Mandinga

OK, I have seen this tank first hand. Hopefully this will help with some of the questions you all may have. Here are a few things about the tank that wasn't mentioned in the ad:The tank is clear, in nice shape, not many scratches. lighting - T5 or T8...not exactly sure. 2x48" with one actinic, one daylight. Bulbs are approx 6 mo old. The filtration system is located in rear of tank(no sump), there is not a skimmer or other filtration device. There are about 50-70lbs of live rock. The rock is free from problem algae, BUT the rock is completely covered with aiptasia...i mean completely. There are some seriously large aiptasia...bigger than I have ever seen(6"+)! There are also some mushroom anemones that have been able to duke it out with the aiptasia. I would estimate the aiptasia population at around 750-1500. The substrate is crushed coral with an air bubble wand. The RO unit is a Ultra Pure, 2-stage. The filters will need to be replaced. They would like to sell the entire system...together...no parting out. Needs to be gone by friday.

Everything opened great, except one of the yuma's, he seems sleepy too. I was surprised how big the Yuma was...for a baby. Those zoas i gave you were just recently fragged (2-days ago)...dont you just love the suspense! My personal frags from the same colony are still closed, but I think in a couple more days they will open. I also found another Yuma in that bag of assorted loose polyps you gave me. It was really, really small, but I was able to attach it with a tinu drop of glue...time will tell. I have more SPS that I can frag for you next time. Keep in touch.

thanks for the zoas Snowpunk, especially the "Chernobyl" zoa's. It was great to see everyone again. Even a couple shop owners made it out...Nick from RoseCity and Tim from Westside made celebrity guest appearances. John, hopefully you can make it out to my place soon... I was really bummed I could only stay two hours, the drinks were just starting to FLOW steady at 50 DPH (Drinks per hour). Tim said he had to be up at 4am to go get a shipment of coral from airport...wonder how that went(laugh)

I'm going to bag up a few frags and hope others do too! See you all at 6pm

here you go link i am accenting them with some actinic moonlight LED's.

Just spent 3 hours installing some LED's I bought from Home Depot...I mounted them under a cabinet approximately 6 inches from the surface of the water. This is on my new little nano tank of 4 gallons. After wiring everything up, the LED's appear to be not even close to bright enough. There are 36 total bulbs with 2.6 watts max per bulb. The color is nice, but the brightness just isn't there...especially during the daytime. With ambient sunlight in the house, you can barely even notice that they are turned on. I was thinking about running them on a night cycle...lights come on at 5pm, go off at 1 or 2 am... Has anyone else had this type of experiment go wrong?

I think I may have the same animal in my system. Mine are in the sand, and they have tentacle like appendages that probe the surface of the sand. The tentacle's are orange/black and another has white/clear. At first I thought they were bristleworms, but upon closer inspection they definitely weren't bristleworms...pheeewww. The thing that struck me was that they build their homes out of the substrate. Almost like a caddis...in a river.

Nice job Teach! I wish my oceanography class would have had a tank last term!

Has anyone ever proposed an idea of a Reef Baby Sitter Club? Reason I ask is simple. I have to leave town for 7 days. I am freaking out. My wife and I split the task of maintenance and periodic "vital stats", but we are both going to be out of town. My only reef doctor has told me that his freshwater tank was too much work because he had to feed it once a day. Idn't that just great. P.S.- Live in Newberg...(whistle)

combing the classified section at 3:15am! you fiend.

If you go down coral road...start slowly! You should consider a Ca Reactor for a tank that size. Aside from the hair algae, the LR looks really nice! I wonder if your Phosphates are connected to that rock? Check your PO4 levels...if you haven't already done so. Beautiful tank!

search RC for the ebay bulb thread. It's like 200 pages long, but the conclusions are definitive.

Next up will be Nick and Rose City Aquarium. Looking forward to this one. [/img]

The next stop on the PDX reef bus LFS tour: Soutas Saltwater. Chooooo Choooo Soutas is located in a part of SE Portland in which I have never been, 2404 Southeast Gladstone Street. The neighborhood seems like a mix of industry and residential. The building is cleverly placed between residential houses. I felt as though I was going over to my neighbors to check out his kick a@# saltwater tank! Location, gold star. The windowless exterior of Soutas is deceiving. It almost seems as though there may be a mechanic inside, working on Grandma's Volvo, but instead we have a coral enthusiast's wonderland. The first thing you see as you enter Soutas is the large display tank, into which you are forced to gander...it is located right next to the door. *camera used -- cell phone -- I figured that if I gave you all GREAT pictures to see, then some of the excitement of your first visit may be lost...or, maybe I'm just un-edumacated in the ways of camera technology/know how.* Soutas dry goods selection, while slender in proportion, is well thought out. There is no wasted space for birds, reptiles or Cichlids. This is a reef store only and it is outfitted very nicely for the reef enthusiast. The coral selection was impressive to say the least. If you are looking for fish, you may want to try another store, but when it comes to coral, SPS specifically, Ricky has it! I counted 6 LARGE frag tanks that were stocked fuller than my daughters stocking on Christmas morning. This place has been in business for a long time and they certainly know how to grow, propagate and sell coral. The only downside's to Soutas are these: Too far from where I live, but that's more my problem! Limited invert and fish stock. The upsides have a laundry list...don't miss this place! The best thing I saw while at Soutas was this -- Looks good enough to eat! Thanks for having me Ricky Jr., see you next time.

