similar to a touch lamp. Another technology they use is a short range radar. Either way an electronic stud finder signals on higher density parts of the wall, ie. boards behind the wall. If you drill into one, you may or may not hit metal, it is tough to gauge. Statistically, you should not hit metal. In my projects around the house... I have yet to hit metal FWIW. As far as whether to use the open areas or studs depends on the usage. If you are mounting something, I would mount on a stud for strength. If you want to mount something recessed in the wall, then you want to shoot for an open space. As far as finding which way it goes sweep over it and find which direction it goes. My brother is the homebuilder... so I am not sure which they generally go.

krish, I think we have a half in the order you can have.

Howard et al, The shipment will arrive in McLean, VA at flowerseller's flower shop. I agree with Mike, any container with a small opening sounds like a pain in addition to being problematic.

Not officially, I am waiting for the invoice since we have special pricing. If you want in on the order.. let me know and send me your shipping address and what you want in a PM or e-mail.

Bill, The "professionally" recommended blade type is a 10" 80 tooth triple-chip carbide tipped blade. One major reason for using a carbide tipped blade is for longer life of the blade. The triple-chip keeps chips out of the way by design. I use a plastics blade for my projects and it works fine. It does dull, but at less than $10 is easy enough to replace. If you use a plastics blade... you want to use a new one. For 1/8", it would cut it like butter. Getting a good cut out of acrylic is a combination of a few things. One you need a sharp blade with lots of even teeth. The next thing is you need to hold the material firmly while you cut. If it is flopping around, you will have melts, chips, and so forth. The next thing is to make sure you have a good feed rate. With a new sharp blade, you should be able to feed it through quickly. You don't want to be herky jerky here as a uneven feed rate may very well give you a bad cut. Too slow and you will have melts. Personally, I've never been able to feed so fast it had negative results. Finally, the heighth of the blade is important. You want to have the blade sticking up a 1/4" or so above the material. Finally you want to make sure your cuts are square. Fitting acrylic is pretty precise, but not impossible.

Phong, I would think a half bag would fit easily. In addition to that, I think an empty IO (or other brand) bucket would be an ideal storage place as opposed to baggies. For that matter any type of container that is going to be reasonably air tight and be large enough would fit the bill.

The order has officially been placed for eight bags. Dropoff should occur within the next two weeks. There is currently no stock in VA. Some will be shipped in from NC and turned around for dropoff at Chip's flower shop.

Mike, I'm not sure what the best plan is. I'm not sure if Mike G. meant he would be an official "splitter upper" or just his bag. We will come up with something though. BTW, last call the order will be going in tomorrow.

That is right, $68 shipped.

Actually, they are in California. I must have been thinking of someone else. In my experience ground from CA is about 5 days. Hirocks 2050 S.Baker Ave Ontario, CA 91761 USA

Rik, Got the message this time. I would guess three or four days for shipping. It comes out of Texas I think via ground service.

Phong, Not too late at all. The order is not planned until tomorrow. Maybe someone lurking wants a half? If not, I think Glen (Reefmon) has indicated he will be an "X" factor, by taking a full or half.

Rik, I did not get the PM. If some folks in CMAS want to get on the order that is fine. At this point the cost is a little over a $1/lb. including shipping for the 60lb. box. The boxes will be shipped to each person's address. The only requirement is that there is one payment. I will be placing the order sometime tomorrow, provided Hirocks gets back to me in time. Since this is a discount deal I have to send in the order via e-mail. They will then send me a PayPal invoice with the discount pricing, which I will then pay. Somewhere in there I will supply them with shipping instructions.

Clownfish, A money order would be no problem. If that doesn't work for you, let me know what works for you. I'm sure we can figure something out.

That works fine for me. If it's a CC, remember the 3% hit PayPal takes. If you send me a PM with your ship to, I will reply with my PayPal address. Don't send anything of course until I get the real total and order discount.

Last call on this, I will be ordering tomorrow or friday.

It's about double what you could buy it for at Home Depot since it disappeared locally. At $9 for a 50lb. bag it is still dirt cheap compared to sand sold in the hobby. The comparable sand (Caribsea) sold in the hobby ranges from ~ $35 to $40. On top of that it comes in 30 lb. bags. I saw someone mention that it was available in PA area HD's still. If someone up in that area were able to get some and bring it to the meeting... I imagine they would not have any trouble getting rid of it.

No, the Codex HL is Calcium Hydroxide, which is the same thing as pickling lime. You could either drip or use it in a reactor. The Calcium Oxide is the one that Hydrates and has an exothermic reaction when added to water. That is not what I/we will be buying.

Eddi, it is the same thing and a very good grade at that. The shelf life I have no idea, but I would say keep it as dry as possible and it should be good for many many years. I might call my grandfather who is a chemist also. Edit: I called him... when you mix calcium oxide with water... you make Calcium Hydroxide. Who knew? CaO (Calcium Oxide) + H2O (water) = CaOH2 (Calcium Hydroxide) This is an exothermic reaction, which gives off noticeable heat. He also gave it a shelf life of a million years or better... according to him it is a very stable compound. You just don't want it to collect moisture, a good sealed container should be perfect. Randy uses the Calcium Oxide, but recommends the Calcium Hydroxide product for people using reactors. Again, the Calcium Oxide gets hot when you mix it with water... not a desirable thing with a reactor.

I can get Mississippi lime in 50lb. bags for ~$30 each. That comes out to ~60 cents a pound. Specifically it is the CODEX Hydrated Lime (CODEX HL), which is recommended by Randy Holmes-Farley on RC. He is the guru in the chemistry forums if the name does not ring a bell. Here is a link if you want to see the specs: CODEX Hydrated Lime (CODEX HL) The quantity is a bit much, but we would need at least 4 more bags spoken for. This is the magic number to have it delivered... there is no delivery charge either. This could be a lifetime supply for a lot of us. Delivery would be to flowerseller's business in McLean, VA. Post if you are interested. Interested List me - 1 bag flowerseller - 1/2 bag michaelg - 1/2 bag Houshan - 1/2 bag eddi - 1/2 bag HowardofNova - 1/2 bag dbartco - 1/2 bag Lee Stearns - 1/2 bag OUsnakebyte - 1/2 bag Reefmon - 1/2 bag (maybe 1 depending) clownfish4 - 1/2 bag Ruh Roh - 1 bag PDang - 1/2 bag If you are listed incorrectly, let me know Total upon tabulation: 7.5 (needed at least 6) Order to be placed on 9/17/04, unless there are any objections. Additional notes: This order is for Calcium Hydroxide also called Pickling Lime and Kalkwasser. This order is not for Calcium Oxide aka Quicklime. Calcium Hydroxide can be used for either drip setups or in Kalk reactors.

Chris, At a recent get together, that is the word I got on coral pricing and selections on the "other" coast. The good news is that I may be in the San Jose area for a few days in the upcoming months. In my down time I might try and locate a store that I could run by before my return flight.

Hmm, good call Mike. Not sure why I did not call them before. The pads are made for the 9.5's and larger. You can certainly use them with smaller models by trimming or applying a little ingenuity. They are roughly 3.5" square and somewhere between 1/4" and 1/2" thick. The cost is $1 + shipping.