DChemist

Thanks Andy- You are absolutely right about 'knowing' things in the way you know what's going on in your tank over time... One on my early 'favorites' turned out to be Aiptasia. Fortunately, I learned quick. I just didn't want any indiscriminate starfish slaughtering. :-)

I can recommend staying at http://www.onthebeachfront.com/ in Lincoln City. If you like Thai food, eat at Andaman Thai Cuisine. Otherwise Blackfish is a nice restaurant.

I've been thinking of a themed nano-tank... I really like the little community living in my Pocillopora- both an "acro" crab and a small goby (I'm thinking its a Redhead Goby- Paragobiodon echinocephalus). Coral choices could be Pocillopora, Stylophora, Acropora, etc. Choose a single, large colony (preferrably with an "acro" crab already in it). There are several coral gobies to choose from; Citron Clown Goby, Green Clown Goby, Panda Goby, or some other from the Gobiodon or Paragobius families. Just a thought...

Each coral reef pygmy goby I get dies after about 3 weeks... What am I doing wrong? (scratch) http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,20370508-5003401,00.html

Wouldn't that require at least a 46" reach? Or do you have a way to get over your tank?

"Study shows significant coral reef regeneration in Abu Dhabi and Qatar" http://www.ameinfo.com/94802.html "Great Barrier Reef fish rebound in marine protected areas" http://www.panda.org/news_facts/newsroom/index.cfm?uNewsID=79760 ...and to balance those articles... "Gardening to save the reef" http://www.uq.edu.au/news/?article=10418

I spent the day with my older two sons and their friends hiking. Went on a hike I'd never been on before; Lower, Middle, and Upper Falls on the Lewis River (south and east of Mt. St. Helens). I estimate it was about 8 miles round trip. I thought I'd share a few pictures- I had no idea we had these beautiful falls so close together in our back yard. Lower Falls- Middle Falls- Upper Falls (below)- Upper Falls (above)-

A couple of new frags... Here are a couple of new frags.

Really nice. I'm amazed with the color.

I'll be missing out. Thank you. I'm really disappointed I can't go- I wish I could participate in the raffles remotely...

Is it a sulcata? How big? My brother has a couple- they're the coolest. Picture?

A Couple More Losses ...a few I haven't missed...

Some of My Losses

Thanks Ron Regarding the Halimeda... it was one of the first things I noticed growing on the live rock I bought a year ago. It was barely a single blade and looked dead and bleached. Since then its been a focal point of my reef and it'd suck if anything was to happen to it. Thanks Ron- Everyone should know... It was your nano-reef at Pets on Broadway that originally interested me in setting up a reef. Then you then invited me to the Summer BBQ which introduced me to PNWMAS. (drinking) Sincerely,

Thank you for looking Thanks all (R-3, Michael, csrdph, andy, 180Brandy, Ron, RM) for the compliments. I really enjoy sharing especially the photos... I am amazed at the progress I've made this past year- especially considering my plan wasn't really to add any corals until February when I upgraded the lights. My original plan was to keep it fish-only for some time... But I've learned its easier for me to keep the invertebrates alive longer (including the couple of acros) than many of the fish.(scratch)

FWIW, I've got mushrooms and ricordia growing/multiplying between 12 and 16 inches below my 4 bulb T5's. Also, I'm not sure I would go with a 2-3" sandbed... My understanding is you should go deep (>4" for the value of nitrate reduction) or very shallow (<1" for less accumulation of detritus).

Will it have a DSB or barebottom or ???

Krylon fusion is well known- though I think I used an off-brand from Lowes or Home Depot, just made sure it was made for painting plastic (like lawn furniture).

I try to keep a wide variety of critters for my clean-up crew. For snails I like stomatella, margharita and ceriths- I also keep a couple each of nassarius and bumblebees. I do have a few hermits; both the small red legged and blue legged variety. IMO, you can keep both hermits and snails as long as the snails out-number the hermits. And you're prepared to add more snails. I also have always had an emerald mithrax crab for bubble algae (a battle I'm currently losing).

I've got white pvc spray-painted black in my aquarium (for over a year now) with no apparent negative effects to the livestock.