Chaeto Balls................Pffffffft...... I've got Chaeto Blocks
 

The refugium section of the sump on my 90g is 27"x12"x15" (21gals) with a 4" sandbed. I grow chaeto in it with a small amount of caulerpa. (The caulerpa is there simply because it is too much work to separate it from the chaeto). Every couple of months I rip a good size chunk of chaeto out for nutrient export. I realized I hadn't done this for awhile so I checked it out. The sump is outside and gets a certain amount of natural sunlight so the macroalgae grows quite fast. Holy Crap! The algae was so thick and dense it had turned into a solid brick, filling the entire refugium. It was so thick I could lift it out as one solid piece. It looked just like a piece of lawn sod except that it was 12" thick. I chopped half of it away and threw it into the garden. Afterwards I realized I should have taken some pics first, Damn it! Maybe I'll grow it again and take some pics to post up. :lol:

Haha, I can just imagine. Around 10 years ago I ran a caulerpa sump for a 20g nano that was sort of the same situation come pruning time. :lol:

No pellets on the 90g? My chaeto was the first casualty to the pellets on my cube..

Well you knew I couldn't resist that of course.

And now I'm left wanting pics. WTH Lance? Sounds pretty risque tho! Tough to hide blocks in a pair of knickers.

Nope. No pellets on the 90g. Haven't had a reason yet Tony. Nutrient level on this tank are always low to nil.

I knew I'd get your attention!
Yeah the pics would be a little off the wall; don't want the nick name of "Sponge Bob Square Pants" :mrgreen:

*blink* *blink* Uhhh....did you say your sump is OUTSIDE !?

Calgary kids don't try that at home!

Yup. It's quite mild here. Sump is on the sundeck in an insulated box. Works great.

http://i371.photobucket.com/albums/o...p/IMG_2422.jpg

http://i371.photobucket.com/albums/o...p/IMG_2423.jpg

http://i371.photobucket.com/albums/o...p/IMG_2424.jpg

What's a typical/average winter temperature out there??

Ah...insulated box -suddenly makes more sense !

Cool ! (and vewy, vewy quiet, no doubt)

Google is your friend !

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powell_...ia#Temperature

On average, above freezing year-round but it does dip below zero on occasion.

I just looked it up: Avg. winter temperature = 40.2F
Avg. frost free days = 348

Pssh, asking in a post is the same as googling.

40.2 .. "F" ? Do I have to worry about accidentally buying leaded gasoline if I ever come pay a visit?

The outdoor sump was the best idea I ever came up with. No mess; no noise; doesn't take up space. I only wish I could have put the sump for the 225g out there too. It's in a closet. :mrgreen:

Don't pay any attention to Lance he's getting old.....plus his chaeto-balls are square :wink:


The rest of us around here think in Celsius

Yeah Marie, I hate metric. I always have to convert it in my head first. :redface:
OK smartie pants: I bet you don't know how many kilos you weigh, or what your bra size is in centimeters. :mrgreen:

My chaeto-balls/block was 69 x 30 x 30 centimeters. :mrgreen:

Tony, you would love it here. You could sail your ass off. Protected calm ocean and hundreds of lakes all within easy driving distance.

Metric just makes more sense to me. Inches and cm I can more or less interchange. Although I'm not telling you what my bra size is in cup OR cm! :p

Lbs and kg, again no problem, miles and km, no worries, mostly on account that these are linearly proportional (ie., multiply one number by another number)

C and F though is just messed messed messed up. 9/5 of one and then add or subtract a 32 or.. forget that. It's just different enough that my little brain shuts off. :redface:

At least with Metric the definition points were things that you could of identify with (boiling point of water, freezing point of water, etc.) and not just what some king a few hundred years ago decreed as hot or cold or whatever length his foot was. :)

Anyhow just razzing, sorry man. :p

PS. I have no doubt I would love living there!

lol, I grew up with an old British weigh scale, for years I could tell you how many stone I weighed but had no clue how many pounds or kilo's.

As for bra size? Do they measure bras in metric? ....anyway, size xtra small could be metric :lol:

Not to mention the year round mountain biking

I agree. The metric system makes much more sense, as well as being much easier to multiply and divide. I still think old school though when it comes to temperature and distances. All my controllers and thermometers are set to Fahrenheit. :biggrin:

Marie, the Pamela Anderson look is soooo yesterday! 38-24-36 is old news. (Oops sorry. I meant 97-61-91)

Then I've been growin' these badboys in the WRONG direction. Maybe I'll make some sweet treadmill LOVE tonight :razz: