Entropy

One of the reasons my tank has been suffering...

It was a pleasure to meet you Mike. Didn't know I would spend over an hour talking about bikes, although I should have guessed with your screen name. Sold!!!

Couldn't find the silly PM button. Message sent.

I live in Teravista. Probably will not be home until 5:30pm tomorrow.

LOL! Yeah I guess I was assuming that as a given. It is surprisingly hard to take a good picture of a metal halide, but this shows it running and it is too bright to look at. I just dumped it onto RC for $75 shipped. Bigger audience there.

03 model IceCap 250w MH Ballast $55 Comes with spider reflector (decent shape) with attached mogul, and a 2000 year old 20k bulb. Price is for the ballast only, the rest I am throwing in for free but no hard feelings if you don't like the reflector or bulb.

What kind of lighting are you keeping it under?

Sold....

There is one ahead of you Ted. If they back out I will send you an Email.

Instant Ocean Sea Salt Mix - 160gal Bucket unopened. Just got it today in the mail.

You can use egg crate to close up any big holes or even a completely open back. the fish can still get out, but they have to be really accurate to do it.

In the seven years I have been keeping salt water fish I have had two jump out of the tank (dozens jumping into the overflow). I lost a fire goby from my old tank (in wall, completely open back) when my wife slammed the door. I guess the shock wave or noise scare it enough to make it jump. Sad thing is I saw it happen and it probably wouldn't have been a big deal, but the poor little guy actually jumped from the tank right into a five gallon bucket of top of water and by the time I ran around to the back I guess the shock of fresh water plus probably 30 degrees of temp difference did it in. The other was my longnose hawkfish. He jumped out the back of my last tank (open back), but luckily for it I was doing maintenance and actually heard it flopping around being the tank. I don't know how long it was out, but I threw it back in and he is still swimming two years later. Now I have a full canopy that is completly closed. The only way out is through two small 1.5 inch holes in the back or through the 120mm fan in the top. I figure if they want out that bad, then more power to them.

I am in for the 19th. I am not looking to order much though (probably $10).

Honestly I don't know what kind of 20k bulb I have right now. I picked it up for free at the end of it's useful life cycle. Six months later I think it is time for a new one. I am not growing anything so it is not a huge deal, but I would like to start some softies. What I have now is very white with a lot of blue, closer to a 14k bulb I think. Similar to the Iwasaki 15k (175w). I run it unsupplemented so color is more important than par.

What does the color look like? I might be interested, but I am running a 20k lamp currently.

Looks like I have a taker (in under 3 minutes). Don't you people have anything better to do than troll the fish forums? I will let you know if they back out.

I have both of these guys in my sump (been there a while). The cardinal got the crap beat out of it by my red stripe angel, and the spotted goby got hammered by my yellow watchman (30x30 is not big enough for us all to get along?). Anyway they both seemed to have recovered their fins since the assault, and are living pretty happily in my sump, but it seems silly to have an extra bioload from fish I don't get to see. Free to a good home. Keep in mind these are $5 fish, so driving from Nebraska to get them doesn't make much sense.

I don't suppose you are letting the sand go? I have been toying with putting sand in my tank.

Remember that a 90g is a relatively small tank when you start talking 400w bulbs. A dual 400w setup will cook the average 90g setup. I ran dual 175's and 2x110w VHo actinics over my original tank (90g) and it grew everything just fine (SPS, LPS, softies). I think 250w probably has the most options bulb wise, but the Iwasaki 15k 175w bulb beats many of the 250's and compares really well to the rest. I think with 400's you will need a chiller (or a massive sump).

It is still Friday Chris... Is the Magnum complete?

I think you will find that there is way too many variables to make it useful. Even identical items vary from batch to batch. It is very frustrating sometimes.

In my old tank I used to just go after it with a knife and give it away in ziploc bags. I gave away tons of it, but it got to the point where no one in my club wanted anymore. I was super careful at first and then I realised I couldn't kill this stuff anyway so I just used the paring knife and did my best to scrape off the leftovers.

Did you ever sell the 180g?

My sixline spent a month in the overflow before I figured out it was in there. I had to take the Durso apart and fish it out with a small net. This is one of the reasons I don't glue my durso together. My current tank is viewable from the side, so it is a lot easier to see fish in the overflow. Over course with a 2 inch drain, it is a lot easier for them to end up in the sump as well which is why I has to put a strainer on the drain opening.

I just use 2 liter bottles full of RO. Fill them about 80%, freeze them, drop them into the water (I used to use them in my sump in my old house), and then return them to the freezer before bed. I only have about 100g of water in my current set up so I just leave my three 5g jugs inside the house the night before.