Mitch

yeah, i've been warned/read about gsp. my long term plan is to only have it on the overflow and/or back wall, but in the meantime while i don't have much else to stare at as i let the tank mature further, so why not if i had been quick enough, i would have grabbed some of your great corals - but cest la vie.

Well, the tube feels firm towards the center and the tube is now attached to the neighboring rock. I'll give it a couple weeks and cross my fingers. Thanks for the advice.

While waiting for the tank to cycle, I ended up grabbing vwmike's LS from his 29g and adding it to the 1" of reefcleaner's mud giving me about 3" of SB in the refugium. As an extra bonus, and unbeknownst to vwmike, an old frag w/ 3 polyps of orange bam bam zoanthids survived! Thanks vwmike =) The tank finally finished cycling just in time for RCA's sale (12/12/09), so I promptly picked up 7 blue-green chromis, some green star polyps, and a scarlet skunk cleaner shrimp. The 7 chromis quickly dwindled to the 3 that now remain (which was really my intended target). On 12/17/09, I added my CuC from reefcleaners - a mix of nassarius snails, dwarf ceriths, hermits, limpits, and a fuzzy chiton. I added some red mangroves plus a red macroalgae (can't recall the name right now) to the existing chaeto I had picked up from Mark on 12/1/09. And realizing that my rockscape was a bit too tight and didn't offer many hiding places or caves, I opened up the arrangement. This took away a lot of the open SB area, but it now has a better feel to me and lets me isolate future additions from growing onto other rocks. After giving the tank a little time to settle in (12/21/09), I picked up from Fishy Business a hawaiian feather duster, a tube anemone, and a diamond goby. The goby quickly went about making caves under the rocks and mixing up the SB surface which started developing some diatoms. On 12/26/09, I noticed the first signs of coralline algae in various places (overflow, glass, vortechs, frag rack), a new zoa polyp developing, and the gsp's mat starting to extend. I also added another rock about 2.5 lbs to the island on the right, and took the old "cap" and combined in on the wall on the left. Oh, I also scrubbed loose the red hair algae developing on the overflow and back glass. There is also a green algae that has covered the rock, so i've reduced the photoperiod. Lastly, the FD was doing fine for the first 3-4 days, but has now been retracted for the last 3-4 days. Based on what I read, I'm just gonna let it be and hope it's still ok. Next on my list of to-do's, setup the ATO and Ca Reactor. Here are some current pics: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mitch_sengson/sets/72157622967192125/show/

i bought a hawaiian feather duster from fishy business last mon. for the first 4 days it was alive, eg crown would retract etc etc. for the past 3+ days it's been retracted the whole time. my water parms (salinity, ph, temp, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate) are all good. the top of the tube is somewhat pinched together so i can't see down into it. how do i know if it's still alive?

package is here!

got confirmation from john that it was sent today... but he still has not sent me the tracking number... so i'll be working @ home waiting for the package tomorrow (thu), and will post to this thread if it does arrive so everyone stay tuned...

heads up... last time on the day of shipping i received notication that the package was shipped... this has not happened for this order... i sent an email out to john inquiring... however this note on their website concerns me: "Orders placed today will be shipped next Monday. We will be heading to the Keys this week, and may not be available by email on Thursday." so let's cross our fingers that it went out...

for chaeto, check w/ jeremy: Algae need trimming - Austin Reef Club

i've got the following as folks who submitted an order: 1) Carrie 2) Mitch 3) Gonzobob 4) o0zarkawater 5) muddybluewater @ Gonzobob, did LSK submit an order? @ NonSequitor, did you? if you have not already been in touch with me, please PM me your contact info (mbl & email) and give me an idea when you would like to pick up. i live near RCA off of Spicewood Springs/McNeil & 183. if it arrives on thu, i will be @ Parmer & 620 part of thu evening. lmk.

I've got the 75 GPD RO/DI 5 Stage *PLUS* System + 150 GPD Water Saving Upgrade Kit. With my house water pressure at about 65psi and a water temp of about 66F, I was getting about 1:1 ratio of RO/DO water to waste water. This is my first RO/DI unit, so I think it's like any other. Shoot me some questions if you want any specifics and i'll try to answer them as best as I can.

reminder that if you planning on participating, your order needs to be submitted before midnight today (MON 12/14).

so running total is $157 now, so we hit our free shipping threshold! btw, i checked the USPS website and they show 2 day delivery guaranteed for USPS Express, but since last time it ended up being next day, i'll be prepared to be @ home on thu just in case...

i'm in for $67, so our current tally is $105... only need another $45 to get free USPS Express shipping... btw, when i received the shipment last time, this turned out to be next day delivery @ around 10am!

i got the go ahead from john... order away! oh, and a reminder to use coupon code "15percent".

fyi, i just setup a reefcleaners group buy if you want to pick up any of the reef pods.

