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Since im hosting the August meeting.....it might be a little cramped in my basement...... Kidding aside, cuddos to those making the decision. Its the right one. Things are gonna get worse before they get better. Ross

I would put any bends in the return lines. With the drain being gravity flow you want to keep that as free flowing as possible.

Thanks for everyone's comments. I would really like to give a shout out to Mike for his above and beyond commitment and time that he put in, not only staying in contact with the Health Office, Hendricks County Fairgrounds, vendors attending other swaps, our local vendors and sponsors but finding an alternative date that will put us past this pandemic and give us time to put all the pieces back together for a successful swap. Great job Mike!!

I am in the health care industry as well and will be attending the event. While everyone should practice proper health care (washing your hands, not touching your face, and I think given the current state of affairs we can opt out on shaking hands and hugs), I support that we should move forward with the frag swap. I work in the health care industry on a daily basis and I am aware of the situation we are facing. At the same time, if you have any symptoms of a cold, the typical flu, or corona virus please use the advice that has been given and stay home to self quarantine to minimize the spread of your illness. The cost to post pone this event and reschedule for a later time in the year plus the effort that goes into this by volunteers and vendors drove the decision to keep moving forward. The only option viable would be to cancel this year's Frag Swap entirely. While we expect that attendance will be lower due to the Corona Virus, we respect that everyone will need to make their own decision on attending the INDMAS frag swap for 2020.

Wanted to update everyone that the show is still a go for Saturday We also added a couple of Nero pumps and a couple of Radions for the raffle

Never. Stops. Moving. 🤪 thanks! I am using an IPhone XR with the Polyplab Lens I got from @Gonzo620

Tank as of yesterday. Picked up a couple new stunning frags from @ReefNewby82 this afternoon. Gonna get them acclimated and hopefully covering parts of the rock work that is bare from loosing the blue hammer coral. I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned in the past but this tanks corals are 80% from members of this club.

I know this is tough but I think it was the right decision. I appreciate all of the effort that went in to setting this up and I’m really sad to see it postponed. I’ll be looking forward to August!

Sad, but right decision! See you all at The Reef on Saturday.....

Mike, Bob, and staff, I just wanted to let you know that I really appreciate your hard work and dedication that you have put towards the swap and it is with very mixed feelings that I receive this information. Part of me is releived that the decision was to postpone the swap, but part of of me is also quite sad that we are having to make this decision. My wife and I have been working really hard on the items we were planning on bringing to the swap and now we have to wait until August to do so. We are in the process of going through IVF and the funds we would of raised would have been a big contribution to this process. I still dont know how much this will impact us, but hopefully we do not have to delay our process as well. Again Im sorry you guys had to make this decision but deep down I feel like it was the correct decision. Thank you. Alan.

If you were still planning on attending the INDMAS swap and have found out it was postponed, The Reef will be having the following on Saturday the 14th for INDMAS members only from 12-4 Must state you are a member or join at the shop All corals 30% off Select Frags are $20.00 each or 2 for $30.00 all others 30% off! Ultra Rock flower anemones $20.00 each or 2 for $30.00 Proaquatix Clowns by the pair. 48 Pairs available! Ocellaris Black Ocellaris Snowflake Black Ice Bullet Hole Extreme Misbar Black Picasso Premium Picasso Wyoming White Frostbite Gladiator Extreme Gladiator Tahitian Clams 2.5 - 3 inch $75.00 5-6 inch $100.00 Planet aquariums 10% off 120 Crystalline Combo with LifeRock. 25% off only one available. Jeremy Meadows of Planet Aquarium will be on hand to answer any questions about custom aquariums and Planet Aquarium. All Reeflower products 50% off Marine Biologist Kyle Thielman with Reeflowers in house to answer any questions about Reeflowers and reef keeping. Cobalt C Vue Aquariums 10% off All Cobalt foods and Media 30% off Viral Surati of Cobalt Aquatic will be on hand to answer all your questions about their products Fritz Salt RPM case $49.99 each Represenattives from Fritz will be there to answer questions Special pricing on CaribeSea Liferock

My friends and I will not be attending this year. Kind of crazy that this is still going ahead. It takes more than just washing hands to prevent spreading germs and as C-19 is in the respiratory system the 6ft rule is just as important if not more so than just washing your hands & having hand sanitizers available. The NBA, March Madness, schools & universities are closing/suspending operations to help prevent the spread which although doesn't necessarily affect the majority of the population it does put those in certain age brackets, or people with existing respiratory issues and already compromised immune systems at a far higher risk of developing a life threatening condition. I really hope that you guys reconsider having the frag swap this weekend and at the very least push it to a later date in a few months time or something. The later you leave it to cancel the worse it will be for everyone and there is more at stake than $ and time.

