It's been feeling that way lately.

Fosi, it very much looked like UPS's fault.
I took a pic so I'd have something to send ReefGeek, I'll post it shortly.

Wow! I'm sorry! It's hurry up & wait over & over isn't it. Hubby is off the roof because of the wind. To avoid taxes, he has taken Cindy to the groomer so I added plumbing supplies to his list so I can get this tank plumbed & get the 30L to you sooner.

Don't Waste your Life is by John Piper

I know that! What did I say????? Thanks for the correction. Awesome book.

J.I. Packer - another great theologian though. Knowing God is one of my favs.

Any of you read anything by Alvin Plantinga?

I agree. Have you ever read Ed Clowney? Since my daughter married one of his grandsons, I have been looking at some of his books. I didn't realize how often he is quoted or how many hymns he has written.


No, I haven't. I looked his titles up with one of my distributors. He has several. What have you read?

Don't Waste your Life; I am actually reading that myself Sue, when I am not wasting time .

Dr. Brand had a follow-up to Fearfully, it is called In His Image. It was a great follow-up, for me, to Celebration of Discipline by Richard J. Foster. I have always gone back to foster's book when the world gets too loud for me to hear the things I should be listening too. I am pretty old school though...Lewis, Oswald Chambers and GK Chesterton.

As for ordering lights. Third or fourth try always works forme when ordering from DFS. My favorite was a trail of glass from the delivery van to my door.

Gotta laugh at how they managed to punch a hole in the box right over the bright red FRAGILE sticker!

at pic.

Celebration of Discipline = awesome book

Haven't read anything by Alvin yet, I was hoping for experiences opinions.

The few that had descriptions on the distributor's site was hard to tell where he is coming from. Just wondered if you had read any to know.

+1 on Celebration of Discipline!




I must be old school as well! My Utmost is another personal favorite! Ever read Valley of Vision?

Weets! That box looks like the one I got adinsxq but my light was fine. He did an awesome packing job!

Mine might have been okay too, but if you open the box to look, you can't refuse the package and ReefGeek would not have been able to place a claim with UPS.
I had to either accept it or refuse it without looking.

good, call weets let reefgeek file the claim and replace it. I gotz my other blue+ and man the tank is ballin now. also got gfo so my DIY media reactor is running and got my 2 aqualifter to make the glenn1978 dosing pumps.

Cool!
I have an aqualifter on the way too, hoping to use it for dosing Alk.
How's yer foot?

better,hurt yesterday at work. I was driving today so did have to be on it that much. black and blue is going away. NEW FISHY'S Thurs. :omg omg:

Sorry about the delivery Weets.

Had a similar situation last week. Donna was near the front door pn the phone, she thought she herd the UPS truck right, then she hears a loud thud off the front door and by the time she opens the door ( she was about a foot away ) the UPS truck is already pulling away. Driver must has heaved the package ( covered in bright orange FRAGILE stickers) from the lawn and the box hit the front door. And he had to run back to the truck to leave before she opened the door she said.

Our regular UPS driver is great, knows when we are typically home and adjusts his delivery times in effort to catch us home. This other guy however..... Funny thing is it was the second attempted delivery of this package, supposedly we refused delivery several days before-- no one was even home at the time they say they attempted delivery the first time LOL

I hope the next delivery goes well L.


thought you wuz givin up on fishies?


whatcha gettin. huh?? secret?

i had a very similar situation like that a few months ago. they said they we had refused the package and nto a soul was home at the "refusal time"

Yup. I figure that's their bail out routine when they wanna skip or miss a delivery.
Uh, oh yeah, they refused the package, yup that's what happened.

Email from ReefGeek:

"Unfortunately the information the driver gave you was not correct. In this case the driver should have simply noted the package as having signs of possible damage and allowed you to sign for and accept it as is. Doing this would not have voided any potential damage claims. Then you could have taken the time to open it up and inspect it. We double-box all T5 shipments, so there is a actually a decent chance that nothing was damaged.

At this point we have to wait for the package to be returned to us, so that we can inspect it and if necessary replace any damaged goods."


I just wanna cry.
Who wants to take bets on how long it will take before I actually get any bulbs or reflectors?

