I have posted in a few threads, and even asked for help with an issue in the Newbie area. So I guess I should get around to posting an intro so people know a bit about who I am.
I am a 46 yr old male looking for a... wait, wrong forum.
I am actually happily married with a 2.5 yr old son that takes up a whole lot of my time. I looked into a saltwater aquarium about 8 yrs ago, but the cost kept me from moving forward at that time. Well there is nothing like a 2 yr old watching Nemo to give a man a good excuse to bring the subject up again. It turns out my wife has always liked the idea, so we pressed forward.
I served in the US Air Force, and spent time in Desert Storm/Shield playing in the sandbox. When I got out of the AF in 92 I moved to Colorado, and I have lived here ever since. I have an undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineer, and a Masters in Computer Science. I work for a company that makes SAN switches in the Broomfield area, and in the far SE part of the Denver area. Technically Centennial, but more like far south Aurora.
I have ridden motorcycles for about 30 yrs, and I have been a Motorcycle Safety Foundation instructor on and off for about 20 yrs. I currently teach for Abate of Colorado, and mostly teach at the Front Range CC site in the northern part of Denver. I have track raced bikes over in Japan, but now I have a Harley Softail for daily riding and a KLR-650 for lite off-road use. I have always been a major computer nerd, and just this year took up AirSoft as a hobby to get me outdoors and moving more often. I also just took up fly fishing and fly tying. Then there is this aquarium thing... can I tell you exactly how much my wife in thrilled that I have taken up 3 expensive hobbies in one year.
So last item would be the tank. It is a 90 gallon glass tank with a 15 gallon sump. I just plumbed in a small remote deep sand bed and an approx 12 gallon refugium over the last few days. Current lighting is a 4 bulb T5 (I think) fixture that came with a used tank I bought at a LFS. I know that lighting is not going to cut if for the future plans on this tank, reef, so I am in the market for buying or building an LED system. Which also means I am in the market for a control computer to control the lightning, pumps, monitoring, etc. Since I have a strong background in programming I am looking for the ones that allow customization, at least I am until I do more research to figure out exactly what I need. Expect to see me involved in some group buys for a wide range of stuff going forward.
BTW, that used tank (72gallon bow front) broke the support bar within 20 minutes of getting it home and doing the first test fill, so we will have two tanks once the LFS gets in the replacement trim for us. Not the greatest customer service from that store so far, and I am hoping they do something to change my mind before I write them off from all future purchases. At least they are not one of the great places I have seen mentioned around here.
That is me in a nutshell. I hope to meet many of you at the Oct 20th meeting, and as I get more involved in this community.
Until then, Keep the shiny side up, and remember that bikers are the only people that understand why dogs hang their heads out the window of a car.
Rick
I am a 46 yr old male looking for a... wait, wrong forum.
I am actually happily married with a 2.5 yr old son that takes up a whole lot of my time. I looked into a saltwater aquarium about 8 yrs ago, but the cost kept me from moving forward at that time. Well there is nothing like a 2 yr old watching Nemo to give a man a good excuse to bring the subject up again. It turns out my wife has always liked the idea, so we pressed forward.
I served in the US Air Force, and spent time in Desert Storm/Shield playing in the sandbox. When I got out of the AF in 92 I moved to Colorado, and I have lived here ever since. I have an undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineer, and a Masters in Computer Science. I work for a company that makes SAN switches in the Broomfield area, and in the far SE part of the Denver area. Technically Centennial, but more like far south Aurora.
I have ridden motorcycles for about 30 yrs, and I have been a Motorcycle Safety Foundation instructor on and off for about 20 yrs. I currently teach for Abate of Colorado, and mostly teach at the Front Range CC site in the northern part of Denver. I have track raced bikes over in Japan, but now I have a Harley Softail for daily riding and a KLR-650 for lite off-road use. I have always been a major computer nerd, and just this year took up AirSoft as a hobby to get me outdoors and moving more often. I also just took up fly fishing and fly tying. Then there is this aquarium thing... can I tell you exactly how much my wife in thrilled that I have taken up 3 expensive hobbies in one year.
So last item would be the tank. It is a 90 gallon glass tank with a 15 gallon sump. I just plumbed in a small remote deep sand bed and an approx 12 gallon refugium over the last few days. Current lighting is a 4 bulb T5 (I think) fixture that came with a used tank I bought at a LFS. I know that lighting is not going to cut if for the future plans on this tank, reef, so I am in the market for buying or building an LED system. Which also means I am in the market for a control computer to control the lightning, pumps, monitoring, etc. Since I have a strong background in programming I am looking for the ones that allow customization, at least I am until I do more research to figure out exactly what I need. Expect to see me involved in some group buys for a wide range of stuff going forward.
BTW, that used tank (72gallon bow front) broke the support bar within 20 minutes of getting it home and doing the first test fill, so we will have two tanks once the LFS gets in the replacement trim for us. Not the greatest customer service from that store so far, and I am hoping they do something to change my mind before I write them off from all future purchases. At least they are not one of the great places I have seen mentioned around here.
That is me in a nutshell. I hope to meet many of you at the Oct 20th meeting, and as I get more involved in this community.
Until then, Keep the shiny side up, and remember that bikers are the only people that understand why dogs hang their heads out the window of a car.
Rick
