JasonH

wow - that was quick. I need a 250w ballast - any left? What's the retrofit kit, other than ballast?

well I just tasted mine

(sick) ( insert 10 characters here)

My complaint about the naming convention is that so many people have taken liberties with the names that they no longer actually mean anything. Someone mentioned Superman Monti - which is the perfect example. The Superman monti is just a blue-based monti with red polyps. It's an unusual, but obviously not rare color combination.

However, there is only one "Superman monti" that is version that originally came from Tubs/Bruddah. But people have simply decided that any blue/red monti danae is a superman monti. So you get blue-ish / red-ish montis that are sold as "Superman Monti" and you have no idea what you're getting. I think it's funny when I see someone list a Tyree Superman for sale - you know that person is just slapping the Tyree logo on something.

I recently spoke to a LFS that had XYZ coral - a still hard to get LE coral. I asked where he got it and he said he had gotten it in a wild trans-ship. Than it isn't an "XYZ". You may think it looks similar, but it isn't "XYZ".

The theory behind naming corals is that you know what you're getting, and what the coral has the potential to look like (obviously, that can still vary wildly). The problem (IMO) is that so many people take liberties with the names, that it no longer means that - now it just means that people are trying to sell corals for more money.

(steps of soapbox)

I would think it would have a ton of beneficial stuff in it - the only problem is the salinity. I know that salt doesn't eveporate, but I'm assuming that skimmate has a high salinity - which would be bad for the plants.

I used to do a bit of rock climbing. At the time, there was this guy (can't remember his name) that was pretty famous for "free climbing" - climbing without a rope. I remember thinking, "wow, that guy is insane. If just one thing goes wrong..."

Yeah. That guy's dead now.

That was pretty cool to watch, though.

I really haven't figured out the levels of what coral beats what coral. This was a colony sized Sunset and a frag-sized Pink Lemonade - I don't know if that makes a difference.

I can tell you that chalice trumps Sunset...

Save the picture to somewhere like Photobucket. Then copy the link location (will be displayed right below the picture). Then paste that into your post and it will show up as a picture.

Doh - just beat me.

I've got several - all of the encrusting variety. I've had a lot of luck with mine - been very easy and tolerate a lot of different lighting a flow conditions. One of the easier SPS, in my experience.

I would say they tend to like higher light, and will lose some color in lower lighting. I haven't noticed much difference in different flow areas, but others might have different experiences.

I would keep an eye out for monti-eating nudies. They went around locally a while back.

I think (again, my experience) they tend to be in the middle on carol wars. My Sunset took out about a 1/3 of my Pink Lemonade (acro) frag a while back. So keep an eye on the placement and think about what they might grow into. As will any encrusting coral, they'll keep getting larger.

That's about all I know.

I hate to be a wet blanket, but I don't see how you could identify that frag as a specific "named" coral from the picture. The Appleberry is a $100 frag. I would think you'd know if that's what you were getting.

http://store.atlantisaquarium.net/atl-original-apple-berry-monti-palawenensis-frg028.html

Is there anything else I could get to assist in reducing Nitrates? Outside of water changes that is...

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned bio-load in this thread. Eric, you've always tip-toes right up to that line - and generally over what most people would feel comfortable with in an SPS tank. It could just be spikes in ammonia/nitrates related to fish... waste or feeding (triggers are dirty eaters). And don't I remember that you had posted some time back about not doing regular water changes?

1.022 salinity is low, but I don't think it's low enough to kill anything (but I could be wrong). However, it you corrected it too quickly - that could be an issue. But is sounds like the die-off started before that.

Definitely sounds like the die off was too sudden to be pest related.

Wow - very cool. Thanks for taking the time to post pics. You seems to be moving along at a great pace. Clearly, you have some carpentry/plumbing skills.

So, you put the stand directly on the tiles/ Do you worry that the weight of the stand might break/crush the tiles? Would it matter? Just a thought.

Also, it's not just a matter of getting them to eat it - it's getting the food to them. They are very slow, graze feeders. They won't dart out into the water stream to grab a bite. So other, more active feeders, will gobble up all the brine shrimp/other food before the mandarin can get to it.

That's awesome. Thanks for posting.

