Anyone ready for a Thurs. -> Fri. delivery?

Much as I didn't think I'd be saying this last week when we hit 102, is there anyone who needs O. marina and/or Apocyclops and who wants to do an overnight Thurs. to Fri.?
 
Unfortunately, I have appointments tomorrow afternoon and can't manage a shipment then, but I can do Thurs.
 
Thanks!
Andy

--Andy, the bucket man.
"Not to know the mandolin is to argue oneself unknown...." --Clara Lanza, 1886

I'll be at MACNA.

http://www.fishtalpropagations.com/#!home/mainPage
"Making captive breeding easier."

So, I can count you out then?
 
I think we'll probably be able to do shipments next week, too, but the weather is usually pretty up-and-down in September. It sure is nice to have the heat break, though.

--Andy, the bucket man.
"Not to know the mandolin is to argue oneself unknown...." --Clara Lanza, 1886

if there is any way to get mine to me next week. i'm off on Wednesdays and would work great then. If not I can have it shipped to my work. either way is fine.

RLTW

180 Gallon Mixed Reef

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!" Isaiah 6:8

Let's talk when the weather reports come out on Monday.

--Andy, the bucket man.
"Not to know the mandolin is to argue oneself unknown...." --Clara Lanza, 1886

I will also be a MACNA, but I don't need O marina or A panamensis, unless I do something even more stupid than I did tonight.  I spilled M salina culture all over me…. Still plenty left, though.

Well, drop you in a bucket and call you a culture....

--Andy, the bucket man.
"Not to know the mandolin is to argue oneself unknown...." --Clara Lanza, 1886

I'm hesitant to start just yet.  I've hit bottom with my rotifer attempt, so I'm having to start that over with a new starter culture.  I'd like to gain some confidence with rotifers before I try anything else.  Give me a couple more weeks to see what I can get going and I'll chime back in.

After today, I feel like dropping myself into a bucket. and pulling a lid over the top...

 
LOL.
 
 

It happens, Kathy. While pulling the vacuum seal off a new can of Spectrum pellets, I dropped the whole thing into an Apocyclops culture. I wear my phone on a little case attached to my belt. Standing next to the culture station, I bent my knees and dunked my iPhone right into one of the cultures (fortunately I noticed and got the phone out of the sopping case before the phone died). I cannot even tell you the number of times I've walked away and left water running, or the number of times that I've aimed a bucket of waste water for the floor drain and poured it right over my foot. If you can't laugh at these things then this is probably the wrong hobby, yeah?
 
Gramalkin: Whenever you are ready, let me know. Is there anything we can do to help?

--Andy, the bucket man.
"Not to know the mandolin is to argue oneself unknown...." --Clara Lanza, 1886

I think I need to get a clearer protocol in my head on when to do things.  I've gone over other people's rotifer culture journals, and everyone has wildly varying methods and timelines for feeding/ammonia control/bucket changing/etc., so I'm not quite sure what foundation to start with and build from.  I do like seeing people's successes with different methods, but since I'm just getting started, I'm not sure where to begin yet.  It resulted in me trying to change things up in mid process and I think that I sabotaged myself by going in too many directions at once.  Kind of like the old saying, "learn the rules first, then you can break them."
 
And not to get too far off the goal of raising the copepods, that goes for them as well.  I'm working with rotifers now to try to get a protocol down, and will likely use that same methodology with the O marina.  Then, if that works, doing the same with the Apocyclops.  I need to get that foundation laid though and learn the building blocks before I start getting "artistic."

- David Gibson
Denton, TX

Well, I raise O. marina, Apocyclops, and rots pretty much all the same way. They just each have different foods and different schedules for changing the containers. So, I'd say that's a pretty good place to start.
 
The biggest thing for me was getting the right food. I had a pretty poor success rate until I switched to RotiGrow+. Since I switched, a couple of years ago, I have not lost a culture since. Now whether it's the food or it's that I finally have a good protocol going, I don't know. My cultures just don't seem anywhere near as fragile as they used to seem. I can treat them fairly poorly now and they are fine. Of course, I get better results when I don't treat them poorly, but it's nice to know that I can relax every once in a while.

--Andy, the bucket man.
"Not to know the mandolin is to argue oneself unknown...." --Clara Lanza, 1886

I'm ready for shipping when everyone else is.

Whenever is fine for me as well.

