250 Gallon room-divider project log - Page 39

ufchristyb · #**951** 10/22/2005, 10:31 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Ah64av8tor
Jeff:

It still has to eat....It would be a shame to have put all that time and work into QT and loose a fish! Is there any indication of what its eating or just a few missing ceriths.

How a bout a QT for the mantis and see if he will eat a fish? I say better safe than sorry.

Did Christy see the RBTA?

Greg

Yup, I read the whole thread. Your tank looks awesome. Kudos to your fiance - she did a fantastic job taking care of your "fish"

We definitely want to come and get one of your RBTAs, just let us know when you are back and settled in.

As for the mantis, there is a tiny cerith snail graveyard below his hole. No other signs of feeding activities. His handiwork is distinct since there is usually a whole in side of the shells. Unlike the crab we are attempting to catch, who I keep having to scare off the backs of our astreas - it manages to kill them without leaving any identifying marks. So, of the two, I am not terribly concerned with the mantis right now.

ufchristyb · #**952** 10/22/2005, 10:35 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Psyire
I would ID the Mantis before making any speculation on it's behaviour. Try this site:

http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/arthrop...raca/royslist/

Actually, one of the resident stomatopologists in the mantis forum id'd him a long time ago as a N. wennerae - hitchiked in on our FL liverock. So, no big worries there, since it only "eats small crustaceans and gastropods." So far, I have only seen evidence of him feeding on cerith snails. I actually wish he would go after some of the crabs in the tank. Would save us a lot of work.

--Christy

PelagicMagic · #**953** 10/22/2005, 10:48 PM

can i say wow

jeffbrig · #**954** 10/23/2005, 11:42 AM

Well, we're getting ready for hurricane Wilma now. The county EOC is predicting 75-95mph winds later tonight or tomorrow morning. We'll find out soon if that holds true or not.

We're going to change out some water in the QT tanks today, then make up more RO/DI to have on hand just in case.

Lunchbucket · #**955** 10/23/2005, 01:31 PM

man i never want to have to worry about a hurricane. good luck and hope you stay safe!

Lunchbucket

hdtvguy · #**956** 10/23/2005, 01:44 PM

Good luck...

Stile2 · #**957** 10/23/2005, 02:13 PM

Good Luck...

jeffbrig · #**958** 10/23/2005, 06:40 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Lunchbucket
man i never want to have to worry about a hurricane.

This is the price you pay for never having to deal with a snowstorm. LOL

Thanks for the good wishes, everyone. I'll try to post updates as long as I have working internet service. We're expecting the hurricane force winds to really pick up before sunrise and be letting up by early afternoon. The wind field of this storm is absolutely huge!

I'm about to move the QT tank power over to my computer's UPS in our office. That way, if the power goes out, they'll stay running until we can get the generator running. The main tank always has its Tunze streams running on a UPS, and I have a third in my entertainment center to keep the satellite box and TV powered.

Lunchbucket · #**959** 10/23/2005, 07:45 PM

i'd take snow over a hurricane ANY DAY. at least snow won't blow your house down. kind of fun to stay inside and have a snow day

i think i am gonna get a small gas generator incase the power goes out. it will be in my apt garage about 50yds away...will only be needed IF we get a really bad blizzard...which usually never happens

Lunchbucket

ufchristyb · #**960** 10/23/2005, 08:16 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Lunchbucket
i think i am gonna get a small gas generator incase the power goes out. it will be in my apt garage about 50yds away...will only be needed IF we get a really bad blizzard...which usually never happens

Lunchbucket

Lunchbucket,

Trust me on this one, you don't ever want to run a generator indoors where people are - the risk of CO poisoning/brain damage/death is just too great. If there is anyone who lives in your garage apartment, you really shouldn't keep a generator there. Or if you are just going into an enclosed space where a generator is running to add gas and you happen to stay a bit too long, you run the risk of exposing yourself to high levels, getting sleepy, passing out and . . .

Best to keep it outside, but it would likely be way difficult to do that in the event of 4+ feet of snow. Unless you have some sort of covered open area, like a carport or patio. Even then, make sure to get CO detectors.

