LCDRDATA

I have also wondered about my covers, but even with the small gaps I have I've lost several fish to carpet-surfing (or surfing on the wrong side of the cover - the phrase "baked to a delicate crunch" comes to mind). Recently I tried placing egg crate on one side of my tank and left the (recently cleaned) glass cover on the other side. Both my wife and daughter -- whose eyes are better than mine -- said the side with the glass cover was brighter (i.e. there was more light loss through the eggcrate than the cover). I haven't tried netting yet; I might give that a shot at some point. I will say I have not had any apparent problem with insufficient gas exchange or heat build-up with the covers intact.

OK, I'm confirmed on the red lord acan (to be fragged there) and the blasto (bringing probably 2 frags). I have encideought down for a trade on gorgonian/sinularia for the acan and/or blasto and interest from RJT on the blasto. If my memory's wrong or you're interested in other trades please let me know. See you soon!

Sending PM

I'm curious, because the PAR LEDs I'm probably going to be buying are resonably tailorable (two different color temperature options for both blue and white) and I've been trying to figure out what the best balance would be. Do you know what color temperature / wavelength the LEDs in that fixture are? - it seems to be a really nice blend. Thanks!

$300 is an incredible steal for that setup . I wish I had room for another tank that size, but there's just no way. On the off chance that no one snaps this up and you decide to part it out, I would absolutely be interested in the bubble coral, probably the gobies and possibly one RBTA. Sorry to see you go; hopefully someone can take full advantage of your offer.

Agree, very nice color. What combination of LEDs are you using for this?

I also heard from somewhere -- I don't recall where, so can't vouch for authoritativeness -- that xenia also need a tad more iodine than many other corals. I've supplemented with some since then and my pulsing xenia look better, but I would be hesitant to draw a direct correlation because I've also been changing some of the other parameters in my tank (flow patterns etc.). I also have to be careful not to overdo it because I can't test for iodine, and more isn't necessarily better. But I thought I should mention it.

PM'd questions on krill/plankton

In terms of feeding needs/style, pipefish are very similar to seahorses. You could be successful in a dedicated tank, but even assuming they'll take prepared foods they'd be out-competed by your other fish and slowly starve.

PM Sent

My snowflake moray -- that I've been setting up a dedicated tank for -- also managed to join the carpet surfer's club this week.

I wish I had your "problem;" I've never had one come back once it starts dying back. To paraphrase a famous line, when my SPS go, "they're not only merely dead, they're really most sincerely dead."

If you're interested I can also bring a couple dozen square slate pieces I've been using for frag plugs - here are a couple of shots showing what they look like:

Taking the second point first, I was originally figuring on getting 60 degree optics and playing with the height for the right coverage - which would apparently be about 3" with no optics at all. So you've confirmed that I definitely want to go with optics - thanks. On the solderless connectors, here's the functioning link for the Rapid Solderless Connector for CREE XR-E LEDs. Under "detailed description" are the following bullets: Compatible with CREE XR-E LEDs Screws directly into our drilled/tapped heatsinks Requires Solid Core Wire (20 AWG recommended, 18AWG max) Comes with 2" of 20 AWG solid core wire per connector purchased Connections are meant to be permanent Cannot be used with lenses I was also taking another look at the Shapeways because I remembered the price being lower. While the Shapeways page for the v3 does show a price of $6.71, as I looked more closely there's a drop-down menu for different materials/finishes. For "white detail" or "black detail" the price is $1.45, and for "transparent detail" it's only $1.16. [For the conspicuous consumption crowd, the "silver glossy" is $50.24 but then why anyone willing to pay that much would be going the DIY route in the first place is a complete mystery to me]. The page also states, "This model is speciall designed for CREE XP series LEDs and is compatible with CREE XP Optics!" (their typo, not mine ) I noticed there's a $25 minimum order (22 of the "transparent detail") and while I don't know shipping costs ostensibly if ordered today they'd arrive not later than 21 July. So it seems the lower-priced ones might be a viable option - what do you think?

Two questions: First, any results from your comparison? I haven't seen a post (although I could have missed it). Second, the RapidLED model says it's incompatible with optics ("Cannot be used with lenses") - how about the shapeways version? I'm also unclear as to how critical optics are or aren't, especially in terms of spread/spillover, for a small (on the order of 12 LEDs) unit hanging probably 12-18 inches over a tank. Do someone have information on that? Thanks!

I may also be able to bring one or two frags of this burgundy & green blastomusa (which started out three years ago as two or three withered polyps): This is one of my wife's favorites, but she's expressed the possibility of letting me take off a couple of small frags, so let me know if you'd like one (I'd need confirmed interest).

I recently transferred a large piece of rock to a new tank and in the process found loose a "pink" mushroom. It looks to be one of the red-orange rhodactis I have elsewhere in the tank that wandered off and was either partially buried or in a very dark corner. It's been out in the main tank now for about two weeks and is slowly getting some color back but is many shades paler than its tankmates.

I'll be bringing most everything I have on my current thread and possibly a couple of acans (pics below) to try to frag - with my wife's approval (pending). I would be interested in your gorgonian and a piece of the yellow and/or green sinularia. I'd also be happy to take some of Steve's ceriths as well. I'm already in for a Blue Polyp Pink Stylo "nubbin" from gws3 my daughter says I "have" to get - long story I'm looking forward to seeing everyone there. Thanks! Jim

I should be able to bring a couple of powerheads (Rio 2100 / MaxiJet 900) and possibly a heater and/or bucket of water. I may also have an acan or two that could be fragged.

I'm sorry to hear that. I've thought about one of those for my new cube, but didn't know how it would get along with the snowflake moray.