Krux

Looks something like these

Yep, that's what I read into it as well.

(drinking) any discussion is good discussion as long as it falls back on track

My apologies, maybe I lost something in your leet speek, but I was simply defending my statement. Reread your post before you call me out for baiting though. As for roses, I think your chronology is a bit off on being first to do something, but I will chalk that up to enthusiasm. Peace.

I may be biased, but I am selling a deltec hob right now...

keep that tomi handy and you can rent him out, they graze on algae other tangs won't go near.

That's good thinkin.

lol, sounds great. click on the "this" in the earlier thread

Not sure if you are still looking to work on shrimp, but if you dont have a copy of THIS you may want to look for a copy. I am gearing up to work on shrimp myself. If you want more information, let me know and i will send you some links

You have it exactly. I infer from your tone that the only reason that you want to participate in this event is to get some sort of recognition, not to help the club, community, or reef keeping in general, in addition to fniding a way to sell coral and turn a small profit. By pointing out that this is foolish, won't work, or needs to be modified in some way so that you can also get personal financial gain out of it makes it pretty obvious to me that you a) don't understand the concept of a donation and b) only want to participate for ego purposes. If you want an award based on skill at marine breeding, head over to the marine breeder website and participate in the breeder challenges there. While the spirit of innovation in marine aquaculture is inherent in this awards program, the structure of it, and the responses of some of the community members show that it is much more likely to result in a frag donation points race to have the opportunity to name something than any real research and development in propagation. Taking a zoa rock and splitting it into 50 pieces and trying to sell them to the club in the hopes of making some money and at the same time getting recognition for it does not in any way further the hobby from its current state... thousands of people already have that skill, just as people have split roses, ricordeas, and propagated zoas. There are a few people who are indeed breeding fish and inverts, but we aren't seeing an influx of peppermint angels or harlequin shrimp in the local stores, so I have to at this point assume that they are people reading Moe and Wilkerson and duplicating something that while positive, is not innovative or particularly challenging.

the decomp will not be beneficial

imho the $50.00 you aren't getting is buying you the club recognition and participation. While a small cut is better than nothing for the club, you are that that point buying a title instead of earning it through donation. If you can't afford to donate a rose, but want recognition, donate something else that you don't need to get a return on, or sell it and buy a 20 dollar frag and donate that. Generosity based acclaim needs to be restricted to gifting, not a side bonus to a live auction forum or it loses the spirit of the event and becomes a race for who can sell the most stuff out of their tank to the club.

I have an MCE600 that I was going to run on my 60 gallon setup I am planning, but stumbled onto a deal on an AP701 so I no longer need the MCE. It is a very nice HOB skimmer that is rated conservatively to run on a well stocked 100 gallon system. In my move, the collection cup dissapeared. Replacing the cup through Marvin is $80.00 but for someone who has some acrylic skills, the piece can be fabricated for 2 or 3 dollars. I am asking 225 shipped and insured on RC, but for anyone local I can meet you somewhere and will let it go for $200. New price on the skimmer is just shy of $500.00 Also selling my old hanging light fixture. There is a reef optix 3 250 watt DE pendant and 2 32 watt PC's in the DIY oak fixture. I will happily throw in the fixture if anyone wants it, but it would work equally well stripped out and mounted into a tank hood. Includes ballast and bulbs for the pc's, but no ballast or bulb for the halide. Asking 150 dollars for the whole rig, again, can meet you somewhere. Willing to part out, 75 bucks for the pendant and 75 for the pc setup if someone prefers.

Pretty sure the point of this is to act as a fund raiser for the club, not to start an auction for individuals to raise money. if you wanted to go that route, you may as well just sell in the for sale forum. i have no stake in this, and really don't care one way or the other as this seems like an altruistic project someone put together, but my suggestion would be to make this an occasional thing to happen at specific events to make it more of a focused event... a fund raising raffle at a bbq or something. otherwise people who want to have the club spend money on awards for them are going to roll in with 25 frags of the same weed growing digi that everyone already has every month... the livestock goes to waste or sells for so little it doesn't cover the plaque. what do you do about someone who brings in 80 tomato clowns that nobody wants? great concept, maybe it is working as intended, if not, that would be my input.

those photos showing bare skeleton are basically the coral in its death throes, hopefully nobody sold it to you looking like that... I would question future livestock purchases from them if they did. once you start to see skeleton in any large percentage of the coral, it is rare to bring them back. algae growth or infection on the skeleton usually keep the flesh from regrowing. seems you have already surmised that it is over the hill. sorry for the loss.

More Info

aiptasia, you dont want it

been wanting to make a melev style camera box, save 80 bucks or whatever they are going for now. I don't have the tools, but if there is someone who does, i would be game to pay for the materials for them if you want to get together and figure out how to bust a couple out.

I am looking at this... I dont need the megapizels as I dont plan to ever print, and the price is right on a refurb Nikon D40 6.1MP Digital SLR Camera Kit with 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED II AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor Lens $409.00 http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000KJQ1DG/ref=ord_cart_shr?_encoding=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&v=glance then i can spend the rest of the money on a macro lense, flash set, and tripod... thinking around 1200 to 1300 for the whole rig.

fwiw this is what i have http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Sansa-Express-Player-Black/dp/B000OV74CC

I use a 20 dollar sandisk that holds enough music to keep me on the mountain all day, and i dont have to worry if i ever do break it by running into a tree. it isnt flashy, it isnt a cool color, and it doesnt have a nice user interface, but the music sounds the same coming out of it as it does from my wife's ipod. my suggestion would be to play with a few, and determine how important the interface is to you. if you want it to look nice, and like the user friendly Ui then ipod is probably the way to go. if you want cheap fast storage so you can get on a treadmill or for a hour long flight, it may be more than you need... i can't guess on your needs and preferences. shuffles are nice too, but i couldn't get one for 20 bucks if i was spending real money, i would get an apple over a zune or other expensive brand, simply for the warranty and reliability.

It was a Petco if i remember the new story the other night... Wonder why they didn't just put it in the bottom of a tank and slap a price tag on it.

May be time to revisit the idea of the club buying one with a 20 dollar rental fee to cover the purchase.

I thought you killed my fish, or is that like when you tell the government that you lost all your firearms in a boating accident?