BeltwayBandit

Or...

I had corner overflows on an AGA 120 and they weren't that bad. With a Durso you get a mini refugium look and can get some interesting critters growing in there. I also second the Marineland tanks. A local shop down here in NC has the 5 footer set up and it is nice. I'm probably going to go with the 6x3. One other good thing about the marineland tanks is that they are sized to be able to fit through a standard door.. Always a nice thing to know..

I will definitely check it out the next time I am up that way!

Check local laws before removing anything from the beach! I know that some areas it is actually illegal to remove sand from the beach. re: Jason: most 'artificial' beaches use sand from dredging or offshore so I believe that it would still be a calcium based sand.

Since its over. No one will mind that I am closing the thread. I really don't see it getting any MORE productive from here.....

Yes, if a person with proper authority asks you to leave then you could. I didn't think that was the case here. Besides, I would love to hear them explain to the police officer why they are trying to press trespassing charges against a customer whom they stole money from. That would be a very interesting conversation.

True enough, but the court doesn't have to grant court costs even if you win. Plus there is the off chance that you could lose and you are out even more money. I just don't see much upside to trying to go to court over $25. (which is probably why SS is being snarky, they think it is too small an amount and most people would just let it drop.) Actually, I would be willing to bet this post and one over on CMAS would cost them far more in the long run than the $25 that they stole from their customer.

Let me chime in and officially reiterate what Ric said. Lets keep it nice folks. That is a good thing. I would call them and let them know exactly when you will be there and that you would be more than happy to have the police present. That way you can explain to the police exactly how they ripped you off and file a claim of petty theft against them and save yourself a trip to the police station in the process. If you enter a business during normal business hours for the sake of engaging in a transaction with that business you can't be trespassing. That stinks about the CC. It will probably cost you more than $25 to even file the claim in small claims court.

Clams do prefer higher nitrates. Some have even taken to using clams in refugia as nitrate scrubbers. I was considering adding a hipopus for just that reason in my old setup. I am still designing my new setup and stocking lists. If I don't have clams in the main display, I will probably set up a 'clam tank' in the back room for looks as well as nitrate reduction.

Tom, I would like to say thank you to you and your staff. I bought my first marine tank from you 5 or more years ago. At that time I did my research on new tanks and stands and I found your prices to be competitive. I still remember loading that 120 and stand into my truck to take home. I bought my live rock and first fish from you to stock the tank. I found your staff to be very helpful and knowledgeable. After that I branched out and tried other vendors. Yours was always the benchmark that I measured others by. Your efforts are truly the reason that we have so many good vendors in the area. If we did not have you to measure them by then we would be stuck with the Petco's of the world. Thank you again for proving that a model of responsibility and customer service can work in this industry. Craig

I HATE that article. I have debunked it at least twice on these forums. The information provided in that article IMO is pure bunk. A grounding probe with a gfci is a best practices solution for reef safety from an electrical standpoint. Here is a cut and paste of one of my debunkings of that horrible piece of advice: Ahh yes one of the classic 'arguments' among reefkeepers... To ground or not to ground. That is the question. Weather it is safer for the fish or the keeper to suffer The ping and tingle of stray voltage Or to put safety first And by grounding, end them. To ground, with current... No more... and with GFCI we prevent The heartache, and the thousand natural shocks That stray current leads to. ok... enough butchering of Shakespeare. There are two separate and distinct issues with grounding probes. Unfortunately these issues often get lumped together and thus the confusion is born. There are two different sources of electric potential in your tank. Yes two. The first, is stray current from an improperly grounded or short circuited piece of equipment. If your equipment has a 3 prong plug, then it is likely that a short in the equipment will cause your GFCI to trip without a grounding probe. If you have any two prong (i.e. ungrounded) items, it is unlikely that your GFCI will trip without grounding the tank. I have been shocked by a tank, protected by GFCI, but ungrounded. It is entirely possible. In this scenario, grounding a tank should be a no brainer. If/when a piece of equipment shorts out there will be a momentary current from the equipment to the grounding probe. This will introduce an imbalance on the hot and neutral legs that your GFCI will detect and it will trip offline. We are talking less than a second here that current will flow through some portion of your tank. IMO that brief instant is not worth the risk of running a system ungrounded. The second source of electric potential is not so clear cut. (and IMO the source of most of the confusion surrounding the issue). This involves induced voltages. I'm not going to go into the theory, but suffice it to say salt water is a good conductor of electricity and having electrical equipment in and around it can create an induced voltage. It is this stray voltage, that when left alone merely raises the electric potential of the tank, yet when a ground probe is introduced it will cause some minute (see link below to see how minute) amount of current to 'flow' through the tank. This is the current that the anti-ground probe folks are using to justify their opposition. I found the following paper on reefs.org that should throw cold water on this particular urban legend. As you will see, the induced current is so tiny (on the order of 10^-9) it truly can be considered trivial. So, there you have it. That is my take on the issue. BB http://www.reefs.org/library/aquarium_net/1298/1298_3.html PS: please, no one post that horrible website from Georgia Tech on this subject. That paper has to be one of the worst articles I have ever read on this particular subject.

