chucelli

I will be at the house tomorrow morning for anyone interested in stopping by. Pretty much everything is left. Anything that is left after tomorrow is going to the LFS. oh, forgot to mention, I also have a 1000W generator, used twice. One summer it saved my entire reef when we lost power for a week during the storm. That one save paid for the generator. Anyone interested can come take a look and make an offer. -Robert

going through all the stuff, I realized I have gathered many things over the years. I also have a refractometer, unused test kits for the big three ALK, CAL, and MAG, icecap electronic 250w MH ballast, MP40 battery backup, dried food, fragging supplies, etc... if anyone is looking for something not listed, it may be worth checking.. -Robert

the rocks are a mixture of stuff acquired over many years including Pukani, Tonga branch, Fiji, etc.. message sent.

thanks Tom. Once we're all settled in, I'm pretty sure I will get the itch to start something. I'm keeping one set of lights and my doser for that day. -Robert

Leishman, I will be back and forth between Gaithersburg and Alexandria for the next few days. I should be in Gaithersburg in the evening tomorrow and Saturday afternoon/evening. I will be here until around 12PM on Sunday. Alan, I will give you a special discount if you want the cube -Robert

Hunter, I do not have any PMs from you. The RM is yours provided I can find buyers for all the rock. Leishman, the clowns are yours. LMK when you want to pickup. Hey Alan, we have no more chickens. Two more were taken by the hawk and the last one went to a local dog walker who has a barn of 25+ chickens. I have the chicken coop if anyone wants to buy it We lived out here for 12 years and loved it, but the commute is getting worse every year. For some reason all of our jobs end up in DC... The new house is smaller and has no basement. I'm trying to figure out if it's possible to have a non-intrusive reef tank (something that works without disturbing the harmony of the living space) without a sump or large volume of water... -Robert

Things have been hectic with our search for a home closer to work (DC). After almost a year of on and off searching, we are finally moving from Gaithersburg MD to Alexandria VA. To all the MD members I've met over the years, sorry for my lack of presence! I am selling the 25G cube I started, but never stocked, along with most of all the original equipment from the original system. There are too many things to list, but I will list most of the major items here. - 25G Mr. Aqua Starfire low iron glass (drilled with dual 1.5" ID bulkheads) Tank only no stand $100 - 100G Rubbermaid stock tank. $35 Drilled for return pump and skimmer pump as seen below: - ETSS 800 dual downdraft skimmer (seen above) rated for 400 gallons $50 this skimmer is about 15 years old and has been a workhorse. Ideal for processing large volumes of water very fast with moderate level organic removal. Will require powerful external pump (ie. 150-PS) to run. - Pan World 150PS 1100 GPH (for downdraft skimmer) $100 -Pan World 100PX 790 GPH rated for 21' of head pressure $75 designed for lifting water to higher locations or to operate in-tank eductors. this was used as a basement return pump -Pan World 50PX 590 GPH rated for 16.5' of head pressure $50 this was used as a basement return pump -Ecotech MP40 first Gen (x2). $50 each These come with additional unused wetside I had purchased as backups -LED lighting $300 this are the lights used in the original SPS tank. They have been in storage for the past few years. These come with remote drivers that are controlled by an Arduino controller using PWM. These can be connected to the lights using standard DB9 connectors, or the existing 20ft cables that are in use now for the current lights. Livestock -Mated pink skunks $20 -approx 150 pounds of live rock (make offer) There are some other things that can be seen at the house. thanks for looking! -Robert

the problem with using filters is that you are reducing the total amount of light hitting the sensor, which means you will have to use a wider aperture. A wider aperture results in less clarity and you may also need to decrease the shutter speed, which also makes it harder to get sharp pictures. You could probably find a used Nikon D90 for around $300. Add a fast (f1.8) manual 50mm prime lens ($50 used) and I think you will be much happier with the results. oh and use post processing to remove the excessive blue and you're golden!

I was going to say perpendicular to the glass as probably one of the top three. If you're off even a little, the pictures will be blurry. You won't be able to tell until you open it and view it at full resolution. I'm afraid there's no getting around having a good DSLR. The sensor size and quality makes all the difference. The point and shoots usually don't have a big enough sensor. To be honest, I bought my DSLR just to shoot tank pics. I haven't used it since the last tank pic. For gatherings, everyday moments, the cell phone has pretty much taken over those tasks. Really though, those pics are pretty good for phone pics.

keep all sumps, growouts, tubs, etc... covered. This will make your humidity management much easier. It's best to eliminate humidity rather than to attempt to displace with fans, ducts, dehumidifiers, etc...

"D-day acro"? REALLY? I would boycott this company just for that alone. It was not that long ago. Did we already forget what D-day was about?

I don't think anyone thinks you're crazy for complaining about your fish loss, be it a $5 or $30 chomis/damsel. If you had a bad experience, by all means, you should complain. I think we are just a bit confused as to why you were credited for only 2, out of your 3 losses. Like Tom said, it is uncharacteristic, and would be something we would all like to know should we buy from them again in the future. -Robert

I personally have had only good experiences with LA&DD. However, I've learned that I can't wait for the delivery and instead must have them hold the box at the local distribution center for pickup first thing in the morning. The one time I had it delievered to my door, I did have unreasonable losses. Those losses can't really be attributed to the lack of livestock quality or poor packaging. Not many places will offer their live guarantee either. -Robert

Thanks Rik I think at this point, most people at WAMAS already have a frag of all my corals! I recently cleared a lot of space on the frag rack to grow out some larger pieces, since I have no more room in the display. Will try to get some frags posted soon. -Robert

Thanks s2nhle, The tank is almost 6 years old. -Robert