BeltwayBandit

If you can wait a month or so the garden stores will be stocking up for spring. I know the HD in Springfield used to carry it, but I haven't looked in a while.

I use the Tsunami AT-1 pressure switch, it is rated for up to 4 amps.

When I look at pricing I compare the LFS- Convinience Surcharge (negative meaning I consider the convenience to justify paying a little more at an LFS) to Online + Shipping. That is the relevant cost comparison. What they actually pay for something is irrelevant. All parties involved in the chain from Supplier to Customer jack up the price to cover their costs and make their profit. If I had to guess I would say that a retailer probably marks up the price around 75-100% of their cost on a live item. While taken alone that sounds outrageously high, but you have to factor in many costs. The retailer has overhead for the store such as wages, utilities, rent, tax, etc. The retailer also has to cover the cost of livestock that dies. Dry goods markups are significantly less, in the 30-40% range. I think the difference in pricing that you see at the various stores around the area directly corelate to their location. BRK is out in the sticks, his overhead (I'm guessing) is much lower than for places like Marine Scene, Super Petz, and Wally's. Roozens is another that is out of the "high traffic" areas. They also have a slightly different business model and are not totally dependant on retail sales. But I would guess their markup is still in the 50% range.

would it help if we peppered him with requests to bring, if he can come?

Welcome! I third (or is it fourth at this point) the use of a turkey baster. I would, however, recommend that instead of using it to "Blast" the algae, use the baster to "Suck" the algae up. That way you can discard it instead of blowing it around the tank to seed other areas, also it does perform a bit of nutrient export. When I first started up I had problems with cyano, hair, and caulerpa. Trust me ever bit of "weeding" helps reduce the nutrients that the algae feed on. BB

I think I am going to start a new trend in Reefkeeping. I am going to start advocating the FSB method. Yup, the Full Sand Bed. Basically instead of 6-10" of Deep Sand bed, you just leave 6-10" of no sand at the top. That way you are guaranteed to have plenty of room for the anoxic areas, and with only 10" of water column you can't possibly put enough biological load in there to overload the sand bed. And you get the "ant farm" benefit of being able to watch the stuff in your sandbed. Who's with me? PS anyone know where I can get 1000 lbs or so of sand to try this out?

I'm in*. * Subject to terms and conditions on date time dictated by SWMBO.

I know MarinaP breeds clownfish. She dosen't post here often, but is quite active in the RC Anemone and Clownfish forum. I think Travler7 also does some breeding as well. Both are excellent resources for information on Clownfish. (I'm sure there are others too, but those two were the first to come to mind.)

If you are drilling the back of the tank for an overflow there is no need for a durso. The durso just quiets the falling water associated with an internal overflow box. Just drill the hole a few inches below the water line and use a 90 with a strainer cover. Then once the tank is full you can rotate the 90 to set the water overflow point. With this setup you shouldn't have the gurgling and splashing that a Durso/Stockman standpipe is designed to eliminate. Alternatively, if you really want one, you can plumb in a T on the back side of the bulkhead in a Vertical orientation. Cap off the top and drill a hole, voila you have an external Durso. I haven't used this type of setup. I know SteveOutlaw used to have drilled overflows in the back of his 120, perhaps he can chime in as to how he had them plumbed. External Standpipe This is an example of what I was talking about. Ignore the overflow box and pretend that is the back of your aquarium. You would also want the 90 elbow to be rotated up so that it is taking water from the surface of your tank.

Amen brother!

From everything I have read the old watts/gallon rule is only applicable to the standard VHO bulbs. When you get into MH and T5 it is a totally different ballgame.

I run a 120 with 2x250 MH. I have 2 4" fans in the canopy that come on with the lights and I get about a 2 degree fluctuation in temperature. I think the biggest problem that many people have with heat is in their system design. If you plan properly and don't go nuts with other peripherals you can manage the temps without resorting to chillers. BB

I saw that in another post last night. I'm just miffed that someone already took my screen name last week over there. I have the same handle on RDO, RC and WAMAS but not MD. Guess I have a new board to occasionally surf. :2thumbsup:

I don't love them. :wink3:

I have the same check valve as Chip. I also have my plumbing set up in such a way that I would never backflow more than a few cups of water from my reactor back into my reservoir. I have an AGA 120 with corner overflows. I have the fill line from my reactor zip tied to the return line and there is a 1" air gap between the end of the fill line and the water level in the overflow. This way, even if I do get backflow it is only the water that is in the tubing (1/4" x 40 feet). Also this arrangement ensures that I won't siphon my reservoir into the tank (which I did when I originally plumbed the fill line directly to the sump. I discovered this flaw during my check-out run and did not over-fill the tank.) Then again, is it really such an issue if you backflush a small ammount of Kalkwasser into your storage reservoir? (assuming setup where you can't siphon the tank back through the reactor)

or you could be cavitating your pump. Is the pump making a lot of noise?

Any suggestions on how to remove zoanthids? These are some rather plain boring, weed like zoanthids that I got free at a WAMAS frag swap 3 years ago. They are kinda a brownish red and grow like crazy. I tried to pull them off but it just ends up tearing up the body and I don't think I was very successful. Will Joe's Juice work on them?

You better quit posting pics of your work. I might have to hire you to build my next stand if you keep this up.. Nice work. BB

careful.. that is the "comparison" wattage. The actual wattage of the screw in bulb is 19 watts. Still a scosh more, but not hugely more.

Actually the cost difference is only about $3. But I am going the Melev route.

I am looking at a light setup for my 'fuge: http://www.aquaticeco.com/index.cfm/fuseac...d/3700/cid/1086

I run a Quiet One 1200 that has to push water throgh my Kalk reactor and 40 or so feet of 1/4" tubing plus about 3-5' of vertical lift (depending on the level in my reservoir). It is rated for 6' maximum head and I figure I am very close, when the water dumps into my overflow it is a very slow trickle. Works great for slowing down the addition of the kalk and getting good mixing since I add close to a gallon or more per top off.

I use the Tsunami AT-1 top off. I would not recomend it for a large sump because it has about a 1 inch "throw" for lack of a better term. In my system that is not significant, but in a larger sump that could cause salinity swings. Decent top off, can run up to a 4 amp pump.

How is running at 2/3rds rated capacity "going for it"?