Paul

Some some lucky duck is about to get a great deal. We are asking $250 for the entire lot of stuff below. Or you can make an offer on any particular bit you want. We will accept items in trade, either for the whole lot or for just particular bits. We are looking for some audio gear in particular. For example, we want another NAD Amplifier, a Dac Magic or equivalent, another pair of PSB Imagine B's, 32" - 37" 1080p LCD Television, nice audio rack, speaker stands, etc. Or a nice little micro-reef. (Micro- as in 10-14 gallons or so!) In the event that two people want the whole lot, the first one to arrive with cash takes it, or in the event of two people arriving here *before* cash has changed hands, whomever offers the most takes it. We will be fair, but we have three goals. One - to get me to work less on fewer projects; Two- to upgrade our audio gear; and Three- to perhaps make a bit of beer money while giving someone else a really good deal. Here's the list. Everything is working unless otherwise noted. (1) HP RX2600 Dual Process Itanium server (rack mount, but sits fine on shelf.) 12 gigabytes of RAM 2X73gb disk DVD Gigabit Ethernet Management Card w/100mb ethernet High Performance SCSI adapter VGA Video Management CArd Loaded with Open-VMS 8.3.11* and Suse Linux *Currently licensed for development, you will need to purchase an Open VMS hobbyist license next year. (1) HP Open VMS Media Kit (Itanium) (1) Compaq Alpha Station DS10L 256/512megs of RAM 70gb disk CD 100mb Ethernet LVD SCSI-3 Loaded wit Open-VMS 8.3* *Currently licensed for development, you will need to purchase an Open VMS hobbyist next year. (1) HP OpenVMS Media Kit (Alpha) (2) Compaq BA-35 SCSI Disk arrays 7 9gb drives in each one. (*one drive is missing in the second array.) These work great with the Alpha DS10L. (1) HP 3000 Model LX-917 loaded with MPE/ix 6.0. (*sweet little machine) HPIB/External SCSI card included Cable Copy of Reflection terminal emulator if needed This machine is loads of fun and there is a huge group of enthusiasts here in Austin. (1) IBM AS/400 Desktop Machine I think this is a model A01. It's a lot of fun to play with. We probably have a 5250 terminal and cable around here too. Operating system tapes and a tape drive come with this little guy. ** disk needs to be replaced OS Cartridges (This is about a foot high, and sits on a desk. Not a PowerPC model, but cute and fun to play with. RPG compiler is included.) (1) Classic Macintosh SE computer, 40 mb hard drive, keyboard, mouse. Works great. (1) Pair Advent Prodigy speakers (woofers need to be refoamed - easy to do, just takes patience and about $10, Kits available on E-Bay.) (1) Set Boston Acoustics Micro-90 speakers - 2 Sats, 1 Center, 1 powered Subwoofer (1) Yamaha RX Home Theater receiver (vintage 1995 or so). Works great, processes surround sound and so forth. Likes the Boston Acoustics above. (1) Older cassette tape deck (1) Pioneer DVR, with a really good DAC in it for listening to music. (1) IBM Dot Matrix impact printer. (You never know when you might need one of these beasties... (1) HP Deskjet Printer - the original! It's a classic! A bunch of odds and ends, tape drives, etc. If you need help setting up the gear, I'll help you out a bit. I don't want to spend hours and hours doing so, but if you get stuck or have a question, I will certainly try to help you out. You can reach me directly on my cell phone at: 512 630 5759, or reply via e-mail. -Paul

Everything is still here except for the lights that Dena wants. Come and get em. -Paul

Nope- the tank is still there. Was going to take it to storage tomorrow- Youc an have anything that Dena didn't ask for. My cell is 512-630-5759. Just call me in the morning - after 9am if possible. -Paul

Yes, you can certainly have the lights. And I will hold 'em for you if necessary. I just got a deal on a climate controlled storage unit. (*sigh*) Or I will probably be around work this week, depsite being on "vacation" - that is around where I35 and 183 intersect. Just let me know. I can't PM you for some reason. -Paul

Sure - as long as you will take at least the stand too. I would prefer it if you took all the rest of the stuff as well... Don't you need a QT? I need space more than money right now. -Paul

Nope- I do not have the time to take pictures today. Just ordinary black tanks - probably not for show. -Paul

It turns out I need to make some more room quickly. What that means is- name your own price - any price that has a $20 bill in it that is. First person here gets it- sorry, no reserve - I really have to clean up some space and I mean right now! (1) 20 Gallon Long, empty, just cleaned. (1) 15-20 pounds of nice sand, no longer live, but nice stuff. Special grade. (1) Dual PC light for the 20 Gallon tank with/moonlights (1) 55 Gallon tank (1) 55 Gallon tank stand (1) Set of homemade lights for the 55 gallon tank All needs immediate pickup! Everything above for 1 price, so long as a $20 bill or equivalent is included in the price. 30200 Briarcrest Drive Georgetown, Texas 78628 (512) 630-5759 Bring a truck! (Also available, make offer...) (1) Antique 1945 RCA Radio AM/FM/Shortwave + record player, in cherry wood cabinet- $200? (1) HP RX2600 w/12 Gigabytes of Ram, 2X72gb SCSI drives, loaded with VMS/Linux- $600/obo (1) HP3000 Computer, runs nicely. $200? Willing to deal to get the room fast. -Paul

