etannert

"Scofflaw"... what a great word.

Then there was the night I picked up a baggie of chaeto that had been left for me on someone's back windshield under cover of night... yeeeeeaaahh, nothing suspicious going on here, officer...

Well heck, sign me up. I have experience with education, advocacy, and large group management.

Austin is severely lacking in quality public attractions. If you compare us to other medium and large cities, it's really a joke. We don't have any zoos, aquariums, museums, etc. that could possibly be considered equivalent to what you would find in most cities. Based on the reviews of the other aquariums, I don't want Austin's representation of an aquarium to be the same as those.

...It should also be pretty clear why Austin was a good candidate for a private aquarium. We have over a million people, a great economic environment, and absolutely no competing attractions within at least an hour....

Fantastic point. Who do we have to talk to in city government to get some motion towards better public attractions? I've been to what masquerades as a zoo in Austin, and it's pretty pathetic. I'm back in my hometown of Knoxville, TN, today, and I had forgotten how small it is, compared to Austin. But there's a great public zoo here, a planetarium, a decent art museum, and of course the world-famous Tennessee Aquarium is about an hour's jaunt south in Chattanooga. We have some great performing arts in Austin, and I know Sea World is right down the road, but seriously, Austin can do better than it is right now.

A few thoughts...

1. I think comparing hobbyists to professionals is a specious argument at best. Saying that we as hobbyists have killed fish and engage in cycling via fish, so them doing the same shouldn't matter, is an inaccurate comparison. I don't think any of us here would compare ourselves to the good folks working in the Sea World coral reef section, nor should we; and if I can accurately compare my knowledge and experience to the folks running AA, then they shouldn't be running a public aquarium. Hence my earlier point about the need for degreed and experienced biologists and zoologists on staff.

2. Cycling with a fish is unnecessary and cruel. Declawing a cat or snipping the vocal cords of a dog is also cruel. People do all these things, and they do it for the same reason: convenience. It's the same reason we go to McDonald's or Whataburger even though we know it's horrible for us, it's the same reason I can't be bothered to put on sunscreen even when I'm outside at marching rehearsal for 4 hrs every afternoon (and yes, I know it's stupid, but there you go). I'm not passing judgment on anyone for doing it, and I have no knowledge of whether it's less cruel in freshwater than saltwater (because I've never kept freshwater beyond a goldfish when I was in college), but we know that there are better ways to cycle saltwater tanks. And I do think that we should reasonably be able to HOPE that an organization that purports to be educational in nature would use the most humane methods currently available.

3. I have no idea where this talk of burning bridges came from, but it's incendiary and off-topic. I would LOVE for there to be a fantastic public aquarium in Austin; it would save me driving to Sea World, which I never seem to have time to do. I would love for my friends, students and coworkers to know what it is I'm talking about when I say I keep saltwater reef tanks. I just want to know that when I send friends and family there, I can do so knowing the husbandry is of a high quality. If they are truly looking out for the best interests of the animals, they won't mind that we are doing the same.

Thanks for all your work on this, Richard!

I don't believe octopi exist.

Pot stirrer...

An oldie but goodie - and hopefully less controversial than the last thread I started...

http://sciencefriday.com/video/08/05/2011/where-s-the-octopus.html#path/video/08/05/2011/where-s-the-octopus.html

I'd be up to get in on a group order, though I'm usually only good for $20-40. Deadline?

EMT

You can put the extra live rock in buckets with water. As long as there is a powerhead in the bucket, the rock will be fine.

FWIW, if you have an ATO on the 20 and it's in a climate controlled area of the building, the tank will go a week at a time without a problem. Once a week you'd need to feed the inhabitants and refill the ATO. Although, between summer school and the fact the band only takes about 5-6 weeks off, it seems to me like you'd be able to access it pretty regularly.

http://www.petco.com/product/104922/Petco-Water-Bottles-for-Small-Animals.aspx?CoreCat=MM_SmallAnimalSupplies_DishesFeedersWaterers

It's one of these, unfortunately the wire cage is not shown but you can get an idea of the process to set it up. I had the biggest one (which usually lasted 6-7 days) and when I moved this summer it wouldn't fit properly in the new space, so now I have one of the smaller ones and it last about 3 days.

I use a hamster bottle gravity-fed ATO on my pico. Works just fine, unfortunately the bottle is so small I have to fill it twice a week but other than that it's pain-free!

Brilliant, been needing one for my pico on my desk at work. Do you just put the end of the valve at the water level?

No valve, just tubing (1/2"?) running from the end of the nozzle to the water line in the tank. I was able to yank the metal piece with the ball out of the cap using a pair of pliers, then mounted the tubing onto the cap where the metal piece used to protrude. The tubing hangs down to meet the water line in the tank. The whole thing is mounted to the wall using the cage from the hamster bottle and a couple of eyelet screws.

I use a hamster bottle gravity-fed ATO on my pico. Works just fine, unfortunately the bottle is so small I have to fill it twice a week but other than that it's pain-free!

Did you get it from Aquatek? That might be like the one I have in my pico from them. Kind of brownish and fuzzy. Seems to do okay as long as I feed the tank adequately and don't let detritus accumulate on its skin.

Sunday, Feb. 16 is ideal for me.

RChavez never used PCs :-) it was T5s, but he did keep SPS just fine in a 20g with a Wavepoint 4-bulb T5 fixture.

Shoot, I converted Alk to Calc in my mind... sorry about that...

Ooooo, get that all up. 180 is looooooowww.

I agree with Timfish, that looks like brown jelly and needs to go ASAP. And finally, does sound like too much light. Sorry to be negative nancy over here...

Deepest sympathies on the passing of your father!

I do lots of construction for a living and most of the time waiting on all the permits can get rediculous. You will go broke waiting on them. If you can get away with it why not do it? I've killed a lot of fish and I have never had a tank bigger than 65g, I bet they have a whole bunch of them. Hope we get to do a back stage tour! If your Gona bash them or talk negatively about them you should wait for them to open and give an honest opinion rather than echo bad rumors and reviews.

I agree, anything less is just cheap talk! One has the right to speculate in this country all they want, but that don't make it right!!!!

If they screw this up then I would be the first one on the band wagon to shut them down. But they too have the right to give it a try. Noone knows the circumstances of how they got into trouble with permits or lack of them. Could have been honest mistakes who knows. And ignorance of the law does not make it right so plea deals are done. OK But that doesn't giver us a right to try their morals in a court of opinion on the internet! Just simmer down! Simmer down!

You can go first...

Pertness aside, any teacher can tell you that yelling at those who've already raised their voices will just lead to a sore throat.

(And yes, I'm posting from my district convocation.)

Band gets in the way of everything... sigh.

My cat managed to jump into the tank tonight. (She was standing on my shoulder as I was sitting at the table nearby.) She was out before I could even react and never got fully submerged, but still, it was quite the excitement for the evening...

The tank seems to be fine and none the worse for its unexpected visitor. The kitty spent a little time curled up in my lap, recovering her dignity.

Any other tales of feline (or other animal) intrusions into other folks' tanks?

I can't help but think of the old saying, where there's smoke there's usually a fire. Regardless of whether every little thing we've heard about these guys is true - there sure does seem to be a lot of smoke surrounding the Austin Aquarium owners and their animal husbandry.