JasonH

Congrats and welcome to the forum. you might want to consider getting rid of the crushed coral (did someone already mention this). It's a nitrate factory as it traps a lot of decaying food and doesn't allow the same bacterial colonization as sand. Using sand is the standard now, it's readily available and you can get a small amount of live sand to seed yours. It might be easier to transition out now as you're still setting things up and your tank hasn't cycled. Just a suggestion.

Welcome and enjoy - it's an addictive hobby.

Garrett, will you be around Thursday late afternoon? oh, and for Portlanders, I can carry any orders placed with Garrett as long as you can pick them up Thursday night.

This is an incredibly negative thread. It's nice that we are able to openly share our opinions regarding vendor feedback on here however I prefer to see positive feedback. I think there really is something to the old saying that if you don't have anything nice to say don't say anything at all. A vendor should know when a customer is dissatisfied but it doesn't have to be in the fashion of a public bashing.

I think it's fair to post negative feedback. But, as is clearly evidenced here, it's going to be a touchy subject. Every sponsor here is somebody's favorite store, and somebody's least favorite. So when a negative post is made, people feel compelled to agree or defend.

I've never been in retail, so I can only imagine the difficulties of running a store. And a lot of the customer experience is subjective and based on your own behavior. I tend to be shy at times, and there was one popular store that I had gone to a few times and always just felt like I was in the way. So I didn't go back for a while. After a bit, I decided to go back - and the same experience. But then I decided to speak up and ask for something - and they were increadible nice and helpful. It's just the vibe of that place, they sit back and let you look around without "pressure", but when you want help, they're very nice. So, in that case, it was more about me than that store.

But in some cases, in any industry, there are better and worse places at customer service. This is an industry where people open a store because they truly love the subject, but they may or may not be skilled in the customer service aspects.

I think it's fair to post negative feedback, and just as valid as the positive in helping to steer people toward or away from vendors. But as a community, we can tend to pile on the negative - and get lost in tangents pulling other sponsors into the post that weren't the original subject.

I think the important thing to remember is that two people can go to the same store and have completely different experiences for a variety of reasons.

I have to agree with Isaac, though, that this particular thread has devolved quite a bit.

So, I guess that's my (long winded) two cents.

Funny this came up today. I was in the MacStore today (my work is Apple, but my personal/home computer is PC) to buy a power cord. You know, the simply device that does nothing but transfer energy from the wall to your computer. Yeah, it costs $80. No, that's not a typo. $80.

I also heard the Mac Store guy talking to a customer about why Macs are better. He said that as of today, there are absolutely zero viruses/trojans that effect Macs. That there would likely be some eventually, but absolutely zero today. That is a bald faced lie.

Anyway, if you ever want to upgrade your systems - add more memory, or another hard drive, or get a better graphics card, then get a PC. If you want simple to use, get a Mac.

I think any question of reliability of crashes are really a ten year old misnomer. The PC OS is so much better now that I really don't see this as a distinction between the two - though I'm sure come of the Apple cultists will weigh in there.

Also, I think Outlook is a better calendaring system than the Apple product, so if you plan to use it a lot as a calendar/event planner, that a point.

But I have to admit that the Apple has a very easy to use interface and tools.

The Apple's are also much more expensive for the same level of gear/features - like 20% to 30%. So, depending on how much budget plays into it (remember the $80 power cord).

Either way, don't get an XPS type system. You pay way to much for the slightly-bleeding edge components. You're better off getting a good system and continuing to upgrade it.

Oh, and for the love of all that is good and holy, get a back-up drive. I just made the very stupid mistake of not having my back-up in place for a while and my HDD died (a risk on both formats, a friend just had her Apple HDD crash) . Now I'll be paying someone about $600 to retrieve picture of my daughter in a pumpkin costume. Spend the $50 for an extra drive.

+1 Go Cowboys!

Everything is on sale... but looks like one of those furniture stores that is always going out of business. The site lists Xenia with a price of $89 marked down to $19. Obviously, no one actually sells Xenia for $89. So the pre prices are just fake to make it look like a big sale.

That's awesome Eric, congrats!

I liked the old place - can't wait to see the new set up. Congrats on getting up and running.

I thought those (strawberry anem) were cold water? If it is a ric and keeps that color pattern (pink with whitish tentacles), you're going to be very popular.

I have several buds from my ric, when I get home this weekend I'll take a pic and you can compare to a ric of similar size - but my picture taking won't be anywhere near as clear as yours.

Keep us posted as it grows out.

There is some great looking stuff!

How bad is the sting on those? Is it a danger to fish or corals?

I have been thinking about getting a couple real high end ones myself-but then I read how they are tough to frag so I am uncertain-its all abot the frags-

Nah, they're easy to frag. I chopped the one I gave to Queen Angel (for Mr. S) and it was a breeze. Just slice it right down the middle with a razor. They do have a tendency to pop of the rock/plug afterward, so you have to watch them. Other than that, IME, they have been pretty bulletproof.

I have a 250w over a 29gal, for what it's worth. Corals grow well and there's still plenty of space for lower light corals. Temp does tend to get high in the summer, but should be fine if you have air conditioning.

But then I also post to complain about rampant algae growth, so YMMV

I feel a little more nerdy just having read that.

Thanks for the input. The bulb is only about 6 months old I think. I have a 20K in the closet (currently 10K - was going for growth) so that is another option to reduce the algae. You raise a good point on the feeding. However, if I go this route, I'm talking about getting rid of fish all together.

Recently I took a job in Corvallis - I live in Portland. So, I'm basically commuting down to Corvallis during the week, and home on the weekend. Which means my tank maintenance is suffering a little bit.

I've been (for a long time) planning a tank upgrade, so I really haven't set my tank up the way I should have. I have a 29gal tank, no sump and a (I'm embarrassed to say) prizm skimmer - even though I have a PM Bullet in the closet awaiting the upgrade (whistle). I had a hang on back refugium that was great, but had a pump problem with it a while back and (stupidly) just tossed the thing rather than fix it and get it cleaned up.

So, my tank is in pretty bad shape. Hair algae (or bryopsis) is running rampent and corals are suffering - losing color and polyp extention. I've got some high end corals, so I don't want to be stupid for too long and loose them - I've already lost one very high end acro. DOH!

Since I'm really just treating the tank as a frag tank until the (eventual) upgrade, I'm thinking of just making it official. I'm considering taking out all of the rock that doesn't have a coral attached (which would still leave some pretty big pieces) and taking out the few (3) fish I have. Then just build some frag racks and get the sump set up with skimmer and cheato.

It's not really my first choice, but at least then it would be easier to maintain.

Thoughts?

Now that we have that cleared up, can someone please explain "pwned" to me?

What's the difference between a nerd and a geek? Self awareness.

whoops, missed the update before posting. RIP, little crab. (probably a smart decision)

Yeah, I think him being fuzzy rules out pom pom - the stripes on the legs reminding me of a pom pom. I'm with you on the claws, doesn't look friendly. But he doesn't look big enough yet to do too much damage - I didn't see any corals in the pic.

But without a specific ID, I'd BBQ him.

when in doubt - assume it's bad. Although he's fairly small.

Hard to tell - could even be a pom pom crab, but looks a little too flat. Is it smooth or fuzzy?

I don't think it's an acro crab. It's hard to tell head-on. Can you get a pick that's tops down?

You're very welcome - enjoy!

Thanks very much, guys! So far so good - the big 4-0.

just gorgeous - thanks for sharing!