Paul

>I definitely wouldn't use bio balls. Oh, I agree. I was just going to dump the bioballs and go with a couple packs of Chemi-Pure. The filters look like they would make nice compact little sumps to me. http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/prod/237629/product.web >Two questions, what type of corals do you plan on housing and what is the size of your tank? Probably a few SPS and a few LPS. Maybe an anemone. Depends upon how stable the tank becomes. Tank size will probably be a 55 we have here, or a new 70. If I get suckered into buying a new 70, it will be reef ready from the start. >300 gph seems a little inadequate, because most overflow boxes for larger aquariums are rated for atleast 700 gph. Yeah- that is what seems to be pretty cool with these Eshopps guys - they go down to 300gph sized boxes. Not too worried about using the return from the sum p for flow. That can be easily addressed with a couple powerheads I think. >To answer you question vividaquariums.com has some pretty cool filter specs posted on their site. Cool! Thanks!

As usual, no plan survives contact with reality. Or my family... It now looks like we will be setting up more of a "mini" reef than a "nano" reef. This is turning into a wonderful family project actually. I am so surprised and pleased it has just made my entire month. But given that, I now need to go shopping for stuff like return pumps (I have always like the Little Giants, but even the smallest one may be a bit too big for this...), an overflow box, skimmer, plumbing parts, beer, etc. My immediate tendancy is just to buy these things off the net and be done with it. However, I also like to at least try and support the LFSs in the area. Are any of them open to negotiating ? Also, we picked up a small 20g long from the Sanfords with the idea of using it as the sump, loaded with some eggcrate to hold a bit of ChemiPure, a skimmer of some variety or another and perhaps some live rock. The more I think of it, the more I think it might be better served as a small 'fuge and just buy something like a ESHOPPS Wet/Dry and dump the bioballs. Anyone have an opinion on that? A 300gph model is selling for just under $150 on the net with the overflow box. Opinions welcome! -Paul P.S. I am also not sure how to plumb a 'fuge in- anyone have any online references for that kind of thing?

How old is this little guy? The newest information I can find on it on Google is for 2002. I'd like to take it apart and see how it is built, but I don't want to risk more than say, $30 that I will be able to get it back together, or find parts for it.

Karen and I will come - please let us know if you would like us to bring any munchies or beverages. -Paul

Thanks- it is great to be meeting people in the local reef community. The nano tank we ordered will have four 24inch 24w T5 tubes lighting it; two 10K and two actinic, each tube with individual reflectors. It pumps out a lot of light, and unless I have mis-measured the spectra, it should should feed the needs of just about any light loving critter, including most SPS corals. And have the benefit of keeping down the heat too. Light is a bugaboo though; we picked up a used 55 gallon tank for my youngest son (thank you D&R!), who then promptly saw one of the little Biocubes and decided he would much rather have one of those. We are looking at picking up one of the used ones for sale here, along with a small MH light to go over it. I understand Karen has plans for the 55 now, though I have not been "let in" on exactly what those plans might be. I am quite afraid - she saw a Dog Faced Puffer at AquaTek about a week ago, and spent quite some time cooing and baby talking it... She might have a FOWLr plan in mind... <grin> -Paul

I just realized that we have been hanging around the forum for the past few weeks and never really introduced ourselves. I am not usually so forgetfull, but I did take a week off this month for R&R. In other words, I have slept this month. We hang around here and on Reef Sanctuary. Here's the hello note we posted there, with a couple edits to bring it up to date. -Paul & Karen Raulerson -------------------------------------------- Well, I reached my 50th birthday near the end of last year - and realized I was spending way too much time and attention on work, and not nearly enough with my wife and family. And I had promised myself I would setup a tank or two "a few months" after we moved here to Texas from Pennsylvania. (We gave away all out tanks when we moved down here.) Problem is - that was 10 years ago! We have been keeping fish since we were kids - including successfully keeping saltwater fish as far back as the early 1970's. I remember hauling salt water in glass five gallon jugs, and stashing it in my dad's garage for weeks to let it settle. It was a miracle when my mother acquired a bunch of 5 gallon plastic buckets, with lids. And another miracle it was when undergravel filters came along! Joy! Seems really out of date with today's tech of course, but my dad and I built plywood tanks and did a lot things back then that I remember with great happiness. Stories are available - if anyone is interested I will post them. It was our great good fortune to have been born and raised in north Florida, with easy access to the sea, and easy access to Marine Biologists who were willing to talk to kids. We were regular visitors at Marineland, just a few miles down the coast. They apparently recognized the eagerness in Karen and I to learn *everything* about the sea and the critters that live in it. Anyway, we decided we wanted to start a small marine tank again but were not enthused by memories of how complex the plumbing can be for wet dry filters and such. Imagine our amazement to discover the nano-reef tanks that abound today! We have ordered one of the Cadlight 22 gallon tanks, and are starting to plan how we intend to stock it. Central Texas is not north Florida, nor even the Philadelphia area, and the selection around here seems a little limited. We have found a couple really nice looking stores - Aquatech in Austin in particular seems like a well run store with lots of healthy animals. We would sure welcome advice on what corals would be good choices. Karen is determined to have a nice like Perc clown in the tank though, so that may limit the choices a bit. It would be nice to give a little Perc an anemone of it's own for a home, but I have to go look up what kinds are compatible, and what kinds might survive in a small nano tank. And it looks like we will be setting up both a 55gallon and a small BioCube as well. Long story, but it is amazing how plans change around here. It really looks like the technology of marine tanks, in particular reef keeping, has advanced in leaps and bounds since the last time I looked. It is almost trivially easy to get a tank today that many would have killed for just 10 or 15 years ago. Anyways, just wanted to say hello, introduce myself. We hope to meet a bunch of you at the meeting in April, and invite both suggestions and discussions on just about any subject. Yours, -Paul