The two that are quoted as having a taste for zoa eating nudibranches are Copperband Butterflys (Chelmon rostratus) and Labroides dimidiatus (a cleaner wrasse.) The Copperband is notoriously difficult to keep because it is a terribly picky eater. In fact, it's favorite diet might be your zoas! That particular wrasse (L. dimidiatus) should be avoided, as it is (I think) illegal to collect them, and they have only a limited population on their native reefs. Removing them from the reefs seems to have an derogatory effect on the fish populations all out of proportion to what one might expect. After looking them up, I am kind of sorry I brought them up at all. Sorry. -Paul

Sure looks like one - but from your picture I'm not sure it has enough arms. Aren't they usually identified by a cluster of four/five arms just below their head? It will take on the color of your zoas if it is. Some wrasses (Halichoeres) and some butterfly fish (Chaetodon) will eat 'em up as fast as they breed, but of course, the fishes themselves might pose a problem for your reef. I can look up the specific breeds if you wish. -Paul

We have a Current USA Sundial Pendant (with an unused hanging kit) we could let go for about $230. It has a 150w Metal Halide (currently 10K) and two 32w PC 50/50 Actinics in it.) It's about 5 weeks old and would be a good fit for your tank I think, unless your tank has a wide center brace. :/ That is why we are replacing it. http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_ViewItem~cat...LTFIMHPDDE.html -Paul

For pest control, Kings Pest Control (512) 930-5128‎ is the absolute tops. And they are very careful around pets. -Paul

Cyanobacteria has more different forms than are imaginable. Ever notice a pinkish discoloration in your sinks or shower? One guess... I just am getting rid of some of it that started in our new 65g tank. We expected it, but it is still annoying to deal with. And like you, it showed up in a area of at least moderate flow. It is feeding on light, nitrate, and phosphates in the water. Have to lower all three to get rid of it for good. Even then, it will probably come back to visit sooner or later. -Paul

Coralife is basically junk- especially with that much of a swing and with ambient being cooler. I picked up one of those and wound up ripping it apart and decoding the ROM to figure out what it was doing. There were several programming faults I found, not the least of which is that the algorithm they use to smooth temperature readings is coded incorrectly. That is probably what is manifesting for you. Dratted poor quality offshore coding. I trashed the thing. You can get more accurate readings from one of those LED things you paste on the side of the tank. -Paul

Also, that isn't all that low, especially if the tank is warm. Don't panic.

It's been up for about 12 hours. The tank was just coming out of a Diatom bloom, and it pulled a good bunch of that out of the tank. The foam cylinder in the picture is there for scale, it is 2" across. Sweet.

Great news! You guys are very good cat parents! -Paul

That did it - I just ordered one of the Vertex IN 100 Generation 2 jobs. Thanks for all the advice guys. I choose the Vertex because it was priced right, everyone that has one seems to love it, it is quiet, and will fit under my stand. Looked at one today, and it was instant "okay - I gotta have that..." -Paul

That looks like a sweet setup, and it is sure pushing up a lot of foam! Did the 100 come complete, or was there bits you had to buy separately? -Paul

Thanks - I think the 100 is the model I am zeroing in on, partly because it is a tad bit shorter, and height is an issue. -Paul

Those are sweet. Budget busters perhaps, but real sweet. I'm still veering towards the Vertex IN80 or IN100 models myself. -Paul

The current skimmers I have been researching and looking at are, in no particular order: Precision Marine Redline RL100 at about $200 Vertex IN80 at about $200 Deltec Turbo at about $1100 (ouch!) Aqua-C EV120 t about $340 Asm G1 at about $170 Eshops InSump at about $120 Aqua-C Urchin at about $200 Marineland all in one for about $220 Reef Octopus Extreme 160 for about $290 MSX 160 for about $270 Warner Marine S125 for unknown price i-Tech 100 - unknown price SWC Various models - $500+ I looked at ATB and Bubble King as well, but ruled them out based on size and cost.

I am leaning towards the Vertex skimmer(s) right now, but I am confused by the "precisionmarine" reference. The Precision Marine skimmers appear to be quite different from the Vertex ones... ?

Well Euro-Reef certainly gets some impressive recommendations. Aquatek has some "Precision Marine" skimmers - about $200 for a model good up to 100 gallons. Anyone have anything experience with it or have any opinions? Didn't check Rivercity, but may run by there tomorrow. Also, a few folks are telling me the ASM skimmers are awesome. ??

This Coralife Skimmer is - a hunk of junk - and that's being polite. It overflows, produces little skimmate, is noisy, and worst of all, is absolutely horrid about producing microbubbles. Anyone care to share their recommendations for a skimmer, preferably one that sits in the sump, sized for a 65g tank? My preferences would be: Effective, quiet, on the small side, modest cost, auto water level adjustment (if needed), drain line from the collection cup, nice if it comes matched with the correct pump. And good about not flooding the tank/sump with microbubbles! Ideally, it would be a model someone has in stock that I can go pick up today. But I can live with the delay if I need to order it off the net. -Paul

How about plastic screen material? Pretty easy to cut to size and put in a lightweight frame.