mogurnda

Hey all. I normally use glass tanks, and am quite happy drilling them. For the new hatchery project, I ordered a custom-sized acrylic tank, and will need to drill at least one hole for a 3/4" bulkhead when it arrives. Any hints regarding bits, or techniques that will keep me from cracking it?

Hard to beat this one

I won the three Aussie Acros in the raffle today. Excellent shapes and colors. Thanks for your generosity!

It's submitted

I guess it's time to finish revising the proposal and send it in.

Have used a 1262 for 8 years on my 90. Very dependable and quiet. Only downside is that the replacement impellers are crazy expensive.

Funny, I was thinking "Great! a FOWLR, so I can enjoy the experience of someone keeping species that would eat my corals and inverts." It would be great either way. Nice setup.

Mysis shrimp.

Swissguard and Swales' basslets also move in and out of crannies, and have not been aggressive in my tanks. If you have a spare $700 or so, a carmabi basslet would be great.

Do the tang police stop traffic for a tang parade? At least that's what we call these mobs of tangs, surgeons, and assorted hangers-on as they move down the reef. Honestly, though, I think it's a fallacy to expect anyone except the Atlanta Aquarium to provide anywhere near the space that the fishes make use of in the wild. It is very important to consider what the fish need to for long-term health, but if we used their natural home ranges as our measure of required space, we would not even be able to keep zebra danios. I do believe that a 4 foot tank is too small for an Acanthurus tang, and I underlined "long-term" because I believe you should stock based on the expected full size of the fishes, and not just purchase them on the basis of what you want for the moment. There are so many beautiful species that will fit in a smaller tank (Centropyge angels are a great example), why put a polar bear in a closet?

All the same here.... Welcome back!

I have done it about a jillion times, and had very few losses. Never had a fish DOA, but have had a few gorgonians die either in transit or soon after arrival. Step one is to go through an experienced seller. Inland Aquatics, LiveAquaria, KP Aquatics, to name just a few, have done a lot of shipping, and know how to make it work. I just got a shipment of slugs from KP Aquatics this morning, and they were happy and beautiful, despite the chilly conditions outside. I took the risk because there were not expected to be shipping delays between Florida and MD, and because I really, really wanted the slugs. Then again, another of my suppliers (also very experienced) somehow managed to forget insulated packaging for a couple orders of cockroaches (yes, cockroaches) last winter, and they were DOA. Importantly, they took care of the cost for replacements. I would agree that, in general, spring and fall are better. I don't even think about ordering in mid-summer.

Wish I could. Hitting the busy time, when I fall off the face of the earth for a while.

This thread may explain a little http://wamas.org/forums/topic/36743-tank-raised-fish-available-at-the-may-15th-meeting/?hl=clownfish

I think they were black ocellaris. I have a vague memory that Justin was growing them out in his greenhouse system for a while. Age is very hard on the memory. Doug's were regular ocellaris.

Indeed. Here is a group that Almon raised some years ago. I still have little "Doug" from one of Doug Arthur's (dbartco) batches. They are very cute when there's a school of little ones.

Great to hear and see a little bit of it.

It would be extremely cool if we could culture food sources for the colorful nudis. I expect this may be one of the next frontiers of reefkeeping.

The food plants will need the sand. Penicillus does really well, and will send out runners to start new plants if it is in sand. Same for Udotea and Avrainvillea. These are the primary plants I will be feeding the guys. I have thought about using Bryopsis, which does not need sand, but would feel like a total dope if it spread to the main tank.

You know you want to come to the dark (or is it slimy and squishy) side

I am totally hooked on slugs now, and want to keep another species. The tank in the office has Elysia clarki, a species found in the Florida Keys, and a couple of suppliers have indicated that they should be able to get E. crispata for me. Here are the two side by side (crispata on right; not my photo) I feed the fish in the reef tank generously, generating some NO3 and PO4. One constant source of maintenance in Box of Slugs I (the office tank) is having to add KNO3 and KH2PO4 to keep the algae happy. So, why not add a box of slugs to take up the nutrients while at the same time allowing me to have a tank at home with slugs and macroalgae? That brings up the question: Is this really a build if I am just adding what is essentially an inline refugium? Whatever. Here is the new tank. I bought a 30 cube on a rather trashed wood stand last week. It also came with a couple of Marineland LED lights, which should be adequate for the algae. I promptly slammed a corner of the tank into an unseen metal bit in the tailgate of the car, and had to order a new 27 gallon tank. The stand is not beautiful, but is a remarkable match for the one under the 90, and gave me a place to put all of the controllers and powerstrips. The price was hard to beat. Specs: 27 gallon (20L X 18D X 20H) Marineland tank 2 X Marineland "reef" LED (21 X 1 watt each) I plan to put about 40 lbs of sand and a small amount of base rock in tomorrow, then fill it and run it over the weekend. If all goes well, it gets hooked into the main system and I will add a few macroalgae next week. The big event for yesterday was drilling the tank and adding the input and overflow. I plan to have very low flow, so I should not need a fancy standpipe.

Done. Can't wait to see how the organization grows.

Maybe Chia?