Ron Popeil

i attempted something like this in the past, but unfortunately i have no electrical skills, and ultimately, a powerstrip to me equates ease and cost effectiveness. eventually...one day...ill have a nice power center like dan is pushing on me. and it will be glorious. but until then, a measily power strip with some switches over the plugs will suffice...

i used to have a power strip with something like 8 outlets in it, and each one had a little red switch for turning off individual appliances. however, i have since ruined said power strip and want another....but of course, the friend i got it from is unavailable and i have no idea where he originally purchased it from. where can i find a similar or better multiple outlet power strip, with individual switches? thank you!

thanks everyone for the compliments. ryan, im using two 3/4" sea swirls in the 45 and two 1" in the 60 gallon. i think if i was to do it again...id find a slightly larger pump than my reeflo as i dont see the amount of flow i was expecting or hoping for....maybe i will incorporate a surge system into each tank in the future, for now though, everything is doing great. ha, sean, i have been chastized by dan frequently because of the poor quality of workmanship i have on my light support systems...i know this. one day ill get around to fixing it. find me more blue stripes! anyone!

the nigripes tank is rather boring at the moment. i dont have any money to fill it with corals at the moment, nor fish for that matter. the fish do nothing but hide, and i rarely see them except during feeding. even then its incredibly quick glances. the purple magnifica ive had for over two years now, the gold tipped one is going on a year. and finally, two shots of my refugium and my lonely female chrysopterus. finding small juvenile white tails has proven difficult, and is a costly endeavour when i consider mail orders. thanks to everyone who has helped me with this, joel for his tanks, travis for his reflectors, sean for his clownfish, and JR and Dan for emotional and physical support.

I took some pictures tonight of my clownfish dedicated system - a sort of culmination of a project i decided to take on to tackle my most favorite of all marine organisms. i replaced my 120 gallon acrylic community tank with these two glass cubes: a 60 and a 45 gallon. then plumbed them into a common sump with an attached 75 gallon refugium, and so far the system has handled itself marvelously. a frontal view. the chrysopterus tank is on the left, the nigripes tank is on the right. here you can see the refugium off to the side, and the quality of my workmanship with the lighting and plumbing (ie those pieces of wood keep my lighting where i want them, held by the screws of the hose clamps and...well nevermind.) here are my chrysopterus. in the future this will house a large green haddoni carpet anemone, but i cant find/afford one at the moment, so some stray bubble tips have sufficed. this also could house a large purple long tenticle, if i am able to find the right kind. unfortunately, im convinced i have a dominant female and a very submissive female, as the larger one doesnt kill the smaller one, and yet the smaller fish immediately after being chased lets the larger fish know shes not a problem. they just dont get along.

have a clownfish, but dont know what species? dont believe your local fish store sold you what you thought it was? have a hard time believing a single species can look so incredibly different depending on collection area? well then do i have a page for you! enjoy! http://wish.wodonga.tafe.edu.au/~kwaldon/species.htm

very normal. only be worried if the anemone begins to act stressed: deflates itself, the mouth of the anemone becomes loose and opened... otherwise, its fine.

my good man, let me remind you that the buying of new hoses was your idea....very rarely was i even allowed to speak in your presence....thanks for the help jansen!

i like this alot. this would be what i would prefer to suspend my lights...instead of...well, what i have. crappy wires to eye hooks in the ceiling...

i know! mine are just as timid. its annoying. a nice big 60 gallon, and i barely see them. are they sort of that dull peach color, or are yours nice and yellow?

hey travis, if you get a chance, get JR to take some pictures of your new fish...poser.

i never test. i do a salinity test with a refractometer when i do a top off...but really, thats it. i dont run a calcium reactor. i just....look. if my animals appear to be distressed then things happen, but im excruciatingly lazy when it comes to the tedious parts of this hobby. a 75 gallon refugium gives me this luxery i believe.

