steveweast

I'm in Denver right now to attend Reefstock where these lights are being displayed. The light end of the fixture is merely warm to the touch.....the cooling fins on the ballast portion are not really that hot either.....maybe 120 F. The inefficiencies lost in heat is way less than on a MH. It is amazing that all that light comes from a bulb that is the size of a tic-tac. The negative on these lights is that the light runs around 6000 K.....it's still white....but has much less blue than most are accustomed to. The light is dimmable.....but, the par drops off as it is dialed back. The best way to run them is add actinic and not run them as stand alone. An upgraded production model that has 20% more par should come online by year's end.....best to wait for that one if interested.

OK....this is kind of scary....How did you know ??? did I miss you at the last meeting ???

Let's check my bookmarks....in order of preference.... PNWMAS SPS Clubhouse Reefbuilders Reef Central Reefs.org Reef Frontiers TRT Reef Sanctuary Ultimate reefs Saltwaterfish.com Nano reefs NZMAS Reef Addicts Temperate reefs Reeflands

It is a great deal....but, it takes just the right buyer with the right situation. Even though I'm in the market for a large tank to upgrade my coldwater system, this tank just won't fit in the place I want to keep it. I need more of a 6 ft x 4 ft tank....and I really need 1" at least for insulation and sweating. I also need a very specific overflow design to accommodate the unique hidden flow generation that I plan to use. I gave it a hard look.....but, I can't compromise that much.....which is the problem with reselling huge tanks.....they need just the right situation. Sorry it couldn't work out and I wish you luck.....I really wished that I could make it work. I guess it's getting near the time to visit James at Envision again.

what's the thickness....1" ??? and how big is the top opening ??

You could be right Bob.....Oregon relies heavily on income taxes which are extremely variable from year to year and difficult to budget upon.

JEN....this from the measure.... 10/21, 12:20 BALLOT TITLE - MEASURE 67 RAISES $10 CORPORATE MINIMUM TAX, BUSINESS MINIMUM TAX, CORPORATE PROFITS TAX. MAINTAINS FUNDS CURRENTLY BUDGETED FOR EDUCATION, HEALTH CARE, PUBLIC SAFETY, OTHER SERVICES. RESULT OF “YES” VOTE: “Yes” vote raises $10 corporate minimum tax, establishes $150 minimum tax for most businesses or minimum tax of approximately 0.1% of total Oregon revenues for some corporations with over $500,000 in Oregon revenues. Raises tax rate some corporations pay on profits by 1.3 percentage points. Increases certain business filing fees. Raises estimated $255 million to maintain funds currently budgeted for education, health care, public safety, other services. This clearly states that the minimum tax is based upon sales (revenue) and is independent of income (profit). Not all corporations are subject to this tax...it depends on how the corporation is set up ( C - corp).....but, both large and small are affected depending on how the corporation was established. There are many corporations that can have high revenues and little or no income (or a loss) in tough economic times. The minimum can be met with just one home sale.....or at a car dealership in a day.....or at a yacht dealership on the sale of a single boat.....or how about any bank in Oregon who have taken huge losses by having to liquidate non proforming assets for pennies on the dollar. These liquidation sales are revenue and will be taxed under 67.....even though no income was realized. Even though some of these corporations have a public persona of being able to "afford it".....no corporation should be taxed without income realized. This measure should have been based upon income alone. I have no problem with the $150 minimum though.

some info on this fish from Scott Michael http://gobiestogrizzlies.blogspot.com/2008/07/new-fairy-wrasse-rises-from-confusion.html

Hopefully this thread will stay specifically on the two measures 66 & 67 and not wander into dangerous (although related) territory....or else this thread is destined for closure.

For most of the years in the last decade, I've paid more in taxes that most people make in a year.....while I have no problem with that in particular, I do have a problem paying taxes in a year where I have a loss (just because I have sales))......this would be the result under 67. Change that aspect of it, and I might be onboard....until then, No on 67.

Measure 67 is particularly lame. It places a tax on gross sales regardless of profits. I'm a small business that sells high dollar items (homebuilder)......this measure will tax me heavily even if I post a loss. I've been struggling to stay afloat where others in my field have gone bankrupt ( Legend, Renaissance). I've been having to sell homes at a loss for the past year.....and now I'm going to be taxed on losses just because gross sales are in the millions ???? Lame !!! This could force several of my contemporaries that employ many hard working folks out of the industry. If this measure were based upon profits....it might be a different story.

Do you think starting a new thread in the selling forum entitled " Posts for sale.....$1/post" would be frowned upon ???

True.....but, I got it back from Randy back in February. Right now, I'm just growing it out and experimenting with automated feedings while I plan for a little larger cold tank.

Here are the Oregon rules....just scroll towards the bottom.....and stay out of reserves. http://www.dfw.state.or.us/MRP/shellfish/regulations.asp Here are the Washington rules.....again, scroll towards the bottom. The rules are similar to Oregon. In either state, you don't need a license to collect most of the items that we're interested in. http://wdfw.wa.gov/fish/shelfish/crabreg/otherspeciesregs.shtml

It will never come to the West.....attendance issues....but, consider IMAC West http://www.imacwest.com/index2.html Basically, a smaller version with the same speakers and vendors. Although, I might attend MACNA in Orlando, I also hate the East Coast and would favor sawing off through Colorado and letting the rest drift away.

