badxgillen

Hmmm, let me see here.

 

I will get some more up in the morning.

I would be totally down to trade for a zoa pack but am unsure of what you may be wanting for trades? Montis or Acros maybe? Mushrooms or LPS?

As long as it is not in the Freakin garbage can were cool. And nice gesture man, gotta share that love.

As much as I would love to trade at he frag festts and expos it can't happen without the common interest. Maybe better luck next year yeah?..Oh Yes, there will be a next year.

Holy Smokes!!! These are giving me flashbacks to my tie die party, bright and vivid colors coming together into a visual explosion.

Nice stuff Jeff, very nice indeed...And cookies to "sweeten" the deals...These are some enticing incentives.

If your going to the Frag Fest next weekend bring that with you and we can exchange buckets, this way it can live on in several other peoples tanks instead of the yard debris...I hate to see a nice coral go you know.

Are they stationary, are they soft to the touch? If they are tunicates they may very well fade away when the nutrient loads come down from fighting off the hair algae. At some point the tank will only be able to support so many and it should stabilize once the tank does. Is this a newer system? They are almost  all suspension feeders with the smaller varieties being able to feed off of things as small as bacteria.

Reminds me of a time there was a colonial tunicate spawning, they can settle out everywhere but in the long run usually only take hold on places that are hospitable.

You better keep that skeleton for display, or at least the reactor...That would be your salvation, not the garbage can.

Nice colonies though, healthy looking coral.

Sorry about the delay in the post, just got my son moved into his dorm and got to spend yesterday having lunch, packing some of his things, and hanging out. Right after seeing him off, and eating dinner, I got to starting this thread.

As you all know, or now will know, the September meeting at All Things Aquarium was a Hoot! The place was loaded with SPS, LPS, and softy corals not to mention fish of all sorts.

Everything was nice and clean, several of the tanks looked amazing!

spot on. Look at this frag forest! I missed out on a red/orange centered green yuma, we left a little early and I completely forgot to snag one! Bummed, guess I better sneak back to ATA.

In between the store and the adjacent building there is a very nice courtyard area that facilitates gatherings like this splendidly.

You might be able to see in the background there, Zoolander lent his skills to the grill and did a great job, thanks a ton man.

 

And speaking of the grill man, here he is on the left, thinking ahead of time with those shades, it was such a beautiful day. And speaking of generous guys, Bicycle Bill here on the right came in handing out coral frags like it was trick or treat candy...He is such a nice person, generous with the corals and good advice, Bill is one of the good ones.

Here is another of the good old boys. The main man at the ATA store, Erin. He opened up his store for all of us to come in and have our meeting, BBQ, and raffle at. He has a wealth of knowledge and seems to have a knack for the aquatics, I know I will be back to pick his brain and aquariums sooner than later. Thank you my friend.

Two of our awesome sponsors here in one shot, Stylaster left and Mr Bret on the right. Both have contributed quite a bit of their time over the years both off and on the BOD and office, Cheers to you two...And Thanks a ton for the frags Roy, I will return the favor.

Highschool Reefer, eyeballing the store goods no doubt. I forgot to mention I had a few things I could throw you for your new tank setup and a few pointers on keeping macro algae trimmed back. Maybe I will see you next month though.

Jfry here. This guy is in my line of work, aquatics maintenance, and I love talking about others setups and tanks with this guy. He has some good stories and is getting seasoned thats for sure. You all know you have to come up with a lot of different solutions to strange problems in the reefing world.

Kai made it out to another meet, very nice guy. Hope that zoanthid pack you won is doing well, there were some lookers in there, blues, reds, and a little yellow. Should ease into the new tank just fine.

Gill&Fin center and DJ right. I meant to ask you on some QT questions Holly. Maybe I can still get some info out of you and see if you get file fish in frequently? And sorry I did not have time to swing by DJ, believe me I have plans on it in the near future.

Youcallmenny on the left and Albertareef on the right. With the good people that will give you a hand with the move you should be just fine getting into your new place, sounded like you have it pretty well planned out now. 

Reefer Madness left and Daniel right. Daniel makes the Reefi lighting system and is a working on a couple other products as well. He also has a killer tank setup. Reefer Madness, let me know when your going on that crabbing trip, I love dungenous. And I will keep my eyes peeled for a cowrie.