She is a beauty! -Paul

Have you considered a Mac? They are - eh - hard to kill. I still have a Mac Plus - from 1984 or so - that boots up and runs just fine. -Paul

Yikes - if your PC is in that condition, how about we find you a new one? -Paul

Dratted things, 2" - 3" across, splatted me in my Frontier while stuck in the cursed traffic on I35. Drop me a PM with a phone number. I was too irritated - and it was pouring rain - when I finally got home to take a look, and it is too dark now. I expect I will be calling you. -Paul

Let me check with the boss. Seriously though, I won't have any free time to pick it up till the weekend or next week. I think the BioCube would be my choice; I don't really like the 6500K Daylights. -Paul

What kind of lights are on the little guys? I might be interested, but honestly won't be able to break free for anything until either the weekend, or even possibly next week. : -Paul

Here's our Baby - she was a pound hound when we rescued her, and is 1/2 dachshund, and 1/2 border collie. Think of her as a truly "jacked up" dachshund, or a stretch version of a border collie. She's about 10 this year. Her fur is as soft as silk, and she is really loving. Unfortunately, she is cursed with allergies to just about everything under the sun, including chicken, corn, potatoes and so forth. Our most excellent vet knows her record by heart - just keeps Baby's folder on her desk. This is our latest adoptee - she showed up on our back porch one evening last year, starved to death. I seriously thought her face had been mushed in by a close encounter with a car or something. She was about 4.5 pounds, sweet as a cat can be, and we figured her for a kitten. When the vet examined her however, we learned different. She had been bred for the smushed face. It makes it a challenge for her to eat or drink. She was also about two years old, and pregnant with five or six kittens. The vet told us she was (1) a very expensive cat (a "Chocolate Tipped Himalyan"), (2) extrememly malnourished probably from being in the wild for many weeks, and (3) would not survive birthing the kittens. Obviously, we choose to save her and the vet bill proved to us she was a very expensive cat! She's now up to seven pounds, and is actually the alpha-cat around here. She stands up on her back legs and slaps the dog and other cat around, just to let them know who is the boss. She is actualy the sweetest thing your ever did see, and purrs almost continuously. Oh, those eyes look orange in this picture - I don't know why. They are really the deepest, clearest cerulean blue you can imagine. And here is the Queen Herself - a three year old Egyptian Mau named Persephone (family name of Sephie). Fat and sassy describes this one to a tee. She cat-cusses at me on a regular basis. And she is a bolter, always trying to get out the back door. When she does get out, she discovers that she would much prefer to be back inside! Indeed, she has pulled a Wile E. Coyote on me, doing a full body four legged splayed out SPLAT! on the glass in our back door, then sliding down to the ground. She is however, super sweet and always ready to give cat kisses and snuggle. When she is not teasing the dog by trying to steal the dog food - or getting into other mischief. I'm not a very good photographer at all, but I hope you enjoy these. -Paul & Karen

We are looking for a mid-sized tank, reef-ready or not, to use here as a holding tank and as additional water space. Price is an issue here, but a good deal has to make both sides happy.

Aquatek had some used lighting for sale on the cheap when I went by there last week, and That Pet Place has some nice T5 and combo metal halides you can get 10% off and free shipping for. -Paul

Well, Karen and I are very new indeed in regards to meeting fish people here in Austin, and indeed, are in the process of buying and setting up just the right nano-reef. We would like to come if you are not overcrowded, it would be fun to meet you guys. And Karen makes wonderful yummies. -Paul