Jake@River City

Take advantage of our coupons before they expire!

NEW SALTWATER: 10-16-09 LAWNMOWER BLENNIES COPPERBAND BUTTERFLY TRUE PERCULA CLOWNS YELLOW CLOWN GOBIES GREEN CLOWN GOBIES HELFRICHI FIREFISH PURPLE FIREFISH RADIATA LIONFISH BLUE HIPPO TANGS AFRICAN CLEANER WRASSE GREEN CHROMIS MYSTERY WRASSE HARLEQUIN TUSK AUSTRALIAN ELEGANCE METALLIC GREEN GONIOPORA RED MUSHROOMS BLUE MUSHROOMS MAXIMA CLAMS (CUTE 'N TINY) PORCUPINE PUFFERS YELLOW TANGS ORANGE MUSHROOMS FROGSPAWN SKUNK CLEANER SHRIMP CHOCOLATE CHIP STARS PREMIUM FIJI LIVEROCK

Take advantage of our specials this month. Great selection of livestock for this week. NEW SALTWATER: 09-17-09FLAME ANGELS BLUE AND GOLD BLENNIES GOLDEN TIGER BLENNIES LAWNMOWER BLENNIES COPPERBAND BUTTERFLIES GOLDSTRIPE MAROON CLOWNS GREEN CHROMIS SIXLINE WRASSE MYSTERY WRASSE NIGER TRIGGERS YELLOW TANGS LG POWDER BLUE TANGS RED SEA DESJARDINI SAILFIN TANGS BLUE HIPPO TANGS BLUESPOT JAWFISH BLUEBAR PSEUDOCHROMIS FLAME HAWKS GREEN MANDARIN GOBIES DIAMOND SLEEPER GOBIES SNOWFLAKE EELS ROSE BUBBLETIP ANEMONE EMERALD CRABS PURPLE LOBSTERS VELVET NUDIBRANCHS SKUNK CLEANER SHRIMP FIRE SHRIMP TIGER PISTOL SHRIMP MEXICAN TURBO SNAILS CHOCOLATE CHIP STARS FIJI PREMIUM LIVEROCK CLEAN-UP CREW...TONS OF RED LEG HERMITS...

You’ve asked for it, so it’s back. It’s the return of the First Friday After Hours Sale! Join us on Friday September 4th from 7 to 10 pm for super specials throughout the store. As always, we will have FREE drinks, snacks, and the largest livestock selection of the entire month. ALL LIVESTOCK WILL BE 20% OFF. Select drygoods will be discounted as well. All Caribsea sand 10% off, Kent Pro Dechlor 10% off, Fluval 405 Canister Filter 15% off, aquariums, stands, and canopies 10% off. Please feel free to call if you have any questions. - Jake NEW SALTWATER: 09-03-09 BICOLOR ANGELS FLAME ANGELS IMPERATOR ANGEL JUVI PURPLE QUEEN ANTHIAS LAWNMOWER BLENNIES RED SCOOTER BLENNIES TAILSPOT BLENNIES COPPERBAND BUTTERFLIES GREEN CHROMIS SNOWFLAKE EELS GOLDHEAD MORAY EEL XL ZEBRA MORAY EEL XL DIAMOND GOBIES FIREFISH GOBIES RANDALL'S GOBIES YELLOW TARGET MANDARINS YELLOW WATCHMAN GOBIES GREEN MANDARIN GOBIES PANTHER GROUPERS FLAME HAWKS BLACK VOLITAN LION STELLATUS PUFFERS SMALL (VERY CUTE LADIES!!!) POLLENI GROUPER (RARE) BLUE HIPPO TANGS SM POWDER BLUE TANG MYSTERY WRASSE HARLEQUIN TUSK MCCOSKER FLASHER WRASSES SIX LINE WRASSES PURPLE LOBSTERS YELLOW TILE STARS SKUNK CLEANER SHRIMP FIRE SHRIMP HARLEQUIN SHRIMP TIGER PISTOL SHRIMP TURTLE SAND CONCHES HAWAIIAN FEATHER DUSTERS LETTUCE SEA SLUGS RED SERPENT STARS (CRAZY COLORS, BEAUTIFUL!!!) PORCELAIN CRABS DECORATOR CRABS FLAME SCALLOPS PINK PINCUSHION URCHINS YELLOW SEA CUCUMBERS QUEEN ANGEL FRENCH ANGEL SPANISH HOGFISH XL ROCK BEAUTY ANGEL XL BLUE REEF CHROMIS HARLEQUIN BASSLETS NEON GOBIES SADDLEBACK BLENNIES ATLANTIC BLUE TANG XL BLUE HAMLET ERECTUS SEAHORSES LG (NICE AND HEALTHY) CARIBBEAN DWARF OCTOPUS ORANGE RICORDEA FLORIDAS SHAVING BRUSH MACROALGAE HALIMEDA BLUE BUBBLE MUSHROOMS ROYAL GRAMMAS SPINEY BOX PUFFERS ATLANTIC PORCUPINE PUFFERS MEXICAN TURBO SNAILS TONS OF CLEAN-UP CREW AND SO MUCH MORE...

