Sushi

If you're having trouble coming up with a name, check this out... Hope it helps! ^_~ Arr! -Kat

Oh wow! I'm gonna have to jump in after work! Yay, I've been looking for a new game! Now that my BF works for Blizzard all I ever hear about is WOW... fun game, but I'm getting tired of it... ^_~ -Kat

Welcome! GKarshens is right, some of those fish do get big... The Blue throat, for example, is a really cool fish, but we've we've got one here thats easily 7-8 inches already. We have most of the fish on your want list in the store, you should bring the ones you want to trade in for some store credit. -Kat

I finished construction of the stand on Monday (my Saturday ^_~), and I'm pretty pleased with the results. On the LAST HOLE my drill bit broke *grumble* ... not sure what happened with that one, but its all worked out in the end. I still want to go back and re-enforce the second level a little more (what I'm thinking can be done after the fact without to much trouble), but its not really necessary. The base is super strong, with a total of 12 vertical 2x4's holding all of the weight. Plus everything is screwed and glued for the extra strength. The stand is purely utilitarian right now... still haven't decided on how I want exterior to look. Something relatively simple and sleek would be nice, my town house is decorated in a contemporary Asian style, so it needs to go with that. I've been thinking about going a little more bohemian with my home's decor, but thats another subject all together ^_~ ... I'm also not sure how I want to plumb this thing... I currently have an overflow box, but its been suggested that I plump the whole thing together with PVC... I'd like to do that, but I don't have the first clue about drilling a tank, let alone the pipe work. Does anyone have any ideas or can spare the time to help? I've got a really limited budget, so I can't go professional.

Thats a real shame. What a beautiful fish... v_v -Kat

You should check out The Red Sea Max too... Its a little on the expensive side, but worth it in my opinion. I added a link to a really informative website on them... The guy that picked up ours during that clearance sale says he's really happy with it. The stand seemed really strong too. I remember the wood being really heavy when I built it... Another option is the Aquapod. Its a pretty simple system, but they seem to be really popular... hope that helps -Kat

Awww. Thanks guys, I'm working on the pictures... just need to find an operational camera!

What no comments for the shop girl? ^_~ I feel so unloved... j/k --- So I started building my tank... lol wow. I know so very little about cabinet carpentry. I had a friend come by and help me... it was like the deaf leading the blind. Mistake number one: We built the boxes that create the shelves first (on their sides). Mistake number two: We left them on their sides and screwed them into the 7 1/2 foot long legs (or is 'poles' more appropriate? I really know nothing about the terminology of carpentry either ) So of course, when we stood the whole thing upright... it teater-tottered and wobbled like crazy... *shutter* ... Feeling frustrated, I decided to leave it alone for a few days. Then one night another friend of mine came by and (after laughing his a$ off ... seriously, he was on the floor in tears) gave me a few good pointers. He told me that I needed to design this monster to fit the space its going in. Use the floor has a guide, and go from there. See that level in your tool box... use it. After all, if a place like say San Fransisco can build whole houses on a slant, I should be able to handle a tank stand, right? So later the next day, I made the necessary repairs based on the advice of my second friend, and val la! A stable base is born! Everything after that has been relatively simple. I'm still not finished (I have a small window between when I get off around 8 o'clock and 10 o'clock to work on it... my neighbors go to sleep about then) ... wish me luck! Pictures still coming soon...

After many months of listening to the trials and triumphs of Horizon's many patrons, I've come up with a plan for my own personal tank. Calling this project a tank is a bit of an understatement, it more like... a tank system. Let me explain for those of you who don't already know what I'm talking about. Almost all of my favorite creatures cannot co-exist. You can't keep seahorses with lion fish, or tangs with any sort of macro algae that you want to survive, etc. Most people just keep them in separate tanks in different areas of their home. Sadly there isn't enough room in my little town home for that many tanks.... so instead of having an entire house full of tanks, I'm going to have one stand on one wall with three piped together. Just imagine only one water change, only one top off, and only one supplement dose. I don't have to run around like a nut spilling water all over my house , plus all of the animals get the added benefit of all that extra water! yay! My main reef tank is currently a 45 gallon, but I plan to leave room in my design to up grade to a 75 gallon later. It is going to be at eye level when standing (I'm 6 ft. tall and tired of having to bend over to see my fish), and in addition to coral is going to house most of my predators. The bottom two tanks will be at eye level while sitting on the couch. One of them (29 gallon) is going to house a pair of seahorses and operate has my refugium. The other tank is an odd size acrylic, 20 inches by 20 inches by 12 inches high, and is going to house a peacock mantis shrimp with some extra live rock. I might add a sump onto this system later, or I might not... I'm not really sure yet. So far the only thing I've done to move forward in this is purchasing the wood (a little over $50.00 on the wood and a little under $20.00 on screws )... To Be continued (plus pictures ) -Kat

apedroza: I just avoid the highways whenever possible... and I'm lucky enough to be going the opposite direction of traffic when I do need to take the highway. -Kat