One million dollars! /dr evil

hopefully soon. Seems to be a decent grower, provided I don’t mess it up. That and the pink kraks in front of it started at 3 polyps and are both at 5 after a month.

Thanks, I just ordered them.

https://www.mcmaster.com/6680A15 We use these at work. So I’ve managed to bring some home when we have extras. There very very strong. The magnet is sealed off and the strike plate is made of a 600 series stainless steel, helping against rust. They’re expensive but worth it in my opinion. They come in black too. https://www.mcmaster.com/6680a23

One full res shot of the tank*

So I wanted to share my experience building a stand for a new 150 gallon tank I'm working on. I used the same method to build the one for my 80 gallon tank as well! First step was to measure the new tank and decide what I wanted the dimensions of the stand to be. From here it was just a matter of playing around in Google SketchUp to design the new stand. Great tool that's free and easy to learn, make your mistakes in there before ordering anything! In my experience 45 series 10mm slot extrusion is a great fit for stands from a price to performance standpoint. The website https://www.tnutz.com/ is where I have sourced the aluminum and accessories for my different projects. They cut everything to your specs exactly and ship in a timely manner. It's somewhat time consuming to used the "inside corner gussets" and hammer bolts to connect everything, but it gives the stand great rigidity! I recommend buying additional hammer nuts and bolts off Amazon for attaching other accessories like the power strip pictured as they will be less expensive. I'll update this post as I make progress on the build, and feel free to share any questions or feedback if you have experience building with aluminum extrusions as well!

Dang you packin em in deep! Lol. Looking good sir...

I am of the other camp, I believe the return should have as few elbows and restrictions as possible. For every one you add the flow is reduced, depending on how much could mandate a larger pump. I try to use sweeping elbows and flexible lines as much as possible to reduce this decrease.

I’m with Daniel on this one. Keep the drains as clear, open, and straight as you can. Let you pump work a little extra if it has to.

I know a lot of you had already assumed this but wanted to make it official that the April 2020 meeting will be cancelled We will let everyone know about the May meeting as more information comes in. Mike

Here are the frags I picked up from Mr. Grimes. So many to choose from, not enough cash to bring them all home. These 4 will fit right in though.

Due to a conflict with Aquashella the new date for the frag swap is August 15th

INDMAS is pleased to announce that the 2020 Frag Swap will be Saturday August 8th at the Hendricks County Fairgrounds 1900 East Main Street, Danville IN from 12-4 Over the past year the club has been hard at work to bring you one of the top swaps in the Midwest. There are multiple threads in this forum that should answer a lot of your questions. If you do not find it please ask. Returning again as our Platinum Event Sponsor The Reef Platinum Sponsors this year are Reef Hobbyist Magazine and Coral Magazine We will be offering early entry for those attending our speaker session (to be announced) And did I mention fabulous vendors a wide variety of vendors, The Reef, Cobalt, Fritz, Neptune, Aquarium World, Premium Aquatics, Modern Aquatix, Zoanthid Garden, Aznutty's saltwater connection, Eye Candy Coral. Summit City Corals, Blue Line Coral, Simply Saltwater Aquatics, Salty Ceramics, Coral Savers, Mermaids Cove, Whitlyn Aquatics, Underwater Gardeners, Just Pretty Corals, Two Crafty Clowns, Fragcration, Goat Corals Premium Aquatics is sponsoring the young hobbyist tank give away for those in attendance under 13 This year it will be a JBJ 28G nano cube Free frag supplied by the club for new members for the first 60 new members Free admission for club member otherwise a low $5 for admittance Membership is just $21 a year We will have a fast in admission line for members so if you are thinking about joining or renewing doing so in advance will save you time look for the member thread within this section. (Deadline is Saturday August 8th) Food Truck available I forgot to mention fabulous raffle prizes: Besides the grand prize of a Trident with controller and DOS, 4 stage RODI, Carib Sea rocks, Coral Magazine, Frag saw, Carbon, Salt, Aqueon sump, T5 and Led , Polyp Labs Reef Roids, Salt Critters gift certificates, Santa Monica Algae Scrubber just to name a few of the items. See everyone on the 14th of March

Postponing the swap???!!! Guys... this isn’t the Catalina wine mixer, this is the FRAG SWAP! hear me out... set up a QT in the parking lot and load the breezeway with UV sterilizers. Game on! lol

I was really looking forward to this weekend. (I can't help but think the public reaction is getting over blown and this whole deal is becoming more and more a media circus) but agree, we should err on the side of caution.... glad we can look at alternative date of Aug 8th. I appreciate all the work Mike, Bob, and the board has put into this event and coming to this difficult decision. That's a lot of stress and hassle. So, anyone wanna buy some frags? .. {Buy one frag get a free roll of TP??} Be well fellow reefers!

