Just another new guy

[Blown76mav]

Hello all,

I was at Jack's Aquarium and Pets in Sidney, Oh and a saleperson gave me this website. 

My name is Lonnie and I live in Lima, Oh. and work at the University of Northwestern Ohio as an automotive instructor.  I've been doing freshwater fish for the last two years or so and decided to make a move to saltwater.  I have been doing research on the web for the past 2 months or so and think I am ready.  I bought a 55g with stand two weeks ago.  While looking for a Mag 7 pump I found a 65g.   For the price of a new Mag 7 I bought a 65g pre-drilled with stand, a Mag 7, heater, sump,power head and a couple of lights.  I also picked up a Corrallife compact light for it as well.

Next order of business is to fill the tank with saltwater, order in some cured live rock and a cleaning crew and wait.


 

[slandis3]

imo  i think the 65g is a much better tank than the 55g. You will find the extra depth of the tank will make it easier to aqua scape the tank. And that's a real good deal on the tank combo. I know its a long drive but Aquarium etc just got in a real nice shipment of live rock. Any questions you have along the way feel free to ask. There are many of us on here that have been in the hobby for a very long time.

[ohioreef]

Didnt realize anyone at Jacks in Sidney knew of us. Do you remember who it was?

Welcome!! Nice to have another northerner on the board.

[quicksilver]

hi 

[jjw2121]

Welcome

[Blown76mav]

Didnt realize anyone at Jacks in Sidney knew of us. Do you remember who it was?

Welcome!! Nice to have another northerner on the board.

His name was Rich I believe.  And there will soon be a Jack's in Lima

[ohioreef]

And there will soon be a Jack's in Lima

I am sorry.......... 

[Blown76mav]

I am sorry.......... 

Jack's is a bad thing?

[Amstar]

when you visit aquariums etc and north dixie reef...  you will understand

[Kaylyn]

Welcome.

[UD Flyer]

Welcome aboard!

Um, Jacks is not always a bad thing. But, they usually have high prices, sometimes poor quality livestock & conditions, and worst of all their employee knowledge of saltwater is not always the greatest. They usually say anything to make a sale.

Just my .02 on Jacks.

[Blown76mav]

when you visit aquariums etc and north dixie reef...  you will understand

Where do I find these places?  Jack's has to be better than the only other place here in town Pet Supplies Plus.  All they have is dead fish floating in their tanks and when asked about it the answer is "the other fish will eat them, don't worry"

[UD Flyer]

Well, North Dixie Reef and Aquarium etc are both here in the surrounding Dayton area. North Dixie Reef is on North Dixie Drive in Butler Township, just north of Dayton. And Aquarium etc  is just south of town in Centerville on Franklin Street.

Click on the link up top that says sponsor and it should give you all you need to know.

[Secondgen]

I am the guilty one Gary. I told Rich about the club when I was in there awhile back. Welcome to the club. Does the Blown76mav stand for a blown 76 Maverick? Northwestern has a great automotive program I have heard. I am a fellow gearhead hence the name Secondgen which is short for second generation Camaro(my first real car that I still have since I was 18). I live in the Sidney area along with a couple others. Good to have you here.

[Blown76mav]

I am the guilty one Gary. I told Rich about the club when I was in there awhile back. Welcome to the club. Does the Blown76mav stand for a blown 76 Maverick? Northwestern has a great automotive program I have heard. I am a fellow gearhead hence the name Secondgen which is short for second generation Camaro(my first real car that I still have since I was 18). I live in the Sidney area along with a couple others. Good to have you here.

Yep guilty of owning a Blown 76 Maverick.

Thanks for the welcome.

[Secondgen]

Very nice car.

[lazylivin]

I have shoped at Jacks quite a bit of the years especially early on in the hobby. They have a lot of variety and selection and pretty convenient for a lot of us. One of the things people need to understand is that Jacks is not a Reef specialty shop like NDR or Aquarium etc..... They sell lots of different animals and the sales staff needs to have a good general knowledge of everything. The staff for the most part are younger adults that enjoy working with pets, so not necessarily saltwater enthusiast like ourselves. Additionally there is a lot of traffic at Jacks and sales people like Blown76mav that are more into the hobby can be an advocate for our club.

Welcome Blown76mav, Glad you found us.

[MechanicalEngineer]

WELCOME...especially since you have the most awesome car!!! 

I learned to drive on a 76 Maverick...and I've always been a huge fan.  Although I didn't go with a Maverick for my first (and only) car, I did still get a 302 engine.  I have a 1989 Mustang GT.  Not anywhere near as cool as yours, but she's my baby.  Where all do you show/race?

Anyway, welcome to the hobby and to our club!  I'm glad to see that you've researched and have been patient before making lots of mistakes like many of us have.

Although I have my horror stories with Jack's, like Lazylivin said...it's a bunch of younger people that aren't getting paid a whole lot...and the turn-over is very high.  Usually by the time the people learn a lot about the hobby, they're graduating college or whatever...and moving on.  I've found some great deals in there...and some not-so-great deals.  I don't think it's fair to rag on all of the Jack's all of the time.  But, saying that...they don't compare to Aquarium's Etc., North Dixie Reef, and Just Coral (while they're still around)...since those are dedicated saltwater stores.

[slandis3]

Nice car  how about some details for all the motor heads on here 

[Secondgen]

I second the details on the car.

[Blown76mav]

I was mainly looking at the fish so in a couple of months when I'm ready to add some I know what I want and what will work with what.  I'm hoping to have the live rock in place by Christmas.  I was planning on going with cured live rock to save a little time.  Any thoughts?  The worst part was I was in Springboro Monday picking up my light I wish I would have known I would have stopped in to those places to check them out.

