The 180gal Family Project

[nikkipigtails]

Of Course!

[vdituri]

Wait a minute!
Squirt? I have to ask.
Did you poke or pop them?

[nikkipigtails]

lol...Al probably accidentally squeezed one like a zit to see what would happen!

[nikkipigtails]

Ok...Last night I went to get something out of my car and on my way back into the house, I noticed that the concrete around the trashcan that has our LR in was VERY wet. There was a stinking pinhole in the bottom of the trash can! So..at 10 last night, Tommy and I were on the front porch washing out a new trashcan and transferring everything over...I think our neighbors think we're crazy...That's cool though, we'll have the coolest tank in the south! ha ha ha

We have a graduation to go to this morning then off to Mobile to get the lights for the RBTA tank. YAY!

[nikkipigtails]

I noticed that a few of you have been wondering where I went so I'm just going to copy an email I sent to a fellow reefer earlier today...

"Honestly, I had a crappy first anniversary and will have an even crappier Mother's Day. My best riend graduated from UWF Saturday so after her graduation, Tommy dropped me and Olivia at home so he could go pick up lights from Mobile and he spent the rest of the day cutting grass while I watched Olivia. Sunday, our anniversary, was spent at a frag swap and buying our CL pump in Pensacola. My best friend, Kate, got here shortly after we got home and she left Wednesday. Her leaving just reminds me of how isolated I am from society and just makes me depressed. Tommy decided that since we didn't get to celebrate our anniversary we would do it Saturday (tonight) and spend my first Mother's day with his mom. He found out Thursday that he would have to go out of town this weekend. So, I'm sitting at home, alone with Olivia and my cats while Tommy's out of town and I'm feeling passed over and insignificant.

On the departure...I can see why the thread got closed. I think what the men forgot is that a lot of the users here are women and to ridicule the women's ability to keep a sw tank, even in jest, is like a slap in the face. I have to work 10 times harder than a man in this hobby (where I live anyway) to prove that I know what the heck I'm talking about. When Terry made a post saying that he didn't understand why his thread got closed and the women's thread didn't, he included a hyperlink to a comment I made about Tommy (which had nothing to do with his ability or inability to keep a SW tank). Everyone's so upset that the thread got closed thinking it's some kind of discrimination against the men when it's the women who were discriminated against. It's not like the Men of RS thread got closed. I think Terry overreacted and failed to see that some of the posts in that thread were very insulting. He's acting like a little kid storming off after he just got in trouble for something and he's sitting over at Reef Central pouting and stomping his feet.

Anyway...I've been lurking a little, but haven't felt compelled to post anything in light of the Bittner's leaving since I don't think the closing of the thread was wrong, since I seem to be in the minority, and since it seems like my posts have been generally ignored lately. When we have the chance to get further along on our tank build, I'll post a progress report, but I think I'm going to let RS cool down a little bit because I'm having a difficult time not posting how I feel about the closing of the thread."

There you have it. I guess I'm over it...it always helps to put into words how you feel and, so, I guess I ended up posting my opinion anyway. But I don't want that issue to hijack my thread, so it's finished.

[nikkipigtails]

On a lighter note, I have pictures of the frags we got, some random pictures of our tank and pictures of Olivia and Kate's first fishing trip. Oh, and I lost 2 pounds!

Pink Panthers


Green Paly


Crab Orgy


Major wants a hug


A giant bristle worm...I've discovered that our tank is filled with these guys


We went fishing at our friend's farm


Kate's fish


My fish


Olivia's fish


Tommy caught a fish too, but he wouldn't let me take a picture of it.

[Dentoid]

Ha! Great pictures! Olivia got the piggy! I take it Tommy's fish was the smallest!

[BarbMazz]

HI NIKKI!
You know I'm glad to see you! Look at that great smile on your face in that picture!!

I hafta admit I like Olivia's fishie the best.

Tank shots look really good! I like that shrimp shot the best.

Glad to see you posting, and have a happy FIRST Mother's Day tomorrow. Us mommas gotta stick together!

[thelastmucci]

hey Nikki....I love the bristle worm..thats the first good pic I've seen of one (lets hope he's not 8 ft) Tank is looking good and glad you went to the FS. BTW an email has been sent in your general direction.

[lcstorc]

Great pics. Glad the reef is going so well. Just remember you are loved by many.

[nikkipigtails]

Thanks Barb!

Thanks everyone for checking out my thread. I promise that we're working on the tank...it's just a little bit at a time. We have to work around Tommy's work schedule and a (almost) 5 month old who just started teething.

We did, however, buy a Hammerhead for our CL pump and 2x250W MH with a dual ballast. We're going to run 1x250 MH with some supplemental atenics for the RBTA tank. Right now they've got 14,000K XM bulbs that are only a month old so we should be good for a little while.

[Frankie]

Nice shrimp shot! Olivia is precious.
My advice is stick to the forum topic, Reef keeping. Text is a poor communicator and off topics can spoil the fun in your hobby

[lcstorc]

I just have to mention that one of my dreams last night was about your wonderful Olivia. She was gorgeous as ever and having great fun with her first birthday cake.
I hope she has as much fun in real life as she did in my dream.

[nikkipigtails]

Awww...that's so sweet Lynn! I've decided that Olivia will get her own birthday cake to destroy and we'll have a separate one for the guests. I'm sure no one wants to eat cake that she spit on when blowing out the candle! We even have a special bib for her that has a little cupcake on it. It's super long to cover down to her knees and it has a pink polka dot ribbon for a tie. I can't wait for her birthday!

[lcstorc]

Be sure to put plastic down below where she is. Plastic tablecloths work great. You know some of the mess with make it to the floor.
On a side note when my nephew had his first birhtday he gently picked up each bit and put it in his mouth. No fun. We had to smear cake all over him to get the classic pics.