i have a CO2 tank that should be at least half full, if not more you can use until a store opens to fill your own.... im in corvallis. it has a regulator on it already you can borrow too if necessary. find me 541.908.4552

sure, um...ive never used it here before. care to use...aim? or ichat? find me: ronnpopeil

wow, im telling you....that anemone would look killer right there in the middle....youve got a perfect tank and set up to make this your center piece to the aquarium. if it were me, id put the anemone in the top center...and the frags off to the sides... otherwise, try the panel you were thinking, and just see where it goes.

your system may not be all together inadequet. its unfortunate all your corals are in the center, but maybe you can get by by placing the anemone on the side of the tank, somewhere it will get alot of flow....but again, if its not happy there expect it to move. and if that means through your corals, it will. i doubt it will stay in one place long enough to kill any of them, if it does decide to move, but keep in mind it takes a tremendous amount of energy for an anemone of its size to move....so it will be exausting for it. best thing to do, would be to place it in the substrate closest to the side of the glass...maybe turn your flow down so it gives it some time to attach. hopefully it will just creep up the glass and you should be ok...

unfortunately, heteractis magnifica anemones tend to be one of the top two in the worst to recover from shipping category of anemones. however, i assume you picked up the anemone from joels, and it looked pretty good in the picture. yes, they do need an excessive amount of light. most of the time, people will house them with 400w halides, and they will still be right at the surface trying to get as close as possible. the more light you can throw at these anemones, the happier they will be. flow is also a very important part of keeping this anemone. again, they can handle excessive amounts of it. youre goal is to get random flow, and not so much linear flow. youd dont necessarily want the anemone to be whipping around, but you want it to be in constant motion. these anemones pack a powerful punch, corals do not do well if they are in range of the tenticles. they can even sting you, maybe not so much your hands, but thinnned skin up your forearms will be able to feel it. they also like alot of food. silversides, crab, krill, squid. mix it up. they will eat it. and expect it to grow the more you feed it. they reach sizes of two feet in the wild. in keeping this species, unless you want it plastered to the side of your tank, youll want to create a "bommy". a tower of rock, topped by a large flat surface. the anemone will want to be directly under the brightest light you have, with the most amount of flow, closest to the surface. do these things, and you wont have an anemone that wanders. it will stay put and be a spectacular center piece to your aquarium. these are difficult to keep anemones, but just a few important factors considered, and youll have no problem with it. good luck and take some pictures!

as far as i know, long tenticles and haddonis are simply scooped up, since they typically reside in accessably shallow sandy areas and are easier to collect. ive been told this is why long tenticles are particularly hardy, since theres very little chance of damaging them during collection. im sure magnifica anemones are fingernailed off the rocks, but more than likely they are peeled off with haste. i really have no idea how a diver would collect bubble tip anemones, theyre feet often reside deep into rocks, and to remove them would necessitate destruction of the rock...which isnt too far fetched.

thanks for the help. i had been looking at a local plumbing shop that i adore...but perhaps theres cheaper alternatives at the local HD...

i dont suppose anyone has some plumbing parts laying around that would allow a RODI unit to be hooked up under a kitchen sink? if so, find me! thanks.

send the people south! lets get some people out to dan and i's tanks. im sure we could get a few more people to welcome the group....

yes, the cost was annoying, but they sure are nice to look at. even after the money is spent. youll get your hands on one soon...

i had a cocoworm drop his head during a tumultuous move a year ago, a new head regrew significantly quicker than i thought it would. it never recovered fully and some 4 months later it perished after nearly two years in my care. the refugium sounds like a great place to let it recover...it should do fine. let us know how it does!

hey ryan, dont give up. cube tanks really are spectacular. if i were you, id post something in the WTB forum on RC. youre bound to be contacted by some vendor or store somewhere in the country....its happened to my benefit many times there. good luck.

i thought about this, but i dont know enough about it in order to implement it. if i have a pair of sea swirls that come together in a T...where would i put an anti siphon hole, and what would it look like?