A month. Personally I would email or call and tell them to ship you another one pronto or issue you a refund as part of good biz practice. Let them know that you'll ruin them forever on nano-reef.com if they don't comply with your demands

Warning: Drama ahead.
Absolutely NOT an April Fool's joke.


Guys, I am so beyond discouraged with this whole thing.
I've had thing after thing go wrong with this whole project.
I am so stressed over it, and it's having a really negative effect on me IRL.
Maybe this just isn't what I'm supposed to be spending my time and resources on right now.
I am seriously considering selling off most of the corals and equipment currently in this tank and just going FOWLR or something.

I could keep a few of the easiest and my absolute favorites and put them in my 10g with my 40w PC fixture over it.

Maybe I could get some really cool fish with the proceeds. Stick a little Angler in the 10g or something.





Btw, please do not PM me asking if you can have some of the corals from this tank. I'm likely to respond to that sort of thing very badly right now.

If you want something, wait to see if I list it.

I have these! Are they from eric? That is where I got mine. They are growing steadily.

I'm not going to give you a "buck-up kid" post or tell you to press on because you can make the right choice on your own. I don't even know what the "right" choice is because it has to be right for you and your life.

I was where you were toward the end of my 20L's life... Especially after I put all that time and effort into that 10g system that cracked.

I decided to keep on because I knew that while I was discouraged and unhappy in that moment, that I would not be able to simply walk away from the hobby because I still derived a lot of pleasure and stimulation from it. If you don't feel the same way, maybe it really is time to rethink your future plans.

Methinks you should hold court in WL chat tonight.

I've been there, Weetie. I have moments of ethical dilemma around spending money for something that is obviously a selfish hobby. Ultimately, I press on with my tank because the wonder that I have for the animals in it simply reminds me of God's creativity and, in my own weird little way, I find in it a metaphor for grace and stewardship.

I'm sorry you've been frustrated by your tank. I hope that your decision ultimately brings peace.

I wouldn't be walking away completely, I honestly don't think I could do that.
I'd just be severely downgrading to a simple 10g reef.

Weetie, I've always found, as I'm sure you have too, that things seem to happen in series. You go through strings of bad things and then a string of good things. Sounds like you just happen to be in that string of bad things right now. If you hang in there, the good things will be there soon.

Scott, I've been telling myself that for a while on this.
I think I just ran out of string.
I need something positive to happen today on this; otherwise, I think I might need to walk away from it.
I just feel so beat.
Sorry.

I understand. I just don't like hearing you so down.

That's the direction I was heading too! I told my wife that I wanted to junk the 20L and just get a 10g... Then I started thinking and planning and it became the 2x10g that ended up cracking.

Then, suddenly, I got some free pumps (a Mag5 and a Mag 9.5) and a great deal on a Q1 3000 (less than $15 shipped)... Then I got a free 20H that fit the free 20H stand that I already had. and it struck me that "there are no coincidences", so I went with it.

You'll do what's right for you, so I'm not worried.

In other news... Some corals have been delivered and I am waiting for the call that tells me they are waiting in the office for me!

Fosi, you gotta tell me as soon as you get it and open it, kay????

Deal.

Weeties dont give up. I would see if Reefgeek will send the reflectors and lighs now. UPS told you the wrong thing. I would doublecheck reefgeek's policy. I understand how you feel, Iike i was with the frag tubs.

You sure bout that?
Cause I was making a list of what to sell, what to keep, and what to give away, and I have a free Meteor Shower Cyphastrea with your name next to it.

can i haz your mushies? please








JK

Whats wrong with your current setup? I know you keep saying its temporary, but what needs to be done to make it not temporary? I know it may not be your dream setup but you have it and it could save you some more troubles in the future.

The most glaring thing wrong with it-- and it's a big one-- is that I don't have a light.
The light over it now is a Tek fixture on loan from BibleSue.
She will need it back soon when she gets her 30L setup going. She's not far from doing that right now.
I only had her Tek fixture on loan til my retro from ReefGeek came in, but now it looks as if there will be quite a delay before I have a working light of my own.

