10. August 2008 by admin.

Here is a solid quartz orb i created for a unique aquarium decoration. It was smelted in China and they add some red dye to the quartz to give it the effect you see in the image. I then cut a large piece of round PVC that it sits on, and light it from underneath with a triple Red LED.  One customer thought it looked like “Mars” and wanted it removed. Now that she said that all I think about is finding time to build a lunar lander model to accompany it thereby creating the full underwater Mars landscape.

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10. August 2008 by admin.

 

These are some shots I took at the Daytons Aquatennial Display 95-96.We filled 2 x 20 ft fashion display windows with 4 aquariums - 2 freshwater w/Koi & 2 Saltwater.The old lady you see in the thumbnail was obviously very disgusted, and not amused whatsoever.This was a challenging display we had a crew of 6 and someone had to be there to monitorevery day, all day. The hardest part was getting enough biological bateria downtown aliveso the tanks wouldnt spike for the instant display. Sun also played a big factor, the backroom with the 2 x 1/2 chillers average about 90 F & suffice to say the ventilation was”less than adequate” or another way “non existant”. The upside was my wife with her marketingdegree managed to convice some local reporters it was interesting enough to print a small articlein the Strib. I was still sleeping when she ran into the bedroom with the front page saying “it made the front page” I still cant believe it, my balding head featured right there frontand center, brush w/fame and thats the story of how i became famous beyond my wildestimagination (HaHa).

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6. August 2008 by admin.

Admittedly i acclimate more fish than your average hobbyist so i thought why not make it EZ on myself. I drilled and tapped these high quality John Guest fittings into the bottom front of my quarantine system. I just start a drip into 5 Gl bucket, EZ to control, and the best part you ask? Fittings never leak. Some assembly required….

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6. August 2008 by admin.

Ive been drilling and installing these overflows in aquariums for over 15 yrs. There a numerous benefits to overflow boxes, to many to mention (google it). I built this one out of smoked acrylic so you can see what it looks like inside and outside. I will build and install these at my shop in Rogers, MN for anyone locally if you drop your tank off for a week (impossible to do onsite requires draining). The cost is as follows: $25 to drill hole $7 bulkhead $68 for fabricating overflow and installing with premium grade silicone this leaves a grand total of $100. You have your choice of 1.0 or 1.5 bulkhead with corresponding hole size.

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6. August 2008 by admin.

Read a bunch of posts about racks and such and thought Id show off my latest quarentine. It has three water return pumps one for each tier, and each tank has adjustable flow and shutoff (static treatments when deemed necessary) 40W UV and sump has micron bag filter for each tier. The sump has auto refill for evaporation. I also tapped John Guest fittings into the acrylic for acclimating fish, you just plug in airline a drip away into a 5 gallon bucket. The rack is 1.5″ tube steel welded, and powdercoated, each tier unbolts from the next for disassembly and its bolted the wall. This resides in my garage that has 11 ft ceiling to you need a ladder to get to the top tier! This side is all freshwater, and i also run sponge filters in every other cube for added biological.

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4. June 2008 by admin.

6-14-05 WASHINGTON, D.C.

It’s a chemistry riddle that has stumped some of Minnesota’s top scientists: What’s eating away the steel structures on Duluth Twin Ports waterfront?

Steel in the docks, piers and bridges is eroding up to 10 times faster than scientists would have expected, and they do not know why. Rep. Jim Oberstar, D-Minn., is seeking $300,000 for researchers to find answers.

The house approved the expense late last month and the Senate may do the same soon. If passed, Oberstar’s measure will find a study led by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

A study of the mysterious erosion is critical so that underwater damage “can be contained and eradicated,” Oberstar said.

And additional $100,000 in state funding could be headed Duluth’s way, too, to address the issue. The Minnesota Senate included money for a corrosion study in its Agriculture, Environment and Natural Resource bill. Jim Sharrow, facilities manager for the Duluth Seaway Port Authority, said he was “absolutely delighted” by the prospect of federal and state help. “We’d really like to get to the bottom of this,” Sharrow said.

