Higher Thinking

Sorry, but what I was specifically talking about was how the weight is being distributed to the legs. If you look at the picture I posted, you can see that the top frame actually sits on top of the legs themselves. In both your builds, your frame, which holds the weight of the shelf, is just held onto the legs by screws instead of actually sitting on top of the legs. Does that make sense? Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

Nice progress! I'm curious about that water tank stand. Do the top of the legs come all the way to the top board? And then you just screwed them to the table top frame? Does that make sense? Basically I'm wondering if the weight of the stand is distributed onto the frame and then the frame is on the legs. You want the frame to actually sit on top on the legs. Otherwise the frame itself is not able to provide much weight bearing. This is a picture of what is the correct way for strongest weight distribution. If you don't rest the frame on top of the actual legs, then only the four corners have any structural strength. Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

Nice! I thought your tank area couldn't allow any additional length? Wasn't it between the fireplace or something? Either way, congrats! Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

Good to see you got yourself a new tank! How much depth did you gain? 12"? Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

Shouldn't be a problem if there's no significant light hitting it. If there is, it could get coated in algae. Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

Thanks Bill! @Gumby, you're up! Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

Original poster. It means your are the person who started the thread. Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

I have no experience so take my comments as just an opinion. It all comes down to numbers for me. There should be some data that demonstrates how much electricity they produce on average in your city. Then you have to essentially take your energy cost per watt and how many watts you use each month and you can determine how long you'll have to run them to offset the initial cost. For me, being "green" isn't an inherent value so I'd be concerned with straight dollar for dollar savings. However, if being green is really important, than you have to try and determine what the "value" of that is and include that in your cost. Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

Both new meters are checked out, but you two are next in line. If you don't have LEDs, the third one is available at CnC and will work perfectly fine. If you have LEDs, you're best served by one of the new ones. Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

I am a sponsoring Member. Party time!! Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

Nothing like some healthy exfoliating. Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

HELLO AND HAPPY SUMMER TO PNWMAS!! In case you haven’t noticed, there has been a noticeable hindrance to the club being able to meet up and have our monthly meetings. I’m not sure about you, but I’ve been missing the monthly festivities. Whether it’s tank tours, educational presentations, free food, or raffles and prizes, our meetings are pretty fun. Due to the club not being able to meet, your officers and board have put together an awesome string of contests, raffles, and activities. The club has purchased some awesome prizes and we look forward to a lot of people winning them! There are actually several different contests and raffles. Every few days for the next couple of weeks, we are going to roll out a new opportunity to participate and join the fun. Some of these prizes don’t even require you to purchase anything to win! It’s our hope that every person participates in all the various opportunities. We want to bring some much needed distraction into our daily lives. We have about $1,500 worth of equipment and gift certificates up for grabs! That doesn’t even include our special addition Cuttlefish “Collectable Covid Coral” that we will have for sale (at cost). Specific details about each activity will be posted as they come up. Here is a quick overview of the events and prizes so you have something to look forward to: · Photo Contest (cell phone category and real camera category): 4 x $25 Gift Certificates to any LFS sponsor of choice. · Build Thread Contest: Hanna Alk Checker · Members only raffle: MP40 · Special Edition Covid group buy coral frags from Cuttlefish and Coral · Raffle Items: Eheim Auto Feeder Hanna Alk Checker Hanna Phosphate Checker Refractometer 3 x $25 Gift Certificate to LFS sponsor of choice MP40 MP10 The first game is coming up in one day! All in all, I think this is going to be an awesome time! PNWMAS has made a huge and lasting impact on the marine aquarium community for many years. The heart behind all of this is not only to encourage continued growth and interaction within the club, but ultimately produce a stronger community of people to help one another in this never-ending reefing journey.

Dude, you are freaking amazing! Awesome work! I can see it now, "Hey dad, can I just plug my system into yours? It'd way easier to maintain." Your big ole tank controlled by the Trident is like patching into the ocean for your son's tank. [emoji38] Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

Looks like you'll be sitting across those joists right next to that load bearing foundation so that's a solid place to be. You want to avoid being parallel with the joists and also avoid being in the middle of a long span. Seems you have avoided both so that's good. I'll tell you the same thing my structural engineer friend told me after he worked through all the calculations for my house and my 360 gallon aquarium: "This information is worth as much as you paid for it." [emoji16] Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

API tests are to be avoided if you want any level of confidence in your parameters. I wouldn't worry about nitrite. Chemist Randy Holmes-Farley has explained at length about how due to the chemical makeup of saltwater, nitrites has little impact on saltwater reefs. They will eventually go down on their own. The fact you have nitrates AND nitrites (if you actually do and there isn't done testing inconsistency) means you are in a mini cycle after having already cycled your tank. The way you cycled your aquarium will play a role in where your nitrates are at. If you provided too large an ammonia source, you could see a spike in nitrates. There are numerous methods for nitrate reduction so you'll have to read up on that. Water changes, growing macro algae, and denitrifying bacteria are a few of the most common. I'd get a better nitrate test kit before doing anything else (although water changes are rarely a bad thing). Something like Hanna, Red Sea, or Salifert test kits. Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

All contributors will be kept confidential. [emoji38][emoji38][emoji38] Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

Copper in the display? Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

There's definitely a push for people to make their photos look as extreme as possible. Personally, I'm not a fan. There's a lot of research about coral response and coloration. Way too much to try and just explain, but overall the blue spectrum is preferred. How blue one should go is still up for debate and kind of depends on what your goals are as far as growth and coloration. Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

Welcome to the club. Looks like a solid start! Joist direction, size, spacing, and current quality are what's important when considering load. Assuming you have standard 16" braces running perpendicular to you tank, you are most likely good. Best to be against the load bearing wall, but I've seen people get away with some crazy situations. Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

Coldwater Marine Aquatics use to run an operation out of Oregon. They were the main supplier of those animals. I'm not sure what happened with all of that. I still see one of the previous owners Stu posting about Coldwater stuff from time to time on Facebook. Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

Chief said it was relatively expensive. I don't know the details myself. Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

I've suggested we purchase these for two years in a row. It always gets shot down. Some people worry about liability. Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

Yeah like we mentioned before, it's pretty crazy with Covid right now. I've also confirmed we are not a 501©3. Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

Yeah I can hear that. They're in the display, but the filefish seems to keep them at bay pretty good. Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

I have some in my sump. Never tried scraping them off the glass, but I imagine I could. I'm in Scappoose. If you wanted to head this way, I could scrap off a decent little group. Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk