Sol

I feed mine daily or so (at least 5 times a week). I feed the mysis, and am surprised at the size and quantity of the mysis they can back in. My colony of 20 or so polyps consumes an entire cube of mysis a day!

I've found if you feed them at least twice a week, they stay alive. To actually grow they need more than that though.

As for when to feed, I've found the best time to feed them is just after I feed everybody else. They seem to "smell" the food I feed the tank, and then when they're open I target feed. Also this means that the fish are full; otherwise they tend to try and steal the mysis that I target feed the sun.

As for the "how", I defrost the mysis in about a cup of tank water, and then I sort of "drizzle" that solution over the sun with a turkey baster. All powerheads remain on. Be sure not to squirt too hard as excessive flow velocities will cause it to close up.

For more info, check out http://www.melevsreef.com/suncoral.html

-Sol

I have nothing to add to what has happened in the past, because I don't really know the facts.

I will say, however, that I have had flawless transactions with reefgeek84. Just thought that the positives were worth throwing into this thread.

-Sol

I think it's a great idea. Another slightly toned down version might be an "emergency squad" of people; a list of phone numbers that our non-knowledgable sitters can use if something out of ordinary comes up. Might be easier to get more people involved if it was that kind of less full-time responsibility.

-Sol

PS reefgeek, shoot me an email about the bulbs (reisbers@reed.edu). For some reason I can't PM you.

Should you decide to split, I'll take the tub's blues and the ring of fires.

-Sol

If you read this, I've been trying to contact you via PM. I know my PM communications on this site have been finicky in the past, so please contact me via email reisbers@reed.edu or phone 503-593-8590

Thanks,

-Sol

Also called gas springs http://www.internationalgassprings.com/ , I didn't make up the term

Mostly I was curious about what he uses to latch the door shut, so it doesn't just pop up on its own. Or maybe the springs aren't strong enough to push it up; they're only strong enough to hold it up?

-Sol

Looking great Joel. I wonder if you could explain (and name a source for) those gas springs that hold the canopy open.

-Sol

As my tank starts to mature, I realize that I really enjoy the build phase much more than the keeping phase. Don't get me wrong--I love my tank--but I want to build a new one.

Unfortunately, I don't have room for another big tank. So, would anyone be interested in me building them a full setup? I'd do it at cost with lots of DIY (labor of love), so you'd make out like a bandit, and it'd be a good-quality job--I've worked in high-end cabinet and acrylic fabrication shops...

Just thought I'd throw the idea out there....

-Sol

Was browsing through my gallery and found I had a couple old pictures to share:

First off, a nemo biting off more than he can chew:

Every time I feed their host anemone a chunk of cocktail shrimp, they try to rip off chunks for themselves....

And, for those who haven't seen them, I thought I'd through up this comparison of hayward/typical bulkheads (these are both 3/4"):

Look at the gasket size; that alone is enough to make up my mind.

-Sol

-Sol

I'm across the board on this; there's just too many genres to pick one. I mean, how can you compare Rain man to Wayne's World to any of the Monty Python movies to Momento to Boondock Saints? All great movies.

-Sol

Looks great. Are you planning to paint/somehow the PVC returns on the bottom?

And when are we all coming to your house to see it?(laugh)

-Sol

Are you having issues with a gurgling or "boiling" sound? If so, take a look at this page:

http://www.melevsreef.com/acrylics/sumps/a/sump_model_a.html

Or do a search on reef central for a hofer gurgle buster. I would take a picture of mine, but I'm currently 180 miles from my tank

-Sol

I was talking to someone who was startled by the length of my acclimation procedure; he said he just floats a new speciemens bag for 20 mins and then dumps them in. I float their bag for 20 minutes, and then setup a drip acclimation @ 1 drip per second, and fish are drip acclimated for 45 minutes, inverts for 2 hours.

I thought that my procedure was pretty typical, but this conversation with this guy has made me wonder...What do y'all do?

-Sol

Awesome corals and pics. What's CPRC?

-Sol

Looks good and definitely unique. One thing I hope you remembered is to slap a ton of polyurethane on the art deco paper; it won't be able to stand the inevitable spills/drips etc.

-Sol

I would go with the corner in the corner. If you don't, you're wasting a lot of space by having that empty triangle in the corener.

An even better idea: A corner pentagon. http://www.tropicalfishstore.com/Aquarium-pentagon.htm

(link used at random; I've never done business with that company)

-Sol

I am sure he'll charge you an arm and a leg!

No body parts, just a lot of money (laugh)

Seriously Austin made me promise a frag before he sold them to me; I think it'll end up being a free frag considering the deal he gave me on the colony

Anyway Austin, do you have an ID on those zoas? From zoaid they look like solar's, but if you know for sure that'd be great.

-Sol

First, I got a sweet tricolor acro frag from Randy S (great guy with great corals):

Look how well encrusted it is!

I also got a monti from him but forgot to snap a pic of it.

Then, I got some zoos from the store itself:

And some random pics:

Chromis:

Rainbow montipora:

Hope y'all enjoy

-Sol

Bring one of the tricolor frags for me. Nothing to trade, but I'll pay cash

-Sol

No photo, but here's a quick sketch I made:

Water flows in from tank at bottom left (skimmer chamber) and top left (long skinny refugium). Water returns to tank from bottom right (water change/heaters/etc). As you can see, there are two sets of baffles.

-Sol

Yeah, my sump has baffles. So I can just shove the floss in between the baffles?

You want pics of the detritus or the baffles? If the detritus (which I assume is what you meant), it's really hard to get a photo of. It's not much; I can easily see clearly through the 5' length of the tank.

-Sol

I'm already running ozone (not sponge but ozone in my skimmer) and carbon. They help clarify the water itself but don't really take matter out of the water coloumn. How does one use filter floss? How high maintenence is it?

-Sol

So, I've been looking for a way to deal with detritus flying around in the water coloumn. It looks like a bit of "dust" or particulate matter that just flies around and looks ugly. It doesn't do anything evil regarding my chemical params; this is purely an aesthetic problem.

Anyway, I'm looking for a way to get this detritus out of the water. What are your reccommendations?

As far as I can see, the options include filter socks, which would do the trick, but they're problematic since I don't have a place for them in the sump, and I've heard they can become a nitrate factory. Also I don't want the maintenence hassle if it's avoidable. Option number two is a diatom filter, but the same problems apply. Any other suggestions?

Thanks.

-Sol

Can't help with finding a chiller, but if you decide to sell the 1/4 HP for plain cash, I'd be happy to take it off your hands, if the price is reasonable.

-Sol