Hi everyone!!!! My specs, first questions, and noobness.

[Dinosaurs!!!]

Hi there!!!! So it was about time for me to join this forum, I've been a North County resident for almost 3 years now, and a reefkeeper in the area for about 2.5 of those years....So when I first moved here before finding permanent work I helped out occasionally at Tri City and became desperate to get my hands on a temporary fix...even if it meant picking up a used uniquarium :/ So thats what I've been running for the past couple of years, its doing quite well, however the lack of ability to modify this thing is making me start to twitch a little bit. Now that I've landed and kept a good job it's time to set my sights in a bit of a better direction...I am hoping by the end of the year I will have a 72 bowfront not only up and running but highly upgraded. I'm in the market for a new skimmer, I've got my eye on some LED's hopefully to kick off the new year, and a few more special ideas are a-brewin' :o) So here's to a new build....wish me luck!!!!!

My current specs, as they stand:
*50g uniquarium: 35 display, 15g..."sump". Ugh.
*Redsea Prizm skimmer
*1x 250w Halide
*2x 39w 18000k t5s (Why these too? I can only run the halide for 3-4 hrs. per day because i can't attach a fan to this nimwad of a tank, and i can't run a chiller because of the joys of apartment living...so these fellas do the work for the remaining 4-6 hrs of the day.)
*2x 39w actinic t5
*4x moon led
*Tunze osmolator ATO
*BRS dual media recator, carbon & GFO
*Koralia Evolutions 1400 + 550 <---totally getting the smartwave for these.
*Coralife 50gpd 4 stage ro/di which lives under my kitchen sink and hooks up to the faucet, in case you were wondering how that works in an apt.
*45-50ish lbs LR

Livestock (keeping it VERY simple until the upgrade):
1x Bar Goby
1x Flame tail shrimp goby
1x Mandarin...who, by the way, eats frozen mysis like its his job ;)
Duncan
Acan Rotundaflora
Watermelon mushrooms
Button Polyps


Ok now for a couple of questions....Can anyone tell my how to add an avatar on here??? In the "edit avatar" section under settings it simply says something along the lines of "Oh, you don't have one, sorry dude." without giving you an option of creating one. I can't quite figure this one out, then again I generally can't find my way out of a paper bag. Unless its a paper bag which needs its specific gravity checked and a daily dosing of 2part.

Also....Does anyone know a LFS that is willing to drill glass??? I don't know if i trust my own hand at this task...I've been asking around and havent had any luck. Probably because they're all intelligent people and know what's best for them.

And....Anyone know of any good hobby oriented youtube channels??? BTW, I've already exhausted Mr. Saltwater Tank and BRSTV (because my spare time is totally killer) and quite honestly I don't think I have the patience for LA Fish Guys...no offense to any fans.

Thanks again!!!!!

-LaurenSaurus <*(((><

[slicktoppomp]

Welcome! Love seeing NC reefers. 1st you have to be a premium member for adding avatars. 2nd I'm not sure of any LFS that will drill tanks but there are plenty of people on here that can do it for you. 3rd can't help you there. Would like to see some pictures of your setup. :)

[h20poloman]

Welcome Lauren - get some pics up of that tank (use photobucket or a similar free photo storage site to post on here).

As for the avatar, you will need to be a premium member to have that functionality. You will see a orange and yellow box that says "Support San Diego Reefs and become a Premium Member" in the top left corner of the webpage. You get other benefits of that membership and it's explained in the link.

As for an LFS that will drill a tank I'm not sure there is one. My guess is they would want to be liable should it crack or they would require you sign off on some sort of waiver. Just post in the wanted equipment section that you are looking for someone to help drill a glass tank and you may have some luck.

Last, I'm not sure about the youtube channels, anything in particular you are looking for? I usually just do a search if I'm looking for examples on whatever I happen to be looking for.

Welcome again,
Marlin

[50 cube]

Welcome! I am in Escondido also and there are a few others as well. Looks like your questions have pretty much been answered so again, welcome and ask all the questions you can think of, people here are always ready & willing to help.

[x3thelast]

Welcome Lauren. Sounds like you have a pretty good set up going on already. Looking forward to some pictures :)

[Dinosaurs!!!]

Wow, what a quick and thorough set of responses!! Thanks guys!! I had been a member of reefs.org for years and I never really felt like anyone got any attention on there unless you were one of the big shots (hence my main reason behind joining a new forum) so this is already starting to seems like just the type of place I was looking for. So...

-That definitely clears up my avatar troubles, I had thought I was overlooking something terribly obvious :)
-I used to live in Rhode Island, and I was quite spoiled as almost every LFS up there would be willing to drill a hole in just about anything you could see through...but I suppose it really does make more sense for anyone running a licensed business to stay away from that kind of thing. On the bright side, it definitely seems like theres no shortage of helpful hands around here, so as soon as I get my hands on that new display tank I'll definitely being inquiring around!!!
-As for the youtube channels, @poloman- I generally do the same when looking for a specific topic, however i do enjoy a solid, trustworthy channel hosted by an experienced aquarist(s) just as a go-to for reference purposes, and to see what different kinds of setups and methods are recommended by those who have had success...and of course places like this are great for that too, I'm just more of a visual learner :o)

@50 cube- Glad to hear I'm not the only reefer in town!!! Once I get some good growth in the new display (might be some time from now, but hey, dreams are what keep us going) I'll definitely be doing some fragging so I'd love to trade with you if youre interested. I'll be focusing mostly on LPS and zoas but it will be an entirely mixed reef, essentially a challenge to see what I can get to live in harmony... so hopefully i'll have something for everyone :)

I was planning on waiting until I got the new display up to post any photos, this one just looks so terribly sad atm. But if y'all insist, I'll try and find some time to whip out the camera in the near future. In the mean time, I do have a few photos from awhile back...

