AquaticEngineer

Yeah we forgot to take pics last time when it was like 15-20ft deep, but a lot of sand has been pushed in and it filled up quite a bit. Still like 10 feet deep though. Only place we found purple urchins on the whole trip. Surf smelt went to Josh's tank and its doing great. He did lose one small green sculpin into the skimmer and it got chewed by the pump, lol. I moved all my ochre stars into the other tank so that I could put more tube worms into the dislpay and not have them get eaten. Josh took home a bunch of the green anemones we had at my house yesterday so his tank should be looking baller right now. But everything else we brought back so far is alive as far as I can see. What all did we bring back? Aggregating anemones Some really cool red algae with feather type leaves. Limpets Lined Chitons Mossy Chitons hermit crabs some small 6 legged stars (gray and pink mostly) tube worms orange hydroids Several colors of sculpins (Green, Coralline pink spotted, brown/red) 2 very small clingfish ( one red, one yellow) a 3" cling fish that is yellow with very tiny red dots porcelin crabs Red kelp crab a coupling small sand burrowing crabs that are white with crazy lines on the shell I grabbed some orange sponge and a few chunks of some strange encrusting stoney coral. what else?

Maybe Josh and Taylor can add on to this with either stories from the trip, or if you guys remember what stuff we broought back.

Update with pics Caught me a nice sized Kelp greenling, he didnt make it to the tank though Strangely enough I did not know that their meat was blue before you cook it. This was all that was left, lol

Hey guys, I think I'm going to bring my trailer with me to haul all the gear in this time. We were getting pretty tight on space last time with just 3 guys. This way we can throw all the wet stuff back there also and we can keep just the livestock in the coolers and buckets with the air running to them in the rear hatch. Also provides more room for coolers with beer if needed

Looks like all sun and no rain this sunday for the collecting trip

Does anyone know where to get a cast net, or a throw net, or if you have either of those let me know. I want to try and get some free swimming fish for my tank to go with the rock sculpins I have right now who stay near the bottom. The tank needs more movement. I think I'm going to go pick up one of those fine mesh trout nets also since my dip net didn't hold up quite so well last time.

Sweet dude We need to get you a cold tank soon

Looks like the next tidepool excursion will be Sunday June 5th. We will be going to the same spot as last time on exposed rocks near Three Arch Rocks National Wildlife Refuge in Oceanside. There is a low tide of -1.0 at 9:52 am. Sunrise is at 5:28 AM. Drunkreefer and myself are planning on leaving town again around 4 am so that we can be there at sunrise and make the most of the outgoing tide until 9:52 am. If anyone is interested in hitching a ride to go with us, or meeting us there, let me know

PRICE DROP PRICE DROP $50

WOOO HOOO Just sold the last lobster tank I needed to flip to get money for the new tank. Got the money in my pocket and if all goes as planned I should be picking up a 60"x24"x48" tank made of 1.25" thick acrylic tonight (clap)(rock2)

If you remember the name of that place let me know.

Right now it casts a 12" x 12" square of light when held at 12" high, and a 24" x 24" when held at 24" high. I think the only optics on the market for these right now is a 90 degree and a 60 degree.

He would know better than I would for sure, since I didnt write his numbers down. I think it shows in one of the videos I took thought. If I recall, they are pushing 450 at the 12" and almost the same at the 24" mark. The benefit of his is that it has those numbers over a broader area, where as mine is focused to have the maximum PAR in a set area. For every 12" way, it puts out an equal light footprint in ( ie:12" high gives a 12x12 footprint) of equal PAR numbers to the edge of the light.

Here's some videos I took when we were testing it over Steves tank, and a video I took later of it over my coldwater seagrass tank. It must have been like 8 inches over the waters surface at Steves, and like 16 inches from my seagrass tank.

Got the par ratings taken over at a Smann's house tonight with the optic on it. At 12" in the water we were getting 406 - 419 par at the bottom of his tank on the sand bed which was just a little over 24" deep we had ratings from 148 - 163. Color of the bulb could be nicer, but a good start Temp on the surface of the lens while running was about 118 F. Also took temp ratings of inside the light housing after running it for a little over a half and hour and it was around 130 degrees F on the heatsink. I'm going to use a more efficient heatsink and a higher output fan to decrease the heat a little more, but not too shabby for a test rig.

NICE!! Just make sure it'll fit inside the lamp you chose and that the fan size corresponds as well. The heatsink I used was designed to be used in a retro fit style setup not really an enclosed fixture, so we'll see how it goes. That's why this one is just the test model I guess(laugh)

THISis the heatsink I think I am going to use next time. Or something like this setup for $19.99 and then buy your LED and driver separately.

I just tested that out using the tiles on my counter top that are 12x12 tiles. I used my level on its end to so I had a measure of height, and for every 12" in height I went up it would cover the same number of cubic inches. So when I held it at 12" it covered a 12" x12" square just about perfectly since the LED chip is square the light footprint that is cast out of the lens is also square So when I held it up to 24" high it covered a 24" x 24" square. So I'd imagine a 20 or 30 watt one of these with a fan, heatsink, 60 degree lens and a fixture to house it all in would run a little less than mine something like $60-$65 to put together and it would definitely take care of a 12x12x12 fresh water cube Or you could get one of those flood light fixtures for around $39.99 and then just buy the smaller reflector and 60 degree optic for like $6 from ebay.

With the 60 degree lens on it it covered one whole side of my tank which is a 48" long tank very easily being held about 8" off the water. The best reaction I got was from my wife when I showed my 50w led light vs the 75w incandescent light that lights my garage and told her that my light is using 25 watts less

So I was feeding tonight and I saw the Fringehead pop out and grab some food, he's alive still !!! I finished up my 50w LED project tonight and used it to for lighting to get some shots of the tank.

No thread is worth its weight without pics, so since I finished it up tonight I thought I'd share Gonna get par ratings and side by sides tomorrow. So final cost on this was about $74, I'll know if it was worth it tomorrow after the final par tests.

Hey I totally appreciate any and all info I can get on this Josh (DrunkReefer) is going to get in touch with someone he knows that does works in the HVAC business. Topher, shoot me a PM with your guys' prices on house calls. I went over there and snapped these pics with my phone earlier so there is a better idea of what we are working with. Pic of the Valves on the chiller: Is Polyester Oil the same stuff as PAG oil? R134A for sure This one is only charged with 10 ounces

I'll check to see if says what kind of oil on the compressor tonight when I go over to check it out. Or hopefully Marineland will email me back with some answers.