impulse buy

[hey]

Cool. PM me before your next trip and I'll give you a couple spots to try. The main Greenbrier is a lot of fun for smallmouth.

 

Winter up here is pretty brutal, the wind never stops blowing (we have ocean on three sides), that's why I'm keen to set up the nano this year...something to keep us from going crazy.

 

Fun story about kayaking the greenbrier in july, we decided to drop in at marlinton and float back to watoga fishin the whole way. Turns out the bulk of the greenbrier in that stretch is almost dry with nothing but hole to hole fishing that time of year or atleast when theres a nice run of hot days. We accounted for 4 hours of kayaking and just brought a few cases of beer and nothing else with us.

 

Well it ended up taking about 11 hours with all the walking over large mossy rocks carrying canoes... We all got sun burns from hell and didn't catch a buzz at all. Did end up catching about 20-30 fish none big enough to feel good about the day though lol. We showed up at my friends wedding the next weekend with the whole guys side of the wedding party bright ass red.

[mountaineer]

Fun story about kayaking the greenbrier in july, we decided to drop in at marlinton and float back to watoga fishin the whole way. Turns out the bulk of the greenbrier in that stretch is almost dry with nothing but hole to hole fishing that time of year or atleast when theres a nice run of hot days. We accounted for 4 hours of kayaking and just brought a few cases of beer and nothing else with us.

 

Well it ended up taking about 11 hours with all the walking over large mossy rocks carrying canoes... We all got sun burns from hell and didn't catch a buzz at all. Did end up catching about 20-30 fish none big enough to feel good about the day though lol. We showed up at my friends wedding the next weekend with the whole guys side of the wedding party bright ass red.

Ha! Yeah, it's pretty skinny that time of year. Wow, that's a long trip. At least you did better than my friend. He and another guy floated this uncharted stretch of the Blackwater where he was sure all the big trout were. Turns out it was a silty, winding ditch through 6 miles of swamp. No wonder nobody else canoed there. There was a beaver dam every 100 feet and they had to get out and drag the boat over, just cutting themselves all to heck on the sticks. He lost his car keys in one. His wife had to drive 3.5 hours from Charleston in the middle of the night to bring the spare set. She was not a happy camper. Did I mention they were feasted on by mosquitoes and blackflies the entire time? Yeah....he got divorced not long after that, I think that was the straw that broke the camel's back. The other guy got some weird infection from scratching himself on the beaver dams. Good times.

[hey]

Ha! Yeah, it's pretty skinny that time of year. Wow, that's a long trip. At least you did better than my friend. He and another guy floated this uncharted stretch of the Blackwater where he was sure all the big trout were. Turns out it was a silty, winding ditch through 6 miles of swamp. No wonder nobody else canoed there. There was a beaver dam every 100 feet and they had to get out and drag the boat over, just cutting themselves all to heck on the sticks. He lost his car keys in one. His wife had to drive 3.5 hours from Charleston in the middle of the night to bring the spare set. She was not a happy camper. Did I mention they were feasted on by mosquitoes and blackflies the entire time? Yeah....he got divorced not long after that, I think that was the straw that broke the camel's back. The other guy got some weird infection from scratching himself on the beaver dams. Good times.

 

damn thats a nasty one too lol, i think my friends wife blames me for the tomato colored complexions in their wedding. we don't see much of him anymore at group outtings.

[Sashimi]

Would you recommend that I just use the protein skimmer? Or replace the canister with another piece of equipment? I can tell it would get funky pretty quick.

I have a 29 long and I'm running it with a Aqua Clear 70 with the Intank Media basket. I'm thinking of adding another protein skimmer but I really hate the HOB skimmers and hate the noise of a sump.

[mountaineer]

I have a 29 long and I'm running it with a Aqua Clear 70 with the Intank Media basket. I'm thinking of adding another protein skimmer but I really hate the HOB skimmers and hate the noise of a sump.

Ah, I see. What sort of media do you use in the Aqua Clear 70?

[hey]

Ah, I see. What sort of media do you use in the Aqua Clear 70?

 

pretty standard for most aio's around here is chemi-pure, purigen, and filter floss the in tank basket has racks for all of that.

[Mariaface]

Just for information's sake:

 

Chemi-Pure itself is like activated carbon specifically for reefs (there's a lot more going on, the details are on the website, and it's pretty much all good). Chemi-Pure Elite adds a phosphate remover to the base chemi-pure. And Chemi-Pure Blue adds Purigen (for outrageously effective adsorption of ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate, because Purigen does such a good job that it can clear your water enough to bring up light levels) in addition to Elite.

 

Any of the three choices is meant to last a couple of months at a time depending on bioload, which is another bonus.

