thedude

Agree completely, it should be 1/4" I THINK but I could be wrong (Home Depot is also my kryptonite). I'd bring the regulator with you and search for the nut. After that, you jam the piece of tubing over the threads then screw the nut down.

That's my favorite picture EVER

I agree with James, 1-2". This allows you to gravel back the sand bed during water changes, removing any detritus and keeping the sand nice and white. John

Brian submit your photo of your mystery wrasse yawning! It's my favorite picture you've ever taken!

Let's revive this thread and get some ideas for the next meeting.

Is the website acting weird for anyone else? I'm using Internet Explorer and it's taking forever to load and freaking out every 30 or so seconds. John

Is the angel in with coral? Has he been a model citizen? Thanks, John

Thanks James and Jennifer for hosting the meeting, it was a good one. And I've sort of got a magnesium complex as well... after thinking about it, I've started to adjust up my water change water to 1400 to stop fighting a losing battle! John

Mako's tank was one of mine and naka and invincible are from the same manufacturer. Email me at [email protected] and I'll get you a price for what you want. John

Glasscages is pretty much going to be the cheapest custom tank you can get. All the other big name companies are going to cost 1.5-2x the cost of the glasscages tank. Unfortunately, custom small tanks still require 2 people to put them together so the labor on a 300 gallon tank and the labor on a 30 gallon tank is the same. If you're looking for a smaller rimless/braceless tank check out Amano Design tanks. http://www.adgshop.com/Trimless_aquariums_s/5.htm Also remember that the dimension listed are in centimeters, not inches. John

About time you posted this

James and I just talked for over an hour and this promises to be a good presentation. James has gotten some great info (and bs) from several different supplement companies and we should hit on a lot of points. Please come armed with some questions on both supplements and calcium reactors so that we can get a good discussion going. If we get some really good questions going (ones that no one can answer) we can post them back up here and get people on this forum posting again! John

It's called Austin Aquatic Innovations now FYI

Crosshatch triggers are a fairly deepwater fish from Hawaii and are an extremely pricey fish. As James said, they're often really hard to get acclimated to captivity.

Karen, Like others have said, the water at that place when we tested it was just plain terrible. All your algae problems are stemming from your source water and any supplements or additives would simply be a waste of money. Look into the RO/DI units that Gabriel is recommending or at the least, get some 5 gallon jugs from Walmart and fill them at your LFS of choice. RO/DI water usually runs between $.20-$.25 a gallon and with a few water changes and time, your algae problem should dissapear. Good luck and at least you have a definitive source for your problem algae! John

Just to chime in, diatom algae is comprised of 90% silicate molecules, therefore your problem is probably silicate and not phosphate. What kind of water are you using, and what kind of salt? Silicate isn't normally a mineral added with food and comes from your source water or salt. John

Derasa's are a sand dwelling clam in the wild and they shouldn't stick their foot to anything, unlike a crocea or maxima. Make sure that nothing it bothering the clams mantle or foot and check your water parameters. Also as several people have mentioned, you're on the edge of how much light the clam will need. John

Looks like a stylophora to me. It doesn't have the right branch structure or polyps to be a birdsnest (seriatopora hystrix) but could possibly be seriatopora stellata? The fact that the coralites are spread out lead my to believe it isn't a pocillopora. Stylophora subseriata gets my vote http://www.meerwasser-lexikon.de/eng/95/57.../subseriata.htm For reference: Pocillopora: http://www.meerwasser-lexikon.de/eng/95/58.../damicornis.htm Birdsnest: http://www.meerwasser-lexikon.de/eng/95/57...ora/hystrix.htm Seriatopora stellata: http://www.meerwasser-lexikon.de/eng/95/57...ra/stellata.htm John

Another frag swap eh? In all honesty, the last one was the second one we've had and it was a HUGE success, but I think frag swaps need to be far apart so that people can actually grow some good frags (bi-yearly?). I also think that the next place we do it in, needs to be BIG. Marcus and Dallas's place was great but it was way too crowded and I think we'd all benefit from more room to show the wares off (possibly in a hotel convention room or the likes). Anyway, I saw we start gearing towards a frag swap in Oct/Nov/Dec and get some ideas going as to a venue. John

Supplementation seems like a pretty good topic to me. I spent countless dollars throwing all kinds of chemicals into my tank that didn't do a whole lot.

Thanks again Gabe for hosting the meeting. Your tank's progress over the last few months was truly incredible and I can't wait to see it grown in after another six! John

I'm not saying it doesn't trap particulate, it most definitely does. The reason for a filter sock in Clint's sump (now Andrew's) was to cut down noise and bubbles. Anything after that was a plus. I would have to agree with the other guys here that as long as you have a spare, the maintenance to clean a filter sock is way less than the maintenance to shop vac a sump. John

The sock in your sump is there not really to catch particulate, but to eliminate noise and bubbles from the overflow. If those aren't problems, you don't need the filter sock. John

Although his venture is private, he has a great camera and I'll hound him continuously for pics. This is his home site!

Unfortunately it won't be open to the public and I can't tell you where it is. Matt (the owner) discussed it with several people and the general consensus was, if you aren't going to sell direct to the public, the public should not know where it is. As for what he's going to grow, I'll get Matt to hop on here and talk to ya'll about it. I'm REAL excited because this thing is very very clean and has the potential to do anything he can dream of. Again with the meeting question, the answer is most likely no. As for the hiring question, I'll refer to him but if you really are interested, PM me and I'll get you two talking. John