Holly

Sorry to hear that. :( They are really cute, so it's hard to resist.

(cheer) (party) HAPPY BIRTHDAY! (party) (cheer)

Good to hear that most are doing great! The Xenia is pretty tough and propogates fast, so I'm sure that some (if not all) will do fine and spread all over the place Nice to meet you guys! Post pics sometime!

I made this video of my pj cardinals several months ago but just got it uploaded on YouTube. The male has a mouth loaded with eggs. I noticed that the males would usually start courting females about a day or two before they emptied the present brood out of their mouths. I had two males and five females, and both males were constantly mouthbrooding for a few months. No idea why, but they suddenly stopped breeding (scratch) and never resumed. I wish I could figure out what caused them to stop, because I really enjoyed watching them and would love to get them breeding again... :( Never saw any fry, of course. The other tank occupants ate them I'm sure.

You have baby firefish too? Do you intend to try to breed any other kinds of fish? I LOVE the set-up. Looks so professionally done. Very clean.

I have to find good homes for my sun corals and maroon clowns The suns are too high maintenance. I didn't know they were nonphotosynthetic when I got them.DOH! I've been feeding them every other day or two, and they seem to be thriving. There's about 15 heads or so. I paid $20 for them a couple of weeks ago at Fanta-Seas. I have a 2" dark maroon-and-gold female and 1" maroon-and-white misbar male that need a new home together. They definitely have a strong hosting instinct. They ran between my RBTA and one of my Sebaes when they were in the big tank, so I know they'd host either of those. They haven't been the same since they moved to the nano w/o their host anemone; I think these two really need an anemone. In the 12g, he's been hosting the Xenia(nutty) I moved them into their own 12g from the big tank because I have small schools of chromis and PJ cardinals and some other shy fish in the 180 that she was dive-bombing all the time. I think 12g just isn't big enough for the two of them, and they seem unhappy without an anemone. I'll give the corals and maroons free to anyone who has an appropriate set-up, wants them, and can come pick them up. I'm in N Vancouver WA, where 205 and 5 intersect, just to give you an idea. Pics were taken just now, tonight. Thanks!

I definitely thought there'd be more vendors and more selection--zoas, LPS, etc. It was basically very tiny SPS (though I did get a nice birdsnest that was of decent size). The turn-out seemed pretty-good. We went at 10:45 and came back by at 3ish to pick up what I'd gotten, and both times there were folks milling around. I got to put some faces to PNWMAS screennames, which was nice. (When I mentioned that it was nice to finally see faces, someone mentioned to me that that's why people should come to the meetings. I don't come for family reasons, but I try to support in other ways. It's easy to come to all the meetings if you have lots of free time or if you're single or have no little kids or if you have a spouse that loves the hobby too. Not everyone has that kind of situation tho.) Still, it was nice to meet folks! Thanks, Michael and Brandy, for doing all the work to help set this up! -And anyone else I might've left out- Anyway, I was planning to get some SPS today; that worked out well for me, I guess, but I still would've liked to have seen more choices. If I'd gone for softies, I would've left empty-handed. :( I ended up getting six frags: seriatopora birdsnest & gutattus (bright grn polyp), three encrusting Montis (one Sunset), and a teensy bright green toadstool that ended up having a 2nd tiny head beside it on the rock. This is the first CFM for this area, right? That's prob why it wasn't so big. Building these things prob takes time. Because the turn-out seemed steady, I imagine more vendors will bother to come next year and bring a wider range of stuff. I thought that, at the very least, most of the local shops would've set up booths.(scratch) I figured I'd see Waves, Upscales, and Fanta-Seas all there. Boy was I wrong! I think it's unfortunate that they chose to compete with the CFM instead of join it, esp since the turn-out was pretty good. Maybe next time, we should try to get the local shops to agree to join the CFM before we even have one..? If they're openly advertising that they'll be open, having sales/deals, ordered extra stock especially for those days, etc, what's the point of even having the CFM? The CFM won't ever flourish with most of the local shops working in active, direct competition. These shops all get their own thread on this site to post deals, advertise, meet new customers. I don't think it'd hurt them to pay back for that kind of publicity by attending a local CFM once a year. Just my own thoughts on the matter, though... (whistle) I would've never found out about Upscales OR Waves had I not found out about them on this website, and I've since purchased stuff from both... OK - Off to go stare at my new frags!!! Have a great weekend everybody!

Beautiful!!

I feel kinda like a kid on Christmas Eve!! (clap) My husband feels a great sense of impending doom both for the early Saturday morning hours he'll have to spend milling through coral booths and for the certain impending outflow of money. (whistle) Perhaps we should start up a support group for our spouses, Spouse of Reefers Anonymous. Or make them a play area in the corner. (laugh)

I hate when I find a bleached fish skeleton stuck to the carpet behind the tank =( (Methinks I should peek back there more often, based on level of decomposition) Ds - sorry to hear And beware the saucy misbars !! (PS What kind of clown was it? I have a female maroon/gold I need to unload. Actually I have a pair--the male's maroon/white misbar. She's the main aggressor though so if I can't give them away together, I'm gonna have to break them up to unload her)

My husband and I are going. Can't wait!!

I know I shouldn't put this up cuz I'm gonna get blacklisted (hitme) but I really think some of these tank designs are GORGEOUS. I'm referring to the aesthetics of the tanks/stands/canopies, not the painted fake corals in them(puke) I guess these kinds of tanks would all HAVE to be a FOWLRs. 'Seems too hard to get into and out of for anything else. I really like the old-world look of the big round 1265g in Ft Lauderdale, but all I can think is: How do you clean to the bottom of something 6'D w/o getting into it? (scratch) There must be a way to merge architectural beauty like this with the utility of a properly functioning reef tank...??? http://www.livingcolor.com/custom_aquarium_residential.cfm

Yes!! Pictures!! Welcome! I would love to see the brackish too! I grew up on Mobile Bay (AL), which was a brackish estuary. Had lots of horseshoe and blue crabs, flounder, spadefish, oysters, herms, etc, that'd go partway up the river (Dog River). http://estuarium.disl.org/ You don't see many public estuariums... It's just not as popular a draw as big sharks, octopus, rays, etc. Please post pics!! And welcome!

