BeltwayBandit
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Posts posted by BeltwayBandit
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One nice thing about using actinics in combination with MH is that you don't have to burn the MH all the time when you want light in the tank. I ran my tank for 2 years with 2x20K XM 250W MH bulbs. I added 2 110W VHO actinics and changed out my MH to Ushio 10K's. I have approximately the same look with the actinic and MH on, but I also have an hour of 'dusk' on either end of my lighting cycle. Plus the tank looks really cool under just actinics. WHen I switched I cut 1 hour off of my total MH photoperiod.
But again, its all about looks.
BB
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Nahhh. I think its some kinda turkey!
But in all seriousness, Chip has to keep howard from bowfishing in his Koi pond... sheesh.
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just curious.
what was the decision ?
Its on my list of things to do. I am working on converting the New to the Hobby forum into a reference forum where highly informative posts can be archived for easier browsing. I just haven't had the time to do it yet.
BB
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Just don't shoot the heron.
They are federally protected. -
I'm the one with the MACNA shirt and the big fish on the left!
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"LiveFuels would have to use biotechnology to make stronger, fecund and more productive strains of algae to be superheated or pressurized into fuel."
Wow that is scary. Can you imagine the damage that this could do to the natural ecosystem if this ever got out? We will have franken-algae decimating coral reefs and choking out the salt marshes. It could be an ecological disaster of unprecedented magnitudes. We have to stop reckless projects like this before they have a chance to destroy our fragile ecosystem.
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If the fire started in the wiring here is what *might* have happened. When you rewired the lamp you managed to break the conductor in the wire. (either full or partial) I'm guessing it was partial, so you still got current flow but since the conductor was partially broken, think of it like a throttling valve. You still had to push the same amount of electricity through that point to fire the lamp. This caused the conductor to overheat which in turn melted the insulation and began a slow smoldering fire. The other option is that the conductor was completely broken and you started arcing and that is what melted the wire and started the fire. Just my guess.
I know how scary that can be, I came home to a wiring harness that was in the process of melting down once. I figure I was about 20 minutes away from a full fledged fire on that one. I'm glad that no one was hurt.
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Darn.. I was gonna guess flux capacitor!
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Can I abuse my authority and move this to the private side before answering?
Wouldn't want the wrong people seeing it... dontcha know....In all seriousness... I probably drop about $80-$100 on an average visit.
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I too had some difficulty with special order livestock from Marine Scene. Basically if it wasn't on their normal list of livestock they won't order it, or expect you to take *all* risk, as in money up front no refunds, with the order. I have since found other LFS in the area that are much more accomodating to special orders. In all fairness, it has been several years since I tried to get MS to special order anything for me so their policies might have changed.
I will say all fish that I have purchased from them have been absolutely healthy, fat, eating well and some of the best around and generally worth the premium price paid. Their dry goods are outrageously overpriced and their corals have always looked a bit on the shabby side, IMO.
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I have been in this hobby for a very long time, the prices I have seen the last 6 months for some corals just absolutely amazes me.
Yeah it is amazing what a 'name' will do for a coral. To each his own, as the saying goes. I would be afraid to spend that much on anything living that goes in my tank.
I think it went to chop shop...Thats actually not such a bad thing. I was reading (Borneman?) who was making the argument that by fragging the corals regularly they actually grow faster in captivity than they would in the wild. Furthermore, like with new technology by fragging it, the price will come down and it will (eventually) become more available. Its actually not all bad. Additionally, fragging helps to prevent a single incident from killing the entire 'line'.
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I'm using that Kick-ICH product. Does anyone have experience with this stuff? It made my tank cloudy?
I tried it first, but it did not work and I was leery of running it higher than the recommended dose. I might have ended up shorting the dose due to my own fear of overdose, thus I ended up running a quarantine.
BB
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*Disclaimer: This is not legal advice, but it does come from an informal discussion with a DOJ Tax Enforcement Attorney.
Here's the scoop. Basically selling frags is income, but you can deduct 'hobby losses' i.e. operating/equipment expenses to offset the income. So basically, unless you are turning a profit on your tank, you don't have to report sales of frags as income on your tax return.
Again, this is just general advice. If you are concerned or have questions please consult your attorney or tax professional.
Here is a bit more information:
http://www.nysscpa.org/cpajournal/2004/904...entials/p46.htm
(Takeaway message, hobby losses can only be used to offset hobby profits. To be completely legit you should itemize on Schedule A if you are really worried about an audit.)
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I know it stinks, but trust me I've been there, done that, got the T-shirt. Your best bet is to pull all of the fish and run a Q-tank. I know it stinks but in the long run it is your best option. I dealt with recurring ICH outbreaks and did not finally 'cure' my tank until I finally broke down and pulled everyone and ran them through the q-tank. Everything else is just a band-aid, IMO. You have to eliminate the source, and that source is in your main tank. Allowing it to lie fallow long enough to break the life cycle, while killing off the parasite in your current fish is the best long term solution.
It took me about 3 days, and removal of about 60% of my rock to finally catch all of the fish in my tank when I had to do the same thing. Trust me, I feel your pain.
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Oops..... That was obviously written before the major ice losses of the past two years.