Lex inverts chatting with Mr Bret. I have always liked this guy, he tells it like it is...And Also has a few very nice setups. He bred some seahorses too not too long ago.Now that I think about it I think Bret has some baby seahorses right now.

Whop whoop!!! I got this pic  of Paul here winning the gift certificate to All Things  Aquarium. He is totally stoked! I would be too, so much there to grab, I bet that certificate never left the store.

Grand Prize Vortech went to Albertareef! Way to go man, nice score! I love these raffles that are equal tickets equal chances. Although I wouldn't mind buying more tickets on certain items, it is a refreshing change once in a while to just take a true shot at chance.

A major highlight of this meet  was the presentation given by Miles about fluorescent pigment proteins. He explained a number of things on the subject such as tracking/monitoring cell functions, mutations, calcium and photo reactions...It was wild.

I can elaborate a little more when I get back from work but for now just enjoy these shots of Mils slides. He did a great job and was very informative, answering all of Andy's questions  But really Miles, Thank You, it was awesome.

A slide miles had showing the cell internal structure and Florescent Proteins that assist in research.

Lined up were a number of people who wanted to get a more in depth knowledge of the mysterious GFPs. You can see all the way down on the left had side there is a junior member getting his first reef class sessions in.

. OptimusPrime taking addvantage of the black light LED flashlight. I wish I could take those, inject them into my montis, and make a new variety of "tie dye" coral.

OH and th
e obligatory coral shots here and there.

Miles brought some samples of the Florescent Proteins, both natural and man made. Not too sure where he gets all these but I wouldn't mind a few for this upcoming Halloween...How many corals would you say is in one of those little bottles Miles?

Come one Scott, not even a cameo!?

Looking forward to seeing everyone again, and the shop, it's been a little while. The meet is only a few hours away really, I guess I better go and bag some corals up then.

See you all soon.

We have 6 people in my family who have September birthdays as well...And I like all of them. Good people born in that month if you ask me. Not a bad sign at all.

And Thanks again everyone, it was a great day.

Oh Man! You guys and gals, I don't know what to say here...I am getting all melty and mushy inside,. I just try and do what I can, when I can. I love reefing,, I love helping, and I love this community. Thank you all for making this club sch a wonderful place! I feel uplifted after seeing this, my night has become wonderfully topped off by the sentiments of my fellow reefer community. Love you all, Thank You So Much!

Hah, I was going to say the same thing...A putty knife scraper, or a nice flat head would probably do the trick.

Gonna get me some of that!!! You happen to know where this bad boy came from?

Great news ATA and Gill&Fin, I love it when a stores shipments just come in. It makes it for some fascinating livestock that have yet to be cherry picked through, and everyone knows a well stocked salt water reef store is reason enough to come out. Add in a BBQ, speaker, raffle, and your favorite PNWMAS reefer crew and it becomes something you don't want to miss. And In addition to the VorTech, I have been informed we will also be having raffle drawings for several mini coral frag packs including...

A trio of some fine looking acroporas.

And something for the Zoa lovers out there.

AND, to go with the current Photo Of The Month scheme, we have a Big ol Softy shroom here up for grabs as well.

It has some "Bounce" to it thats for sure..Me Likey very much

 

You night be able to get some phytoplankton and rotifers from online or Pacific Island Aquatics in Tangent but unfortunately with just started cultures you would not be able to keep up with the fry's food demands. I can't remember the name but I believe there was an alternative micro food that could be mixed in the water for them to consume. From my experience though, they only eat live foods.

And generally if they layed one batch of eggs they will most likely lay another if you keep things proper. You could always just prepare for the next batch by getting another designated fry system going and some food cultures started.

I don't change several of my tanks but once a year, and that is usually servicing equipment. Good ole carbon dosing.

Congratulations Steve, looks like a mighty fine place to finish up life at. It would be hard to upgrade from that forested scenery thats for sure. I think you have most of the moving part covered. You will need a number of able bodied hands as well as extra salt water made up at the new house. Prepare for as many contingencies as possible and don't forget to bring a towel or two.

Some people use battery powered air pumps and AC DC Car converters for other appliances but I find that an air conditioned rig and good planning can conquer things without too much complication, just alot of hard work.