I'll be posting some pics of livestock as they arrive for the sale... French Angel Japanese Dragon Eel Green Moray That's 4" PVC it's in... Rics from above Carribean Octopus Aussie Acan More to come...

2009 RCA ANNUAL CARLOS' BIRTHDAY SALE!!! SATURDAY, JULY 18TH 11AM-8PM Dear Friends, In the tradition of Austin "weirdness", I'd like to honor RCA's founding father, Mr. Carlos Cardenas! Join us for a new RCA tradition; I would like to invite you to our 1st Annual Carlos' Birthday Sale! The sale will be Saturday, July 18th from 11am to 8pm. Come join us for free hamburgers, door prizes, great discounts, activities for the kids, and roasted pig! Our livestock tanks will be overflowing! We have multiple huge orders of saltwater livestock consisting of hand-selected fish, Australian corals, Limited Edition corals, and inverts. We are receiving several new orders of African cichlids and discus; our selection is the largest it has been all year. Precision Marine will be joining us in the festivities. If you haven't experienced the quality work of Precision Marine's tricked out reef equipment, this would be a great opportunity. They will be here with protein skimmers, sumps, refugiums, calcium reactors…the list goes on. Check out their full line at www.precisionmarine.com. We hope to see you there. Sincerely, Jake Wand and the RCA Crew

We received a great selection of Aussie Acan lords, chalices, zoas, and Duncans. Sizes range from frags to full colonies. Colors are awesome! We are also planning a big celebration for Carlos' Birthday. Mark your calendars for Saturday, July 18th. If you've attended our past sales, you know you won't want to miss this! Free food, huge discounts, and a great time. Keep an eye on our website for upcoming details. In the mean time, take advantage of our monthly special...15% OFF ALL CORALS until the end of the month. We are making room for new coral vendors, check out our stock regularly for weekly arrivals!

It's my pleasure. I hope the prizes were useful.

We received some sweet new arrivals. Check them out on our website.

PM Sent

We received some great stuff just in time for the weekend. Check out our website for updates. Jake River City Aquatics (512) 219-7200

We received a new ORA order today. Check out our website for details.

2008 RCA ANNUAL HOLIDAY SALE!!! SATURDAY, DECEMBER 13TH 11AM-8PM I would like to take this opportunity to announce that I have recently purchased River City Aquatics. I would like to thank Carlos for giving me the opportunity to take over his "baby" and I wish the best on is future endeavours. I have been with River City for three years and take a great deal of pride in progress that has been made over the years. In continuation of the RCA tradition, I would like to invite you to our 5th Annual Holiday Sale. The sale will be Saturday, December 13th from 11am to 8pm. Come join us for free barbecue, door prizes, great discounts, and activities for the kids. Our livestock tanks will be overflowing! "Miss T" and I will be heading to L.A. on Monday to get our eyes on the livestock and ensure we get some great selections. We will have five huge orders coming in just for the sale. ALL LIVESTOCK WILL BE 30% OFF!!! Fish, inverts, corals, liverock...all discounted!!! Come early for the Door Buster Specials. Solana tank with stands will be $349.99, Cardiff tank with stand and PC lights only $449.99! Ricordea florida 4-packs (4 Rics, 4 different colors) $39.99! Door Busters are for the first hour only, so don't miss them. EVERYTHING WILL BE ON SALE. Check out our website for complete details: www.rivercityaquatics.com. We hope to see you there. Sincerely, Jake Wand and the RCA Crew

It was finally time for the fun stuff. I glued many of the corals to utilize the vertical surfaces. Stocking patiently (aka I'm broke). I've made several changes and have new additions since this photo. I need to bust out the camera and learn how to use it. Slowly getting color, was browned-out when I first brought it home from the shop. Tank as viewed from living room. I should have done the wall on the right. Could have gotten a six foot tank in there. Something to work towards.

