afgun

I've definitely got mantis; anyone have stories with success at catching them?

Yep. I received an unexpected bonus at work, and made my mind up to blow it on the aquarium. I'll share my good fortune with the ARC

Following along as I think that this is a spectacular idea!

I received my Apogee yesterday. I'll be drumming up some readings shortly. I will also make it available for loan to ARC members.

OK, I'm not placing an order. I'm piggybacking on ChrisP's order instead.

You win! If you don't mind adding my stuff to your order, I'd be happy to pick my order up from you then...

Someone decides to coordinate. Others tell her/him what they want, and provide the funds. The coordinator then places the order, receives it, and the others arrange pickup with the coordinator. You want much ?

It appears like I need a booster pump for my RODI system. I will be placing the order on Monday... if you need something from BRS please let me know and you can tag along... I only need $35 more for free shipping.

Does anyone local have a PAR meter that they'd be willing to lend me once I get water in my tank?

I'm not qualified to answer... my wife is the one who was originally interested in a reef aquarium. I wasn't keen on spending the money, but she convinced me... and I have ended up the addict! She's just frustrated (disgusted?) at how long it's taking me to get this thing ready for water! Bottom line is what other posters have said... don't obsess over it, don't let it be the focal point of your life, but let your SO know that you're very interested in it and you'd like them to be open to the idea of keeping it together!

Very nice!

Regal has a minimum purchase policy that caused me to get my excess quantities of #4 and #16... buyer beware

I'll second prof; he'll come to you as well.

I have tons of #4 and #16 (in Round Rock) if you still need it...

I just ordered a maxcap from spectrapure today for my RODI... http://www.spectrapure.com/St_di_systems.htm Get yourself another filter canister and a maxcap cartridge, and plumb before your DI resin cartridge to greatly extend the life of the resin, according to the web page. I'll let you know how it works once I get my system up and running... --andrew

Any updates on this, Mike? Is it in use? Effective at nutrient export? How is it for maintenance (ie how often do you scrape the screens)? Etc...

I'm interested in a couple of the 30g...

Phosban reactor? I'm planning on running a calc and phosban reactor on my tank when I finally get it set up...

Still for sale? If so, I'm interested in RR

Yes, expensive initial outlay, but assuming that they will work fine for 5 years, at the end of that time I'm ahead of the game financially due to no bulb changes and no chiller running... I hope. I hope. I am still working the numbers, and will have to wait to see how the bank account shakes out after the next couple of weeks, but I am definitely anxious to get my tank up and running. Thank you for the advice.

So with a change in finances, my tank still sits empty in the living room. I have received a modest bonus from my employer, though, and am considering stuffing money towards my tank. To that end, I am strongly considering stepping up to the PacificSun BT-EX 120 (1 master and 2 slave modules). The US distributor (just getting up and going) assures me that these will put out sufficient light for my tank. Of course, it's still a pretty penny to swallow, but it looks like this would allow me to skip running the chiller, drastically reducing my over-time run cost. And the geek-factor of computer controlled lighting isn't bad, either. Your thoughts ?

My aquarium guy is pushing me strongly towards 400W HQI and actinics to supplement, given the depth of my tank. I have a 12" canopy, so I should be able to get the lights far enough above the tank to minimize heat transfer. And I have a chiller, just in case. Recommendations on brand/model?

Thanks. 400 is what I had been leaning towards. What if I get crazy and instead of using 3x400@14k, I do 3x250@10k and 2x250@20k for a broader spectrum of light. Yes, this gets to be crazy expensive for ballasts and bulb replacement, but I'd like to ensure that I have a really good-viewing tank. Am I nuts? Referencing this discussion http://www.reefland.com/forum/equipment-archives/3274-250-hqi-better-than-400-watt.html; obviously my tank is quite a bit smaller than that one...

Hello. I'm relatively new to the Austin area. We had a 150 reef before we moved to Tejas, for about 9 months. We are putting together a new system, but I'm really stumped as to what to do for lighting... It's a 30" deep tank, and 6' long. So I'm thinking a combination of 3 MH and some actinic CFLs or VHOs. We plan on keeping a wide variety of soft, LPS and SPS corals as well as some fish and other critters that belong in a reef. There are more opinions out there than people, it seems. Do you recommend 250 or 400W bulbs for a 30" deep tank with my mix of "stuff" ? What temperature ? And as for wattage of the actinic ? Thanks! --andrew