--Christy

45commando · #**961** 10/23/2005, 08:26 PM

Jeff,you got plenty of extension cords for just incase?I couldn't believe how many I ended up using when Katrina knocked our power out.I have a few spare,so if you find yourself short & can get a PM to me I should be able to help out.Good luck,I think we will be fine in our area,but better safe than sorry.I have a rental property up in Palm beach county,that was built pre-hurricane codes,that's where my concern is.Hope this thing dies out when it makes landfall.Take care & let me know when you want to try a few frags,I have them ready to go for you(orange monti cap & all).

Lunchbucket · #**962** 10/23/2005, 08:38 PM

Christy - i didn't mean run it in the garage...sorry if i wasn't clear. mean run it outside my apt

Lunchbucket

ufchristyb · #**963** 10/23/2005, 08:44 PM

good, you seem really nice. would hate to see you die an untimely, painful death.

nyvp · #**964** 10/23/2005, 08:45 PM

if you need help after hurricane email me i'm in hollywood.

jeffbrig · #**965** 10/23/2005, 09:05 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by 45commando
Jeff,you got plenty of extension cords for just incase?I couldn't believe how many I ended up using when Katrina knocked our power out.I have a few spare,so if you find yourself short & can get a PM to me I should be able to help out.Good luck,I think we will be fine in our area,but better safe than sorry.I have a rental property up in Palm beach county,that was built pre-hurricane codes,that's where my concern is.Hope this thing dies out when it makes landfall.Take care & let me know when you want to try a few frags,I have them ready to go for you(orange monti cap & all).

I think we have the extension cords covered. I have a 12 ga. 100', two 50', and at least two 25', plus several multi-outlet strips with their own 20' cords.

I don't think the winds are going to cause any severe structural damage, just that power outages are going to be widespread. There could very well be 2 million+ without power tomorrow just because of the sheer size of this thing.

I always prepare for the worst and hope for the best. With any luck, we'll make it through this thing with no problem.

ohioreef · #**966** 10/24/2005, 04:11 AM

Good luck! Hope you come through relatively unscathed.

fishonadic · #**967** 10/25/2005, 04:25 PM

I read the whole form too, I love your tank and think that it will look great when it is full of corals and fish. I think that the mantis would be fun to keep becasue of how they hunt, hiding in their cave untill a snail or other snack goes by and then jumping out and killing it, it would be fun to watch.

agarza · #**968** 10/25/2005, 05:50 PM

I really hope you are ok, my parents live in Can-Cun and they are really going through a rough time, we are flying them out of there as soon as the airport re-opens. The thing is that now that I lived through them this experience I really hope you don't come any close to the situation people in Can-Cun and before in New Orleans have gone through.

God Bless and
Cheers.

jacmyoung · #**969** 10/26/2005, 09:49 PM

From the news and posts on here things don't look too good down there. I doubt any tanks can survive two weeks without power. But from what we know of Jeff he may pull this through with his preparation.

45commando · #**970** 10/26/2005, 11:44 PM

Hope your doing OK jeff.Still keeping those frags alive for you(for now)
Well I just stood in line for 6 hours today to try & get gas for the jenny,& got turned away 3rd person form the cut-off point.Then I get back to my neighbourhood & find most of them have power back.Unfortunately,the transformer in our area was ripped out the ground by someone's roof.Probably shouldn't even be wasting the gas to write this,but oh well just time to vent.I'm keeping the house either side of me powered,in return they both try & get gas...just figured 3 familes searching than 1 is better odds.One of my neighbours that just got power gave me her last 2 gallons of gas,so that made a good end to the day.Now I'm kinda down as FPL said isolated pockets of houses without power may take up to 4 weeks to get power back,I hope it is their worst case estimate.At least I can keep those with power awake at night with the humm of the jenny.Lost about 60% of the roof shingles & have tried to patch as best as possible-I had some roofing felt in the garage that I put to use.We are on a boil water advisory,I put quite a few gallons of RO on storage before hand & rigged up a way to boil water,using the muffler of the jenny,so pretty much can have a warm wash.If the tank makes it,then all this will be worth while.Best wishes to the rest of you,I'll check back in a day or 2.Regards,Darcy

got2lb · #**971** 10/26/2005, 11:50 PM

Sometimes I'm glad I live in IOWA (despite the 6ft of snow we'll get this winter)!!! Good luck to all you people down south. It's been a pretty tough year for all of you!

ufchristyb · #**972** 10/27/2005, 08:36 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by jacmyoung
From the news and posts on here things don't look too good down there. I doubt any tanks can survive two weeks without power. But from what we know of Jeff he may pull this through with his preparation.