The likely culprit for the erosion: foreign chemicals in the water, such as dissolved oxygen or chlorides. That was the conclusion of a panel of experts who conducted preliminary research on the problem last September, said Al Klein, an area engineer with the Duluth branch of the Corps.

The panel said if the corrosion is not addressed soon, the steel structures may have to be replaced in five to ten years, costing more the $100 mission.

Sharrow said there are no plans to close any of the four bridges crossing the harbor, thought two have steel bases that are beginning to erode.

“The bridges certainly aren’t at risk of collapsing,” Sharrow said.

By Melissa Lee Tribune Washington Bureau Correspondent

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4. June 2008 by admin.

Associated Press

June 13, 2005 0613AP-RED-TIDE

BOSTON (AP) - An outbreak of toxic red tide algae that has shut down most shellfishing from Maine to Massachusetts also forced state officials to close federal waters, extending the affected area by thousands of square miles.

On Friday, the state Division of Marine Fisheries ordered Massachusetts crews to stop using federal shellfishing areas and asked federal officials to extend that ban to out-of state shellfishermen. The move extends the ban for state shellfishing crews from three miles from shore to 100 miles from shore.

Toxins produced by the algae contaminate shellfish like clams and mussels, making them unsafe for people and animals to eat. But it is not a risk to people who eat lobsters, scallops and finned fish.

The red tide extends from the Schoodic Peninsula in Maine to Massachusetts‘ Buzzards Bay. It is the worst red tide along the New England coast since 1972.

Maine and Massachusetts have declared states of emergency, seeking federal disaster relief for the shellfishing industry. Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney said the red tide is costing the shellfish industry about $3 million per week.

The algae that causes red tide has yearly growth surges. This year, strong easterly and northeasterly wind has blown in a particularly heavy algae population that has flourished in warmer coastal water.

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4. June 2008 by admin.

Global warming, pollution are key threats to fragile ecosystems

Associated Press

Nusa Dua, Indonesia- More than a quarter of the world’s coral reefs have been destroyed by pollution and global warming, experts said Monday (10-23-00), warning that unless urgent measures are taken, most of the remaining reefs could be dead in 20 yrs.

In some of the worst hit areas, such as the Maldives and Seychellles islands in the Indian Ocean, up to 909% of coral reefs have been killed in the past 2 years because of rising water temperatures.

Coral reefs play a crucial role as an anchor for many marine ecosystems, and their loss would place thousands of species of fish and other organisms at risk of extinction.

Addressing 1,500 delegates from 52 countries at the ninth International Coral Reef Symposium on the island of Bali, researchers warned that governments must work urgently to reverse global warming, cut pollution and crack down on overfishing.

“You have to go and look at the coral reefs now, as we are losing them,” said Clive Wilkinson, an Austrailian scientist. Wilkenson said that fisherman in some areas use dynamite or cyanide to catch fish, blowing the reefs apart or poisoning them. In other areas, governments pump untreated sewage and other waste directly into oceans. But the most serious and immediate threat to the reefs is global warming, which causes a damaging condition known as coral bleaching, This occurs when corals are stressed by high water temperatures and lose the symbiotic algae that provide them with color and nutrition.

Oceanographers say the El Nino weather pattern two years ago, which increased water temperatures by up to 6 degress, did enormous damage to coral reefs, some of which have been alive for millions of years.

Austrailian scientists Ove Hoegh-Guldberg said 26% have already been destroyed. In another 20 yrs, water temperatures are likely to rise to the point where corals will be sitting in a “hot soup” in which they are unable to survive, he said. Wilkenson said the loss of the reefs would not only be a major blow to the environment but also would threaten the livelihood of a half billion people around the world who rely on them for food and income.

The reefs bring an estimated $400 billion a year in fishing and tourism revenues. While many Western countries have started to seriously address the problem some governments in Asia have not.

Indonesian scientist Rili Djohani said many regional governments cut their conservation budgets by as much as 80% when the Asian financial crisis hit three years ago. Indonesia’s maritime affairs minister, Sarwono Kusmaatmajda, said half the nation’s coral reefs have died and the other half could soon follow suit. “We don’t have the resources to protect them”, he said.

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