In the Pacific Northwest we have a large amount of Hydro Power

...Which unfortunately is being ripped out left and right.

This thing about alt fuel vehicles, is that they need to be practical and cost efficient. One can hold up a political ideology as a reason to convert. But until it's cost efficient and practical (i.e. don't have to wait 26 minutes while your car recharges) it just won't get widespread adoption - which ironically is one key to making it more cost effective.

Yeah the cost is always the problem. So far, they can't make a "green" car that is a cost benefit vs a gas car. Toyota loses money on every pious (whoops, Prius) they sell. This car is much more expensive than it's gas counterpart (offset by tax subsidies - thanks govt for stealing more of my money to help pay for someone else's car).

In this case, the car seems to cost about 1.5x to 2x the price of a similar gas-powered car. It's get's 40 miles for the electrical cost of about $3 - about the same as a sedan going 40 miles on gas. So cost neutral on fuel source after spending 2x for the car.

And, as the oregonian surprisingly points out, generating that electricity is done by burning coal. And as has been mentioned, what do we do with the batteries? I'd love to see an honest assessment (not from Al Gore) of the long term environmental impact of this car - including manufacturing, electrical generation, and end of life.

Also, as Oregon switches from coal to (much) more expensive green sources, the cost to recharge these vehicles could increase significantly.

And, it's not reasonable that a person could own ONLY this car - what if they need to drive more than 100 miles? They have to pull over for 26 minutes to recharge? So, most people that buy this car will have it as a second or third car. There was a survey recently that found the average household income of a hybrid car owner is $113K. These are the people my tax money is subsidizing?

(steps of soap box)

First thing that catches my eye is a tank that's ~6 weeks old and already has ~10 fish? Perhaps some cycle problems as things peak and valley. New tank, high bio-load (not necessarily for the tank, but for the maturity).

+1 on Guinness, but ever since having it in Ireland, I can't drink the US version anymore.

Widmer Hef

Widmer Snow Plow

Dennis, I've been meaning to get a hold of you, I've got some more frags to offer the TfT. Not sure when I'll have time to drop off, but I'll PM you and coordinate.

What's the difference between a golf ball and a Cadillac Escalade?

Tiger can drive a golf ball 350 yards.

Are they inside? (or you just confirmation that they were delivered and they are sitting on your front porch?)

When did they ship?

Are they in a styro box with heat packs?

If they shipped overnight, are inside, and in a well packed box, you're probably okay. Otherwise, I'd go home during lunch and get them floated.

Personally, I wouldn't risk it. I'd at least open the box and check to see that they look all right, and get them floating in your sump or DT - with the lights off.

I know this is a little too broad to be helpful, but it looks like a bacterial infection - maybe from where it was picked on from the other fish?

Jason' date=' they are not just finding out about this. There has been an open line of communication from the BOD and officers. We are still awaiting documentation from the organizers of the GOC, but have yet to see anything (receipts and fee documentation and all the correlated finaces).[/quote']

 

I'm glad to hear that. I do corporate finance and accounting for a living, so I completely understand the need for the record keeping and reporting.

 

It just seemed like both Eric and Brandon posted expressing surprise at this announcement. Given the work that they had put into the GOC, I would have found it troubling if they hadn't been told in advance that this type of action was in progress.

I think it is increadibly poor form, regardless of the reason, if this thread was how Eric and Brandon found out the Board was putting a hold on (or ending) the GOC.

So I finally made it into WSA today for the first time today. I have to agree with everyone. It's a small shop, but very nice, neat, and well stocked. I talked to Tim for close to an hour and it felt like I had been there 10 minutes - very nice guy. I left with a test kit and a couple frags and felt like I had held Tim up at gun point the price was so low.

The best part is, I think I found a coral that I had been searching for for a long time!

I definitely recomend checking this new shop out - and we finally have a shop on the west side!

This was a great walk through and very helpful. But when I did the math, I figure that making the same amount of food would cost be about $50,000! (scratch)

Let me double check my math:

Nori - $4.99

Oysters - $5.67

Scallops - $3.48

My wife divorcing me for using her kitchen to make fish food - $49,985.86 - Oh there it is DOH!(laugh)