lancer99

Thank you mods for removing my highly inappropriate language, and not sending me a naughty-gram because of it. And I bought 1500 shares (over ten years, not at a pop) of my employer's stock at around $60. Now it's under $20. You gotta love the mortgage industry. Bob, I picked the wrong verb..."que te diviertas" (second person subjunctive). And it should have been "alla" (there by you) and not "aca" (here by me). I think disfrutar is the same thing? -R

Not that I would ever want to be argumentative, but.... I really don't give a tinker's darn whether Steve Tyree is *removed* or not. The simple fact is that there are thousands (probably tens of thousands, if the stats are right) of reefkeepers who are doing aquaculture, and I'd venture to say that some of the best are on our very doorstep. They share/sell frags without the hype, without the ridiculously inflated prices, and without the 'tude. They, not the likes of Steve Tyree, are the heroes in my book. -R

Epoxies are not meant to stick, QED. I guess I'll "stick" with Aquastick -R

Bring it .....once the dog is off your club foot. -R

Just be aware that by signing up with photobucket, you lose any rights to any pics that you post there. Just an FYI. -R

Did you get all the way up the tallest pyramid at Teotihuacan? The view is great! Dave, I will PM you with the SeaLife correspondence.... Que te dispiertes tu tiempo aca en Mexico! I hope that was somewhere close to right -R

Matt, I disagree, and I'm not just being contrarian In general, it's an expensive hobby....but in terms of hardware, there are many excellent, reasonably-priced products. You just have learn (and I'm certainly still learning....as is probably everyone here!) to pick the wheat from the chaff. Just a random recommendation...Eheim. Superb craftsmanship, and I don't think you could kill their pumps with a stick. -R

The problem is that he is *not* passing them out. With his LE ridiculousness, auctioning them, and creating wait lists for frags that extend five years into the future, he's creating pure hype and an aura of exclusivity. If I labelled my GSP (and I *do* know the lineage, thanks DaveS ) "Limited Edition Atomic Neon Magnum Polyp GSP" on RC, I bet I could get a few suckers, but I'd rather leave frags on the freebie table at WAMAS meetings. I guess it's not in the same "class" as Tyree LEs, but my most of my favorite corals have come from fellow WAMAS members, around $10 for what would cost $50-$70 online, unnamed and hype-free. -R

I know, but since my regrettable "Fish Death" post, I don't want to say anything that could be interpreted as anti-BRK, since they are (I'll say it again) the best LFS. And if John can track down a barnacle blenny for me, he will be my hero forever! -R

Not only that, but when you pull it out of the bag, if it doesn't look like what you bought, that's *always* due to "shipping stress." Answering on Leishman's behalf (apologies for putting words in your mouth...) If you have a known starting point, and similar tank conditions, you're more likely to end up with the same colors. With wild-caught colonies, it's essentially a crapshoot. That explains why a $4.50 latte from Starbucks tastes much better than the same thing I make at home for 50 cents -R

Good point...as I mentioned, it really is down to each person's taste/choice. And in a way it's a tribute to how advanced we've collectively gotten as coral keepers, that the emphasis is more on naming/branding, rather than care. But I still hate all the hype and all the crazy prices. And I stand by my statement that a tank that accurately duplicated nature would have ZERO chance of winning TOTM....and to my mind, that is just wrong. -R

Is it the wee boy? I guess I don't win any respect, again -R

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthre...mp;pagenumber=1 -R

That still sounds kinky, but maybe we should return this discussion to NAGA -R

As origami said, epoxy putties aren't like superglue...they do not make things stick together. They're more like cement...they will fill in the gaps, but if you're trying to glue a flat surface to a flat surface, they are pretty much useless. I wish BRK would carry something other than Aquascape (is it a Giesemann product, from the packaging it seems like it's from the UK)....Two Little Fishies' Aquastick is about 2/3 the price, and doesn't look like bubblegum! I AM IN NO WAY TRASHING BRK OR JOHN, just to make that clear -R

oooh, kinky! -R

That's not a skimmer, it's a tall hot tub -R

I've been keeping an eye out for a while, but the usual suspects (Liveaquaria, BZA) never seem to have them in stock. Aquacon lists them, but with no in- or out- of stock status, and I've heard too many negative things about them to take a chance. Any ideas? Thx, -R

I really am a total believer in DSBs. All my tanks have them, along with fuges (or at least some chaeto growing in a HOB filter). I too have struggled with nitrates in the past, but with the DSBs, none of my tanks gets above 0.5 ppm, and they are usually < 0.25 (Salifert). Not trying to start a DSB/BB debate...that's just what works for me. -R

Are you thinking of Ilyanassa obsoleta, commonly sold on eBay as Nassarius snails? That is the point of a DSB...it recycles nitrates. The infauna reduce larger particulate matter to smaller particulate matter, the infauna use it as food and reduce it to smaller particles, and the process continues...eventually the bacteria on the aerobic/anoxic layer perform denitifrication. -R

Maybe....despite the simularity in names, there isn't necessarily any relationship between Clavularia and Pachyclavularia, no more than in Nepthea and Nepenthes, neither of which would be happy growing in each other's environments. My favorite generic name is Notocactus...despite the name, it *is* a cactus. From what I know, the whole Star polyps/encrusting Briareum/Pachyclavularium thing is up for debate....Phil Alderslade seems to be the only scientist who is interested in soft coral identification. FWIW, -R

I don't think that Nassarius snails are quite the panacea that we've heard them to be. I've seen a couple of posts that they are carnivores and not detrivores, and will quickly die if not fed. Which is in keeping with my experience. AFAIK Nassarius don't go onto the rocks...they are sand dwellers. The giant Tonga Nassarius that I have on the other hand, I've never directly fed, but they pop up regularly when they smell food....they are from a BZA group buy, some three months ago? It's funny to see them get so excited...they can haul @S# when need be! As for hermits, I wish I had some better advice. They all (IME) will kill snails when they need larger shells. I've asked a couple of times on RC, but haven't gotten a good answer as to which are better. I still think the best cleanup-crew is a DSB... -R

It it's like a red mat with bubbles, it's definitely cyano. If it's like a tufted red mat, that probably just means you've missed the oxygen bubbles pulling the strands upwards, or they are just growing upwards to the light. That is again in IME... Turbos and fighting conchs love cyano, but that might be another band-aid Cyano is such a @$%#&, but I would again recommend that you be patient...don't decrease feeding, and just wait it out. -R

Mostly from food. Hobbyist test kits only detect inorganic phosphate (orthophospate), whereas most phosphate in reef tanks is of the organic variety, so they are essentially useless.....i.e. a reading of 0 phosphates doesn't really mean anything. Eric Borneman has published a couple of articles about cyano, and his point was basically that it's just something tanks go through as they adjust to changing conditions (especially new tanks), and that it's best to just wait it out. IME that's true...I got a major red slime outbreak in my 75G, and two months later, with no siphoning it out or making other changes, it's gone. JME, -R

The word is "experienced," thank you very much None, anyone can get into the WayBack Machine...it's just that for some of us, the trips are much longer. And I'm going to be 48 next week :( which is probably what got me to thinking along these lines. Y'all have some great stories. It's funny that everyone's experiences are different, and yet we all ended up in the same place. -R