Long term, making your own frozen food and freezing large batches of it is rather efficient. But I would say easy to use and not too expensive are the Hikari flats I mentioned. There are certainly comparable brands with varying qualities so maybe just do a little research on what goes into certain "blends". If you don't have too many fish/tanks many people will tell you to simply bite the bullet and grab a  reasonably priced higher quality frozen food mixture that accommodates the majority of tank inhabitants. I personally have a number of fish so I purchase several types of individual frozen food packs and mix them accordingly such as krill, mysis, spiralina enriched brine shrimp, "plankton", and blood worms. I also like using a good pelleted food to give them in between frozen foods. Variety is a good thing hence the popularity of the reputable frozen blends.

Last meeting at Erin's place was Great! The courtyard next to his building worked perfect for the last presentation we had there. And I am sure the shop will be stocked and loaded with fish and coral for us to browse through, last couple trips I found some gems in the acropora section so I will swoop in and see what I can add to my collection this time around.

It's gonna be a good time for sure.

Our oldest son got out his DSLR camera and got way better shots than my terrible cell phone pictures. All in all it was a great day. I didn't see a whole lot different going on in the tanks but maybe we were preoccupied with the eclipse.

Super sorry folks, had an emergency work call and must have hit the post button on the computer when I left, I will get these sorted out in a few minutes. Although it is kinda funny the order the computer decided to put the pictures up.

Well Shoot, I just upoaded a few dozen pictures in another thread I was starting but I will consolidate them here for one single pic heavy thread.

Usually there is a bit of order to my pictures but this time things got posted a little off...Which is okay s this BBQ meeting was all casual. Just eat and socialize until raffle time.

And when raffle time came it was big.

 

Willapa and family won  killer reef tank supply kit. Get that little girl to help with some maintenance early on, just don't let her feed the fish until she is a little older. I know from first hand experience and kids feeding fish...Grilled cheeses, fruitloops, and tortillas.

I think everyone had a good time, once people started talking with one another it got contagious as was the laughter. This is what gatherings like these should be like.

Squipupus is new to the reefing game so what better place for the refractometer to go to, I would be excited too, mine is permanently off by .02 so I am always shooting for 1.027...But it sure beats using those little plastic hydrometers you have to rinse out all the time.

Happy winner of the Hanna Alkalinity checker. These things are super easy and pretty accurate from my experience, remember to rinse the vials in RO though.

WHAT WHAT! Another appropriate win, Roy is always getting his Frag On! Cut one for me my man.

This little guy did a fantastic job of designated raffle ticket drawer... Is that a title, I think it is now. He never did pull that 155.

The winner of the Gyre 230, that should solve any unwanted dead spots in that 40, or when you get a larger tank you can turn it up some and be just as good.

 

Now here is a happy man, taking home the Gyre and a Hanna Alk checker! Whoop Whoop!!!

Can't You Just Feel The Love!?

Lets hear it for Albertareef!!!

Now that the pics are already posted I think I am going to juts leave them here, Albertareef won the members only raffle and is doing the happy dance, and who could blame him?

Look at this thing, the sleek nano everyone is talking about! Looks like you need to make room for another tank my friend. This one could be that specialty tank you have been wanting, they sure make good seahorse tanks yeah.

Two of our newest members Kai and Aaron, welcome aboard man, we have a great crew here that's for sure.

Emerald, Danlu, Grassi, mingling in with the kitchen crowd. I made several passes that way but photo angles where rough without me intruding on other folks personal space. And you wouldn't want that.

As mentioned in the intro thread, the raffle table was LOADED!!! Not a thing up there I wouldn't mind having...Although my wife would disagree on the tank, unless maybe it went her way

Trailerman having a chat with Willapa about all things aquarium, NO not the meeting at All thing aquarium next month in Willsonville, but just aquarium related stuff...Sheesh. I had to leave these two cute kids in the right corner, getting an ear full of aquarium chatter they are still just doing their thing.

Presidente greeting OptimusPrime at the door, Kim is a great host as is Sirena. Prim here brought some goodies too along with some brews, he is a pretty cool cat too.

Reefer Madness taking that top down look into Emeralds frag tank. I swear she just set this thing up but it is filled up. I know I saw several things I gotta have, all in good time.

I know I might get a little flak on picture quality on this one but I did not get many pictures of these two here. Gill&fin on the left and Bicyclebil on the right. Barely got to talk to either this time as there was so many conversations going on at the same time. Would love to check out your tanks again sometime soon. Sounds like you are gettign some really nice fish Gill&fin and Bill I may need to hit you up for some of that indomitable Undata sometime.