I have been looking at the new Marineland large tanks, too. One of the LFS down here in NC has the 5'x3' tank set up in the shop and it is quite impressive. I'm looking at the 6x3 tank. All of their large tanks are 27" tall. They picked this dimension because it will fit thru a standard door. Just another thing to think about. The Marineland tanks are very nice, if you can find a local vendor. Check around. I'm sure one of the excellent LFS sponsors will be willing to order one for you. They are also cheaper than custom tanks, as long as the dimensions are close to what you are looking for. They also do have starfire fronts on the tanks.

Put a bounty on the buggers and watch how fast they get wiped out. Heck, MACNA or some other aquarium related organization should offer to sponsor a portion of the bounty for the PR benefits.

Ghetto chiller... Put a clip on fan over the sump. Evap will cool your tank. That was the only 'chiller' I had on my old 120, granted it was controlled by an ACII, but you could tie it in with your lights and be fine.

Darn... I missed him when I was there today! As always John your store, your staff, and your friendship were a welcome diversion when I stopped by today. I just hate that it is 10 hours round trip to come visit you now. BB

Sledgehammer.... trust me, I speak from experience on this one.

I have not had one of these, but thought I would throw it in the mix.... Sea Apple aka Reef Tank Hand Grenade. They look pretty, but tick them off and they can take out an entire tank! AKA Cuke Nuke

I don't have access to the member database, but I will make sure Bob (ybenormal) knows. We should have you up and running soon. Hang in there. I know what it feels like to have access cut off. (I had a little glitch when my membership ran out too.)

Yes all are doing quite well. Thanks again for the frags. That reminds me I need some new pics.

Tank Update. Sad news to report. Despite having egg crate over the open spaces on my tank top, my bluespot jawfisth found a way to go carpet surfing. I found him next to the stand, dried out and crusty, a few days ago. Thanks to dbartco and davelin I have some cataphylia, sarcophyton,acanthastrea, and a 'borneman' anemone all doing well in the tank. I have also added two firefish gobies to the tank. Pics of coral critters soon. BB

I have some Aiptasia pulchella that I can't take care of anymore. Would someone please take them?

Trying to get free stuff, IMO.

Ok..So I sorta followed the recipe... (good thing it wasn't baking). I made the garlic butter, shrimp, and spinach according to the video. I substituted polenta for the grits. This dish was AMAZING! Thanks for the info Dan. I really liked the tip (unmentioned) on squeezing the lemon through your hand to keep the seeds out. This is a great recipe, and I will definitely be there (fireflies) next tuesday on my weekly summer trip to DC.

Ok. that looks too good. I had to break down and make it tonight... was already going to make shrimp.. I substitued polenta (because I had it) for the grits.. but it smells awesome!!!

Dan! Love the restaruant.. When are you going to franchise it and open a location down here in NC! The wife and I truely miss the awesome food ya'll serve. I definitely will stop by next week on my trek to DC... I'm actually cooking shrimp tonight, have some nice big carolina prawns... just might have to make this dish.... BB