elbowdeep88

Not sure if you already got this figured out but you can rent pickups from lowes and homedepot for $20-40 for a few hrs. It's pretty painless except on weekend mornings.

Very interesting situation indeed. Thanks for sharing.

Very interested in how the test goes. There seems to be a major difference in the way the OP and Oragimi are calculating the time that this will run the system. Interested to hear the results.

What do you strain it with?

You can request hold at location after entering the tracking number in the shipping company's website. Usually you will have to register for an account (free). The only caution I will mention with this is timing your request. You have to wait until the package is actually received by the shipping company (which generally happens well after you get the shipping notification-which is just when the label is created). But if you wait too long and they receive the request after it's already on the truck, the truck won't deliver it to your address and will drop it back off at the local center at the end of their route. Given this narrow window on an overnight shipment, I usually just opt to put in the actual FEDEX/UPS location address (see below). Never use one of the third party "locations" like the ones in Office supply stores. Do a location search on the shipping company's website and look for "hold at location (or similar)" in the list of service offerings. These locantions don't have to be the regional "hubs", I usually just use the local retail store. In my experience, they will see "Live Fish" on the box and call you ASAP. You will present your drivers license when you arrive and state the name of the shipper and sign a pickup slip. Once you do that once or twice they get to know you...hearing you describe what is in the box is quite memorable for most of those folks. Using this method I could usually get the shipment and have it acclimated and be showered, dressed, and on my way to work by 930/10am.

I have had excellent luck with hold at location. To the point where I often just put the local UPS or FedEx shipping location as the shipping address. It is often available for pickup super early in the morning (8am) whereas the truck delivery may happen in the afternoon/evening. Plus, yearround it is sitting in a 70 degree room vs a 20-100 degree truck/porch. Highly recommend this. The drive is worth the increased survival rate and lack of stress to rush home to rescue a shipment. Obviously this still doesnt help when the shipment is delayed in transit.

I think coldwater went out of business.

Is the color in your pic accurate? Pinkish with green eyes?

Why not just leave it there? It would fit right in with the egg, hammer, and bottles.

Thanks for the writeup (and pics). Exactly the level of detail i was hoping for. Thanks for passing on so much unique knowledge.

Have enjoyed following along. Admire your perseverance. It really is a beautiful and curious fish. Agree need more pics. Down the line would also appreciate more info about your feeding regimen and the foods. I guess the danger in posting a thorough "How to keep an OSF" article is that folks will see it, see how attractive and realtively inexpensive they are and think "I can do that." I'd hate for this fish to become like the Mandarin where people buy them convinced that they can get them eating brine in a week, only for the fish to starve to death. However, as you develop long term success, I would be interested in learning what it truly takes to keep one so that I can decide if the colors and personality are worth the work. Also, do you have other fish in the tank or species only? And do they go after softies/LPS? What about Caps and Monti?

I am not married to the idea, but feel there must be a better solution to pretty much anything in this hobby we have been doing for more than 10 years (that said, I also want a turf scrubber). Maybe a better way to say it is using technology to improve upon proven concepts: like how I have used solenoids in the past to create surges-keeping the advantages of the surge, but without the spray created by a carlson or borneman-all because I hate the look of powerheads in tanks-and powerheads chew inverts. 1. I am looking for user friendly, effective nutrient export that can be easily customized to increase or decrease the amount of detritus in the system. With a change in programming I can set it to flush daily, weekly, monthly, etc by installing a solenoid on the output. 2. No syphoning and disturbing the fuge. I plan to set up some 5 gal buckets in there full of sand as super deep sand beds. Plus 100-200lbs rock. 3. No consumable media. The maintenence on socks has always grated on my nerves. I set up to clean them on a regular schedule but then look in them and decide "they look fine". The cost to replace adds up, and cleaning them is a chore in my book. 4. Socks may pull out particulates and recently caught mulm, but my suspicion is that mulm in there for more than a few days quickly breaks down and is released into the water due to the flow, significantly reducing their efficacy as a nutrient export device unless one changes them every few days. Thoughts? I really am just exploring the idea. My biggest hesitations are: 1. Unknown risks inherent in using a device for something it's not really meant to do (fresh vs salt water, indoor vs outdoor use, etc) 2. Simple is often better, and more failproof in this hobby 3. The value goes down appreciatibly in my book if I can't effectively automate the output flushing. Though a quick manual turn of a valve is still better than messing with socks in my book.

