Simon's 450

[User1]

Pencil was MIA for a few days so I was starting to think it was a goner; but there it was swimming around this morning. Fed it my typical cocktail of brine/mysis/calanus and it ate all of it. Cautiously optimistic.

Sounds great! Glad he or she is out and about and eating. If you get a chance post a picture - would be interesting to see.

 

[ca1ore]

If I can catch him (pretty sure it’s a he) out I’ll snap one. Somebody mentioned that they’re like leopards, wonky biological clock and all. Emergent periods should gradually increase .... unless it dies, then I suppose they won’t. Kind of an odd looking fish.

 

[ca1ore]

Now that a decided lack of won’t power has me feeding 120 plus fish, my inability to sit still has me mucking around with the system. Thought about a wires organization effort; but, really, that’s about as energizing as rearranging the sock drawer. So, I’m building a new, improved, and bigger algal turf scrubber. I’ve built a few in the years since buying and reading Walter Adey’s Excellent book, Dynamic Aquaria. It’s my own personal Edison moment: I’ve discovered five ways to not make an ATS .....

Anyhow, been thinking that the current is too small, so here’s the beginnings of the new one.

 

[JimFuller]

Are you going to hang plastic mesh or spray the glass? With strong lightning, you could have quite a bunch of algae. It looks lik ed a fun project.

 

[Victoria M]

That is pretty nice looking. Is that glass? I will have to check out the book you mentioned. I am always looking for something to read.

 

[ca1ore]

Bad picture ....

 

[ca1ore]

That is pretty nice looking. Is that glass? I will have to check out the book you mentioned. I am always looking for something to read.

Yes, decided to do glass this time to make it a bit easier to keep the walls clean. Book may hard to find, but a worthwhile read.

 

[Victoria M]

Yes, decided to do glass this time to make it a bit easier to keep the walls clean. Book may hard to find, but a worthwhile read.

Thanks. Our library system dis not have one. I found it on amazon for about $100. Gah! It said there was a used copy for $8, so I think I will order that one. and see what shows up.

 

[ca1ore]

$100, gad zooks! It’s a real shame that reef books have gone the way of the dodo. I reference my copies of the Reef Fishes series ( excellent by the way) and it always annoys me that there are finished but unpublished volumes. Oh well.

 

[ca1ore]

Are you going to hang plastic mesh or spray the glass? With strong lightning, you could have quite a bunch of algae. It looks lik ed a fun project.

Plastic ‘canvas’ mesh, yes. I really like making stuff .... as long as it doesn’t involve soldering. I am the worlds worst solderer.

 

[Victoria M]

Is that a red light? I have that same light. Well, it is a round Growstar. It grows chaeto like CRAZY!

 

[ca1ore]

I wasn’t entirely sure which one to get. They make two sizes, one a 150 watt equivalent the other 300 watts. Then they have just the red one and the full spectrum, in both sizes. Sigh! So I went for the bigger full spectrum. Will just have to see how well it works. It does irritate me, though, how these lights are ‘sized’. The 300 watt unit, for example, consumes about 115 watts - 300 is a proxy for equivalence with tradition HID lights. Mucho confusing.

 

[ca1ore]

ANTIQUITY

Thought I had posted these here on R2R, but apparently not. I have never been a big picture taker, but here are some from my early reefing days.

This was my first really large tank, a plywood 300-ish circa 1992.

My early attempt at an ATS - dump-bucket style.

Refugiums are NOT new - though in this case caulerpa rather than chaeto.

Metal halide lighting (Osram PowerStar)

 

[ca1ore]

My very first reef tank, a 75, circa 1987.

 

[ca1ore]

Was BIG into planted tanks through most of the 1980s and 1990s. Here my 180, circa 1995.

 

[Victoria M]

Oh, be still my fluttering heart... Fish Room pictures!
That first reef tank looks amazing. Of course all of them are pretty amazing, but I really like the first reef tank. The 75 gallon.
Yes, the "equivalent" watts vs. actual watts is irritating. And Everytime I recommend this light to someone looking for a good light for the money spent some jack hole (with no experience with this light) comes along and has to post his argument against it like I am a moron who does not understand watts blah, blah, blah. I just say crab mcjones recommended it to me and I have found it grows chaeto like crazy.

 

[ca1ore]

Those were my pre-controller days. Still a Rube Goldberg mess; just with a whole lot less wires. The funny thing to me is that there are things in those old pictures that I have absolutely no recollection of what I had them there for. Clearly not memorable.

 

[ca1ore]

A most tricky, but alluring fish ....

 

[Maritimer]

Every bit of that - and looking sharp!

Mine's been hammering nori and clam suspended on a clip.

~Bruce

 

[ca1ore]

Looking back at some of my old pictures ... my early attempts at aquascaping were mostly brutal. Representative of the ‘pile of rock’ approach that was so prevalent at the time I suppose. Though I was still wearing bell bottoms and Speedo (gak!) ..... be glad I spared those that follow this thread that!