I guess it depends on where you look. The eastern ice sheet is gaining and the much smaller western ice sheet is losing, most of it in two large events. Either way you slice it, two years of data isn't a 'trend,' its noise.
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Already joined WAMAS via PAYPAL, and looking forward to the meeting. I suppose the membership has not been processed.
It is a manual setting that has to be switched. It usually takes less than a day for one of the officers to process the membership info. Sorry for the delay.. but in the meantime welcome to WAMAS!
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I have no experience with T5, but I would not use PC (too limiting if you did decide to try corals and such).
My recommendation would be to consider a 4 lamp VHO setup. If you build it yourself you can do it for about $300 for a 48" 4 bulb fixture. (Bulbs, Endcaps, Wiring Harness, Ballast, Power cord, and Reflector). (It would be about $230 for 2 bulb and $265 for a 3 bulb). Just for comparison. The price estimate is on the high end (I assumed $25/bulb but they run anywhere from $17-$25 online depending on which bulb you buy).
With a FOWLR you would probably only need a 2 bulb, but it wouldn't give you much light if you wanted to ever switch to coral. However, a 2 bulb system would be perfect for actinic supplementation if you upgraded later on to MH lighting along with moving to corals. Additionally, you could get a 2 bulb harness, and just replace it with a 4 bulb harness if/when you decide you want to keep corals.
Decisions decisions.
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I predict that the number and severity of Atlantic hurricanes in 2007 will be much closer to what we experienced in 2005 than 2006. I'll be buying a generator before hurricane season starts.
Thats not a guess..
Atlantic Basin:
14 Named Storms
Breakdown:
4 Tropical Storms
8 Hurricanes
2 Major Hurricanes
Landfalling:
1 TS
2 Hurricane
0 Major Hurricane
Area:
TS Gulf Coast
1 Hurricane Florida Peninsula (Might continue on to GC as a separate TS/Hurricane landfall)
1 Hurricane Atlantic Seaboard
That is a guess.
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Hang on.. Are we talking landfalling, or Atlantic Basin?
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I never disagreed that this project isn't a worthwhile project for the club to participate in. I agree that this is exactly the type of research that the club should support. All I am saying is that we need to establish a clear policy and guidelines for evaluating research proposals prior to just jumping in and throwing money around. We are trying to incorporate as a nonprofit, and in that regard for accountability purposes we need to have at least some minimum guidance to follow when considering donating as a club.
So, with that said. I am more than willing to assist in attempting to create this structure. I will present this as a recommendation to the Officers and see what they think. If they agree, then I will solicit for volunteers from the club to assist in drafting this policy. We can then post it here for evaluation and put it up for a vote at the spring meeting. If they approve, we can follow that vote with a proposal for funding this project (assuming it meets our guidelines
). How's that? -
Are you suggesting we help fund research...?
Didn't we have this discussion before.... with the end result being that we don't have the resources to properly vet a research proposal? I think it is appropriate to post it here and for individuals to contribute if they so desire, but I'm not sure the club can/should donate to this particular project. My concerns are not based on the merits of this particular study (I think it is very worthwhile). My concerns are more macro, big picture oriented. We do not have any policy regarding the use of club funds to pay for research efforts. Before we go donating money, we need to clearly define how/when such donations can occur.
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Pet peeve alert!... They are Oscelaris not False Percs! As far as telling them apart...
Percula:
# Typically orange in color with three white bars, with the middle bar having a forward-projecting bulge.
# Has 10 (rarely 9) dorsal spines.
# Usually has jet black margins of varied widths around its white bars, often of which can be rather thick.
# Distribution of this species in nature: Northern Queensland and Melanesia (New Guinea, New Britain, New Ireland, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu).
Oscelaris:
# Typically orange in color with three white bars, with the middle bar having a forward-projecting bulge.
# Has 11 (rarely 10) dorsal spines.
# The spinous (anterior) part of the dorsal fin is taller.
# May have no black margins present, but most often has thin, never thick black margins around its white bars.
# Distribution of this species in nature: Andaman and Nicobar Islands (Andaman Sea), Indo-Malayan Archipelago, Philippines, northwestern Australia; coast of Southeast Asia northwards to the Ryukyu Islands.
Generally the number of spines and the black margins are the tell tale differences between the two species.
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I started with IO, I still use IO. I have seen too many threads here and elsewhere about issues when switching salts. I have also read the comparison studies. Unless something new comes out that is significantly better than IO, I'll stick with it. Its nice to be able, in a pinch, to find salt mix if necessary (most stores even pestmart carry IO).
Thats my 3 cents worth.
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If I can hide the $20 dollars after the dust settles (figuratively and literaly) I'll be better off
Trust me you have found the right place. We all understand your dilema. (BTW one of my tricks is to 'skim' money when I go to the grocery store. Take $10 here $20 there as a cash back and tuck it away... works good.)
Equipment Trade/sale at Spring meeting
in General Discussion
But, I do have a 20 long with baffles and no bulkheads that was formerly my sump ($15) and a GenX Mak4 pump ($45) (I have to double check the pump tonight to make sure it still works, I haven't run it in a while). Sale pending on the pump