It will be awhile. Hubby just got the PVC. I have to transfer Christal's stuff into it & make sure there is no mini cycle before I move stuff in. I also have my prop tank lights to use so no big rush! I, too, would suggest calling & talking to someone at Reef Geeks. Unless they have stuff drop shipped from a third party, it will not hurt to re-ship & keep what is good in the return. They can check tracking to see that it is being returned to them. Let us know if you want us to call them to let them know others are watching how they handle this.

I emailed Greg @ ReefGeek a little bit ago to ask him if he could get replacement bulbs and reflectors out to me a little sooner.
I explained to him that I was using a loaner light that I would only have for a short while longer and that if I didn't get a light in soon to put over my tank, I wouldn't have anything to sustain the corals that are in there.
I asked if there was anything either he or I could do to speed the process up.
We'll see how he responds.

Holy freebies Batman!

I busted everything out and it's in the lab tank right now; I'm already seeing immediate opening!

I have some pics but I'm going to post them in the tank thread in a bit... I have to take my students on a field trip today (in about an hour) and I have some broth and agar in the autoclave that'll be coming out in a bit. So I've gotta do some prep for the trip and pour some plates so I don't know if I will have time to post until after 4:30 today.

Go do your stuff Sir, just glad everything is okay.

Im prob going get the meteor shower from the same person that you got yours from. I would much rather see it in your tank.

Wow, I've missed a bit. I sorely hope it works out for you. I'm just guessing here but Sue seems like the type that may let you borrow the light for a bit longer if you were in a jam. Just guessing there. .

Keep your head up!

Greg Morgan, ReefGeek.com (866) 295-9230

Thanks! Headed to church for a meeting. I left a message & my cell number. One business person to another. We will see what he says.




Told you we had fun. You have your priorities straight. Family before tank! That earns a reward in our book! Enjoy! I'd have sent the acan, too but it was not too happy that day.

Mama Sue, I don't know if it was your phone call that did the trick, but Greg said he will see what he can do to get replacements out to me in the next day or two.

As long as he follows through, I should have what I need to at least keep going with the 20L.

Mr. Fosi and arwndsh, I gave some thought to some of the things you said, and I think you both had some really good points as far as not trying to force things with the new project and trying to make it work with the setup I have now.
Keeping that in mind, I think I will try to just make things work with the 20L for right now.
When the bulbs and reflectors come in, I'll use some of the wood I already have on hand to rig up a ghetto enclosure to hold the 4x39w retro over the 20L tank.
It'll look a little odd, but should work fine.

Due to some continuing issues that I am having in the tank, I do think it would probably be best to get rid of the SPS I have.
SPerry and dshnarw, you will probably hear from me re this soon.
I had to throw one Cap out today and had to chop up another Cap to try to save some of it and ended up throwing a large part of that one out as well.
I don't entirely understand why, but I am continuing to have problems related to dosing 2 part in this tank.
I got 2 new bottles of B-Ionic, and my tank got more unhappy after I started dosing it.
I'm testing and doing all of the right things, it's just not working.
I also think that going back to just Softies and LPS will alleviate some of the stress I've been having with this system.

So anyway, that's the plan for right now-- use the new 36" T5 retro over the 20L and just try to make that tank work.
Hopefully this particular plan will turn out to be much more workable than the preceding 15 or so plans I've had to ditch over the last few months!

Thanks for all of your support today, guys.

Hey weetie fragged my purple with blue polyps monti tonight to finally place a frag of it on the rocks to grow out. And I was looking at my huge NG colony, thought about you and the fact you were the first person I ever traded with, and thought I would say thanks again!

And dont give up on SPS, consider my tank your reserve for any SPS you need whe nyou are ready again!

Awww, that's great to hear!!
I had to throw away my last piece of that exact Cap a couple of days ago, so I may get some back from you down the road.
It may have been your first trade, but you did a great job. You were so conscientous that I've had no hesitations about recommending you to others.
Thanks for stopping by.

I got plenty of it, let me know, it is looking awesome these days!

Thank for having the guts to trade with a first timer, I used your packing model for every trade I have done since!

aww dont give up on sps , it can be annoying but once their happy their happy.

Watching some beautiful SPS pieces slowly die has really been adding to my stress lately.
I think it's time to give it a break.

Good to hear that Greg is sending the replacement already.