mojo

Who is that guy, he looks like a total dork in those glasses!

Yep, as Clint mentioned, I had been smitten as well. I suspected them due to poor coloration and PE in my acros, even after killing red bugs with Interceptor. The worst coral in my tank was this millepora frag. I simply removed it and placed it into a small bowl of tank water. Check out the bottom, between the purple putty, and you can see a cluster of AEFW eggs. I then placed 5 drops of Lugol's solution in the container and after 1 minute and a little water movement with a turkey baster, here's what I found. So now all of my SPS (except for my monti caps) are living in Clint's QT. More updates to come from Clint, I'm sure. As a group, all of us at ARC need to be very diligent and compulsive about dipping and/or quarantining all of our corals. This will be very important so that we don't continue to pass these and other pests into other tanks locally. Let's all commit to good quarantine and dipping procedures so that we can make central Texas a "no pest" zone. It will certainly make it easier for all of us to continue to share frags and advance our husbandry practices. That will be a lot more fun (and less expensive) than refining our skills in killing parasites.

I placed the order this morning, and the delivery will be made tomorrow as mentioned. Dhayden, I ordered you a dozen ceriths, but astreas were only sold in lots of 100 (I called to see if they could send less, but they said "no") so I didn't order any. If everyone could come to my place between 4-5 pm tomorrow that would be great. I'm sorry it's such a narrow window of time, but I don't think I can get home any sooner than that, and I forgot that I have to leave the house to take my daughter to a halloween party. If you can't get there in that window of time, I'll include my cell phone # with the directions, and I can meet you back at the house so you can get your livestock. Thanks again, everyone, and I'm looking forward to meeting those that I don't already know. Mike

Dhayden, please pm me your phone number so I can call you in the morning to discuss this, as I'm ready to place the order. I'll wait until we speak. Rohn - I got the # - I'll call you as well. Mike

I'll be ordering everything as 1 order, but the items will be bagged separately so we won't have to open them up and divvy things out. If everyone could just pay at pick-up (cash) that would be best, since I don't have a PayPal account.

mburton - you're in! If anyone else still wants in on this, I'm going to place the order tomorrow morning, so don't delay. Delivery will be on Friday morning to my house. I won't be home from work yet, but my wife will take the box inside the house, open it, and remove the heat pack. That should keep everything alive and well until pick-up time. I'll send everyone who's ordering a pm with directions to my house. Thanks for everyone's interest. Mike

I think we've hit the mark. Now we just have to decide on a delivery date. This weekend is no good for me (I'm on call), but I could do Friday. If this doesn't work for everyone, then we can push it back until the next week. What do you all think? JimD - why do you ask? Rohn - please make comments in this thread as opposed to sending pm's as well - we're all friends here

Okay, we're almost there. Who wants to place a clean-up crew order and push us over the $120 mark? In case you can't tell, I hate paying for shipping.

tagging along p.s. Andrew, another suggestion - it would be nice to have a "subscribe to this thread" button so we don't have to post that we're tagging along. Mike

Barton Creek

I don't need enough stuff myself to get to the $120 mark for free shipping. I'd like to order as soon as possible, so if anyone wants anything from Reeftopia.com please join in here. I'm getting: Me: 12 nassarius vibex - $10 12 cerith - $15 2 peppermint shrimp - $9 1 emerald crab - $6 1 lettuce nudibranch - $7 rohnds: 1 XL peppermint shrimp - $6 1 royal gramma - $6 1 condylactus anemone - $6 1 emerald crab - $6 bigbird123: 100 blue-legs - $35 12 scarlet hermits - $30 mburton: 12 Nassarius vibex - $10 12 Cerith Snail, Large - $15 1 Fighting Conch, Small - $6 Dhayden: 12 ceriths - $15 We need to get the total to at least $120. Who's in?

The kind you (we) need are made by Aquarium Pharmaceuticals and are called "Fluke-Tabs." I ordered 1000 of them but they won't be in until mid-next week. If anyone has some already please let Clint (us) know.

I'm interested in the hammer and the candy cane. Got pics?

I would echo enigma's comment in that you definitely have to plan what will be contained in the stand prior to building it. In my case, I knew I wanted a sump and a top-off reservoir inside the stand. I built my stand with a shelf inside, and the height of the top shelf was determined by the height of the top-off reservoir. I had a pre-determined height in mind for viewing my tank, and the difference between that and the height of the upper shelf set the height of the lower level inside the stand. I then had my sump custom built to fit in that amount of space. Other equipment that tends to have a lot of height includes skimmers and most reactors, so plan out what you'll need before you get them. You can generally get the specs (height, length, width) of all of the equipment you'll need on-line. If you're planning on doors on the sides, and you have the proper DIY equipment, I'd suggest european hinges as opposed to standard hinges like I used. They look so much nicer, IMO. Of course make sure you apply several layers of urethane to protect the wood. Good luck and keep us posted.

No problem, Rob, whenever you're ready just let me know. The offer remains open. Mike

reefman, go to the Photo Gallery, select "Corals" and you'll be there

Interesting that I.O. was considered the worst salt. In polls conducted on Reef Central, I.O. is clearly the most popular brand. I've been using it in my tank for the past year and I've had no cyano to speak of. That being said, since I don't run a calcium reactor, I plan on changing to Tropic Marin (not Pro). I'm not sure I'm comfortable with this decision based on the principle that 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it', but maybe I'll get even better coral growth with a different salt? Mike

Stephen, sorry to have beaten you out of that monti frag. I didn't realize anyone else was interested. Hope you can get a piece. It's a fast grower and mine is under intense light with pretty forceful flow, and is as happy as can be. Now let's get back on topic ... who else learned anything at MACNA?

Gabriel, What is the data that has convinced you to do 25% weekly water changes? Also, did you attend Eric Borneman's sea salt discussion? Which salt will you be using for your 25% water changes (I'm going to buy stock in that company!). Cheers, Mike

This is a steal! The sump alone is worth that much. If I didn't already have a 30 cube I'd buy it.

John, mighty generous of you. Looking forward to the thread and pics (like I'm one to ask for pics, eh?). Mike

More please, more, more, more! My daughter's 3rd B-day party was during MACNA and I couldn't go, so I'm dying to hear what eveybody learned. Great start, Gabriel. Who else went and what did you learn? p.s. Gabriel, the purple montipora digitata I bought from you at the last ARC meeting is looking awesome! Mike

Brian, that is extremely generous of you to donate all of those frags. Hopefully the recipients will grow them into large colonies that they, too, can donate to fellow reefers. Kudos to Kingfish Aquarium Design! Mike

I checked the Oceanic website and couldn't find the "Biocube 29" to which you refer. I have an Oceanic 30g cube, and the stand for that can be found in almost any PetSmart or similar-type store. I'm not at all fond of the stand that comes with the 30g cube, which is why I built my own.

John, Eric Borneman is going to present results of his sea salt experiment. For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, check out this article. http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-09/eb/index.php#1 At any rate, it would be great if you came back with the answer to the ultimate question - which is the best salt? Unfortunately he's not testing Tropic Marin Pro, but the other big players are there. Thanks, bro, and have a great time (I won't be going crybaby2.gif ), Mike