Albertareef and Higherthinking, talking big tanks no doubt..Come t think of it I need an upgrade    These two are acquiring some pretty nice colored sticks last time I heard, maybe we can work out a frag exchange here in the not too distant future. I know I am going nowhere Fast. And Andrew I will cut a piece of a few acros for you and tuck them away for out next meet up.

I Love this picture! Sasquaattch on the left and Stylaster explaining coral behavior to Squidipus. Roy sure knows a thing or two and has some experience to share thats for sure. I forgot to ask you about the new lowboys at Pacific Corals.

Jeremyevans caught a large number of dungenous crabs and generously shared them with all of us at the BBQ. They were delicious. And just as a heads up, you should be able to snap that frag base off the lepto plug with some wire cutter dykes then glue it down to any rock you want.

Flashyfins and Sasquatch in the back. Missed chatting with you Cherany, did you end up snagging that little guy Roy had? I know you have some interesting fish in your new 20.

Another new member joined us, Squidipus. Make sure to keep that Xenia at bay form other rocks and corals once you find where you want it. And if it gives you trouble just BURN IT with Kalkwasser/calcium hydroxide. And tell Sasquatch to give you one of those red mushrooms when he has one free.

Gumby here, I like this guy. Coral head with good taste. He also helps with the boys and girls club tank in Vancouver as well as giving us a some inside connections on our meetings there. Thanks Jim.

Vance up on the deck, talking about a possible frag tank? I know when you have  a larger aquarium it can be difficult to place tiny frags in there and not get them lost when fish, snails, hermits, and urchins are just rolling through the reef like they run the joint. Maybe you can have your cake and eat it too kinda thing, grow those corals out on rocks n the shallow tank then bring em on over to the large reef.

Another good picture, Papa Willapa Trevor, nice looking family here. Nice getting to talk with you for the brief moment it was. Maybe I will see you next meet and we can pick up on our conversations yeah?

Our club treasurer Mr.Bret. This guy is one busy dude. He runs two businesses does reef tanks, and has a family at home. In his little spare time he runs our books here at PNWMS and is also working on our incredible upcoming Frag Fest. Much appreciated man, wish I could have told you in person but you were gone before I knew it. I will go by the shop Paradise Corals next time I am in that area.

Stylaster! I Agree! Two Thumbs Up! This shindig is hopping! If I had known you were coming I would have seen if you would have brought me something. I only came with a  few things you probably already had or I had already promised someone. There will be a next time though, Oh Yes, there will be a next time.

Squatch Knows! Rocking some new scnerey in his current reef tank. Mostly gorgonian themed, it seems this time around he is only after the finest of zoas, can't have those rampant growth variants when real estate is prime. I will see about setting aside some slow growers for you.

Grassi and...Other Grassi. Glad you two made it over. There are people here from at least 3 different terms here at PNWMAS, in the past this guy here did some time serving our club as well. It is great to have people that stick with our crew for years and years. I think it really says something about us.

FME! It's a full house for sure! And here I as worried that I wouldn't have enough good company. I could talk to the people in this one room for the whole weekend and still not be board. Gonna get my reef on!

AND SO MUCH CRAB   Probably my favorite food that comes from the sea so it was a treat for me, time to put the camera down and get messy, ribs and dungenous crab here I come!

I mean look at this spread!!!  Corn casserole,potato salad, fruit salad, melpns,crab, ribs, salmon, chips, beer, and then some.

This here is what Mike was looking at, top down frag tank goodness. I think you need to trim those colonies back into frags Kim.

And  that T-5 you got is rocking some pretty nice colors, corals are popping.

The Seahorse tank is also looking stacked! Getting that gorgonian action going on, a few months and this one will be getting full.

Hmm, maybe I should have left out the picture with the gloves but its already here so hey  

But really here is one of our awesome hosts Sirena prepping part of the days meal here. She did a fantastic job on "manning" the grill and keeping things in order. Thank you so much Sirena and Kim for letting us into your home and for providing such  great atmosphere. It truly was a splendid time.

Looks like I can make it after all, it was a close call but I will be seeing everyone at the BBQ! I will also be bringing a Lepto frag from Miles for the share the love winner.

Have not had crab in a while, maybe I can talk you out of a leg or two.