Oh, man. Sorry guys. You have to catch me the day before or at least early before I do the fishroom chores. Once I've fed them to the fish then they aren't available for me to send out that day. Let's try for next week.

--Andy, the bucket man.
"Not to know the mandolin is to argue oneself unknown...." --Clara Lanza, 1886

 
LOL, thanks Andy. I was having a really bad day when I wrote that.  
 
I used to overflow the water fill up, sometimes for hours, until I installed a garden watering timer to shut the thing off if I forget to.  When I forget, excess water just goes to the floor drain, but I hate to waste it, and its a good thing the hubby never noticed.  The timer shuts off after a pre-set time, and keeps our basement dryer and the water bill lower.  As I get older and more absent minded, I find I have to think of more fool proof designs.  Fools like me are so inventive.  Always find a way to mess up.

Attn MI participants: I just got a tracking number from Andy. The pods should be here tomorrow/Friday. LMK when you want to pick them up. Thanks Andy!

http://www.fishtalpropagations.com/#!home/mainPage
"Making captive breeding easier."

I apologize for how much the dang shipping costs were. Ugh. But there should be enough in the box to get seven people started with 2 cultures each of copepods and O. marina.

--Andy, the bucket man.
"Not to know the mandolin is to argue oneself unknown...." --Clara Lanza, 1886

What's the best way to pay you for the shipping cost?  Maybe fedex account #?  They can just bill me directly.
 
 

That's certainly the easiest way to go for me.

--Andy, the bucket man.
"Not to know the mandolin is to argue oneself unknown...." --Clara Lanza, 1886

Great!  Sending you my Fedex number and address in a moment.

 

My shipment arrived at noon, right at feeding time.
 
I'm not going to bother taking a pic of the O. marina since they are so small but here are the Apocyclops:


Nifty little "test tubes". Can anyone guess what they really are? (Andy, keep quiet)

http://www.fishtalpropagations.com/#!home/mainPage
"Making captive breeding easier."

Do we really want to know?? lol. I don't have a clue and I worked at a doctors office for 4 years.

Well, what they are, is a heck of a lot cheaper than "real" specimen shipping tubes. These are about $.50 each and the specimen containers are $2.00-$3.00. Plus, I know that these are food grade plastic.
 
EDIT: BTW, can anyone spot a egg-laden female in Tal's photo? I think I see two right off the bat.

--Andy, the bucket man.
"Not to know the mandolin is to argue oneself unknown...." --Clara Lanza, 1886

Looks like the top of a soda bottle to me.

Everyone gets 1 guess and no comments. Andy or I will give the answer later this evening.

http://www.fishtalpropagations.com/#!home/mainPage
"Making captive breeding easier."

 
I can!

I'll be ready to receive this coming Wednesday if that will work. When is the Reeds products coming out? I emailed, but didn't get a reply yet.

RLTW

180 Gallon Mixed Reef

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!" Isaiah 6:8

something recycled and originally involving hair products, color, permanents, or some such thing.

Anyone else going to guess?

http://www.fishtalpropagations.com/#!home/mainPage
"Making captive breeding easier."

I"m guessing 'pods is too generic

Some sort of sample or testing container for beer?

like Jish said... deposit... NO refunds  -thejrc

I'll give you 1 hint. Chances are you have at least one of these in your house right now.

http://www.fishtalpropagations.com/#!home/mainPage
"Making captive breeding easier."

I vote some kind of energy/caffeine drink bottle.   The $.50 doesnt match with that though.  Hmmm....

What do I get for winning? It's a bottle in which beer yeast comes in. And I don't even drink....

They may be made from recycled plastics, but this is their first use in this incarnation.

--Andy, the bucket man.
"Not to know the mandolin is to argue oneself unknown...." --Clara Lanza, 1886

Josh won in chat: http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/product/test-tubes
http://www.amazon.com/Be-Amazing-BABY-SODA-BOTTLES/dp/B001AZ81SW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1316223500&sr=8-1

http://www.fishtalpropagations.com/#!home/mainPage
"Making captive breeding easier."

And when you are done using them for copepods, they come with all kinds of ideas for kids' science experiments.

--Andy, the bucket man.
"Not to know the mandolin is to argue oneself unknown...." --Clara Lanza, 1886

You just HAD to send that brochure, didn't you?!

http://www.fishtalpropagations.com/#!home/mainPage
"Making captive breeding easier."