In March 2016, I filled up my biopellet reactor with Biospheres. I used 1000ml worth, or one large pouch. At the time my nitrate was quite high, but within about eight weeks it had dropped them to less than 5ppm. I talked about this entire process in a video I released four months ago: http://youtu.be/aRHf8b1H5u4
Some time in early 2016, maybe March or April, the Swabbie motor stopped rotating. I ordered a new motor from Avast Marine, and it arrived within a few days. I never tackled that repair primarily because there's no space in the ABS section and I thought my tank sitter Bobby could do it more easily than I could. He loves this stuff, fixing broken things.
It's 2017, central time. So let me tell you about what's to come (although I know you can't read this for a few more... months) but it's here for historical reasons because I know you like to go back and see what you missed):
A few months ago, I was hired to build a big custom sump for a 400g system in Wylie, Texas. It's an all-in-one sump that is nearly 8' long, and needed to be built with 3/8" cast acrylic to be strong enough for longterm use. For me, a minimum of five years is my goal, but the owner was thinking 15-20 years.
Since I've never been to Las Vegas before, when I took a family vacation in March 2013 my camera was always at the ready. If it wasn't, my iPhone 5 was. I flew in on a Monday and stayed at the Stratosphere Hotel & Casino, which is just off the main strip. Pricing was reasonable, but you should know that all the hotels add a "resort fee" to the bill, which will increase the daily room rate. In my case, the fee covered parking at the hotel among other things, but the best feature was access to the Stratosphere tower, which is the tallest free-standing tower in the U.S.
MACNA came to Dallas-Fort Worth for a three day weekend: September 28-30, 2012.
December 2, 2008: Japanese Gardens, Fort Worth, Texas -- Now that the cold weather has hit our area, the trees change change to their fall colors very briefly. Seizing the opportunity to see them before they all fell to the ground, my son and I visited the Japanese Gardens.
All pictures were taken with a Nikon D70s with either a 18-70mm lens or a 90mm macro lens. Most images were shot in auto mode, but some were taken in scenic mode.
I ran up to Home Depot today to get some new router bits, and as I was walking down the main aisle I spotted this awesome adjustable-height workbench. The table's surface is completely smooth, unlike many I've inspected. I need one that is 100% flat for my acrylic work, and the fact that this one could be raised up nice and high was even better.
In early 2016, it was time to renew my annual contract with the electric company. We have deregulation in Texas, so while everyone gets power from Oncor, we can pick which company sends us the bill each month. Strange I know, but for the past few years I've been skipping from one name to the next to always get the best deal I can. So far, it's worked out without a hitch. If there is a power problem, you call to report it to Oncor, and they fix it. The billing company just bills you for what you use, and doesn't provide any other service.
During a recent trip to Home Depot, I looked through the LED bulbs seeking a new refugium bulb to use on the frag system's fuge. I found this one rated 5000 Kelvin, and the shape of the bulb looks promising. The bulb cost $14 and uses 8 watts.
