BeltwayBandit

I have 3 years and over 700 posts. Can I pass judgment? Or do I need to reach Sir. Postalot status equivalent to Howard and Jake before I get that posting option? :D

Is it just me or does anyone else feed left over sushi to their tank?

Is that last one the one you picked up at the BRK social? If so I'm jealous. I was right behind you when you said that you would take it. I hadn't had a chance to take a look at that tank yet. grr... that'll learn me not to stake my claims early when the fish freaks (myself included) decend on a fish store.

Speaking from a reef perspective. (I have never kept a FO system, although that was my intention till the reef bug bit.) I would ditch the bioballs all together and just run a skimmer.

First off Welcome! Second, try to come to the meeting next weekend, Feb 25th. Third, welcome! (oh I already said that). As far as getting gas exchange from the sump (cooling and oxygenation) your total volume is not very critical. The main factor is the surface area of the water. More surface area, more gas exchange. That's not to say that more volume isn't good also. As a general rule, the more water you have the easier it is to keep the water parameters stable (unless you overflow your refugium and your ATO dumps 40 gallons of fresh water into your system, but that is another story ). So with all that I would go for the largest surface area and volume that you can reasonably fit (taking into account all the other stuff that you need to try and shoehorn into and under the tank.) One way that many people use is to actually move the sump away from the tank and use a stock tank, if you have room. This gets you the benefit of a huge volume of water, plus a large surface area for gas exchange. Here is what a stock tank looks like: Definately ask tons of questions. Trust me, it is far easier to do things right the first time than to have to try and redo something that you aren't happy with. BB

I have ordered once from Reeftopia myself and grouped on another order. Their selection is limited, but for what they have you can't beat their prices. Both times the order came in as promised, only complaint is that the Large peppermint shrimp were a bit on the small side. They say that the size is relative to what they catch that day, so I can understand that. Heck for the price I can't complain too much.

I have recently started ordering more from PA simply because the shipping is quicker ('cause they are closer). Nothing but excellent customer service from these guys too.

My only complaint with MD is that I am too cheap to pay for second day shipping so it takes a week for orders to ship across the country via UPS ground. Other than that I have always been very pleased with their selection and price. I have never ordered live goods from them. Other comments?

I have ordered several times from hellolights. They are very good about fast shipping and everything is always as described. No complaints on any purchases and I would buy again from them. The one bad is their ARO VHO wiring kits. The back side of the bulb harness is open. With time salt creep can invade and short out the leads. This makes a nice mess. When I called they said that they were aware of the problem and shipped me a new ballast and wiring harness. So other than almost burning my house down, they did me right with replacements. I'll bring the melted down harness to the next meeting for show and tell. Any other comments or feedback?

I flooded last night. Unrelated to the power, but I did lose power at least twice last night. Ugh.

I don't have any but premium aquatics stocks them. If you get 50 or more they are $.50 each. Might be worth a group order.

Fortunately my HOA explicitly forbids ponds... I'm safe...for now. I do envision a goldfish pond at some point in the future.

I have to agree with Paul. Thanks for all your hard work Johnny. It is refreshing to have a local store that remembers what good customer service is all about. Keep up the good work.

I would be very interested. I agree with Howard's sentiments, that it is a bit pricey for a regular "food" item. But, I think it is a good idea, like mentioned above, for an occasional restocking of the 'pod population and to increase the diversity of critters. I would buy a bottle every 6-12 months if it is good quality. I have several critters that are decimating my pod population now.

But don't you know beaches are renewable. No matter how many times mother nature washes them away we can just go dig up some other ecologically sensitive area to rebuild our tourist attraction...err. beach.

Dave, How are the 'bergs' doing? I recently picked up some rock from an lfs that has some aiptasia on it, it is in my fuge right now so I figure it is fine in there. If you start running low on aiptasia let me know and I can spot you some. :D Question, how are you "growing" more aiptasia to keep a sustainable colony of the berghias. Won't you eventually run out? Don't they leave eggs all over the rocks they have been on so you can't even cycle them back into the aiptasia farm tanks? BB

Ask and ye shall receive! Thanks Craig!

I have a Nielsen reactor that I have plumbed in line from my reservoir to the sump. It is controlled by a Tsunami AT-1 pressure/float switch. I run a Quiet one 1200 pump, 40' of 1/4" tubing. I have it plumed into the overflow on the tank with an air gap. I have a 1/2" all plastic check valve on the pump to prevent backflow. All of my top off water goes through the reactor. It works quite well for me.

I too agree that that would be a neat idea. One question, should it be on the public or the member side? (I'm leaning towards member, keeps the shills down).

So, is it legal to say... go to Va Beach and take a few buckets of sand? Is that the "right" sand. Probably not legal though. Does anyone know?

That was one of the lesser boogys that I was referring to.

Actually it is a two for the price of one boogyman. You get the DSB boogyman telling you it is the wrong sand, then you also invoke the BB boogyman telling you that regardless of the sand type your system will crash into oblivion. Not to mention a few lesserknown boogys as well.

I actually read all of them, the jury's still out.

Think diatoms....lots and lots of diatoms.. Here's Randy Holmes-Farley's take: http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/jan2003/feature.htm

Just to clarify. If you found out about us from RC, then you are used to the flame fest that that board can generate at times. Most of us on here also participate/have participated on RC. In general the discussions on these boards are very candid and honest. We try very hard to not have the BB/DSB type slugfests. We do not get the volume of "trolls" that appear on RC, but we do get them. When any new member begins posting there is always that lingering question: "Is this legit, or is this person a troll?" I have participated in many message boards related to this hobby and others. That is the norm that I have found on most of them. When you make statements that you expect to get flamed for a post, that raises the suspicion that you are used to getting flamed on other boards. We don't know you, you don't know us. Give it some time. These boards are vey collegial and friendly as a whole. You just managed to tickle a few "troll sensors" with some of your comments. I read what you wrote and you make valid points, but your tone comes across rather harshly. It is very difficult in a pure text based medium to always get both the meaning and the tone of what you are saying correct. I also know that EricS is one that tends to speak his mind and can come across very harshly as well. But, I have read enough of what he has written to know that he is not one to jump into a BBS fight for the sake of fighting. He usually has very valid points and is not afraid to share them. I nor anyone else here has that type of context with your posts to make that determination, therefore you get judged by the "default" behavior. When judged against that default your posts do raise suspicions. Most likely we are being overly cautious, but our caution is borne from our experience. Keep posting, ask questions, come to the meeting on the 25th. Many posters, myself included, stepped on a few toes and wrinkled a few noses with our posts before people got to know us and know our posting style.