AndrewB
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Happy New Year! Welcome to the 2008 Winter Tank Sale at SCALES Tropical Fish Warehouse. Huge savings from our already low prices are available through January 31!
Oceanic
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SCALES is proud to announce our first sample shipment from a new captive coral producer, Wavespring Aquaculture. Wavespring uses state-of-the-art greenhouse technology to produce coral frags in commercial volumes. SCALES believes that dynamic companies like Wavespring represent the future of the sustainable reef aquarium hobby and is pleased to be their first Washington metro area outlet. Wavespring is currently producing around 80 coral varieties and is constantly adding new stock to their propagation facilities.
The first order is small! This is a growing business; lines and volume at SCALES will increase as the greenhouse collections and local market for them mature and diversify. However, support for innovation like Wavespring's will be priceless over the long haul.
For starters we have purple/green frogspawn, Anthelia clove polyps, green star polyps, Ricordea florida, neon green Caulastrea and kenya tree corals. Frags are mounted on a plastic plug designed to be placed in "eggcrate" materials. Start them in a frag growout tank, or clip the bases of the plugs and glue them to your reef!
See you soon.
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The perfect holiday gift! Handsome SCALES Tropical Fish Warehouse gift cards are available in any amount. Drop by the store or call us to have one mailed to your friends!
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Piedmont Plastics
301-881-7900
9000 Virginia Manor Rd
Suite 250
Beltsville, MD
Tell them what you're doing and they'll hook you up.
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Novembers specials are coming to an end on SUnday at 6:00pm. If you're looking for an AGA or Oceanic tank, please pm me for discount pricing and available sizes. Red Sea Max setups also on special!
P.S. There will be a price increase by the manufacturers in January on these tanks... Get 'em now if you're in the market.
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One proven method is to put a damselfish in the tank and then spook the lion...
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After almost ten years of handling all kinds of venomous, toothy or otherwise dangerous fish and not having any trouble, I've been nailed twice in the last week. First, a yellow tang got my finger. Didn't hurt, 'til later anyway. That scalpel is sharp! Went straight down to the bone, in and out like nothing at all. Then tonight a canary blenny bit me through a net. Youch! Don't call 'em fang blennies for nothing.
Of course, both hits were while I was netting the fish... More funny than anything though.
So, who else has gotten nailed by their fish?
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The officers were from the Mont. County Police Animal Control. They make sure that the animals are not being abandoned or otherwise mistreated when something like this happens.
As far as the web site, there was definitely a schism in the management between two camps. One does still controls the web site and blames the store's problems on the other. It's not necessarily a reflection on reality, but there you have it.
As far as the rest goes, NAGA said it best....
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Livestock was rescued by another store before the lights went out. The sharks unfortunately died some time before they closed.
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Promotion on select AGA and Oceanic tanks and the Red Sea Max system ends soon! Only five more days left to get the orders in.
Imagine the look on your __________ 's face when they unwrap a huge box and find their own nano-reef system...
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The Fluval FX5 is a completely different beast than the other '05 series canister filters. Awesome, awesome piece of gear. Easy to work on, moves a ton of water and has massive filter media capacity. We've helped a number of customers with FO systems in larger non-overflow tanks like this using the FX5 and a decent hang-on protein skimmer and it works well. Add another pump or two (like Koralia powerheads) inside the system to ensure adequate flow inside the tank, especially near the live rock.
A certain store also has these for a bit cheaper than the link...
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Ours extend tentacles after Cyclop-eeze is fed to the tank. Then we stuff mysis down their throats with tongs... Actually we just tickle the tentacles a bit with the mysis and then they grab and swallow it.
They start budding in a couple weeks usually. Then someone buys them so I don't know if they'll spread to another rock.
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A whole bunch of fish were released from quarantine today. So after you've stuffed yourself full of turkey, watched three blowout football games and gotten completely tired of your relatives, DON'T GO TO THE MALL!!
Here's a selection of what you'll see at SCALES on Friday instead of bad Ronco products that have been let loose into our shopping centers away from late night TV where they belong:
Rabbitfishes:
Blueline/Masked
Blue & Gold
Orange Spot (incl. one at barely an inch, cute!)