[hey]

Just for information's sake:

 

Chemi-Pure itself is like activated carbon specifically for reefs (there's a lot more going on, the details are on the website, and it's pretty much all good). Chemi-Pure Elite adds a phosphate remover to the base chemi-pure. And Chemi-Pure Blue adds Purigen (for outrageously effective adsorption of ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate, because Purigen does such a good job that it can clear your water enough to bring up light levels) in addition to Elite.

 

Any of the three choices is meant to last a couple of months at a time depending on bioload, which is another bonus.

 

I was recently schooled on purigen not being an ion exchange resin but an adsorption resin so theres a difference between chemipure+purigen bag vs just running chemipure blue. Thread can be seen here http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/349699-chemipure-blue/

[mountaineer]

Thanks. Wow, I have a lot to learn.

[Mariaface]

I was recently schooled on purigen not being an ion exchange resin but an adsorption resin so theres a difference between chemipure+purigen bag vs just running chemipure blue. Thread can be seen here http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/349699-chemipure-blue/

Sweet baby jesus, the source I'd read made me believe that last addition actually was Purigen. You learn something new every day! And sheesh, I'm always glad to see people will correct me when I'm wrong. Helps everyone out, not just me.

 

Right now I'm using Phosguard and Purigen, and getting Chemi Pure in the mail before I go restock on carbon. Kinda tempting to just get Matrix, since the media bags I have aren't particularly fine, but if I can reuse the bag from the Chemi Pure it might not be an issue... Hm!

[hey]

Sweet baby jesus, the source I'd read made me believe that last addition actually was Purigen. You learn something new every day! And sheesh, I'm always glad to see people will correct me when I'm wrong. Helps everyone out, not just me.

 

Right now I'm using Phosguard and Purigen, and getting Chemi Pure in the mail before I go restock on carbon. Kinda tempting to just get Matrix, since the media bags I have aren't particularly fine, but if I can reuse the bag from the Chemi Pure it might not be an issue... Hm!

 

Ya i thought the same thing and was like well crap, I use some cheap bulk carbon and switch it out every week saving the bags and toss in a bag of purigen every couple months for my chemical filtration. I also keep 2 bags of matrix in sump and switch one out like every 5-6 months. I don't know if it does anything but I am determined to finish my package of it lol.

 

Thanks. Wow, I have a lot to learn.

 

HAHA naw these are just nuances the basics of getting started are pretty simple.

[Pancetta]

Mountaineer,

Nice find on Craig's list. People are very helpfull on this site.

 

My sister-in-law lives in Provincetown. Lot's of good seafood to be had there.

She goes clam digging with her neighbor and always comes home with a full bucket.

 

Winters are bleak there but it is a beautiful place.

 

David

 

[mountaineer]

Mountaineer,

Nice find on Craig's list. People are very helpfull on this site.

 

My sister-in-law lives in Provincetown. Lot's of good seafood to be had there.

She goes clam digging with her neighbor and always comes home with a full bucket.

 

Winters are bleak there but it is a beautiful place.

 

David

Small world. I might even know her....50,000 people in high summer, then it's only 1,500 of us left on this spit of sand in winter. Pretty much all the bars, restaurants, and shops close down. Seems like you end up meeting everybody. Winter's intense. I think everybody goes a little crazy in Feb/March.

 

That's funny -- my place is a 5 min walk from the clamming spot and I go out a lot. Lately I've been catching squid off the pier for calamari, lots of fun. We go out at night, because they're attracted to the lights. The seafood is one of the best parts of living here. We're getting more great whites -- one killed a seal yesterday right on Race Point beach. Lots of people saw it, and my buddy forwarded me a picture. Pretty wild.

[Pancetta]

My sister-in-law usually visits my in-laws in North Carolina during the winter and returns to the Cape in

March or April.

 

Man, that is some wild news about the Great White?! We usually visit once a year in the summer and

always make at least one trip to Race Point beach. My wife and son went this past summer. I could not make it.

 

Where is the closest LFS to you? I do not know of any on the Cape.

 

 

[mountaineer]

My sister-in-law usually visits my in-laws in North Carolina during the winter and returns to the Cape in

March or April.

 

Man, that is some wild news about the Great White?! We usually visit once a year in the summer and

always make at least one trip to Race Point beach. My wife and son went this past summer. I could not make it.

 

Where is the closest LFS to you? I do not know of any on the Cape.

Oh man, that's my greatest obstacle to this hobby. It's a good 2.5 hrs to any decent LFS that does salt. There are a several shops in Boston, and the next time I'm there, I plan to check out a few. Lovely Pets in Quincy is probably the closest. There's also a place with a good rep in Seekonk, MA, about the same distance. So it's gonna be tough. It will take some planning -- I just can't run out to the LFS if I have an emergency. I guess I'll have to use distilled water, unless I can just buy a huge amount of RODI at some place in Boston.

