Rob Toonen speaking to PSAS November 16th.

[Mushroom Boy]

The November meeting of the Puget Sound Aquarium Society is scheduled for Saturday, November 16th at 6:30 pm. This month, we are pleased to present Rob Toonen who will be giving a presentation on the various aspects of the deep sandbed in the reef aquarium. We will also be holding our annual sand swap.

This meeting will be held at the "Little Thai" restaurant in the U-District of Seattle, right next door to Below Sea Level. There will be an $8 entrance fee (no exceptions) to this meeting/discussion with Rob. This fee goes directly to the restaurant and will get you a Thai buffet style dinner, so don't eat before this one!

Darryl, from Below Sea Level, is preparing for the influx of area reefers by stocking his store to the gills with fish and corals. Aside from his already low prices, he will be offering an additional 10% discount on all merchandise.

This should be a great meeting. If you'd like more info, or would like to get on our mailing list, just drop me a line.

Paul M.

[MtnDewMan]

Awesome ... This one will be a good one. Below Sea Level is a pretty good outfit, always get nice specimens in :)

[Zack S]

Can't wait! What is a sand swap?

[Mushroom Boy]

The sand swap is a way for everybody to share the beneficial critters from each others' sandbeds. The way it works is, anyone who wants to participate brings a cup of sand from their system. If you have more than one system, and would like to contribute a cup from each, that's fine too. We'll take all of the sand and mix it together. Someone (probably me) will take it home and feed it for 2 months. At the January meeting, I'll bring the sand back, and everyone will take home the same amount of sand they contributed. The difference is, the sand you take home, will have a variety of different critters that you didn't have before. It's a way of adding to the diversity and overall health of your sandbed.

Paul.

[Zack S]

Oh cool

[jsronce]

Hrm. Any problem with sand from a mantis tank? :) (Besides how I'm going to get it out....)

Jennifer

[Mushroom Boy]

Dangle a tasty morsel on the left side of the tank and when nobody's looking, sneak in and grab some before the other mantis alert her to the fact that she's being burglarized :D.

[Gordo]

What about for a new tank? Can I bring some sand that doesn't have life in it yet?

~Gordo~

[CarlS]

I am planning on having my tank up next week (10/28) with some live sand in it. Will the 2 weeks be long enough for it to seed the rest of my bed enough to be worthy of bringing a cup to the meeting? I'll still come to the meeting but don't know if my sand bed will be ready.

Carl S

[skylsdale]

I can't make the meeting :mad: but would really appreciate it if some of you took mental notes and shared some of the better points of Rob's talk on here!

[Zephrant]

Is there any chance that Rob Toonen would consent to someone video-taping the talk?

Zeph

[Mushroom Boy]

Carl, new tank sand is an absolute no-no. Just kidding :D. Definitely bring it, you never know what kind of beneficial critters you may have in there that others could benefit from. BTW, is your tank up and running today as planned?

OK, Gordo, but you're going to owe us big time :D :D.

Taping's a good idea zeph. We could add it to the PSAS Library. I'll check with Rob to see if he's ok with it.

This should be an awesome meeting. We're nearly 3 weeks off and already 32 people are in the "yes" column on the evite.

Phad Thai anyone?

Paul. :beer:

[CarlS]

Well it's not running but I do have it full of RO'ed water which took a rather long time. The way I plumbed the tank works but doesn't work right. I just have to change something and should be done with that tomorrow. My lighting canopy should be all done by end of week as well.

Frustrating a bit but it's fun.

Carl S

[Gordo]

Originally posted by Mushroom Boy


OK, Gordo, but you're going to owe us big time :D :D.



I can pay with tables, chairs, white boards, projectors, and various other meeting supplies. :D

~Gordo~

[Mushroom Boy]

Fair enough :D.

Speaking of projectors, are you going to be able to bring yours to the meeting? I can't remember if we talked about it or not, but Rob could use it.

Anybody want to meet at my house prior to the meeting and carpool down there?

[Zephrant]

I may have to take you up on that- My wife and I are going to hit town for the day/night to make the meeting. Of course I'd have to see your tank too...

I'd bring you a frag but Kevin is storing them for me. :)

If I'm not a member yet, should I bring payment to the meeting or mail it in advance?

Zeph

[Gordo]

Originally posted by Mushroom Boy
Fair enough :D.

Speaking of projectors, are you going to be able to bring yours to the meeting? I can't remember if we talked about it or not, but Rob could use it.

Anybody want to meet at my house prior to the meeting and carpool down there?

I should be able to supply a projector

~Gordo~

[Mushroom Boy]

Bump. :bum:

[Mushroom Boy]

:wildone:

[Mushroom Boy]

Hey Zeph, sorry, I don't think I answered your question. Yes, if you'd like to bring payment to the meeting, that's no sweat.

Meeting is this Saturday everybody! Remember to bring a 1 cup sample of your sand if you'd like to participate in the swap.

Paul.

[Mushroom Boy]

:bum:

[MtnDewMan]

At this month's meeting, everyone attending will be required to pay an $8 per person entrance fee to the restaurant. Please have this ready as it will be collected upon entrance into the restaurant. When you pay your dinner fee, you will be given a raffle ticket. Hang on to this ticket as the store will not be open for the first part of the meeting.

We will be having a lottery system for store access into Below Sea Level. This is due to the limited size of the store compared to the large turnout we are expecting at this event. After Rob's presentation is concluded, Darryl from Below Sea Level will be drawing groups of raffle tickets for entrance into the shop in a lottery style format. This is being done in an effort to maintain some sanity in the process of routing people through the store as well as for everyone getting a fair shot at what Darryl has to offer. Thanks for your understanding and cooperation.

We're looking forward to this meeting and are anticipating a fabulous event!!! See you Saturday!

[reedman]

Just wanted to say thank you to all of the folks who made the meeting happen.

Rob was very informative and I learned alot of new and useful information. The food was good and the place was packed. I hope this is the trend for the club!

Again thank you to Rob Toonen, all the folks at Little Thai restaurant, Darryl from Below Sea Level, and those who coordinated this great meeting.

See everyone next month!:beer:

-Reed