Piero

I like the OM approach these days. Definitely recommend a CL providing most of your flow. The sump/return only needs enough flow for the equipment to run really. http://www.oceansmotions.com/store/?osCsid=8fc5c4bab2d17f079bc62e82183384fb

thanks for sharing. nice, smugmug! (thumbsup)

sound advice from saltfreak and bluecheese I think. I'm sure you can understand if I'm a bit skeptical about that ball getting dropped Lowman. Given some the negative responses to the topic of sustainability and the timing of the claim, I don't think my skepticism is completely unfounded either. I'm clearly not the best choice for a booth promoting sustainability in a nurturing manner to the less informed . Regardless of whether such an event is justified or valuable though, I think it would be unfortunate if none of the participants made any effort to promote responsible reefkeeping directly in some way. Events like this seem like prime opportunities to promote responsible practices and show that the reefkeeping community cares not just about petty bragging rights and the next trendy organism, but also cares about real issues like the trade's impact on wild habitats, or even ocean conservation in general. If the topic is ignored or mentioned just as an obligation without any intent behind it, I think it reflects poorly on the community.

(sigh) nostalgia is my heroine. The good ole days, in pictures! Bring 'em on. toys:

maybe use this moving opportunity to change to a shallow sand bed? Much cleaner physically and aesthetically... and deep sand is no longer considered a best-practices approach in terms of maintainability etc. since over time it changes from an ecosystem asset to a liability. just .02

If you're in the market for these you're probably making an ethical decision for the greater good as much as you're making an economical one...i.e you're partially justifying the cost because you've got zero emissions and are reducing your carbon footprint. I'm not sure what the cost-per-mile is for electricity, but I imagine you'd also save a lot of money on gas. granted: - the manufacturing and distribution processes are probably not sustainable - the power used to charge it may come from non sustainable sources if you don't know where your electricity originated. But zero emissions is a great step forward. checkout http://www.autobloggreen.com/ whoa.

There's a fee for information-only nonprofit booths? More realistically though, if anyone is genuinely interested in providing sustainability-oriented information at an existing booth(imagine that), then speak up and I would be more than willing to help facilitate that effort. Maybe a 'conscientious reefkeeping tips' sheet, or poster?...on recycled pulp of course.

hrm, had I linked to that site before? really? some may see sustainable viewpoints as 'negative rhetoric', but that's a matter of perspective I think. The metaphor of 'shoving down throats' is also a personal perspective that might stem from a pre-existing aversion to alternate opinions. And that is all that I provided. Any position can easily claim that an alternate view is being 'shoved down throats' just because it does not conform to their opinion, I think. No worries, it may still be a great event.

neato. who distributes those? http://blueskydsn.com/BugE_Concept.html

I hear some people have hacked their Prius into the over-100mpg range too. I'm considering one. But what i would really like is a smartcar for anything around town. SmartCar is coming to the US next year.

Low, There are two threads on this topic for a reason. I was under the impression that there was one thread for honest opinions either way, and another exclusively designated for 'positive feedback' which one? I'm not trying to stop Tyree's advertising campaign, I just think opinions should be welcome even if they don't contribute to the advertising effort.

Anyone own a hybrid here? Any Prius owners? If so, thoughts? treehugger

Everything we do creates waste. In this day and age I think it's important to approach things rationally and consider resources used/wasted. Aside from the fact that it's a huge waste of jet fuel and auto fuel, I still don't understand what this event offers that could not be instantly reproduced on the internet...for free. No burnt fuel, no trash cans, and no plastic cups. I realize I'm a tree hugger for even considering the environmental impact of my activities, but it's just one more reason this event seems misguided. just my .02 treehugger

TODAY: The UN Security Council will be debating the issue of climate change today. link I think anyone who is genuinely interested in what real climate scientists think about various media items that surface, should refer first to realclimate.org or similar outlets.

re: the film. I watched the first ten minutes which, to me, seemed full of some really questionable statements. Here are some real climate scientists responding to claims from the film: http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2007/03/swindled/

without rehashing too much of what has already been established repeatedly: I am not a UN climatologist, so I couldn't possibly debate the meaning or validity of climate science data. All I can do is try to debate the apparent validity of data sources. That being said: I do believe that the best minds in the world on the subject are involved with the UN IPCC. If the IPCC report is in fact misguided in any way, then there are qualified climate scientists who have the burden of proving that to their peers, not reef hobbyists. Granted my 'faith' in the worldwide scientific community comes from a bias towards the validity of peer-reviewed scientific methods. But I suspect I'd probably arrive at the same conclusion if I simply used probability and statistics to determine the chances that various sources are providing accurate information. I think perhaps a more pragmatic approach to determining the validity of sources like that video, would be to find out what the professional scientific community has said about it.

The (current) global authority on the subject is the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The first part of their report prompted this thread, and last week they released the second part of that report. http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/science/04/06/dust.bowl.ap/

I think it dealt more with the transparency of forum behavior in the context of social psychology, and less with the relative opacity of yo' belly.

nice problem to have though... how heavily do you feed?

hehe, welcome back Mike. The Mantis strikes back!

That's great that you've had such success with them. Very encouraging. It sounds like with some target feeding as you have done they aren't as unsuitable as I thought.

yeah I'd say that blasto didn't handle shipping 'too' well at all. :P Hope you got a refund!

neato! that's really encouraging since long term survival of these animals in captivity seems to be hard to achieve(anyone had success more than a year?). Nine months is still relatively short-term, but a spawning might indicate robust health. I think the difficulty with these animals is providing them adequate nutrition? Do you notice any size difference in 9 months? and what is your feeding regiment? thanks for sharing!

social psych network link

interesting stuff. The Role of Status Seeking in Online Communities, link Social Psychology of virtual communities papers: link