I made an attempt to cover the returns with rock. This Turbinaria made the move from my 20 gal PC tank. Bottom right. Bottom left. Back left. Sump return on top, close-loop return in middle. Back right. Edge of bulkhead in center. Euro-Reef RS-80 seems to be working well.

All that heat fun aside, I was ready to add the sand and rock. I used Oceans Direct sand, wanted something fine for wrasses. I cut the bag from the bottom in the tank to limit the cloudiness. I put a cup over the drain to protect the pump. I went with 100 lbs. of Tonga Branch and a 30 lb. piece of Tonga Kaelini. I wanted open spaces for fish to swim, which is why I chose the branch. Honestly, it wasn't the easiest to aquascape. I filled the entire tank with rock to cover the drain and returns. When I do my next tank, I would like to do a more open aquascape. I framed out the tank while the rock was curing. I had to put a ledge on the wall framing because of the unexpected "tank recession" from the wall. It worked out well because I was able to put my drinks on the ledge while lounging in front of the tank. I had played out the Bombay Mahogany in my house by now, so I went with Expresso stain.

So I went with a Blue Wave dual 250w ballast and two HQI Reef Optix lamps with Geisman 12.5K bulbs. I decided on the Reef Optix because they offered the smallest fixtures. I was in a pinch for lighting placement because of the slant above the tank from the stairs didn't allow much height above the tank on the right side. I placed the right lamp as high as I could go and as far to the right as allowed. I also added two 54w Hagen T5 actinics and let it rip. Of course, the tank temp rose, and rose, and rose. The water temp hit 91 degrees . I was in denial about needing a chiller. Tinkered with the lights, put a fan over the tank, open the laundry door and ran the ceiling exhaust fan. It was inevitable, I was screwed, I could literally feel the heat radiating from the tank while in the living room. So, hit Carlos up again, got a 1/3 HP Current chiller and connected it to my Eheim 1262 return. Ran out of room in the laundry room, so I had to move into the garage. Wires have since been "cleaned up".

So I decided I wanted a reef tank. Got a sweet deal from Carlos on a 75 reef-ready brick in summer of 2007. I decided to make it a point to keep the equipment inside the tank down to a minimum. The tank was small already, I didn't want to see powerheads and wave boxes taking valuable real estate. So I decided to go with an Oceans Motions Super Squirt and a Sequence Dart for a closed loop circulation system. I borrowed some drill bits from the shop and drilled a 2" drain and four 1" returns. I made a big mistake that was realized when I removed the old tank and slid the new tank in. The placement of the bottom 1" returns sat over the studs in the wall . So, I had to recess the new tank several inches back from the living room wall and make adjustments to the stand. Now keep in mind this was my first attempt at plumbing. I cut some corners with the plumbing on the Super Squirt. I thought I hit the Holy Grail when I found this 2" union valve (white valve) for half the price of "normal" true unions. It's crap, don't use them. I did some maintenance on the Dart and the valve dribbled non-stop. I later heard a horror story about how the valve failed on a similiar union during some regular maintenance and drained the tank. I skimped on the unions and I also failed to put a valve between the Dart and Super Squirt to dial down the Dart. The Super Squirt started to make a thump when it rotated the drum. I inspected the Super Squirt and am convinced my flow rate is too high (SS is only rated for 2500 gph). Plumbing changes still on my to-do list.

Finished cutting the hole so I could get back to my Oprah. Threw a frame in. Made a stand. And oh yes ya'll, ammonia stained water with a ballin Seaclone skimmer. Don't hate, don't hate...you too can have a sweet set-up like so. Threw some Bombay Mahogany stain on some trim and framed it out. So this is how the tank sat for three years housing a Volitan Lion, Porcupine Puffer, Dogface Puffer, and Green Wolfe Eel.

So I told [asked] my wife about cutting a hole in the wall of our recently acquired house. The spot is under the stairs in the laundry room. It was a tight fit that only allowed a 4 foot tank. Made initial cut at bottom to look for electrical wires. Unfortunately, I found them. Continued cut... ...and had to address the *%$#&* wires. A little Filipino engineering and shabam!