gawf4fun

I really appreciate the comments...except perhaps the toad part?

here's mine:

It depends on what kind of shroom you're referring to Michael...(naughty) Here's the beast from a distance:

Thanks Impur (have I pronounced that correctly?) (laugh) As I'm at the office everyday (sad), I keep a bucket of RO water and add about 2 - 3 cups per day. The temperature has been pretty stable at 79 degrees both before and after the lighting upgrade. I think having the open top and the pendant allows for good airflow which cools the water. having said that, I haven't experienced the summer with this new ligting, but with an air-conditioned office, the only impact I'll likely see is the company electrical bill. (and that's a write-off, woo hoo)(clap) mark

I've just joined your forum a couple days ago and have posted my 180 gallon details on the member tank forum. Now its time to share my little office nano tank. I've had this baby running for 4 years + now, but just recently upgraded the lighting to a Coralife 150 watt MH pendant from 2 x 18 watt power compacts. I was previously satisfied with softies and shrooms, but now that I've caught the LPS and SPS bug, this wasn't going to do. I also dumped the CPR refugium and dual powerheads for a Tunze 9002 skimmer and a Tunze 6025 powerhead. Woo hoo! Here's some, (often out of focus) pics of the new system as well as some of the inhabitants. Your comments and constructive criticisms are welcome. I look forward to more opportunities to post pics of goodies in the future. (clap) Thanks, mark

I consider myself lucky that mine wasn't a complete loss, my Purple Tang survived. I am officially a member of the NAWIPACIMT club. (never again will I put a cucumber in my tank) club. My coral's took a bit of a hit, my red and white Acan recessed substantially and a pocillipora, which had been successfully battling a euphylia for space, gave up, and gradually got burned out.

Thank you everybody for the kind words and positive comments. Miss, I'm not sure which you are referring to. I've got the pink/blue lobo that looks to be in the shape of a dog (snoopy in particular), also on the substrate there's a pink and white/green brain coral, and a little to the left is a pink and white Acan. Also, on the rock towards the left is a closed brain. Here's some better pics: This is an older shot when I had my sailfin tang prior to the "cuke nuke" This is the red and white Acan that i'm trying to bring back to life This is the closed brain coral that is growing nicely AlbertaReef Here's a full tank shot from February: Also, I am looking particularly for a big tang to complement my purple tang "you have such wonderful coloration" LOL. I used to have a yellow tang and a sailfin prior to big loss, so I'm thinking something different, powder blue, blue hippo, mimic, naso. I'm open to suggestions and have had the shape suggestion made by my LFS folks too. Thanks. If any local folks have an appropriate sized 3-5" they'd like to trade for some softies (ie. colt coral, sinularia) I'd be delighted to hear from you. Mark

Thanks for the welcome and comment Jason. I've had the Flame for 4 months now (got him from Joel @ Waves) and he's been a model citizen as far as I can tell. Constantly picking on rocks and such, but great personality and eats flake, frozen, mysis, etc. I keep him pretty well fed. My coral beauty wasn't quite as nice to my corals, but he's now sleeping with the fishes. (sad)

Thanks for your kind comments Coreefer and Garrett. And by the way COReefer, I'm sorry for "bombarding you with my crap". Just so you know, I'm out of crap now as my internal skimmer is working perfectly...

Hi, I'm new to this web site but have been around the hobby on and off for better than 20 years. One of the local fish stores suggested I check out a local forum versus those long distance other guys, so here I am. I have three reef tanks currently, a small 11 gallon mixed reef nano on my desk at work, a 20 gallon pentagon clownfish/anenome tank in the kitchen, and a 180 gallon pentagon mixed reef tank in the family room. I'd wanted a large reef tank for a while, and my wife was adamant that my 90 gallon bowfront and its spray painted black stand was not of a suitable furniture quality to move into our new home. The window of opportunity was thus created. After buying the tank used, I traded my old hot tub (which the house buyer did not want) to my UPS man who built the stand and canopy to match the existing furniture in the new family room. (Happy wife!!)(wife) The tank dimensions are 48" from the back corners to the front edges, then two 10" side panels, and finally a front viewing panel of 54" across. The depth of the tank is 24". I've never calculated the volume but believe it to be roughly 180 gallons based on the original buyer's estimation. The tank has a back corner overflow which runs to a 30 gallon sump feeding a Precision Marine Bullet 2 skimmer, a PM calcium reactor, a phosban reactor and a 1/4 HP eco-plus chiller. The return is an Iwaki 55RLT run through a 1" Sea Swirl. For flow, I've got a 3000 gph Ampmaster closed loop and recently purchased an Ecotech MP40 Vortech pump. My lights are 2 x 400 watt 14K MH, run on PFO HQI ballasts, run 8 hours per day, and supplemented with 4 x 65 watt VHO actinics run 12 hours per day. The tank has been running for nearly three years now, with just a couple of bad occurences. Metal contamination from a pump impeller while in Europe caused me to virtually start from scratch coral-wise 2 years ago, and last November a cucumber nuked my system when it went through my closed loop, killing all fish except my purple tang. (nutty) I've started to restock with species I've never owned before, so its been fun. I'm a fan of all types of corals, so I definately wanted a mixed reef system. My system includes SPS, LPS, Zoas, Ricordia, Mushrooms, and softies. For fish, I've still got my Purple Tang, as well as a Blue Jaw Trigger, a Flame Angel, two Bartlett's Anthias, a Christmas Wrasse, Tail Spot Wrasse and a Rainbow Wrasse. I'm currently shopping for another large Tang. Anyway, here's some pics of the system and inhabitants taken over the past couple months. I'd love to hear your comments, suggestions, war stories, or possible recommendations for fish suitable to go with my Purple Tang. Thanks for having me, Mark

Hey everybody, I'm new to this site. (clap) Here's a couple of recent pictures for your consideration... I'm looking forward to picking up some good info on this local forum. Thanks, mark