It is indeed. It looks like it finally boiled down to the real violation.....a paper work failure. It was also a size problem....had those coral bones been less than 30mm, it would have been fine....or if it had come from Vietnam instead of PI, it would have been fine. The 50 lb bags were still bags of dried coral bones (like the Shuran reactor media).....not a live endangered species......but, at least the story is getting closer to reality.

make that...."Coral rubble pleads guilty in Oregon to smuggling endangered 40 ton German"

To me.....the real interesting part of the story is how the media warped a mundane violation into a stealing of the world's reef event. We all know as reefers how ridiculous it all seemed from the beginning......importation of 40 tons of live coral ? on a container ship that takes weeks to get to the USA ? and the corals would survive ? maybe for the curio trade....but, really ??? Each article revealled snipets of truth....like an agent's saying "some pieces were as large as my thumb".....or "fingered sized" coral pieces.....or "the corals were in 50lb sacks". We all know that no one would be smuggling in vast amounts of live frags (the logistics would be impossible....let alone the distribution).....but, the media needed a sensational story. Thanks Bob for posting the results of all this.....I guess the punishment fit the crime with a 35K fine and probation. Imagine what the sentencing would have been if it were really 40 tons of live coral though ? The big loser in all this was PCI who was out the cost of his original order. This was broadcast last February in Seattle. Notice how they show living reefs....turtles....live and dead coral....and build this story into something sensational......when all that it was was land mined coral fragments from a reef that hasn't seen water in thousands of years. http://www.nwcn.com/sharedcontent/northwest/environment/stories/NW_021309ENV-coral-smuggler-ks.12506c1f.html

This event....while still illegal....was over land mined reactor media. The violation here was importing coral fragments over the minimum size (whether live or dead) from the Philipines.......no live anything was invovled.

And here's the original story from the Oregonian.... http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1234583704198930.xml&coll=7

Here's the story that I recieved from the owner of PCI that I posted on another board last Spring..... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Just to put a bow on this thread....I had a long talk with Steve Weeks today....the owner of PCI. Here's basically the story... 1) A few years ago, PCI ordered a container of land mined reactor media from Gunter......who apparently claims to own several of these land mines throughout SE Asia. The source for this shipment was Vietnam. After a year of working through the stock, it was time for PCI to order again. 2) PCI paid up front as usual....but, it took over a year to fill the order. Gunter then called to say he was able to finally fill the order of media....but the source would be PI. PCI didn't care about the source. PCI did not know that coral pieces (land mined or not) over 30mm was illegal from PI since he regularly ordered sand from there (and still has some). PCI only deals in dry goods and the closest thing to the wet side of the trade that he deals with is reactor media. 3) When the container from PI reached Portland, it was turned away since the order was packaged in wood crates.... which would require fumigation. The container was sent back to PI. 4) To make up for the error, Gunter promised two shipments one month apart at a reduced rate. 5) The first container of the replacement shipments arrived at PCI.....along with feds, DFW, local police, etc with a full search warrant of all of PCI. After several full cavaity searches, they realized that PCI was not doing anything illegal and was caught up in Gunter's violations. They wanted Gunter and had been watching him for awhile. 6) PCI was still receiving illegal goods and was in violation of the law....but, no charges would be brought if PCI could lead them to Gunter. Of course, PCI agreed. The feds seized the container. 7) Gunter was notified that the next shipment was ready to be recieved and that a PCI assistant would be handling the transaction (the feds). The feds then took charge of the second shipment sting operation and built their case from the inside with PCI's help. 8) PCI is in the clear.....but is still out about $ 30K that he'll never see again.

You guys are way off base here....this was news back in February. This whole story revovled around our own Pacific Coast Imports who had the feds knock at his Woodburn place asking about his recent shipment of coral media. This whole fuss was about the coral bones that we use for reactor media. Apparently, PCI ordered a new shipment of coral bones (as he had in the past) from the guy named in the article. PCI took the container sized delivery as usual....but Gunter shipped without proper documentation......and the coral bones were too large. These were land mined coral bones we're talking about here....no live frags....no live corals....no water of any kind. I had a nice long personal talk with the owner of PCI (Steve Weeks) over he whole episode last March. PCI completely cooperated with the feds and no charges were brought against PCI.....but, the whole thing was over land mined coral bones that we use for reactor media. The media made it sound like Gunter had 40 tons of live corals dripping from his pockets.

This is something the club should look into... http://www.reefbuilders.com/2009/10/07/masna-speaks-program-helping-connect-clubs-speakers/

Three years ago, I broke down my tank to accept a contract that required my being out of town for long periods......I also wanted a break from the hobby. These days, I just run a modest coldwater tank.....but, I will return to warm water keeping when the economy stabilizes (my income is in the real estate biz).

55 F will be OK....but, the average temp for our local stuff is closer to 50 F. Usually when I dive, it's in the high forties. You should have no problem with sweating.