BeltwayBandit

I just went to Marine Depot Live to do some window shopping and to my surprise... their gone. They closed the live sales and are concentrating on dry goods only. Here is what the page said: Thank you very much for shopping with us! To better serve our customers, we

I had one and the digital thermostat crapped out at about 3 months and the heater stayed on. Fortunately I was running multiple undersized heaters so it didn't cause major damage. These heaters, IMO, are junk and should not be used. There is an older thread where many others who experienced failures with these heaters spoke up. There are too many better alternatives to risk your tank with a WON heater.

DIY lighting is pretty easy. Especially when it is just connecting components together. It would be easier to help you if you would give a bit more info on your tank. Is it fish only. softies, lps, sps, clams. etc. Also do you have a specific type of lighting in mind? Metal halide (SE or DE)? Fluorescent (CF, VHO, T5)? LED? If you can connect two wires with a wire nut, you can do a DIY lighting project.

Ok so I am looking into DIY LED displays and found a really neat site for helping you plan out and build the array. Have fun! http://led.linear1.org/led.wiz

For the record, I didn't miss you. j/k I actually checked your profile the other day because I hadn't seen you in a while. Hope things work out and you can get back in the game.

I can make yours go away if you'd like. I did that to Jason once..... Of course they would start accumulating again.

I thought it was a saw saw....

+1 on the Finnex titanium. I use the one without a thermostat and have it controlled with a Ranco controller, I use my ACjr as a failsafe on the Ranco.

you can make a simple hinge with plastic zip ties. That would probably work for what you need. Just drill a couple of holes and thread the zip tie through, then lock it in on itself and your done.

Trust me ya'll have it so good up that way. BRK, F&F, Mr.Coral, AquaCo.. just to name a few. I still haven't found a decent reef store down here. Here is an example. One store wants $120 for USHIO 250W bulbs. Another store is an aiptasia farm in all of their tanks. The folks who work at the stores are mostly clueless... I could go on and on. Its kinda funny, about the only thing I miss about DC is access to the great LFS's in the area up there. BB

Quit wasting time posting and start editing already!!!

Ditto on the Invert house at the Nat'l Zoo. If only to see the largest elegance coral you have ever seen. That coral alone is worth making the trip. Oh yeah the zoo also has some pretty cool Pandas too. On food. If you want neat/fun I would suggest BD's Mongolian grill in Bethesda. 7201 Wisconsin Ave Bethesda, MD 20814 (301) 657-1080 If you want a really great seafood restaurant: (it is in Georgetown and a bit pricey) Black Salt 4883 Macarthur Blvd. Washington, DC 20007 (202) 342-9101 Other notables: Burgers: Five Guys Silver Spring 12269 West Tech Rd. Silver Spring , MD 20904 Chili: Hard Times Bethesda 4920 Del Ray Avenue Bethesda, MD 20814 Sushi: Sushi Ko 2309 Wisconsin Ave NW Washington DC (near Georgetown) American: (completely across town it would take you about an hour to get there from SS w/out traffic, but the food is FANTASTIC!) Mikes American Grill 6210 Backlick Road Springfield, VA 22150 (703) 644-7100

Yeah, I was playing around in the depths of the public forum archives. It was neat to see some familiar old names.

Does anyone even still use a plenum?

I have coded in PASCAL and FORTRAN... but I am over 30. How about another blast from the past BASIC.

Now don't get me wrong, I will go carnivore on a lobster any day of the week.. But, it seems to me Maine has a good idea going. We all understand minimum size limits to make sure enough young make it to adulthood to spawn and continue the population. It would seem that on the opposite end of the spectrum it would be a good idea too. First, with most 'game' animals the older they are the less tasty they get to be. I have had chicken lobsters all the way up to big ol' three pounders... Given the choice, I'd take a pot full of cull chicken lobsters over a big one every day. The idea of leaving the 'biggguns' serves many purposes. First, they generally will produce more ofspring than smaller specimens. Additionally, if you take all of the big old specimens you can potentially eliminate very good genes from the gene pool. All things considered, I usually do not agree with PETA. However, this time I do agree. The best place for George is back in the ocean.

Talk about the sanctuaries all you want, lets leave the politics out of it. Please.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/06/us/06oceans.html?hp Politics aside, this is great news for reef conservation!

Nahh you need something more catchy.. like Swamp Thing Nuclear Green Snot Acro.. Now THAT is a catchy name. Call it the 'Snotter' for short.. man you could make a killing.

I remember talking to one of the local shops about ORA and it really seems like it just depends on their mood when you call and order what the 'limits' are on any given day. And yes, like you said they change frequently. Basically, it sounds like they are doing with this coral what has been done time and time again. Find a neat frag, grow it out. Give it a funky name and charge double. I always found that I could do just as well perusing the racks at my favorite haunts.

I'm feeling the 'tank as humidifier' blues right now. My old tank had an ATO/Kalk doser combo that kept the water level up. I haven't set up an ATO on my new tank and it is evaping a ton of water right now. Thankfully school is almost over and I can invest some much needed TLC on my tank over the next few weeks.

Tis the season for lots of top off... With the colder weather and low humidity... I'm burning through water in my tank. Gee I miss my ATO right about now.

I for one would like to say that I'm not surprised at the response, and in the same breath I'm humbled by the response.. We do have a very good and gracious group of folks here who want to do well, and when we can do well and reef in the process.... whoah nelly don't get in our way. Congrats to all the WAMASERS who have offered their support, I would offer but I'm 5.5 hours away from DC and it makes it a bit hard to donate... BUT... if anyone wants to organize a bluezoo gb with the donations I can kick in a $28 credit. Thanks again all for making me proud to be a member of WAMAS. BB

You can also try 'fishing' for the angel. Get a tiny fish hook, remove the barb, tie to some monofilament, add shrimp and go fishing! I have actually had this work, the only problem is if you miss him the first time he might get spooked.

Well I'll just have to check it out when I'm (hopefully) up that way in two weeks. BB