I have definitely learned never to doubt the hubby after all these years. If there is anyone who can do it, Jeff will. Although, we kind of had a better idea than most how to prepare for a major hurricane - Jeff's folks came through Ivan last year, and we drove supplies to them in the days afterward - that situation was a mess but it tought us how to prepare.

Thank you for all your kind thoughts and well wishes. It's really comforting to know that good thoughts are coming our way from around the U.S.

Jeff, I, the cats, and the tanks are fine thus far. We have no power or potable water, but our generator is humming. My father is ferrying in gasoline from Orlando as we speak, which should get us through the next couple of days - hopefully this will be enough. Our condo and my car sustained some damage, but nothing that insurance won't hopefully cover

My car was the sacrificial lamb - Jeff's baby stayed in the garage.

Everything is alright with the fishies so far. The clowns are merrily swimming along, and the little guy is even starting to regenerate some of his black markings, so thats a good sign.

The achilles is looking a little bit off, but we are hoping this is just stress. He is still eating and swimming about, he is just not doing it with as much pep or gusto as he usually has. He has also started laying over and rubbing on a piece of pvc, which he has not done before. It has been a rough few days -- his light hasn't been on much, his feeding schedule changed, and his water temp dropped 5 degrees (from 80 to 75). The water parameters are all still good, so we are keeping our eye on him at this point. We put a small heater in there last night to bring the temp up 2-3 degrees to see if that helped. He is appearing a bit skiddish, so we are thinking maybe the changes in schedule, hum of the generator, etc might be stressing him out a bit. I would welcome any advice re: this - he is a magnificent animal, and I do not want to lose him.

I am at work now, which is why I have internet, and I will try to keep the updates coming when I am here. Thanks again for everyone's well wishes.

--Christy

jacmyoung · #**973** 10/27/2005, 09:12 AM

Such a relief! Best wishes.

captbunzo · #**974** 10/27/2005, 09:38 AM

I think I can speak for all of us living vicariously through this thread, we are all quit relieved. We will continue to keep you in our prayers!

jeffbrig · #**975** 10/29/2005, 09:03 AM

Hey guys, just checking in on a leisurely saturday with nothing to do.

We're hanging in there, still in good spirits. Still no power, no idea when it will be restored. The boil water alert has been lifted for our area, so that's a sign of progress. The generator has been a godsend for keeping our sanity, and keeping everything healthy.

We have a big 7000/8750 generator, so we have basic power for ourselves and one neighbor that we're sharing gas with (which helps a LOT), and we make coffee and charge batteries for several other neighbors.

Gas is hard to come by, but the situation is improving. There just aren't enough stations with electricity to be able to pump. We've been rationing as much as possible. I charge the 3 UPS's whenever the generator is running. I can spell the generator for a few hours here and there and keep some flow/filtration in the tanks. I also have a pair of battery powered air pumps as a backup for my backup-backup. I can't help the redundancy, I'm an engineer.

We're probably running the generator 18-20 hours a day, and keeping the electrical load to a minimum to conserve gas. We hit the jackpot yesterday on gas, and we probably have enough on hand to go 4 more days without worry. (we're burning 8-10 gallons a day)

Temperatures will probably be the biggest concern in the next few days. It's been cool for the past few days, so we're at 76 in the main tank, 78 in the QTs. That will probably start to climb soon, as the weather is getting warmer again, probably in the mid 80s today. At least we have the fridge/freezer, so we can float frozen water bottles if we need to.

The tang is looking like himself now that he's on a more normal schedule. We're making it a point to keep his lighting on during the day, with multiple feedings like he is used to.

I have seen a few interesting things in the display tank. The urchin that usually hides in a hole in one rock has been out and about. He's bigger than I thought 2"+. The mantis has been out swimming during the day when the lights are off (significantly reduced photoperiod). Everything seems to be doing ok so far. I've been running a single Tunze for water movement, without running the main pump and the skimmer. Again, just to save electricity/gas.

I'll have a few storm pics once things get back to normal (I'm typing in Christy's office today). I have a great shot where you can see the opening in the clouds from the eyewall just a few miles west of us. Then plenty showing the damage around us.