Tangs:
Tomini
Hippo
Mimic
Scopas
Vlamingi
Wrasses:
Dragon/Rockmover
Exquisite Fairy
Sixline
Christmas (Halichoeres)
Lubbock's Fairy (2 variants)
Scott's Fairy
Leopard
Two Spot/Candy Hog
Secretive
Gobies/Blennies:
Scooter
Canary
Citron
Barnacle
Lawnmower
Scissortail Dart
Green Bar Dart
Clownfish:
Black Clark's
Tomato
Pink skunk
Black Ocellaris
Maroon
Misc:
Mimic Octopus
Coral Beauty
Pajama Cardinal
Bicolor D'back
Kuda Seahorse
White Ribbon Eel
Of course, there's lots more here. I haven't even mentioned the non-reef fish, inverts, corals...
Wasn't that better than shopping?
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No limits on quantities!
Offer valid through November. Please call or pm for availability; salt moves quick! Deposits or pre-pays may be requested on large orders.
Coralife 150gal Bucket: $31.99
Instant Ocean 200gal Box: $34.99
Instant Ocean 160gal Bucket: $34.99
Reef Crystals 160gal Bucket: $39.99
Red Sea Salt Mix 200gal Bucket: $39.99
Red Sea Coral Pro 175gal Bucket: $39.99
Oceanic 200gal Bucket: $39.99
This offer is available only to area Marine Aquarium Society members so please mention this post when you come in.
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Red Sea Max system only $539.99!
Select AGA and Oceanic Tanks on deep discount as well. Please pm or call Andrew for prices.
Sale lasts through November 30.
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The block from Jehmco is the same species (M. relicta) and is collected in the same lakes as PE. If you don't want the full 2.5 kilos from Jehmco, some stores sell smaller chunks in bulk.
Interested factoid on Mysis: In the 1960's and early '70's, Mysis relicta was introduced into a variety of Canadian (and other) arctic and subarctic lakes to enhance the food availability for salmonid fishes, especially Artic Grayling. Well, nobody bothered to check the diurnal cycles of the Mysis. In fact, Mysis are nocturnal and spend daylight hours in the deep bottoms of these lakes where the fish are not hunting. At night when the fish go to sleep, the Mysis rise up to the surface and obliterate the native zoo and phytoplankton. Even worse, the game/food fish don't prefer Mysis to their normal diet...
Oops!
Now a variety of companies producing fish foods for the aquarium industry are being paid to remove Mysis from the lakes. Then we pay to buy the food from them...
A fishy business indeed.
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All-in-one remedies usually treat nothing effectively. They don't list the active ingredients so it's a bit hard to tell what they are using to treat the variety of maladies listed on the packaging.
What are you treating the Chromis for? If it's just a general prophylactic treatment, stick with hyposalinity until or unless you have specific symptoms to address. Then use a medication specifically for those symptoms.
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As the title says; a lot of you have been asking for these guys.
Plus, lots and lots of other goodies in our 3200+ gallons of retail and quarantine systems.
Also, check out our new refugium constructed of plywood, epoxy and glass.
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For those of you who are still intrigued by freshwater aquaria, The Potomac Valley Aquarium Society, Capital Cichlid Association and Greater Washington Aquatic Plants Association are joining together to produce Aquafest 2007. Events include a cichlid and catfish show, aquascaping (plants) demonstration, all-day auction (marine lots welcome) and speakers on a wide variety of topics. The event is at the Holiday Inn in Laurel Maryland (Sweitzer Lane at Route 198). Speakers are $10, all other features are free.
For complete details see Aquafest 2007
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Hey Raf,
Empty weight of the AGA tank is 191 pounds. Side glass thickness is 5/16".
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Big promotion=big haircut!
Either that or you get tired of that little bit of salt creep that collects on the tips of your hair after a big tank clean...
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Test the ammonia and nitrite levels. If they are coming up, do the water change and re-treat with Melafix.
