Ok Marc Im watching :)

[Maldivan]

Well I guess Im the 1st one to post in here. I feel special!

Andy

[hydro]

Hi Andy
I 'll keep an eye open too.
Joe

[Maldivan]

Hey Joe ,
BTW I did manage to but that 100 Gal In the end after my 140 Fiasco w/my wife! Im having another overflow drilled in it as you suggested.Also both overflow boxes will have return holes drilled!
Its worth the extra $110 to have another 1.5" hole drilled and 2 returns drilled, now I woont have to hang PVC on the back of the tank unless I go w/ a closed loop.

Andy

[hydro]

Hi Andy
I think you will be a lot happier than I am. I put a couple of the new rio's in mine the extra water flow has really helped out on the alge growth. is the 100 really that much smaller than a 140?
Also what kind or aviation tech are you? I am a retired Air Force Crew Chief, well kind of retired I work for lier up here at shepard
Joe

[Maldivan]

Hey Joe,
Yes much smaller actually. The 140 was 30" tall and massive. was
60x24x30 or abouts. The height was the bad thing combined with the fact that it jutted out from the wall so far. The 100 gal is 60x18x22 just nice.

I started out in the USAF in 82' as a Jet Engine Mechanic the old 426x2 type : working the F-111F at RAF Lakenheath. Then went to Plattsburgh - back to Raf Lakenheath. In 89' we got " rivited " into Crew Chief / Engines / Hydro . From There I went to full Time Crew Chief On the Ole F-111F . Did my tour in desert storm. After we came home form the storm the USAF saw fit to give me orders to Cannon AFB New Mexico........ GAH!!!!! Well, that was the straw that broke the camels back...i seperated at the 10 year mark in 92' while stationed at Cannon. Worked for GE when I got out then took a job at Northwest Airlines in '97. Got layed off from there after the Iraq War Started and fortunantly I was Hired by Lockheed Martin here in Ft.Worth where Im still clinging onto employment! What ya work In the USAF? Where were you stationed?

Andy

[hydro]

Hi Andy
Iv'e been every where as the song goes, Here's the list minus the dates. Hunter AAF georgia, Stuttgart Germany, Mcchord WA. Keflivic Iceland, Bentwaters England, Spangdaulum GE, And the last 8 years Holloman NM. And a lot of tdy's in the process With F-15s, F-16's and F117A's. After 24 years I thought I was done with jets and got a job at lowes selling lumber, but $7.00 an hour ain't much and people S*&K. SO when I heard there was an opening at the base crewing 38's for $18. an hour I jumped on it and have been there about a year. Oh yea I starte out as Hydro but got rivited into crewing. I guess that makes it about current Later Joe

[buyitjody]

Ha! Caught you guys! I'll be checking out here when I can, too.

Andy--sounds like all worked out well with your tank situation. Glad to hear that!

Joe--you sure have a lot of tanks. I'm jealous!

If I had time to maintain more than one large tank (I only have a 55 gallon and it's hard to keep up with properly-mainly the water changes), then I would have a couple. I am in the process of setting up a dwarf seahorse tank. Two and a half gallons.... Should be fun! I'm just about finished with the cycling, but most places you can order them from are closed July and August, so I will have to wait a couple months to order. I guess what I can do is start a small pod farm in their tank so when they arrive, they will have some munchies! Gives me time to learn how to decap brine eggs and learn how long they take to hatch, too. More than you probably wanted to know...

Jody

[Maldivan]

Heyas Jody,
Let me know how that works out ! I have a 10 gal and a 5 gal sitting doing nothing. I was thinkin about the seahorse route myself!

Andy

[buyitjody]

Andy,

If you want to do dwarves, they take a little bit different care than the larger breeds. For example, you should not use live rock or live sand or put any corals in the tank. This is because of hydroids. Hydroids don't really harm the larger breeds, but dwarves (because of their small size) will be killed by hydroids. Since baby brine is the dwarf food sorce, hydroids, if present, will quickly infest a tank because of the abundance of food. If you are interested in possibly getting some dwarves from me when mine have babies, then I would be more than happy to sell you some. I am predicting they will have babies because they mate quite often during the mating season (I believe it is Feb-Oct). Anyway, there is a really good book out that was just written last year. You can find it the cheapest at:
Overstock
Type in "Dwarf Seahorses" in the search box. The book will come up. It is called The Complete Guide to Dwarf Seahorses in the Aquarium by Abbott, Alisa Wagner. It is $10.96 + $1.40 shipping. Great book to get to learn about Dwarf Seahorses in particular and how to get things going right.

