davidm

How about when your SO explains to the neighbors that the generator you bought in case of a power outage is not for keeping the frig running, making dinner, or heating up the kids or your own bedroom, but rather for your fish tank.

ouch. sorry to see another vendor go, if that's the case. some cheap prices in the auction - for example - currently for $22.50 AQUARIUM TANK OCEANIC 84W X 24D X 25H, 220 GAL, GLASS, STAR IRON FRONT, ETAIL TANK AQUARIUM SYSTEM, USED, INCLUDES WIRING, TUBING, AND ANY FILTERS ASSOCIATED WITH THE RACK, TO BE DISSEMBLED AND REMOVED BY BUYER

copperband butterflies I have had, and currently have, are generally ok with corals (knock on wood).

Jan, I sent you a PM about whether two issues had a similar cause. Also strongly second the need for putting all plugs on a GFCI and also the need for a good grounding probe.

gotta agree, it looks great and made me think about changing. I hope you don't mind some questions - How far apart are the LED's spaced? Did you consider the heat-conducting silver glue they sell - it would save a lot of drilling and effort, but obviously would add cost? did you use any of the reflectors paired for each LED or just use the LED by itself? thanks, David

I have some old Hamilton 14K (SE 400W) you can have -- I live in Vienna.

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/...wo-flagella/?hp somewhat simplistic, but still a nice read.

I used to use reef crystals but then switched (to Tropic Marin Pro) after reef crystals had a string of bad batches with low alk (I hope I'm remembering this correctly). It was abourt 2-3 yrs ago. I also agree a 50% water change with a new salt could be a drastic change. Hope this helps. David

can only attend the first 30 minutes, then have to go to son's piano recital.

On the off chance this is still avail I'll take the Miyagi Tort, purchased from Bendalat probably 5-6" across $60 thanks, David

All good suggestions. I had/have some die-off when 1/3 tank didn't have any light for 10 days upon losing the ballast, am losing a large green slimer colony, generally have more algae than I would like, and growth/health in other corals aren't as I would like. Upon my return I did a couple of water changes, cleaned the tunze pumps used for circulation, put in some carbon, and decided to upgrade from the old magnetic ballasts to electronic. The old ballasts were ~10 yrs old and I began to question if they were firing the bulbs properly, and this wasn't the first time I had to replace the caps in the ballasts (although those didn't die while I was out of town before). I'm sorta wondering the same thing about my skimmer - the euroreef is about 10 yrs old, it originally had the sedra pump, which now Euroreef recommends for smaller skimmers and recommends replacing with either the GenX6000 or two eheim pumps. I went with the GenX, but it's only feeding the skimmer with a 1" tubing I jury-rigged since I didn't want to redrill the Euroreef. It's functional, but not exactly assembled professionally. Also not sure if the GenX is optimally matched with the skimmer body. Bottom line is I'm wondering if the euroreef is like a 15 yr old car not running like it should and maybe not worth putting more $ into when it needs repair.

My tank (180) is in need of some facelifting after a ballast blew 4 days into a 2 wk out-of-town vacation this summer. I've had a euroreef skimmer with a GenX 6000 pump for ~8yrs and am thinking of 'upgrading' it wth a MSX 300A skimmer with a Askoll 1500 pump. The pumps put out the same gal/hr (1500 gph) but the Askoll might be better at low pressure ?? in the skimmer, and the MSX300A (12" diam, 25" tall) has about 40% more volume compared to the Euroreef CS8-3 (8" diam, 30" tall). Does anyone have any opinion about how these two skimmers/pumps would compare? thanks, David http://www.marinesolutionsinc.com/catalog/...oduct_info.html

Don't ignore issues with humidity - be prepared for ~3-4 gals evaporation/day possible for an open tank ~200 gal. Where's that water going to go and are you ok with that (ie if it goes into the attic) ?

sent PM - let me know the details for saturday pick up -- thanks, David

In addition to the GARF purple bonsai put me down for the Copps solid blue stag $40. thanks, David

sorry to hear you're leaving, temporarily. Let me know if you want a frag when you return. I'll take the GARF purple bonsai - $70 David

I need to return my chiller (also 1/3 HP) for service and am a little nervous about being without it. I was wondering if you'd be willing to rent out your chiller while mine is out for repair. If interested, let me know what you think is a fair rental price. I would pick up and deliver, and would, of course, return to you immediately once it is sold. Let me know if you'd be interested in this - it would give you some cash if you're not using it, wouldn't hold up any sale, and would help me out while my chiller is in for repair. thanks, David (sent e-mail via PM)

I was replacing 3 1/2 gals a day with evaporation during the summer as I was using a fan - thought this was great (lots of Ca added via Kalk) until we realized all this humidity was going into, and staying in, the attic. not good for the house. Now I cover the tank, reduced to the evaporation to ~ 3/4 gal a day, but of course this required buying a chiller. I know it's expensive, but for me it was worth it not having to worry about destroying the roof/ceiling/having mold. just my experience. David

Ditto. to go one thought further, I would be willing to contribute to some of the cost if you decide to hire a maintenance company to maintain the tank until the situation stabilizes and you can both make decisions without the time pressure. (Given the circumstances maybe a maintenance company would be price flexible?)

Both the Aquarium Company and Marine Scene are about 10-15 minutes from your condo. I'm also about 10 minutes away, so once you get set up you should come and see if you want any frags from my tank. welcome.

you could try posting the 5 possiblities - those of us in Fairfax might be able to divide and conquer and split up the load depending on their proximity. We'd all have slightly different perspectives, but photos can't lie. just a thought - David

I would - it would also stabilize heat from the lights.

and for good and cheap NYC (and I really mean NYC) pizza, if you're going to Aquarium Company or Marine Scene, both in Reston, check out Church Street Pizza in Vienna, VA. It would be about halfway between I66 and Reston if you're traveling that way.

Leyla? This is David - we met in my garage to build a hood, or something for your tank, back when there was only 6 of us - welcome back. Am i remembering correctly? in any case, welcome back and let me know if you want some free frags of green slimer, green plate or xenia.

http://web.archive.org/web/20010218075212/...mbers/index.htm thanks, and if I didn't feel old before.... thankfully I'm not in any of the pictures. David