madmax7774

2 comments on your plan. 1 - Definately get a bigger skimmer. Get the biggest one you can afford, you will thank yourself later. There is no such thing as overskimming. Especially when you are new to the hobby, and you are likely to make more mistakes, it is helpful to have a powerful skimmer. 2 - Remember the 4 most important words in this hobby. Regularly Scheduled water changes Disclaimer: These are my opinions, and I swear by them. John

contact Jeff (Naga) he is an acrylic guy, and could likely custom build you a sealable acrylic tank to do what you are looking for. I would not attempt any sort of tank without a lid in a moving vehicle. I would also have a way to attach the tank firmly to a countertop or something, as 1 small fender bender, or 1 bad pothole, and you are going to have a mess when the tank goes flying... John

I use $4 light timers from home depot. They are fine for my metal halides, and my actinics

I used to have this exact unit, on my very first tank (30G hex). When I had mine, it came with a coralife 150W 20,000K HQI bulb in it. They now come with 14,000K bulbs. (better in my opinion). At the time I owned mine, it was told to me buy the owner of Centreville Aquariums that **only coralife brand HQI bulbs will work** in this light. I don't know that I believe that, but I never tried another bulb. By the way, if the one you bought came with a small blue LED moonlight attached to the mounting arm, then you bought my old one! As fas as trying other HQI bulbs, I would contact Johnny@BRK, he can get you whatever bulb you need at a good price. Running your light 10 hours a day, My guess is the light should theoretically last you at least 6 to 9 months before you should think about replacement John

oh man, you guys are giving me new creative financing idea's....

You know that says something for Instant Ocean brand salt. If the GA aquarium is using it, then it must be decent. Those guys are one seriously dedicated crew, and they research things to within an inch of it's life. So if they are using it, then....

This is exactly why in my spare time I run a pawn shop out of my basement! speaking of which anyone want to buy a Digital Camcorder?

There is a very good reason why I do not involve my wife in my WAMAS exploits.....

you sure that's not a duster? it sorta looks like one to me.

I saw this thread on another Forum, and I decided to rip it off and claim it as my own... it was fun to read there, so why not try it here... So last weekend I went to the LFS and I spent $150 on 2 fish and 1 large coral. On average I can't seem to get out the door for less than $60 This does not include the times I am buying hardware, just live goods. what about you guys?

This is interesting... http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/07/business...nyt&emc=rss

is the bleaching spreading?, or is it staying localized to one area? if it has stopped spreading, then you may be ok, and hopefully the bleached part will grow back in time. If it still spreading, then you might try to have someone else with exceptional water quality and lighting, hold on to the coral for a few months to let it recuperate. Just a thought. John

I have an old one, but it still works. I am in centreville, which is maybe 10 miles away. ( I traded you the UV sterilizer the other day...) You are welcome to borrow it anytime. John

I have shopped there occasionally. Melissa does tend to treat customers well. One of the other guys irritates me, but it's more of a personality conflict I think. Their hardware prices are a bit high. Livestock has been hit or miss for me. John

Anyone know if you can keep Royal Gramma's with Lyretail anthias? John

A computer UPS puts out 110V AC just like a wall socket. My initial thought is that there shouldn't be a problem with heaters and powerheads and such, but hey you never know...

a computer UPS will most definately work for handling a power outage. however, being a computer geek, and being familiar with UPS systems, I can tell you that you are going to need a fairly large UPS for it to have enough amps to drive a heater & return pump for any appreciable length of time. unless you get lucky and find a good deal on a decent sized UPS, it's not a very cost effective solution. Plus, most UPS's are sold when the batteries are shot, and need replacement. If you go looking for used UPS, be wary of how much life is left in the batteries... For example, the company I work for spent something like $400,000 for a UPS battery system, and then never bothered to cycle them or test for nearly 5 years. One day the power went out, and so did all the servers in the data center. Everyone was stupified that the UPS system didn't work, well it turns out the batteries were all dead... (yet another reason why I am switching jobs!)

Actually, I found a nice cheap and easy way to deal with this problem. Goto Costco or home depot or walmart, etc. and get a DC to AC power inverter for your car. They are around $40 to $50 and are invaluable. From this you run a long lead into the house and to the tank. if you get one that supports 1000 watts, then you have enough juice to run your return pump, and a heater, which is all you need to keep your tank alive for days on end. You don't even have to have heater and pump running all that time, you can just go out, start your car and run things for an hour, and then shut down for a hour and keep repeating that cycle. It's the simplest most cost effective way to endure long power outages. Generators are nice, but expensive to buy, and a PIA to lug around or borrow. The battery operated air pumps are not really effective for much, so they are a waste in my opinion. With a full tank of gas, you outa be able to last for days... John

They are actually rather hardy corals. It was one of my first corals, and due to my inexperience, I was very rough with them. They will handle a good scrubbing from a toothbrush just fine. If you are getting algae growing on them, then they likely need a little more flow. also, if you manage to break one of the arms off, just attach it to a rock somewhere to start another colony. They don't grow very fast, but they are pretty tough. John

I can frag several frags each of Green Pocillopora, Pink Birdsnest, Yellow polyps, anthelia and green Zoos. I am looking to trade for other Frags of SPS or LPS or Ricordia PM me for details. John

set mine up last night, and these things kick but. No more unplugging stuff for me.... wheee!! It just looks cool too...

check with dandy7200 I think he does stuff like that. John

when you are pulling stuff out of the tank by hand, i would think you shouldn't have to worry about the spores in the water, as long as you have the UV hooked up and running. John

I just went there on my lunch break. I bought one of the power strips for $29.99 plus tax. When you account for shipping costs for Web orders, it actually ends up being cheaper to buy locally. They had 2 when I went there today, and I bought one. There's still one left... John

I couldn't tell you the exact quantities of the critters he sold me, but it consisted of several large groups of various sized snails and hermits. 4 or 5 sally lighfoot crabs, and 4 or 5 emerald crabs. 2 cleaner shrimp. I have since added 5 peppermint shrimp, and 1 fire shrimp to that mix, and they have been slowly cleaning up my aptasia issues. I scraped maybe 33% of the algae out by hand, and the rest was devoured by the cleaning crew. overall, I am extremely satisfied.