So as we wind down 2009 and head towards 2010 in just under 9 hours I figure it's time for an end of the year round up for the copepod geek. Some of this might be regurgitation, some might not but here's my random blathering:
Early this year I decided to merge my tanks into a single system! At the time this consisted of two display tanks (my 72 bow and a 39 for the clowns) which was one indoor system and the experimentation system in the garage consisting of 3 33 longs divided and a simple sump. I finished the merge around July with a false wall style build, using two of the divided 33 longs and of course my favorite the 72 bow. A new RO unit was set up, wires were pulled, plumbing was all over... big expenses, big messes, big fun. In any case... it's been running great and the move went with little to no livestock loss!
Just after the move we noticed our clowns who now had their own dedicated section continued to lay eggs and we could catch the hatches, so I devoted some time to attempting to capture and raise the fry. Not sure why, really I have no use for a ton of clowns but I figured if I'm going to become a so called "expert" at aquaculture I outta know how to do the basics. I've since utilized the on time hatches to work in better larval snagger designs. We have three juveniles from two previous hatches as survivors and of course the beginning of this week held perhaps the most successful snag we've ever had. Tonights celebration will consist of about 30-40 little ones swimming in the new year.
I was able to perform some good supporting work for the Reef Stewardship Foundation this year by shipping some of the RSF Nassarius snails out to Texas to re-establish breeding stocks. I also made contact with a number of other breeders nationwide to set up some future shipments (which I wish I could have done this month but weather got in the way) to help the species become more geographically distributed. This month alone held some suprises as I began to get more and more energized about the RSF and naturally these snails. I made the decision to devote a good chunk of my time to the study of these snails and have begun my studies within only the last few weeks!
Many of you may have already noticed but I've re-done the copepodgeek site itself, dumping a lot of the old content and rebuilding new content in attempts to acheive a cleaner more friendly format, and to provide more concise and accurate information. While time has been my biggest barrier on this change I hope to have more information up before June of 2010 so that people can actually gain more useful information on the site. I've posted a draft of my Nassarius breeding protocols for RSF here and of course continue to blab on my blog now and then. Despite the tedium, it has all been very exciting!
On other personal notes I've managed to overcome a lot of other issues here at the homefront, I've replaced the weak garage door opener with a more robust one, moved into a large workshop / shed outside where I finally have ample space for my tools and toys, sold my company, built a TON of legos, began organizing myself better, and halfway attempted to quit smoking!!
Thats right, I sold my company... Dancing Horse Technology, Inc. no longer belongs to me in full, I am merely an employee with salary and benefits... ooooh salary and benefits!!
In any case, for 2010 I will continue to attempt to organize myself and quit smoking... and naturally I will be focused on snails and planktonic things that go yum in the night!
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