 

Our seal population has exploded (about 1500 right here), and it's like ringing the dinner bell -- we have several great whites hanging around. This lobster diver I know has seen some monsters. I saw a big shark when I was kayaking half a mile out on the lobster pots, really freaked me out, but it turned out to be a basking shark, totally harmless.

[Pancetta]

Sounds like you should consider making your own RODI. It is always good to have some extra on hand.

 

Everything else you can order online. Although I bought all my fish at a LFS. I really like to see the fish before I buy.

 

There must be a lot of good fish stores in Boston.

[mountaineer]

Sounds like you should consider making your own RODI. It is always good to have some extra on hand.

 

Everything else you can order online. Although I bought all my fish at a LFS. I really like to see the fish before I buy.

 

There must be a lot of good fish stores in Boston.

You're right, but at the moment, I'm still suffering RODI sticker shock...wow.

 

The internet is incredible -- so much easier to get info and supplies than when I was doing this 20 yrs ago. A different world.

 

The thought of buying corals and inverts through the mail kind of worries me, simply because I've never done it before, but I'm so far out here, I'll probably try it at some point. But yeah, I'll definitely make the jaunt to Boston for fish.

[Pancetta]

You're right, but at the moment, I'm still suffering RODI sticker shock...wow.

 

The internet is incredible -- so much easier to get info and supplies than when I was doing this 20 yrs ago. A different world.

 

The thought of buying corals and inverts through the mail kind of worries me, simply because I've never done it before, but I'm so far out here, I'll probably try it at some point. But yeah, I'll definitely make the jaunt to Boston for fish.

There is A LOT of sticker shock in this hobby! LOL.

 

I have only bought livestock online twice. First time was some Rock Flower Anemones (RFA) in a group buy from VIP Reef.

Then I bought some Zoas and a Blasto from Unique Corals.

 

There are a lot of good livestock suppliers in Florida so you can probably get nice stuff overnight.

Check out VIP Reef for RFAs. They are quite hardy and easy to care for.

KP Aquatics has a good rep too. I have never purchased from them but several people I trust on this site have.

 

http://vipreef.com/

 

http://www.sealifeinc.net/catalog/index.php

[hey]

You're right, but at the moment, I'm still suffering RODI sticker shock...wow.

 

The internet is incredible -- so much easier to get info and supplies than when I was doing this 20 yrs ago. A different world.

 

The thought of buying corals and inverts through the mail kind of worries me, simply because I've never done it before, but I'm so far out here, I'll probably try it at some point. But yeah, I'll definitely make the jaunt to Boston for fish.

 

Bulk reef supply has great cheaper rodi kits available in the lower 100's range. A decent temporary option is to use distilled water (not spring water) from a grocery store/walmart and mix your own salt water. It just gets to be a pain lugging 1gal containers weekly.

[Mariaface]

There's also a <$70 system out there that'll last you a good while before you need to replace cartridges (and end up paying the price of the system just to replace parts). I wouldn't suggest it, but it's a slightly-less-temporary way. You just still end up paying twice when you eventually move on to the real deal, so it's better to get one sooner than later.

[mountaineer]

Thanks for the advice, everyone. Our water out here is a little funny and salty -- I swear you can taste sand in it after a big winter storm -- we're actually not on bedrock here, just this weird spit of marl and sand, so our water is piped in from another town. Should I do any particular tests before I get an RODI unit? Or would any RODI unit work with my water? It seems like I'll need to get a TDS tester, right?

[hey]

How close are you to the ocean, I would honestly try and use that lol.

 

If you do go this route you may be able to get some answers to any questions in this thread

http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/305180-the-official-ask-albert-thiel-thread/page-652

[Mariaface]

Get a TDS meter, yes, and check to see if your water is treated with chloramines because that's another filtration stage for your RO/DI unit.

[mountaineer]

How close are you to the ocean, I would honestly try and use that lol.

 

If you do go this route you may be able to get some answers to any questions in this thread

http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/305180-the-official-ask-albert-thiel-thread/page-652

LOL....I'm a 5 min walk to the harbor beach, but it's not very clean right there. The "real" Atlantic-facing beach is a 10 min drive, no big deal.

 

Get a TDS meter, yes, and check to see if your water is treated with chloramines because that's another filtration stage for your RO/DI unit.

I'm sure this is a noob question, beg forgiveness, but I'll shoot...How do I go about finding out if I have chloramines?

[Mariaface]

Your city's water treatment department should have a website or something like that. Or you can call whoever's on your water bill and inquire about it. :]