here is a small list of my limited available trades: Zoas pink, brown or blue. pink birdsnest small frags monti digita purple candy cane heads

are you guys proposing to: Start the car...plug inverter into cigarette lighter...and then plug extension cord into inverter...and then plug...say a powerhead and a heater in? hmmmmmmm.

Christmas party trades...etc.

Definitely will try to bring the family...and frags.

accessibility would be seriously compromised, but it is an option.

nice! Here you are.

I would get top dollar for these specimens. you said "2 tanks ago". What went wrong? Did the plastic/acrylic melt/warp?

All journeys must begin somewhere, and since I am located in Newberg, this journey may as well begin here in the Berg. If there exists a reef black hole in PDX metro, it seems to be in Newberg. There used to be a reef store here in The Berg, however tough economic times have forced small pet shops to focus on the real moneymakers...cichlids, tetras, and ferrets. Oh well. There seems to be multiple anomalies present in other spots in PDX metro. Palaces like Soutas, Hollywood, WestSide, Rose City, among others, open their doors to drooling hobbyists like you and I. The PDX LFS (local fish store) scene is alive and thriving! Well worth exploring. This journey was mapped out carefully. A 6-year old girl, keen on reefs, and a 30-year old man, with a camera, vowed to visit all saltwater/reef stores in the PDX area. No small task. On this BB there are roughly 23 sponsors...that makes 23 destinations. However, upon closer inspection we found that not all the sponsors are storefronts. *Note to self -- call before you visit. Our best plan of attack seemed purely locational. We would visit the closest reef stores first, and then later we would hit the 40 milers... Hollywood Aquarium was first. Hollywood Aquarium is the type of place I felt very good about as I walked in the front door. Nice neighborhood. Nice location. Clean. Now is the time I should apologize for using a cell phone camera...the photos get better Hollywood has an impressive array of dry goods and tanks. The high class neighborhood is well served by Hollywood. They have nice stuff. Their dry goods and reef supply section is one of the best in the area. They also have some great livestock. I believe there are two main display tanks, and they are impressive. Both of them are well over 300 gallons. One tank is a soft coral/anemone paradise, while the other plays host to a beautiful shark. 6-year old's love sharks...so do old dudes! If you want a cool fish, check out Hollywood. From sharks to rare triggers, they have it all. On top of this, they also have an impressive selection of LPS and softies for sale. Their SPS stock is limited (exclusively T5 lighting). After an hour of chatting with an owner of Hollywood, it became clear that they specialize in maintenance and custom installation! COOL! Here is a company, rooted in Lake Oswego, installing and maintaining tanks all over the Portland metro area. In an agile market, Hollywood Aquarium is paving the way when it comes to maintenance and installations. From a hobbyist standpoint, I appreciate a company like this, diversifying in a market where tangs are assembled in a factory overseas. I said Tangs. Hobbyists NEED local fish stores! Hobbyists need them for alot more than a hermit crab every now and then!

I grew up in a town that was...well...lacking reef aquaria interest. 15 years ago I was introduced to this hobby of saltwater. I was fortunate enough to have ONE fish store in town (not counting PETCO) who was brave enough to carry the "oh so difficult coral". They had a good variety of polyps(NOT ZOOS), mushrooms, and the occasional and rare specie of Cladiella. LR was a new phenomenon. It may seem far fetched, but we were enamored by the common/boring coral of today. There was no such thing as a 40k Lokani, or a Blue Tort! 15 years ago, my fiancee and I would drive 300 miles to a reef store that was keeping SPS...WHOAAA! This reefkeeper was an icon to us... Present day PDX is FILLED with fantastic LFS who specialize in this intriguing hobby! Maybe not everyone appreciates this hobby like I do...I have seen it grow from an incubation stage to a full on scientific obsession. I love it. So, after moving to PDX from a desolate reef desert town, I decided to make a pilgrimage of sorts...one that would take me to all the LFS in the area. In the coming posts I will give you a photo journal roundup of the reef scene in PDX. Stay tuned.

RIP Brian. My prayers are with you, your loved ones and your friends. I saw Nick tonight...I wish I would have read this first.