Reef tank enthusiasts...

[VaBusa]

nope, that was before mini me (look real close at the avatar & you'll see him). he's been the recipient of the extra income, and then I got bike fever, and have been saving for my "other" baby. But I'll have her up and running sooner hopefully this winter, the summer belongs to me and the bike.
Me and that tank go waaaaaaaaay back, I purchased her from a "friend" who I worked with who failed to mention that it was sitting on her porch in the elements for about 4 months but she cleaned it really good when I picked it up so I didn't know. after about 1 week of setup it came apart at the seams all the seals seemed to let out at once, my apartment complex was not happy in the least, and neither was I after I had to pay for the damages to the hard wood floors. So I worked her bought new braces top and bottom and a couple bottles of silicone and went to work on her, took about 2 days to re glue her back together, and then build a sturdier stand, neighbors really loved me then power saw, and an empty hardwood floored room, seemed to reverberate everywhere. but I've had her for about 6 years now, and no leaks, but she has been empty since Isabel. The wife threatens to give her away one day, lol ....... she'll go before the tank

Yeah, I saw your little guy in the avatar

Very cute and expensive, aren't they?!

I hope you do get back in to it...sounds like you miss it...

Sometimes I think I've had enough, then the kids get interested or the neighbors' kids come over and oogle the tank, so I think it's fun for them, relaxing for me when there are no problems...definitely a good conversation piece...

Did you ever buy stuff locally? Or was everything over the web?

I've got a wonderful contact in Richmond, but it can be pricey...the guy balances it out by just being so stinkin' smart about things you might have going wrong, he always recalls what you had in your tank, what you bought last...he's nice and doesn't mind "giving" you a replacement fish if something went bad with one you bought...not every time, but he's done it enough for me to appreciate him...guy makes a fortune in his little hole-in-the-wall shop in Richmond and had a continuous stream of people coming in, but he remembers your name...it's worth riding there to see what he's got...

 

[VaBusa]

nice pics =i could look at em all day

   i tried a tang once but couldnt find one that didnt pick at corals . Just goes to show you what works for one  doesnt another

  have you ever gotten a bat fish to feed?  heh me either lol  

  just lost one this week after about a month of trying to get him to eat  

 i do however have a manderin dragonet that seems to be doing prettty well , ill get some pics up tonight about 8 or so --cause right now im gonna ride  WOOOHOOO its about 60+ degrees

Nope...never had a batfish...don't get sea horses either!  You have to net them every day, don't let 'em out of the water a single bit, then feed 'em live brine shrimp...it's a big pain...

ahh yes we killed a few sea horses too...you can take a horse to food but you cant make em eat

 
 i dont mean to threadjack but i have never used metal halides are they prefered over HO compacts? i always thought they were about the same  but i havent looked into a whole lot.

I've always had the metal halides, along with actinic compacts...don't know how much better/worse they might be over what you've been using...

 

[tonyy1]

I will, and yeah I used to buy everything when I first set the tank up for Animal Jungle in VA Beach. http://www.animaljungle.com/

yeah it seams like they gotta keep one reef geek at every store or else they are history. What's the guys name/shop in Richmond, it's only an hour from here, might be worth the trip.

I haven't purchased any fish over the net yet, not really liking the idea of them almost flash frozen and shipped next day. That's gotta shorten their life span, but when I do get the tank up again and need to cycle it, I'll give it a try with some cheapo's.

Oh and have you heard you can cycle your tank with a piece of raw shrimp? I've heard it cut's the cycle time initially down to 2 weeks, but haven't tried it yet. Anyone here heard of it?

 

[VaBusa]

The guy in Richmond is named Joe Genero...his place is "Fish World", 11634 A Busy Street, Richmond (off of Midlothian near Chesterfield Towne Center Mall)

He does set ups for businesses...last one he told me about was 5000 gallons...

He's down to earth, hard as hell to get a minute with on a busy day, but a great guy...he'll get you anything you need, ship it to you if you'd like...he doesn't have a web site, but he doesn't need it. The volume of business he does is unreal...

His shipments come in to RIC airport on Wednesdays I believe...so Thursdays/Fridays are busy with everyone going in to claim what they want...