Willow

First... I have no clue as to the sea apple.. I researched them just enough to find out that they can nuke a take then gave up very quickly on the idea of having one!

I feed dried nori, frozen Emerald Entre cubes and also my own frozen food blend (a mix of meats and greens)... bits of raw shrimp and silversides for the anemones... I also dose live phyto (home grown) & live brine shrimp (also home grown).. and eventually I hope to culture mysid shrimp...

I avoid flakes and pellets... to me frozen or fresh food beats manufactured flakes any day! Granted that's just my opinion and you may have different results... but so far (knock wood) none of my fish have ever had ich or any other disease and I don't have any algae problems... I read somewhere that some of the manufactured foods can cause algae problems... not sure how true that is.. but maybe someone else with more experience can chime in...

I laughed so hard when I read this. Mainly because I could myself doing the exact same thing.

me too... I am notorious for killing poor innocent cell phones.... so I leave them out in the wild where they can roam free....

The Fu-Mancho is pretty neat looking. What does he eat? I don't really want a fish trying to eat my other fish. )

Plus I have live shrimp in there already. And will be getting corals as soon as I can upgrade my lighting.

Lionfish eat whatever they can fit in their mouths. Some of the dwarfs prefer crustaceans (so bye bye shrimp) but won't turn down a fish if they happen to be hungry.

Check this out:

The city of Austin is selling cheap 75 Gallon barrels. From the picture it even look like they come with a spigot. I thought these might make good RO/DI holding tanks.

http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/watercon/rbsales.htm

Just tell them it is for "collecting rain"

I wish Copperas Cove would do something like this!

I am sure I can get you some. Let me know when you are coming this way.

That would be great! Thanks!

I have 3 handfuls of Dragon's Breath Macro algae I will sell for $10 each.

I've been wanting to get some of that; but I have no way to get to Austin until after the 18th!

Hopefully you'll have some later on down the road.

we had been thinking about getting one.. but they have too short of a lifespan (some only a year)..

Nice setup!

you guys are giving me ideas for when I go for a bigger tank.... (someday... lol...)

Willow, those are way nicer than mine! Awesome style. Looks like I will be copying your design this weekend.

Hey.. go for it.. and have fun!

That is super fly! I will definitely be trying that. You need to give the club a demonstration at one of the meetings. DIY rock give you the chance to make that perfect shape without months of scoring the LFS. NICE!

thanks...

just a few of the things I noticed...

1. make the mix fairly dry (like clay).. too runny and it's a lot harder to form it in the shape you want.. but not so dry that it crumbles

2. keep a spray bottle of water handy for wetting sections you are joining together

3. use bubble wrap or something similar for making large holes (the concrete won't stick to it & it's easy to remove when it's dry)..

4. don't be afraid to shore up the sides with piles of sand (or salt, if using salt as a mold).. it helps to keep it from collapsing

5. if it starts to lean.. stop.. let it dry then come back and add onto it.. just use "wet" concrete to join the old to the new...

6. you can also add onto the bottoms to make it more stable if you find a piece is top heavy.. just use wetter concrete & set the other piece onto it (bracing it with other items).

7. you can join more than one dry piece together ... just use the wetter concrete as the joint.

most of this is common sense.. but things we tend to forget when we are being "artistic"...

I use a sand mold as well as sculpting. My mixes vary between cement with sand, cement with salt and sand (as well as mixes with oyster shell and crushed coral). I'm still at the experimental stage right now.. but here are a couple of mine in the process of curing for a month before the water soak.

these are cement and sand for the white one.. and cement and sand with salt for the darker one... btw.. the darker one still has the salt in it right now.. haven't done a hot water soak to disolve it yet...

So, where is your shop going to be located? we can always use new fish stores in the area!

Buda?.. lol.. I used to live in Buda back in the 80's!... Did they ever replace the storage shed/ fire dept. building with a real building?

Back when I lived there.. the main street only had shops on one side of the road with the fire department on the other side (until the fire station burnt down & they replaced it with the storage shed) ... and the street was paved until you hit the train tracks.. dirt road on the "wrong side of the tracks"... Makes me wonder just how much it has grown and changed in the last 20 years!

Welcome to the group!.. Some day I may have to make a trip back there and see how much it has changed...

http://www.reefs.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?...light=24+7+pods

http://www.reefs.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?...uge+pods+lights

Not the thread I was looking for.. but these may be of interest...

From what i have read on other forums.. the only drawback to 24/7 lights on is that it hurts pod production.. has anyone here who has had their fuge lights on 24/7 experienced that?

I'll check later and see if I can find the thread where I read that and post a link...

I've been to the planetarium once .. for a laser light show.. the seats are reclined and the screen is the entire ceiling and walls.. it's a pretty unique experience.. so I can imagine how their coral reef show might be!

I also posted this over on MAAST...

http://www.starsatnight.org/shows/nowshowi...coral_reef.html

Didn't know if anyone would be interested.. but I ran across this.. I haven't been yet.. but I am going to try to get there!

lol.. i figured frags would be required to trade for other frags...

But I don't have any frags yet to trade!.. Though I do make candles... lol

Thought i would crawl out from under my rock do the formal intro...

Currently I have two 29 gallons (both are pretty much just holding tanks at the moment).. One of those will become a seahorse tank eventually...

I also have a 50 gallon (very shallow) and I just purchased Big Bird's 75 gallon Oceanic this past weekend.. both the 50 and the 75 are currently empty.

The 75 is destined to be an anemone/clown fish tank (BTA).. no idea yet as to what will happen with the 50.. maybe softies?.. I dunno yet.

Anyway.. I am not in Austin.. but figured I'm close enough that maybe it will go unnoticed...

Nice to be here so far.. or at least until I wear out my welcome! lol