Mandinga

Have you seen this? link

definitely drill that bad boy! Hang on overflows are such a pain IMO... Depending on what you want to keep, you may have to up the lighting...250 would be ideal for SPS, clams etc...if you are doing zoos, rics and other softies, 150w would be fine.

neither will i...which explains why it's worth the "trouble"... 1 or 2 polyps is good for me.

not sure how i got bumped off the list...

where's waldo the asterina

hydnophora for sure...hardy and fast growing. I would tweez out all those asterina starfish that I see in the background. some are ok and some are not...

Great info there Steve! Good luck with the new tank, and rock gathering... it sounds fascinating. I agree with you that the Basalt is heavy, non porous, and generally not great for harvesting beneficial bacteria. I have introduced about 20 lbs into a LR tank at home. It is day 4 and the corraline already appears to be partially taken over by diatoms. At this rate, I doubt there will be much left after a month...

There is a test you can do to make sure they are dinos...it has something to do with turning off the current in the tank and observing...search RC.

My wife just went to Winco, this could be fun.

bump-update?

I would imagine people are wondering about pricing... is Saltwater Fanta-Seas pricing competitive with BRS?

Assuming the clam came from a coldwater environment, I would guess "no" it won't survive. unless! (read below)

I agree that there will be alot of die off -- just like LR shipped from Tonga, Red Sea, Etc...i think it'd be safe to assume that once the stuff has died and the rock has had a chance to "cure", that the die off wouldn't happen again... It would definitely be foolish to just add it to the tank without curing it first. I am more concerned with the composition of the rock and the long term interation between seawater and basalt. from WIKI: Life on basaltic rocks The common corrosion features of underwater volcanic basalt suggest that microbial activity may play a significant role in the chemical exchange between basaltic rocks and seawater. The significant amounts of reduced iron, Fe(II), and manganese, Mn(II), present in basaltic rocks provide potential energy sources for bacteria. Recent research has shown that some Fe(II)-oxidizing bacteria cultured from iron-sulfide surfaces are also able to grow with basaltic rock as a source of Fe(II).[8] In recent work at Loihi Seamount, Fe- and Mn- oxidizing bacteria have been cultured from weathered basalts.

looks to me like dinoflagellates link increasing nitrates seem to be the trick with Dino's...there is a way to test if it is in fact dino's or not...maybe someone else will chime in.

This is from one of Andy's links...anyone can get a shellfish permit, i knew that...but I would be very curious about rock. I know the animals in the tidepools wont survive, but the corraline algae??? "Here is the full thread for my collection permit and the whole project. http://www.pnwmas.org/forums/showthread.php?t=3051 As an educator or scientist you may collect after filing a scientific collection form with ODFW. But, anyone may get a shellfish permit in the state of Oregon. If you stay out of the non-marine reserve type sites listed in the ODFW rules you can collect a limited amount of listed invertebrates per day. The tricky part is fish. All fish are more closely regulated and cannot be transported alive unless you have a sci collection permit. Salmonids are strictly enforced. Non-game species are more easily approved."

just called Oregon State Dept of Fish and Wildlife...they referred me to Parks and Rec because all beaches are considered State Parks and thus regulated by Parks and Rec. I spoke with the Newport office and was told the following: "There is no collection permit for rock. The taking of rock for commercial purposes is prohibited. However, the collection of rocks or driftwood in small amounts, used for personal use is allowed." Interestingly enough, past the low tide line, there is no jurisdiction and it is not regulated. I also emailed the director to find out what it would take to get a collection permit for commercial purposes.

I know you definitely can't remove rock from State Parks, hopefully someone will know if collecting from non park sites would be legal or not.(scratch) I have a OR fishing and shellfish license for 2010, but I can't find anywhere on the regs for Oregon that specify the collection of rock. Why would it be any different than collecting driftwood?

is #6 birds of paradise? great shots.

While visiting some low tide areas off the OR coast I ran across some absolutely stunning Live Rock...encrusted with corraline algae -- sortof a light pink/purple color. The base rock appears to be volcanic in structure instead of dead coral skeleton/sand...which usually comprises the majority of the rock in our tanks. Aside from pH issues, does anyone have a reason why this rock wouldn't work in warm water? The dark color of it really is a nice contrast. Has anyone tried this before? The corraline looks stunningly similar.

Pico reefs are cool.

24" in general has been tricky to find...as is probably the case with most bulbs. So many to choose from!

Does any local shop carry the Geissman Actinics?

what? tired of introducing yourself at the monthly meetings as "R-3"? (laugh) I hear you. I should have went with something more simple...I like Jordan's name...Ron Popeil. At first, I thought we had the actual Ronco dude on here. Undrtkr is the true undertaker...from pro wrestling...seriously. I met him and he tried to put me in a choke hold because talked him down on a light fixture. Never do that again.

Roger, you were making me nervous with the blender. The "you're gonna get soaked with liquid food" section was full of people. In my mind, I could see that spinach catching, creating a small vortex, and then sending that gooey mess all over the faces of the PNWMA members who were staring deeply into the eye of the topless blender. Overall, very entertaining and educational. Well done. Hearing you talk about the kids is so awesome. The zoa tank was looking quite nice. Tight lines...chironimo! p.s. - now i know why Undertaker is called Undertaker...WOW, it didnt hit me til i got home, but the resemblance is a little scary. Is that really him?

does anyone know when the shipment is going out?