So here's that duncan the day I got it...

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a309/trickyy21/reef1.jpg

...and then a few months later. I've lost count of the heads now, you can no longer see the base...the colony has probably quadrupled in size since this photo.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a309/trickyy21/reef2.jpg

These started as a single initially unnoticed hitchhiking polyp. I'll be broadening my interest in some of the more colorful varieties in the near future, but regardless, this was a nice treat. This colony is now about 4"x4".

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a309/trickyy21/853.jpg

shrooms..

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a309/trickyy21/851.jpg

This fellow used to be paired, however his companion didn't make it :( The loss didn't effect his behavior much as he is king 'round these parts.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a309/trickyy21/850.jpg

And here's the little guy doing his best to be camera shy :)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a309/trickyy21/533-1.jpg

I'll do my best to be get some more up for you guys, and perhaps more to take pictures of :)

[specvjeff]

Like the other's have already said Avatars are for premium members. You'll also receive larger PM storage (750pms), and access to discounts to many of the fish stores in town. As for youtube videos, BRS, Marine Depot, and Mr. Saltwater Tank TV are the only ones that post on a pretty regular basis.

[h20poloman]

did you actually plant the halimeda macroalgae or did that come as a hitchhiker on some liverock? I really like the look of halimeda in a tank but as many algae's it could become overbaring but for those of us with a tang they would most likely wipe it out. It does usually appear to be more of a slower grower and I really like the look of it in a tank. The hitchhiker polyps appear to be a type of button polyp. Awesome growth on the duncans. Your feedback about not being able to get any response on reefs.org I thought was interesting as every once in a while I hear a complaint about SDR having "clicks" but honestly, we were all beginners at one point and even for the more experienced reefer this is always something you can learn. There are quite a few of us that are on the board frequent that all know each other at this point because we have been to the meetings or have bought/sold items to each other over the years. It doesn't mean we wouldn't want to help someone out or share our experiences with you. I wish more of the lurkers would ask questions and post about their experiences as that is what makes a bulletin board like this a great resource. My DSLR takes HD Video and I do need to start interviewing some of the hobbyists on different aspects of the hobby as it would be helpful to have it posted on here and youtube. Since I'll be doing a new tank build maybe I'll take some video of the set up process like plumbing, aquascaping, etc.

[Dinosaurs!!!]

Funny story with the halimeda...I did plant it originally, I had never done an ornamental marcoalgae and wanted to give it a try. It did ok for some time, no significant growth but no signs of ill health either...then the coral beauty i had at the time decided it was delicious (guess its not just tangs who like it, lol). Despite it being munched on, it remained relatively the same, no bleaching, browning, etc. Then one morning a few months down the line i noticed that it looked kind of strange...upon closer inspection (I have not yet figured out what this was exactly, then again i didnt do any research either) it appeared as though all of the chloroplasts or something of the sort had stretched out away from the skeleton on stalk-like appendages...this could only be seen when looking very closely, at first glance it looked like a white plant with a fuzzy green film around it. Ultimately it weirded me out too much so it took it out and tossed it in the garbage (I had just stuck it in the sand, it wasnt attached to anything) just in case i had missed something about this plant becoming toxic etc. Anyway...no more sign of halimeda after that, and i didnt expect to see it again as the tank would since go through a full break down and reset during a move. Then one day about 2 months ago (just about a year after i removed the original plant), i'm not sure if i wasn't paying close enough attention or if they just shot up over night but I had two brand new stalks growing directly out of my LR (I had not added any new rock either). Since then it has been growing like crazy and ive allowed it to make itself a sort of little garden amongst a cluster of mushrooms. If it ever gets out of hand i just pluck off any stems that have sprouted away from where i prefer it to grow.
I was truly a beginner when i signed up for reefs.org, i was about 17, had only done freshwater, and had just gotten a job at my LFS and was dying to know everything i could, but sadly I got hardly any feedback from that site. I'm no crazy expert nowadays, thats for sure, but i feel like ive got enough know-how to relate to most basic discussions in these forums and i'm really enjoying getting a response for once. It seems like i come up with a new question pertaining to this hobby at least once a day and i always just ended up starting with google and seeing what I could find; It's going to be really nice to have a place where I can just ask and know ill get answers from real people lol. I'm also looking forward to helping others as much as i can as my experience evolves.
I would absolutely love to watch a channel like that, especially featuring so many different hobbyists and all the different ideas and approaches they have. I wish you the best of luck on your new build as well, I'll definitely look forward to following that project :)

[50 cube]

Sounds good( trading) you're welcome to take a look at my system if you'd like, just let me know.