NonSequitur

I can't say for sure, but I would guess that the livestock troughs are designed not to leach toxic chemicals, since they're designed to hold water intended for drinking while being exposed to the elements.

I should add: NaCl and KCl are not directly interchangable in a system, so don't take my last post as a suggestion to run salt in a potassium system of you risk poor performance and possibly voiding the unit warranty.

It's the same thing, really. They call it a purification system instead of a softener because it combines sediment filtration (garnet bottom layer) with ion exchange softening ("removes more iron and hardness causing minerals" from their website) and chemical filtration (activated carbon)... well, that and they want to differentiate it from run of the mill "softening" systems out there that cost far less. Another interesting bit is their cleaning process.. running low current through the titanium plates to create a "special cleaning solution" is the exact same process that swimming pool chlorine generators use: salt (or potassium) water is split electrolytically into hydrogen, oxygen, and chlorine, which promptly forms hypochlorous acid (HClO), which is a very effective sanitizer. This is a really cool idea that more companies should look into, waterborne pathogens are no fun, but it's something to be aware of. I'm not sure how much of the chlorine and it's byproducts get through the carbon filter, probably not a lot.

KCl does the same job as NaCl in a traditional system, it just adds potassium to the water instead of sodium so it's slightly better for people on restricted sodium diets.

Why am I harping on this? There's so much hype and misinformation in the water purification industry that people need facts to make real comparisons. Is this system better than a home improvement store system? Almost certainly! Is it 6x better (based on the $3000 I paid 6 years ago for my kinetico system (their direct competitor) vs the $400 I paid 3 years ago for my GE system)? That's up to you, but it's hard to really know for sure because they surround the facts with layer upon layer of jargon and obfuscation.

lol i got the same thing. where do u buy your salt at? trying to avoid paying there prices.

HEB sells Morton's salt which works just fine in any softener.

The unit you have looks like an ion exchange softener (a rather fancy one, by the look of it). This removes calcium and magnesium ions and replaces them with sodium ions. The activated carbon section of the unit will initially remove chlorine/chloramines as well, but I can't understand in this setup how they keep it from getting exhausted, so that ability will likely decrease at some point unless the carbon is periodically replaced.

Water from this system will be great to drink, bathe, wash clothes in, but the system does not remove nitrogen and phosphorus compounds that can cause nuisance algae outbreaks, as well as chlorine/chloramines which can be very harmful to aquatic life.

$650 is overpriced for an RO system, Bulk Reef Supply sells a 5 stage 75 GPD RO/DI system with the appropriate bits to also use as a drinking water system for $220:

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/store/75-gpd-ro-di-5-stage-drinking-water-system.html

I'm sure they have a very polished answer for why their RO is better than all of the others, but it really isn't: I learned this the hard way.. I've yet to find a test that my $150 GE unit doesn't perform just as well on as my $1000 kinetico unit, and the same is true of the BRS systems. (Do I sound bitter? I am.. if I had known that their unit really wasn't any better I would have gone with BRS, Buckeye Field Supply, etc and saved the extra money, but I fell for the hype.)

I think Brill electronics might be able to help you out, they have a location in Austin:

http://www.brillelectronics.com

That would work.. or for that matter just about any sufficiently strong container with a vinyl pond liner.

The large rubbermaid tubs sold as stock troughs work well as sumps, so I would imagine they would work as grow out tanks as well.. I'd stay away from the metal water troughs for the obvious reasons, but the plastic ones work great. Also, watch craigslist, people frequently list 55gal aquariums for as low as $20-$30 (I think there might be one on there now in Georgetown)

I've had really good luck with Tile-Clad HS expoxy paint, sold at Sherwin Williams. It's intended for industrial/commercial use, and actually has an ASTM salt fog rating. It's a two part epoxy based paint that comes bright white, but can be tinted in the store if desired. If you use it definitely do it outside, the fumes are a killer, but once it sets it's really tough stuff, and inert enough to be used in kitchen/laboratory applications.

Thanks! The nuclear greens are already open and looking great, and the lights aren't even on yet. I can't wait to see how the blues look when they open.

Absolutely. The Hott pink zoas and half of the mamba jambas had opened up in the bag on the way home.. the green bay packer zoas still haven't all opened, but the 3 polyps that have look really good. Of course one of the urchins already decided to haul one of the new frags around and drop it behind a rock, but that's to be expected. Are your gobies eating the coral, or just perching on it?

Bump.. still have plenty available.

PM sent on bright green zoas. (nuclear greens?)

I have a Euro-Reef that seemed to work really well until the pump seized up. Now I'm running a Red Sea Berlin skimmer that pulls out even more gunk than the ER did.

I'm pretty sure those are DC fans, but have a pretty low current draw, so you could probably power them off of a wall-wart transformer.

Both awesome looking pieces. I was going for the cherry garcia zoanthids, but had to stop myself before I got too out of hand.

My first impression was toadstool leather.. could be a majano as well, but I wouldn't kill it until you know for sure. If in doubt, I'd say put it in your sump/fuge until you can make a conclusive identification.

... or even birds for that matter.. I made so many calls about a local "pet store" that had a badly self-mutilating cockatoo that desperately needed a trip to the vet, but they refused to take it, since the owner "knew birds" and "it was fine." Neither animal control nor the local PD would do anything about it.

Apparently puppies in tiny cages were ok too.. grr, don't get me started.

Sorry..

Looks like you got a great deal on the tank, though.. with a little TLC it'll be beautiful in no time.

excellent birthday present.. what did you get (if you don't mind me asking)?

Oh yes, lantana is definitely a good choice. Looks nice, nearly impossible to kill (I've tried).

I've had really good luck this year growing peppers in pots.. bells, jalapenos, and sweet banana peppers, as well as raspberries and blackberries. Not the prettiest, but definitely tasty. Aloe and agaves tend to grow pretty well potted as well, and are pretty forgiving if you forget to water them.

As far as flowers, my wife is partial to hibiscus, but they can be a pain having to haul them inside when a freeze is expected since they can get pretty big.

I've not noticed any bad behavior from my flame-tail or my lawnmower blenny.. unless you count hiding in my powerheads when they're switched off.

I'm not sure if the marine ich lifecycle can be accelerated by higher temp like freshwater ich, but I just came across this article that might help:

Reefkeeping article on marine ich

I use kent garlic extreme, but I've heard the garlic extract from the grocery store (kyolic brand if memory serves me (and it often doesn't)) works just as well and costs less.

I think Hydro posted a while back about a local hydroponics shop that stocks something like that, trying to find the post.