Thank you both for the insights. As with any novel idea, I am grateful for multiple opinions.

It's a fair question and one I go back and forth on for the reasons you mention. The whole point of the large upstream fuge is to capture the benefits of a more natural system with more pods, larger ecosystem, etc. I should mention that the DT will be sparce with rock and won't have sand. Hence the need for a large sump/fuge to hold a ton of rock/sand. I guess that's why i worry about it becoming a big mulm trap, since I don't want to go the sock route. Would you agree that without filter socks, floss, a new whirly filter drum, or something similar, the collection of mulm before a large fuge IS a problem worth solving? Plus, with this, I can put a solenoid on the output and automate the flushing and even make that part of an auto water change.

When you say dissolved solids and pollutants, those would be removed by a skimmer right? Any lead on a link to look at the passive option you mention? Anyone hear of someone using centrifugal force in reef filtration?

Context: I have been dry for too long now and recently bought a house so am contemplating my dream system. OK so I have actually been spitballing for almost 5 yrs now and am ready to start actually planning. DT probably 150-250 gal. Amongst other things I would love a huge upstream sump/refugium (~100 gal) located a floor above the DT that has a few solenoids to surge water in (without the air). Below the tank would be essentially closed loop: some sort of prefilter (subject of a future post) then a pump up to the second floor. Dilemma: How to remove mulm and particulates from the system so they do not aggregate in the sump/refugium and make it a massive mulm pit. I do not want consumable media (filter socks) so was thinking of novel ways to remove sediment and centrifugal force came to mind. Turns out a pool filter company is a few steps ahead of me. The Waterco MultiCyclone 16 is a pool filter that forces water through 16 small centrifuges which separates particulate down to about 50 microns as long as they are heavier than water. Then you open a valve and all the particulate just drains out as waste water. That's it. https://www.waterco.us/waterco/brochures/pool-spa/centrifugal-filters/multicyclone-16_zzb1278.pdf https://youtu.be/q_zBUbhxiFI?t=3m53s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twsfUg8ccUg Question: Mulm settles to the bottom (SG>1) and appears bigger than a human hair is thick (50microns), so it would seem as though the filter would work on these. Certainly on sand. Am I correct here? Does this thing have any chance of working as a primary filter in a reef tank?

Glad to hear it. LFS proving valuable once again.

I tend to read this thread almost daily.

Ah I see. You want them a bit bigger than I was thinking. So is the issue w baby mackerels with harvesting them? That's why I was thinking something that breeds well in captivity

Many people have clownfish that regularly lay eggs. If these pairs were seperate from other inhabitants, I presume a large portion of these clutches could hatch. Seems like a potentially good sustainable source for live baby fish. Following what you say about mother fish passing nutrients/immunity to their fry, what if newborn clownfish were bottled and sold like vendors do with copepods? If supply chain/logistical and market desirability issues ("poor Nemo") could be overcome, and assuming the mothers were healthy/well fed, could you see this source of live food being good for other fish? Issues with the nutrients in rotifers, etc wouldnt matter if the fry are eaten soon enough and still packed w mom nutrition per your theory.

That is awesome. Of all the threads ive seen on how to catch fish Ive never seen the tiny hook method. Another PaulB DIY creation to add to your next book

Excellent. Thanks for the replies. Very helpful.

I have read that black sand is sharper than white. Any issue with black sand and sand sifting gobies?

You seem to make a lot of negative comments on various threads. No bueno.

Its not a nassarius. I think I remember reading somewhere that true conchs have two eye stalks whereas whelks have one. So that may be a good sign for beneficial vs predatory. I'm sure there are exceptions though.