I have to whole heartedly agree with this you on this one. I miss Germany. --- On Topic: Let me start by saying I think this is a horrorible thing to do to such beautiful and sensitive animals, and its something I would have expected of somewhere like LA or Miami, not Austin. *sigh* But I'm not sure there is anything that can be done about it. You're talking about a privately owned club. Unless they don't pass inspection, or don't feed the animals (etc.) there really isn't much that can be done. Protesting is a double edged sword too... either you can bring attention to the numbers of dead animals this thing generates or it brings the ppl running this thing more money because normal, dumb, and/or trendy ppl who would otherwise not have known about it (and think its a cool idea) find out and go check it out... PETA is gonna be the best bet on this one... get them to breath down the owner's neck if they aren'y already. -Kat

Are you serious? I don't know if I could have kept from laughing at that guy. -Kat

Thats not a bad idea...Hell I've got a pair GSM's here in the store right now... one of them is a trade in and already female... really cute pair though. You should come check them out at least, its fun to watch them interact. I think I'm gonna miss them a little when someone takes them home. -Kat

If you're looking for cheap and you don't mind thinking outside the box, I'd go check out Homedepo or Lowes... they've usually got some decent sand that the call "builder grade" or something like that... just make sure to rinse it REALLY well because its usually really dusty. Any sand will work so long has it isn't covered in enamel or paint. -Kat

OMG! I just got off the phone with the creepiest guy I think I've ever had the mispleasure of talking to... He was calling for a friend of his that wanted to know if we had an eel that I thought would work well for a "beatieality" video... ack! I can't believe this girl, whoever she is would want to do that to an eel.... dirty. <== This was my face during this call... -Kat

this is a very simple and surprizingly addictive game with an aquatic twist. Great for killing time. FlOw -Kat p.s. I should mention this is a flash game.

I'm definitely on the firefox band wagon, I love the options it gives you. -Kat

Black tangs are really something special. I've only seen one that we brought in on a special order. I remember thinking (while looking at the paperwork) Black tang huh? Sounds dull wow was I wrong. That fish was easily 9 inches long and about has thick as my wrist (from the side). That one had a really predominate bluish teal line running down his spine that faded into very soft looking black scales. Really striking fish to behold. They are very hard to find in the lists. I'd jump on it while you can. -Kat

Welcome to the club dm! good luck with your new tank, I have a feeling you'll love it! Its always good to hear of someone putting in the research before hand, that will make things go so much smoother for you ^_~ ... you're in luck about the live rock, a lot of stores are running fairly cheap at the moment. I know we've currently got some really interesting and textured pieces in the $4-$5 range. It needs a little more curing time, but has some very nice coralline growth on it -Kat

True that. For everyone who could not make it p to the store that night, it went really well. Thanks to all of the generous contributions, and especially to the frag auction held at the meeting we were able to raise $1,025.00 ... Steve was really happy and speechless, and so was his Dad, who had come by the store to say hello. I think the cards really helped too, by the time they got to Steve they were so full of names an messages you couldn't even tell where the actual card message was anymore! Thank you everyone, it was really nice to see him smile again. -Kat

Hey guys, I'm fixing to give steve the Donations and the card... a lot of ppl said they wanted to be here, just letting you all know I'm gonna give it to him soon in case anyone forgot ^_~ -Kat

wow thank you everyone, its just been so incredible how everyone has come together for Steve, its meant so much to both him and his family. They say that a person's true character comes out in difficult times, obviously Austin Reefers (and a few of San Antonio finest too ^_~) are made of a higher grade...Thank you! -Kat

Hi! What a pretty set-up! Hey some of those frags look familiar... ever been through the store? -Kat

Awwww, thats so cute Cindy! I still want to come see your tanks... -Kat

Nice to meet you! Welcome! -Kat