SeanF

If you have to run a ball valve the way to do it is to T off the line and run a return to the sump that has the ball valve on it. That way any excess water is being pumped back into the sump and you are not putting back pressure on your pump.

I just found this on e-bay. If I only had a shop big enough to put this in or a garage or anything else that it would fit in then I would just need 200 people to move it. http://cgi.ebay.com/Commercial-Business-Grade-Aquarium_W0QQitemZ320021219664QQihZ011QQcategoryZ20755QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Well it is a long shot but I am looking for any Oregon vs Oklahoma tickets. If someone can locate some for me I will make it worth their time. Frags, fish, or food. Just let me know as the game is quickly approaching.

I have a supplier that I can get Fiji Base Rock from. Shoot me a pm if you are interested.

A couple of things that I failed to mention in my first post were some things that I heard from several people at a trade show this weekend. The first and most popular thing was that they aren't making much money and it gets harder and harder to compete with the large chain stores, the second thing that I heard this weekend was people having problems selling corals particularly SPS. There is one answer to the first complaint. Don't try and compete on the same products as chain stores as they will usually win. Again the important thing is to find your products. Many stores don't make money for the first year or two so be prepared to do a ton of work and work lots of hours to not make any money. I am really not trying to discourage you as I think Bend would be an awesome opportunity for a store but you have to be realistic.

I am not overly familiar with your area but the first thing you have to ask yourself is how many people in your area have the, one, desire to keep stony corals, two, knowledge to keep them. From what I have heard about the Bend/Redmond area there are a lot of retirees and the like. Most of these people I would think are not going to want to be that involved with there aquarium. I think you would do better with soft corals, lps corals and fish and of course maintainence. Judging by what I have heard again I would say that you have a base of people that would enjoy relaxing in front of a nice aquarium but wouldn't neccessarily be into knowing anything about it. In this world of competition globally you have to find your niche and exploit it.

Just got back home from the BBQ. Glad I skipped out early hit crazy traffic just south of Salem. His Phyto comes in at least three sizes we carry the two smallest 6oz and then I think 14 oz. He gave some great info about microalgae, planktons, and macroalgaes. For instance I believe the reason why his stuff is so much better is because it is comprised mostly of brown algaes which are more digestable because they pretty much lack a cell wall where the green has a very thick cell wall. I already liked his products and it gave me a new respect for them and their knowledge of the products they sell.

We picked up there product line about 3 months ago and it is fantastic stuff. The phyto is amazing. Super concentrated. The animals love it.

Well after a long day of being smoozed by salespeople I managed to score some products that are newly out and some great stuff by Red Sea (well at least they gave me a good deal on some things to donate to the group) I am going to keep it a suprise until tomorrow so you will have to show up to find out.

Ice Cap makes a ballast for UV lighting that is the same as their 660 but without the dimmer functions. You could save a little money that way.

Don't bother. I was just at the Petco in Eugene and there wasn't much of anything left. They had a couple of small bowfronts but no cubes, strech hexes, or 54 corners. Not that they would have had any of those left after I was there anyway.

What Nyles said is the most ironic part of keeping them. Most people that are having an algae problem are having it because of some problem with water chemistry. The best thing to eat that hair algae is hard to keep in water that is not perfect. Go figure huh. For what is worth I have never seen one die and then ink. I have only had one ink on me and it was when I went to ship it out. It decided it didn't want to go and inked in the bag.

Looks like it is getting ready to kick the bucket to me.

It is a huge conspiracy I tell you somebody took it to keep you from winning anymore picture of the months.

Yep almost definately photoshopped. I hate that sort of thing it makes it hard for the honest ones among us to sell very nice zoos that aren't color enhanced because people will pay ungodly amounts of money for stuff that is supposed to look like that.

Yeah I think I am going to try to go to Vegas to try to grab one up at the show. Really it is just an excuse to go to Vegas.

Obviously I am a little biased here but don't forget about the seios for a lower priced option and their controller will be officially unveiled at the Super Zoo show in Vegas at the end of September. They were supposed to be out by now but had some issues with the programming and had to push it back to make sure that it was right when they released it.

The limitation to the light other than price is wide tanks that are 24" and bigger. If you look at their website they have the calculations of what height you need to achieve coverage at what width. It probably wouldn't bother me to much to buy it if I intended on running it over a 18" tank but over a 24" tank it has to be almost 24" high. I am supposed to get to see one on my way up to the tradeshow up in Seattle. I will be stopping at PFO on the way up on the 25th and should be able to report on it at the BBQ. It would be a fun toy with all of the crazy features built into it but the almost $1000 price hike between the show that they were at and the actual release is going to be I think a major factor in how well these do from a retail stand point.

That is why I like to rotate transhippers. When you haven't ordered from them in awhile and you put in a couple thousand dollar order they tend to give you some nice stuff to try and get more money. Even then I think you just have to be happy with the nice stuff and sell all of those tongue corals that you get at a cheap price.

That is the most honest explaination of how it works I have heard. It gave me a good laugh when I read it with the greatest of understanding.

Isn't that the second time you have had problems with that pump?

I believe so. I think the only corals that are coming in from the solomons cultured are a few leather corals.

Hey that is ok to. I spent a bunch of money on advertising when I opened this store and I don't think I made $100 bucks in the first week I was open. Pretty sad I know. It is hard to understand unless you have been there. Ohh and never spend money on advertising in the Register Guard. Nobody reads that thing.

I have thought about it but it would not be for awhile yet. First I have to get the first store in a final location and stabilized before I go starting another place. I have quite a few people that drive in from Bend to buy stuff from me and I have heard there are a lot of people over there with money so I think it would be a wonderful untapped marketplace that would take sometime to get off the ground but would eventually be a big gainer. When ever you move into a new market like that you have to develop customers by encouraging people that have never had a tank to set one up and take advantage of the existing customers that have been going through the trouble of getting stuff from other places.

I can tell you never did this before but you have to give plasma to get money they don't pay for blood. We used to do it in training in the Air Force when I was down in Biloxi Mississippi for two reasons. To get our drinking money and so that we got drunk faster. If I don't find another location soon (I have a couple of prospects now that I am waiting for the current tenants to finish getting their stuff out of so I can look at them) I think I am going to get a storage unit for all of the stuff in my garage and set up the big fiberglass trays that I have and a couple of big tanks for mother colonies. I would also set up a quarantine system for fish so that I can increase my stock without taxing my systems at the shop.