Wow! A heated debate!! Just my two cents... The prison thing... In 1970, 16.3% of all Federal incarcerations were on drug-related charges. In 2002, it was 54.7%. More than HALF the people in prison are there because of our Medieval drug laws. Paroling violent criminals is due, in part, on limited space in prisons. I say, legalize the drugs (making it unavailable to kids, like tobacco and alcohol) and that allows us to keep violent criminals in prison for much longer. They're a far greater threat to our society than the pot-head next door. Having laws to control drugs because of an irresponsible minority that go overboard is like outlawing gambling/lottery because of a tiny percentage of people can't control themselves. You don't make laws for the many based on the weaknesses of a very few. That's how you end up with hierocracies. That's how you end up making it IMPOSSIBLE for normal sick people to get freakin' cold medicine because of crazed meth heads. If they could get it cheaply, legally elsewhere, then I'd be able to go get my cold medicine when I feel like hell. I don't do any of these kinds of drugs, but I don't care if other people do, so long as they don't commit crimes trying to do it (which is, btw, because of the drugs being illegal and hard to access; you eliminate most of that crime by making it legal and monitoring it like we now monitor alcohol and tobacco). Basically, I feel that it's none of my business what other people do with their bodies. And I wish more folks felt that way, instead of this 'judgmental father' attitude that some Americans seem to have. They want no laws regarding taxation or corporate responsibility but endless slews of laws about what we do with or put into or remove from our bodies. Seems a little misdirected to me, since moral law is a slippery slope. Anyway, I'd rather revert my tax money to other projects and do away with the DEA altogether. In 2005, DEA funding was $40.7 BILLION. That's a ridiculous amt of money to sink into a lost battle--kinda like the cost of this war in Iraq: http://www.nationalpriorities.org/Cost-of-War/Cost-of-War-3.html (nutty) Mine is a pipe-dream though; they'll never do away with the DEA because it employs more than 800 people in 17 offices in six states. That'd be a lot of unemployed ex-government officials, and the government isn't likely to fire itself. At least they have total job security, since they'll never put a dent in the drug trade. In fact, thanks to our "liberation" of Afghanistan, they're now back in full swing, pumping out opium to feed the world's heroine demand...which helps employ more DEA... Odd how that cycle works. Opium production jumped 60% in 2006: http://www.dpna.org/drugarticles/12afghanistan_opium.htm If private corporations mishandled their money the way the US government does, they'd be a bankrupt disaster in less than a year. The US doesn't think with their brains.. They 'think' with some kind of bizarre hyper-judgmental need to control everyone's personal lives. We put billions into stupid lost causes and choose to neglect health care, education, infrastructure maintenance (for example: that bridge into Minneapolis), and other more vital causes. I don't really understand that approach to life and law, but that's just me.

I guess we'll bring both, just in case. We'd rather buy from folks that take CCs though. It's way more convenient and keeps a good record of what you buy. thnx

Does anyone know if the coral market will take credit cards? We don't use checkbooks (we do everything thru online banking) so I guess I'll have to bring cash if they aren't set up for cards.... ?

Looks great! And welcome! Are you coming to the coral farmer's market on Saturday? Should be some great stuff there...

Very nice! I love the tall stand too! I've never understood why the standard height of tank stands is 30"...not everyone sits in front of their tank. When people first come into a building and notice a tank, they're always standing. It's not like they run and sit down to enjoy looking at it... Mine are on 36" stands. How tall is yours? Looks like it's much higher than 36"! 'Love that it's a walk-around too! More pics would surely be nice... (whistle)

I'm so sorry. Losing a pet is seriously losing a member of the family. Sorry to hear. It was a lovely little movie... Who are the other two doggies in the pics?

I can't get over how big and obvious the mouths of sun corals are. The polyps look like they're wearing lipstick! 'Voracious little buggers.

I think that's wonderful! They're using dogs to sniff out cancer now too http://www.scienceagogo.com/news/20060005201345data_trunc_sys.shtml Thanks for listing that article. I emailed the site to several people that I think'll really enjoy reading it...

Is this the tank? If so, maybe the seller would just sell you the tank and not the rest of the stuff you don't need. The ad sounds slightly money-desperate. ? http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/for/381861239.html

So that's a 24g Aquapod?

My two hawks don't bother anything but do perch on my corals. No permanent damage thus far. I've heard flames were reef safe, but the potter's angel sounded not-safe from the description (good to hear that it can be safe! -cuz it looks beautiful!).. Never thought of that Reefgk, but I'm sure you're right that if they're fed regularly, they peck on corals and inverts less. I never saw a coral angel pick a coral before, but it's listed as a "with caution" too, as a coral-nipper. I guess it depends on feeding and tank environment. Good to hear that an Idol might be OK. I think they're just gorgeous and look so interesting!!

I found a site that listed the all of following fish as "reef safe with caution" but some of them don't seem "reef safe" to me at all, even "with caution"...? I guess I'm kinda asking how you guys define "reef safe" because it seems to vary a lot (scratch).. Freckled hawkfish Potter's angelfish Fisher's angelfish Lemon butterfly Yellow longnose butterfly Saddleback butterfly Orange butterfly Teardrop butterflyfish Moorish Idol Snowflake eel Whitley's boxfish Leaf Fish