I'm officially home now. This was my 3rd combat deployment since 9/11/01. But, this was my first as a member of Manhattan Reef. My first deployment was during the winter of '01/'02. Had some electrical problems at home that I had no chance to fix before I left. My reef paid a price. My next deployment fell in during 2003. I'm sure that everyone who had a reef during the blackout of the summer of 2003 needs no description from me of the effects that the blackout had on our reef tanks. This last deployment had it's own little problems as well. My wife did the best she could, as she has done in the past. This time though, she had some support.
I became a member shortly before I left in the late winter of 2005. The members of Manhattan Reef had helped me out from day one. I was not expecting this last deployment due to my previous 2. So, I decided to upgrade my reef. Members of Manhattan Reef helped me out by picking up a lot of stuff I could no longer use from my existing set up. Many went out of their way to pick up corals, lights, pumps and wavemakers I could no longer use. I met them and even made trades for new corals I didn't have. I thank all of you. I was able to prune a lot of stuff down to keep them from overrunning my tank and picked up some nice new corals in the process.
The reason I am throwing this thread out there is so you know what you are getting into when you become a member here. This was the best thing I did as a reef hobbyist because I met a lot of people who helped out so much while I was away. Jackson is an administrator on this site. Thanks to him, I came home to a great tank. He came over to my house along with his girlfriend and other members of Manhattan Reef to take care of my tank. Members donated corals. They helped my wife out with maintenance, supplements and advice. They even came during times of emergency (my ballasts decided to burn out during my deployment). A power surge killed my chiller during the summer, he helped guide her through getting another chiller and set it up. He also wired up new ballasts. By the way, Jackson rocked out a lot of great stuff, but my wife did assemble a brand new euroreef skimmer. You gotta give credit where credit is due. During a power outage, a snail made his way into my main pump and Jackson walked her through disassembling the pump to remove the snail. The snail didn't make it, but my pump was saved and many snails, corals and fish were saved in the process. Members of MR were here until 2:00 AM placing corals. Yes, they laid waste to some bottles of scotch, but that is a small price to pay. No big deal, I've been known to kill a bottle during heavy maintenance days.
There were other members who sent e-mails to me regarding cooling, DIY stuff and water flow issues. I'm sorry I didn't have time to get you good answers and pics. I'll post what I did along with pics in the DIY section within the next few days. I'll also place pics of donated stuff.
There are so many to thank, I can't possibly mention all of you. If you are a new member, just know that there are people here to help. Now that I'm back, I hope I can help as much as they did. Along with your assistance in keeping my tank alive and well, my team and I thank all of you for your good wishes and support.
sincerely, chris
I became a member shortly before I left in the late winter of 2005. The members of Manhattan Reef had helped me out from day one. I was not expecting this last deployment due to my previous 2. So, I decided to upgrade my reef. Members of Manhattan Reef helped me out by picking up a lot of stuff I could no longer use from my existing set up. Many went out of their way to pick up corals, lights, pumps and wavemakers I could no longer use. I met them and even made trades for new corals I didn't have. I thank all of you. I was able to prune a lot of stuff down to keep them from overrunning my tank and picked up some nice new corals in the process.
The reason I am throwing this thread out there is so you know what you are getting into when you become a member here. This was the best thing I did as a reef hobbyist because I met a lot of people who helped out so much while I was away. Jackson is an administrator on this site. Thanks to him, I came home to a great tank. He came over to my house along with his girlfriend and other members of Manhattan Reef to take care of my tank. Members donated corals. They helped my wife out with maintenance, supplements and advice. They even came during times of emergency (my ballasts decided to burn out during my deployment). A power surge killed my chiller during the summer, he helped guide her through getting another chiller and set it up. He also wired up new ballasts. By the way, Jackson rocked out a lot of great stuff, but my wife did assemble a brand new euroreef skimmer. You gotta give credit where credit is due. During a power outage, a snail made his way into my main pump and Jackson walked her through disassembling the pump to remove the snail. The snail didn't make it, but my pump was saved and many snails, corals and fish were saved in the process. Members of MR were here until 2:00 AM placing corals. Yes, they laid waste to some bottles of scotch, but that is a small price to pay. No big deal, I've been known to kill a bottle during heavy maintenance days.
There were other members who sent e-mails to me regarding cooling, DIY stuff and water flow issues. I'm sorry I didn't have time to get you good answers and pics. I'll post what I did along with pics in the DIY section within the next few days. I'll also place pics of donated stuff.
There are so many to thank, I can't possibly mention all of you. If you are a new member, just know that there are people here to help. Now that I'm back, I hope I can help as much as they did. Along with your assistance in keeping my tank alive and well, my team and I thank all of you for your good wishes and support.
sincerely, chris