About the car:

76 maverick
Tubbed, dual funny car cages.
Engine is a 306 hydraulic roller with Dart Sr. heads.  I used SRP dished pistons and Eagle rods and crank.  I ballanced the rotating assembly myself here at work.
6-71 Stage 2 Blower running 1:1 making 15 lbs of boost.
Trans is a World Class T-5 5 speed.
It has 4.86 gears on a spool
The rims on it now are American Torque Thrust 15x4 and 15x14

I've owned the car since I was 16 and my parents bought it new.  My other Maverick was in PHR March of 08 but I have since sold it.

[slandis3]

Yes i would try to go with cured live rock. It sounds like you have done a great deal of research and are heading in the right direction.  Oh and the car  im drooling over here.

[MechanicalEngineer]

What's your car running?

As far as pre-cured live rock (that you purchase cured), you will need to be careful about all of the potential pests.  My cured live rock came with lovely invasive sponges.  A lot of live rock comes with aiptasia (nasty pest anemones).  Some can harbor bad crabs, mantis shrimps (which can break glass), flatworms, hydroids, or even the occasional octopus (it has happened.)  Some hitchhikers are really cool...others aren't.  If you get live rock, be prepared to deal with just about anything.

The alternative is getting some live sand from someone that you trust or some water-change water.  That will contain the spores you'll need to get your live rock going...but it'll take longer.  Plus, no matter how good that person's tank looks...it could always have some sort of nastiness in it.  Just a warning.  (Sorry to be so pessimistic sounding.)

[Blown76mav]

What's your car running?

As far as pre-cured live rock (that you purchase cured), you will need to be careful about all of the potential pests.  My cured live rock came with lovely invasive sponges.  A lot of live rock comes with aiptasia (nasty pest anemones).  Some can harbor bad crabs, mantis shrimps (which can break glass), flatworms, hydroids, or even the occasional octopus (it has happened.)  Some hitchhikers are really cool...others aren't.  If you get live rock, be prepared to deal with just about anything.

The alternative is getting some live sand from someone that you trust or some water-change water.  That will contain the spores you'll need to get your live rock going...but it'll take longer.  Plus, no matter how good that person's tank looks...it could always have some sort of nastiness in it.  Just a warning.  (Sorry to be so pessimistic sounding.)

Here's where I'm looking at for the live rock

http://www.aquariumarts.com/liverock.html  (sorry put the wrong link up first)

They say it has coraline alge already started and they ship it in a box of water.  I plan on going with a DSB of about 4 inches.  Gonna use a white fine sand and seed it with some live sand.

As far as what the car runs I haven't ran it at the strip, I have a dedicated race car (89 Fox body) running 10.85@127 and I drive the school's dragster to the tune of 8.27@157.  Not much time to take that one to the strip.  I just usually drive it all over.  It gets 20 mpg on the highway and everyone usually does a double take.

[Joel]

Oh no, not another Ford Person!!!!!

Wow, your Mav looks great, I bet it turns heads, the whine of the blower alone will get your attention. I'm a fellow gear head as well except I am of the bow tie faith. I won't post pic of my chevelle, it's been more a dust collector these days.

Welcome to the club, glad to have you here. If there is anything you need assistance with you'll find it here.

Joel

[MechanicalEngineer]

Sorry this is turning into a car thread, but you asked for it!!! 

What are the specs on that 89 Mustang?  Mine won't be a trailer queen...just a cruiser for the weekends once I start/finish it.   

[micki]

Welcome aboard!  Dave thanks for putting our name out there.  Jacks isn't always great but it's one of the locals for us so we sometimes stroll through there.  It's nice to know they might send some people our way! 

[Blown76mav]

Sorry this is turning into a car thread, but you asked for it!!! 

What are the specs on that 89 Mustang?  Mine won't be a trailer queen...just a cruiser for the weekends once I start/finish it.   

Wow I never expected to talk about cars so much on a reef forum

The Mustang is a coupe, its a Tangerine color with gold pearl over it.

the engine is the one out of my other Maverick,

347 13:1 compression
Victor Sr. Aluminum heads 2.09/1.6 valves
Harland Sharp 1.6 roller rockers
Custom ground solid roller cam with over .700 lift
Super Victor intake and a 850 Pro Systems Carb
It also has a Eagle rotating assembly with Probe pistions
Moroso aluminum oil pan
Mezier electric water pump
Hooker 1 3/4 headers
C-4 trans with a 4500 stall and trans brake
The 8.8 has a Moser spool with 4.11's and Moser axles
Weld Draglites 15x3 and 15x10 wrapped with Mickey Thompson 28x12.5 slicks
This car has been on the chassis dyno and made 589 rwhp.
All of this built by me (I guess I go a little overboard sometimes)

[MechanicalEngineer]

<---drooling!!

I've noticed a few things about this hobby.  There are a lot of engineers and doctors in the hobby, it's male dominant, and many are interested in classic cars/racing, wine, and orchids.  Go figure.  LOL.  Maybe I just notice those because I'm two out of those three.

[Blown76mav]

<---drooling!!

I've noticed a few things about this hobby.  There are a lot of engineers and doctors in the hobby, it's male dominant, and many are interested in classic cars/racing, wine, and orchids.  Go figure.  LOL.  Maybe I just notice those because I'm two out of those three.

Well I'm not and engineer or a doctor, but I am a male with a love of racing and tequila.

[MechanicalEngineer]

That works!