JasonH

I love that Golden Rhomboid!

Very sorry to hear that, Eric. I hope you find something and can stay up here.

Yeah, I'd get some, too.

"So far the project has cost Dh100,000 (US$27,000)" Ha ha - that's awesome. In the U.S. it would have been a government project that cost $1.3 Billion... and not worked... and had a congressional oversight committee.

I kept a copepod-only eating mandarin in a 29gal successfully for a couple years (YMMV) - he is now living in Undertakers tank. Now, here's the important part... I believe the key to success was this: When I bought the $20 fish (actually before to prepare) I also bought a $100 hang-on-back refugium. I put a little sand and a bunch of live rock rubble in the refugium. The refugium acted as a copepod breeding ground. I have read that 90% of copepods are killed by the impeller when they pass through a pump in a typical under-tank refugium setup. Since the HOB refugium was gravity fed back into the display, it provided ample copepods and my mandarin stayed fat and happy. I kept a close eye on him for any sign of starvation. And when I had a problem with my HOB refugium, I was very quick to give him away. In 2-3 years, he never once even glanced at prepared food (mostly rods). So, if you don't have a HOB refugium, I would recommend building an area somewhere in your tank that the mandarin can't get to and stacking/piling live rock rubble to create a copepod breeding ground where they are safe from the mandarin. I've heard of people using strawberry baskets to shield the rocks. They are absolutely gorgeous creatures, and I understand why people want them and risk getting them, but they do have a terrible track record for taking prepared foods, and can quickly deplete the pod populations in tanks less than 80+ (maybe 100+) gallons. Oh, and as others have mentioned, no need to QT as they don't carry ich.

I'm amazed so see them ranging as far borth as New York! I know the currents run in the opposite direction (south to north) on the right coast, and it's a bit warmer that far north than here, but still.

nice - that's a beaut! I like the orange and purple.

Very cool! I wonder what percentage of lighting they reduce. They seem pretty clear, but there's got to be some reduction.

Hard to tell from the picture - maybe an encrusting hydnophora?

Wow - and the spokesman for the boat operators totally blew it off. He basically said that the boat captain didn't intentionally cause damage to the reef so it's not a big deal. Unbelievable. The guy just randomly drops anchor in a reef area and then acts like he couldn't have know it might hit the reef?! You would think that someone who makes a living based on the beauty of the reef would take more care of it. That boat captain should lose his license - or at least receive a heavy suspension to make him think twice next time - since he clearly doesn't think much of it this time.

Darn you, Nick - now I want one of those, too!

Thanks for the feedback. Doing a little research on-line, I read several comments from people saying that poci's have a tendency to grow out of control (like zoos). Meaning that they spread and start to pop up all over the tank. You don't typically hear about that with SPS, and I think it would be easier to control. I just don't want to invite any headaches. Anyone have this experience?

I thought everyone in Eugene was a reefer! (whistle) Welcome, Bryan. Your tank looks great - especially for being new to the hobby!

Some one get the 20K Lokani - it's an $80 frag (would be $100+ if it were already encrusted)

lol - okay, the world needs ugly pocilloporas, too. Well, maybe if it can live in lower light, it would make a good lower tank coral - in an area I wouldn't have a really colorful coral anyway. I'm just hoping that there might actually be a really nice poci out there that I just haven't seen.

Are there any really nice Pocillopora corals? The ones that I've seen are pretty plain. I know this is a bit backwards, but there is a really cool pocillopora crab that I would love to have, but don't see any pocilloporas that I'd want to put in my tank. Anyone think a pocillopora crab would host a stylophora or a birdsnest? Check this bad boy out (photobucket is acting up, so here's a link): http://www.liveaquaria.com/diversden/ItemDisplay.cfm?c=2733+4&ddid=80990

Yeah, best case is someone screwed up and should have known better. I'm sure this isn't someone who went "fishing" for fun then just decided to toss their catch in the trash can. I could have been someone who was collecting illegally and then had to dump their catch before getting caught, or could have been (as the article speculates) an accident at a wholesaler. It's one thing for an individual aquarium owner with 4 or 5 fish to have a pump or heater problem and lose livestock, but an exporter/wholesaler with hundreds of fish in stock should have back-up systems in place to prevent single-point failures from wiping out so many fish. That's bad from a fiscal, environmental, and PR perspective.

I'll be interested to see what you think of it. I enjoyed WoW for a year, but got bored with the end game grind. But WoW just seems to have a depth that other MMO's lack. I'm anxious to see their next-gen MMO, but I think that's going to be ~2 years out.

Kilmca, That sucks - you had all three of the Big Bad 3! Amazing that you didn't lose too much. Andy - sorry you had a crappy day. The tank should be for making those days better - not worse.

Rose City carries it. It's $20 for a pack - but I can't recall how many ounces that is. It's good stuff, I like it - and I noticed less algae growth when I switched to it (less phosphates).

Ah jeez, now you guys are making me feel bad for making fun of the guy. I heard that he was a protester - protesting a fur store downtown. While I generally think that protesting hippies would better serve society by setting themselves on fire, I guess Andy has a good point that anyone that actually does so probably has some mental issues. I'm sure there will be further investigation. If it turns out that it was some publicity stunt gone wrong, that I will re institute my fun making. But if he did have some mental issue, than yes it is very sad (and I'm a jerk). I'll tell you what, the person I feel sorry for regardless is the poor cop who thought she was helping and ended up pepper spraying the guy. The article says that she was taking a couple days off - clearly she's pretty upset.

Eric, I'm thinking about getting a Droid. What do you think of it?

The idiot set himself on fire. I'm glad they pepper sprayed him! I hope it hurt just a little more. Ahhh this fire really hurts - - what's that? Oh no, now my eyes sting, too!