extreme_tooth_decay

I have gone through a few of the geek squad ones. I like them because they have a nice display which shows you how charged the batteries are, how much runtine you have with the existing load, and other things. I recall buying them on sale and getting a good deal. They seem to die after 2-3 years. I am not sure if this is a normal lifespan or not. At least I know they are dead because I can use the display to see the batteries are no longer fully charging. I have had previous problems where I thought a UPS was good but it was dead. I would recommend whatever UPS you buy to make sure you can determine how charged its batteries are in a way that is simple enough that you will actually do it periodically. Don't take this as a recommendation to buy geek squad UPSs, just my experience. In the end, I got annoyed that I had to buy a new one (or at least a new battery) every couple years, and just stopped using one.

This kind of thing happens to most of us at one point or another...I know from experience that it does indeed suck. When things like this happen to me, I just think how after I get things back the way they should be I will just have another story to tell...

Looks about big enough to eat.

I like the clear vinyl tubing you get at Lowe's. I've used it for long lengths (like connecting my bulkheads with a single piece to my sump in my basement). Elegant solution, less loss of flow, easy to get around bends, etc. Also I like being able to see inside them. It lets me know where to tap if a snail is caught in there (which never happened). I never had any algae build up in mine, but if I was worried about that, I would have covered them with something removable (like a piece of fabric).

You do not need it drilled. It is a preference thing. I have had overflow boxes for many years on several tanks and never had any problem.

Do we know how long a wait there will be between we order it and when it will show up? I suggest we just pick 3 consecutive weekends about 3 or 4 weeks out, I'll find out which one works best for my people, and we can go from there. I think we have enough people already to go ahead with this. Several of the people I talked to said they could order an extra share if necessary. The Tim Collective will just buy all the shares that other members don't buy. Let's find out how long it will take to arrive, suggest 3 saturdays where we have a bonafide location, I'll talk to all these guys and try to pin the nose on one of those saturdays, and go from there. We need to be sure we can actually have the fish arrive in time before I want to talk to all these people. The only weekend I know that definitely does not work is May 14-15. tim

I think I am good for minimum 8 people at this point. Possibly more. Suggest we move forward on agreeing on a date and move along with this.

I bought an RO (no DI) unit at That Fish Place for around $120. 75 GPD. 5 years later it is still working perfectly. On the same membrane. I switch carbon and sediment filters every 6 months, but they cost about $7 each (LINK). TDS on output water is about 003-005, which never seemed worth the DI part to me. Especially since you aren't supposed to drink it if you use DI. I drink mine. Your mileage may vary. I see they have save $25 on orders over 150 and save $15 on orders over 100 right now. Here is a 90 GPD unit you could get for about $135 after that discount: LINK

Heh, those pictures make them look sinister. I like this quote: "Pictures of yellow tang larvae as they begin to feed on available prey items including algae" Never really thought of algae as "prey" before. Talk about a soft target.

heh

Did someone say lobster?

Indeed...I left that part out when I described my "full circle"... I started with African cichlids. Then had SW fish only. Then has SW mixed reef. Then had SW fish only (with inverts, mantis). Now have large African cichlid tank and small fish only SW tank.

Fish. I have come full circle. I started out thinking "fish". Later I thought "corals". Now after everything I am back to "fish" (including inverts, etc). I don't own any corals now. All the effort for the corals just wasn't worth it for me. I've gotten far more enjoyment out of my mantis-only tanks than I ever did from corals.

You mean 50 pounds of fish *=* 20 lb fillets... So if we had 20 people it would be 1 lb per person of food.

Is 50 pounds of fish going to 50 pounds of food? I was under the impression after it is filleted, it is going to be a lot less...like half that amount...or less? After head, tail, bones, etc are removed.

I would think 1 would do it...I would think we could put several fillets in at one time without changing the temperature at all...how much do you think 1 fillet weighs? I would think a pound or 2 at a time should be possible without having much temp change. When I put a refrigerator-cold 12ish pound turkey in, the temp drops about 25 degrees.

I have some friends who would be interested. I am good for 5 people worth.

Mine is great. I usually can keep it dead on 350 the entire time the turkey is frying. As long as my thermometer is working properly... Fish would be easier than turkeys since the temp will change less for some fish than a 14 pound turkey out of the fridge.

I would be in. I could provide a big deep fryer I use for turkeys if that would be useful. I think we could do it with a smaller number of people than 20 if necessary. I, for instance, would be willing to just buy and freeze some extra and eat it later if necessary.

How did it taste?

Well, I got 3 of these pics (including pic 7 and 8 above) blown up to 16x20 and 20x30. I went to the mall to get them framed (with my wallet), and the guy down there liked them so much, he matted framed them for me nearly for free, and wants to make a bunch more for me to sign to sell in his shop and split the money with me!

+1 on PE mysis. Never failed for me with picky eaters (mandarins, diamond gobies, etc).

+1 Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me...

I know a lot of folks do not care for the dimensions, but personally I like the 125 a lot. I had one for several years. I love the 6' length, and I like the non-overwhelming width and depth. I would rather have a 125 than a 120, 180 or a 220, etc. As for the big cub-ish marineland tanks, no experience, but I have seen them for sale at That Fish Place (PA, long drive), and also at SuperPetz.

I saw finches but didn't take any pics. I was more impressed by the frigates and boobies and other birds that were more exotic. Some of the folks I was with took pics of the finches. Yes you can. I didn't. Not my thing. I did not go to the research station at Santa Cruz but did go to the San Crist