Oops, to have it shipped on Wed 12/16, the order needs to close on Mon 12/14 11:59pm... i've submitted group order request and waiting for confirmation, so don't submit til i post that we're a go! In the meantime, here's their cookie cutter instructions: To participate in our group buy all you have to do is: 1. Place an order at ReefCleaners.org by Mon 12/14 11:59pm. Pay for the order seperately. 2. Choose the free "Group Buy" shipping option. 3. Leave a note in the comments field before submitting the order to let us know which you group you belong too, ie Austin Reef Club. 4. The order will be shipped on Wed 12/16, orders should be placed by 11:59pm on Mon 12/14. The orders will be labeled by name, and pre-sorted by Reef Cleaners so you just have to pick it up. PM me after you order for the location and the pick up information. Please try to arrange a pickup within a reasonable time after arrival, I will post here when the orders arrive, please subscribe to this thread. If you have questions about the pick up please direct them to me, all other questions about livestock and your specific order should be directed to ReefCleaners.org. In addition, so I/we can keep track if we are hitting our free shipping goal (ideally Express Mail option), please post your order totals. Here's shipping info: We are now offering FREE USPS Priority mail for all orders over $100, and FREE USPS Express Mail shipping for all orders over $150. Otherwise USPS Express is a flat rate of $26 , and Priority Mail is a flat rate of $7.50.

I'm looking to order part of my CuC + pods soon, so I would like to setup a group buy. I would like to close the order on Mon 12/14 11:59pm, so we it would be shipped on Wed 12/16 and be received on Thu/Fri. Let me know if you are interested in joining and i'll handle the logistics.

moo, have you decided from where you will be getting your pods? reefcleaners carries reef pods: ReefCleaners.org | Clean Up Crews and Macro Algae - Reef Pods i was looking to seed my tank with pods as well.

dave, are you still offering your GSP out? i sent you a pm on the 30th, but hadn't heard back. lmk. thanks!

thanks mark! let me know when it would be convenient to swing by.

anyone planning to prune their chaeto in the near future and willing to give away the clippings? thanks in advance.

Finally finished putting my lights and lunarsim in my canopy! Pics of shipment from ReefGeek... these were primarily to document the condition of the shipment in case something was wrong, as well as have detailed pics to refer to later... I got the AquaIllumination T5 retro kit (4-48" + 2-36" = 294W) w/ standard output Universal ballasts, and various combination of ATI Blue Plus, ATI Aquablue Special, GE 6500K, and Korallen Zucht Fiji Purple: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mitch_sengson/sets/72157622249583382/show/ Initial build of light rack... used Elfa wire shelving: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mitch_sengson/sets/72157622341877816/show/ then after realizing the way I configured the equipment in the stand, I had to flip the ballasts so the power plugs were on the other side, and re-distributed the ballasts along the depth of the rack, and added the lunarsim led's... sorry no pics... And finally in the canopy... the last pic is with lunarsim: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mitch_sengson/sets/72157622733445801/show/ Oh, btw, I did a little re-arranging of the rock around the overflow and added about 8 lbs to that area as well as the open sand bed area... I figure it would be nice to have another island to isolate corals etc.

I have 2 vortechs and the slave is controlled/powered by my Apex controller. I can turn on/off the slave, and it returns back to slave mode. I would imagine that the upcoming Neptune vortech module would effectively act as the master and the actual vortech controllers be respective slaves.

@alex, great suggestion about keeping the skimmer off after feeding. and yes, it'll be great having the vortech module and being able to control everything in the Apex. here's the RC thread for everyone else's perusal: Vortech Interface Module - Reef Central Online Community @doktorstick, good observation... unfortunately my UPS only has 3 backed up outlets, so that's why i hadn't included it... the UPS is really intended for the short term (a couple hours), and i plan on getting a generator for the long term...

yes, thanks to everyone's feedback! here's that thread for reference: http://www.austinreefclub.com/topic/8397-wanting-feedback-rockscape/