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You said that the standard dip method didn't remove them and that the freshwater dip was very effective but risky due to coral intolerance, what do you suggest as a treatment prior to the addition of coral into a home aquarium?
The trick with dips is that you are targeting a wide variety of undesirable hitch hikers. As far as red planaria go, it is likely that a dip in a stronger solution of Flatworm Exit or a freshwater dip will be equally effective. I was specifically commenting on "Flatworm Exit" used as a treatment in an established system, not a prophylactic dip. The problem with using a lot of the dips, especially when comparing anecdotal evidence posted by home aquarists, is by sheer statistics it is likely that many of the situations where it does not work may be due to user error or other outside factors. The other issue is that when you compare the traffic in coral specimens in a retail store where hundreds of pieces may transfer into and out of tanks every month, statistics will also dictate that it is more likely that a bug make it through sterilization protocol than for the home aquarists who may transfer, at most, dozens of pieces per month and usually much less. In both cases, it's not that the dip doesn't work, it's that the dip kills 97% or 99.9% or whatever the number is (I honestly don't know) of the red planaria. With enough statistical sampling the product will fail eventually to kill all of the red planaria for somebody. Freshwater dips, however, will kill 100% of red planaria when properly executed. Again, the issue of user error and other factors may come into play. Additionally concerns besides the red planaria may not be addressed by the freshwater dip.
Can anyone say which corals and other organisms are likely to be damaged by a short freshwater dip?We dipped zoanthids, corallimorphs, Sarcophyton, and Sinularia with no damage to the corals. On the live rock, coralline algae was unaffected. I also talked to Almon and he has dipped many SPS corals similarly with no ill effects. I'm sure there are resources online where more coral species have been investigated. My concern would be soft and LPS corals that have very thin membranes like bubble corals, Cynarina, colts, etc., where the osmotic pressure of the freshwater dip may damage the delicate tissue. If someone were to try these the corals should probably be encouraged to withdraw as much as possible before trying the dip. This is hyppothesis though; I haven't tried and haven't talked to anyone who has tried more delicate corals.
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The following is a description of a protocol used at SCALES Tropical Fish Warehouse for the elimination of red planaria in a retail aquarium system. It is not intended as a recommendation for strategies to eliminate red planaria in the home aquarium.
Introduction
Red planaria (Convolutriloba retrogemma) are simple animals that host a photosynthetic dinoflagellate similar to those hosted by certain corals, anemones, etc. The actual photosynthetic organism is not the same species but the function is identical. Red planaria do not rely on outside food sources, as the dinoflagellate provides all of its nutritional requirements. In a closed coral reef system they may be imported on live rock, sand or coral specimens. Red planaria are capable of asexual reproduction through budding, so only one is required to initiate an infestation. Often they reach "plague" proportions where every surface is virtually covered with the planaria. Generally, even in extreme infestations, the presence of red planaria is not dangerous to the other organisms in the aquarium. It is speculated that extreme infestations may damage corals by interfering with light absorption of the corals. With massive infestation the likelihood of individuals dying and releasing toxins into the aquarium system are enhanced. Whatever the imminent dangers, there
What Happens Tomorrow, Jan 3?
in Vendor News
Anything interesting happening on January 3?
Get it over with already! The Iowa Caususes will FINALLY be done and gone (next stop Wyoming, WooHoo!)...
Here's a good one: Virginia Tech meets Kansas in the Orange Bowl; that should be fun!
J.R.R Tolkien would have had a birthday, John Paul Jones is still on track for his (Misty Mountain Hop, anyone?)... Plus Mel Gibson and Eli Manning (will he be a Lethal Weapon in the playoffs?)...
Plus, bad news out of the Mideast, more snow in the Midwest, Traffic and Weather on the 8's and...
One more little thing: MARYLAND SALES TAX GOES UP!!! If you are thinking of making a major purchase DO IT NOW!!! If it's paid for by the end of Wednesday, you only pay the current 5% tax. We can take credit cards over the phone...
So naturally, I might mention the Winter Tank Sale (see my previous post).
Happy New Year everyone.