Pete Touhey

It was a great first meeting for me. Bob Fenner's book was one of a couple that finally got me in the hobby over 10 years ago (and will probably lead to my financial ruin, but it's a great ride). So it was great to hear him speak. There were lots of great people there, and tones of great stuff available. I can't wait for frag fest, I'll definitely be a regular attendee from now on. Pete

Yes my bad, should have been $1 per gallon is back....I guess my fingers couldn't believe the price...

Just got the e-mail. valid Oct. 3 - Oct. 23

Are you trying to cycle it, or just temporary storage? If you are trying to cycle it, it will probably just take longer at 68 than it would at 80. Anything in /on the rock other than bacteria would be pretty stressed by it.

Personally I would advise against getting an anemone. They can be extremely difficult to keep, if you keep any corals in the tank they can make your life miserable until they settle down to a place they will like, and clowns don't need an anemone to breed. A mated pair is perfectly happy without one. If you are just going after the look/behavior, I've always had luck with Euphyllia (frogspawn/hammer/torch) as a surrogate. I've had no luck getting them to lay eggs, but they do take readily to nestling/guarding them like they were an anemone, and the Euphyllia stays put and doesn't harm anything else in the tank. I

One thing I quickly learned is that you can't underestimate the value of purified water in this hobby. You don't necessarily need DI (my TDS is 160ppm+ in and 4ppm out on just RO), but it doesn't hurt. You might see if your pro has a TDS meter, and test the commercial water. If the readings are low, you have a relatively small tank, and 5 gallons covers your top off needs and water change needs, than you might be better to stick with your water service. However, if the TDS reading is high, you are getting a lot of algae, or 5 gallons isn't quite meeting your needs you might want to think about an RO or RO/DI unit. Remember to factor in the cost of the disposable filter replacements 1 to 2 times a year depending on (Sediment, 1 or 2 Activated Carbon, and possibly a DI). As for hooking it up, most come with a "garden hose" attachment that fits the threads on most laundry sink faucets. I have a 30 gallon trash can next to the Laundry sink I keep mine in (takes about 12 hours to fill). RO filters come are sold at various gallons per day rates. If you do get one spend a few bucks more to get a larger filter than you think you need. You don't want to wait all day to get 5 gallons, and it can come in handy in a tank emergency.

It uses regular airline tubing size (3/16" I think). Make sure you get the RVT model.

I'm a long time Olympus user, currently have an E330 and E620. The best bang for the buck is the Olympus 35mm f3.5 macro. Though depending on your lighting might not be fast enough for handheld shots (the 450 doesn't have image stabilzation right?). It's very sharp and under $200. The Olympus 50mm f2 macro is an excellent lens, but runs in the $450 range. You'll have to go with Sigma if you want anything more powerful they've got nice 105mm and 150mm macro's that are very nice in the $500 and $700 range. Of the above lenses I only have the 35mm macro, and can say it's as good as the reviews on the web say it is. Have you tried the kit lenses out? You might be surprised what you can do on the long telephoto end with sufficient distance. You might also want to check other Photography sites, Dpreview is excellent. Pete

One tip with the Rio 600 RVT. Become religious about cleaning the out little elbows that connect the vinyl tubing for the venturi action. Check them about once a month and clean out the mineral build up, and it will produce good skimmate. As for running the airline tubing out the window, I'm not sure it will provide any more oxygen to your tank, but it will reduce the annoying sucking noise of the Rio

I've never had a major bubble problem. The original Model Back Pak 2R had a long internal return tube, that forced the water to the bottom of the skimmer before exiting out. So most bubbles escape inside the skimmer before they make it to the bottom of the tube. They do have an external bubble trap that hides pump, but it doesn't fit the Accela pump.

The Accela is noisy as H-E-double hockey sticks, but my tank is in the basement, so it doen't bother me too much. I've only had the Accela on the skimmer for about 2 months, and still get an almost watery green skimmate. I run it almost full open, and have snaked an airstone into the bubble chamber to try and make it more efficient. I've also been using Brightwell's Reef Biofuel in an attempt to get my nitrates down. Both are probably affecting the quality of the skimmate. I've heard biofuel can make your skimmer go gnuts. As long as my water parameters stay good I stick with it a while longer. I've been eyeing the Aqua C Remora Pro as a replacement, but am hemming and hawing about adding a sump, in which case I'd jump to a more powerful in sump model instead.

I've had a CPR Backpak 2R for years and replace the Rio 6oo RTV every 12-18 months with a new one. The old usually one gets religated to salt mixing till it breaks. The Accela is the current replacement pump that CBP recommends. It's a lot more powerful pump than the Rio 600. I'm still trying to tweak mine to get the thick skimmate I could get with the Rio 600RTV, either pump will do. I think both are available from MArine Depot.

If you are looking for one, Aquarium One had a pile of battery backup pumps by the register. At least they did last week.