Jody

[Maldivan]

Ahhh cool Jody. Put me on the list for sure! I wont be ready till then anyways.Ill probably go with a 20 gal set-up or my sons 10. My duaghter wants the seahorses and the 10 or 20 gal would work awesome.Ill start reading up on iot now sop ill be ready in Oct

Andy

[buyitjody]

Normally, it is suggested you start with a 2-5 gallon aquarium for dwarves. More "experienced" folks can handle a 10 gallon. The reason for this is the sheer amount of baby brine you have to put in a 10 gallon to make sure they have enough to eat. From what I read, they can be quite stationary and wait for food to cross their paths. Therefore, if you don't have a good density of brine in the tank, then they can starve. Although, I have read that the adults are more likely to hunt around for food, whereas the juveniles will just stay put and let food come to them. If you even venture to try a 20 gallon, you'll need to have quite a large number of dwarves to make sure they can take care of the huge volume of brine you'll have to dump into it. These guys are AT MOST 2 inches as adults, but most are 1-1.5 inches as adults.

I'll keep ya posted in a couple months!
Jody

[melev]

Hi guys. Glad to see this forum is being cared for by such good club members.

[BnG]

tuning in...

Hey Andy

As long as your drilling. You should drill one for that closed loop's intake on the back somewhere. I'll show you a cool way to do the returns in our photo gallery soon.

hydro

Assuming "the base" is Ft Worth, you should check out the 301st.
If your out there you probably know about them already. ARTs, Air Reserve Technicians, are civil servants and exceed $18 working F16s. You should check them out. They love to hire experienced maintainers.

Both

452x2 here! AFSC's changed in the mid 90's to 2A somethin somethin. Hearing the old school brought back found memories. I was stationed at Nellis AFB when the all the sad sack engine and hydro troops had to take up tire kicking. I worked 82-84 C model 15s and brand new, St Louis to Vegas one way, Strike Eagles. The first ones that anyone but Edwards had. That was '87 - '91. I spent several years in the 301FW/457FS on 16s after that.

First thing I wanted to do when I got off active duty?, get a job in the airline industry. Thank God for small mercies. Both of your stories make me glad it didnt work out that way.

[Maldivan]

Heyas BNG !
I did manage to think about a closed loops hole but wasnt sure where to locate it. Ive never had a reef ready tank .AhhhNellis and red Flag! LOL dragged my tired butt there a few times . The Old Varks always took a beatin from the Strike eagles!Everytime I went we had The Fighting 1st TFW out of Langly as our Air Cap, needless to say they always got owened by the aggressors and we would have maybe 2 ships get through to the target! But when yer carrying 25KT Nukes it only takes a few ships to make an impact........ LOL! I loved my F-111F's!!

[melev]

If you want to drill for closed loop plumbing, you can put one hole in the back to go to the pump, and have the returns come up over the top (from the back). Or you can drill three holes, with the two returns in the back wall. I would try to put them higher then the intake hole.

[Maldivan]

Heyas Marc,
I think Ill just do something similar to your Closed loop actually.I havent talked to Vincent this week but the 100 gal should be ready. He said it would be before saturday.I got 2 Overflow holes drilled to 1.5" and 2 return holes drilled in the overflows.Im going to be verry happy with it as it is. Its going to sit in the garage while I build that sump and stain / varnish the stand.You still up for that Hood Project?

Andy

[melev]

Oh yeah, I forgot all about that. Just let me know when you'd like to construct it. Bring all the wood you plan to use, and beer.

[Maldivan]

you bet! Wont be for a few weeks anyways ! Ill temp my current 48" JBJ fixture for lighting. You think we can mount it in the new hood ?, Id hate to try to retro it by tearing the whole fixture down and re mounting it in the new hood.I do want to use 250W MH at some point.

[melev]

Yes, we can make it work as is. But once you get your MH, you'll have to change things.