steveweast

There's no doubt in my mind that more will show up if it is free admission. Maybe a compromise marketing ploy would be to make the admission fee applicable to purchase.

Hmmmm.....Well, that was over two years ago....but, I was adding the ammonia chloride every few days throughout the cycle period to build up the bacteria populations. If I remember right, I started out with a teaspoon full with each dosage....then finished with a tablespoon. Near the end, I'd see no NH4 or NO2 indications on my test kits with each addition. I just felt it was better to prepare the tank this way to mimimize the die off and ammonia spike when I added live rock.

LA basin.....15 million people Portland metro....1 million I'll be surprised if the turnout and the gate reciepts will be all that is expected....there just isn't the numbers nor the wealth in this market compared to LA or the bay area. However....if they can attract some vendors from those markets, it might be interesting. I don't see Idaho adding much more than Banjo music....but, quite a few might come down from Seattle. As for Fragfarmers....is Eric bringing up all the frags that he got from you Travis....lol.

Not quite.....the real reason is that the club summer BBQ held at my house two years ago (which Tyree was a speaker at) netted Tyree the largest number of sold frags he ever sold in one event......something like over a hundred if I remember correctly. This.... coupled with Travis at Upscales providing him with several of his LE corals.... has given Tyree the impression that Portland is an untapped coral hotbed market. Travis and I have expressed our doubts....but.....I guess he wants to try it anyway.

There are 6 T5's on the small tank and 4 T5's on the bigger tank. I run all 6 on the smaller tank for the kelp plants....but, I only run 2 of the 4 bulbs on the bigger tank.

I have two tanks that have a common sump. The tanks just take up some spare room in my main tank's equipment closet.

Yes...there are a few in each tank.

I'd cycle the tank at 55 F with NH4CL.....I'm not convinced that the same bacterial strains that function at reef temps are the same that operate at cold temps....could be wrong here.....but, I wasn't willing to take that chance. My tank cylcled in about 5 weeks at 55 F. I used a lot of NH4CL so that when I added the local live rock, there would be little die off. Besides....the local stuff will look so much more natural than dry rock. Ryan and I went diving yesterday to take advantage of the good visability....picked up a few pieces of rock with kelp attached. My seahorses needed a few more hitching posts. Water temp was 45 F. The local rock can be quite atrractive.

I looked high and low around here for Magflake....even checked the stores in eastern Oregon....nothing. Finally had to order from Harvey Salt on the East coast. The 50lb bags are like $15 each....with shipping (I ordered 8 bags) it turned out to be about 80 cents a pound. It's probably best if you form a group buy and go this route. From ordering to my doorstep was about a week.

To me, it looks like a very small baby eunicid worm. I've pulled one 7 feet and one 5 feet out of my tank. They hitchhike in on Fiji liverock and they will eat everything....including softies. In the wild, these things grow to over 30 feet. The white appendages are mouth parts....there are usually five. http://www.oregonreef.com/sub_worm.htm

This is a new store that is just opening up in Conn. It must of had a huge infrastructure cost......I wonder if there's any budget left for stock. http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/general-discussion/19861-greenwich-aquaria-preview.html

My garage, where my cold tanks are located, can get into the 90's on the hottest summer days....and the 1/2hp chiller still maintains the 55 F tank temp.....although it is a workout. Don't go smaller than 1/2hp. Those PCI 1/2hp units are actually very quiet. Your REAL problem is where you're dumping the waste heat. If you're thinking of dumping the waste heat somewhere other than outside....you might want to re-think that. The waste heat from the system is enormous. If my garage exhaust fan is off, the waste heat from cold tank will make my garage feel like Vegas in summer within a day.....even if it's 20 F outside.....and my garage is 25' x 40' with 15' ceilings.

If I were you, I'd take James up on his generous offer. I'd have him build a touch tank out of 1" thick acrylic.....with dimensions of something like....48"or 60" X 24" X 12" or 18". A shallow tank would provide ample tactile experiences for your kids. I'd have him build an overflow at one end....and a small sump for below the tank to hold a skimmer, carbon, etc. I could get you rock from Puget Sound along with colorful anemones, starfish, urchins, cucumbers, hermits....and maybe a few small fish like gunnels. It could be a spectactular display if done right. The lighting is irrelevant....so, maybe a small T5 fixture....but.....nothing too elaborate or big to interfere with the ability to "touch" everything. Viewing from above and through the sides will be very interesting for your kids.

How are you going to deal with collection ? Most (in fact I don't know of any) Oregon tidepools are located preserves.

Why do you need to keep the green anemones when there are so many non-photosynthetic anemones easily had out there ? I purposely avoided the green anemones specifically to avoid halides on my cold system. Seems like a lot of extra expense to incur for just a single photosynthetic species.

There are some pics in this thread http://www.thereeftank.com/forums/showthread.php?t=73323&highlight=cold+water+reef

That's them. When diving, I'll see them in groups of about a dozen. They really blend in with rocks even though they are about 18" in diameter when full grown and their claw could grab my arm. This time of year there are large amounts of the babies which are bright red and the size of a quarter.

Sounds good Randy. I really don't need anything right now.....except... that this time of year there are baby Puget Sound king crabs. They're bright red about the size of a quarter....and I could use a few more stalks of kelp for my seahorses to hitch to...or maybe some more eel grass. Seiku will have all these things plus HUGE anemones that you'll like seeing....and it's easy diving even if the weather is bad.

I'm in LA over Thanksgiving....but...after that...sure. Seiku is great regardless of the weather.

It's the anemones that require the feedings.....fish actually need less compared with the warm water fish because of the slower metabolism and activity. The anemones get their needs provided solely through feedings since none are photosynthetic. When I feed the anemones (twice a week).....I feed a fist size ball of scallops....with a total system volume of about 150 gals. If I fail to feed the anemones, they start shrinking fast.