Agree with Paul, thank you all!

Mike, Sorry that you and the staff had to go though all of this, but I believe its the best decision in the long run. See you all in August!

All I wanted to get let everyone know after a lot of input and recommendations from the health industry, the club has made the difficult decision to postpone the 2020 Frag swap to August 8th. It will be at the same location and time. We are in the process at this time of letting all the vendors know. Please spread the word. I wanted to apologize to everyone but sometimes the situation is out of our control. I hope to see everyone in August and look for an additional announcement coming soon Mike 317-730-7049

We certainly appreciate all the comments and the severity of the Corona Virus. We also understand the importance of doing our part to PREVENT the spread of the virus to avoid the infection; especially for those that are older or already have compromised health conditions. Due to the amount of planning and coordination that it takes to hold a Frag Swap (it takes at least 6 months) it is likely that if we cancel this weekends event it will be cancelled for the year. We are monitoring the actions across the nation and world to slow the spread of the Corona Virus. We continue to evaluate the feasibility of continuing with the event and will keep everyone apprised. Keep in mind, the frag swap is put together by a handful of volunteers (under 10 - that also have careers and personal lives to attend to). It would be great if we had the man power and time to coordinate pushing this event back a few months. Summer is a very difficult time to hold a swap due to vacations/commitments; therefore, fall would be better. Although, fall also has MACNA and other swaps (including our own retro frag swap) to contend with. If we move this back to the winter, we are encroaching on next year's Frag Swap. As stated previously, if we cancel the frag swap for this weekend, it will most likely need to be cancelled for this year entirely. That will be evaluated once we make a final decision for this weekend. Please know that the staff of INDMAS has been agonizing over this unprecedented situation, we are in no way, shape or form taking this lightly, we are having an incredible amount of discussion on this daily (again, we appreciate the comments that we have received) and do realize that we also need to consider our social/community responsibilities as well. When you look at the events from Sunday through yesterday, things have taken a drastic change. We are aware that public gatherings, travel, sporting events, school (including Universities), church attendance, etc. are being cancelled and with good reason. We also know that the amount of traffic will be severely reduced. It will not be shoulder to shoulder this year. Having said that, staying 6 feet away from someone coughing will still be difficult. We also have vendors that have already cancelled and it's likely that more are still evaluating if they will attend. We respect everyone's decision and concerns and will continue to evaluate this throughout the day today and keep everyone informed as well as we can. Personally, I am in Kentucky working in the field with the medical community which includes Health Care Providers in the outpatient setting and working with the hospitals in the area. I have been soliciting their advice as well during my office visits. I will be driving back to Indianapolis today (running out of Lysol spray and hand sanitizer, ...and yes, I am taking the TP from the hotel room 😉 ) and will continue to converse with the rest of the staff as to whether or not to proceed with the event. The one thing we can all agree on is that this is an unprecedented situation. Either way we go, we are going to meet resistance. Lastly, the $$$$$ are NOT a part of the conversation (I am disappointed that this was even brought up). We are a non-profit club. We will lose money on this event for this year regardless of our decision and that is just the way it is.

After a ten year plus hiatus, I just got back into the hobby a year ago. My son and I are really looking forward to attending saturday as it has been a long time since I have been to the frag swap. I really appreciate all the legwork and planning the club has done to make this event happen!

Mike, with all due respect and for the well being of everyone who will be attending the swap, I think the staff should step back and analyse if going through with the swap is the best decision. It just takes one person showing up that doesn't realize that they have the virus to make things that much worse. I'm not saying to cancel the event but to see if even rescheduling to a later date would be better option. I'm not involved enough to know if that is even an option or to know how much this will impact the club, so I am only voicing my concern.

There have been some questions in regards to whether INDMAS will be canceling or postponing the 2020 frag swap. I have spoken with Hendricks County Fairgrounds and we will be having the swap as scheduled. They are monitoring the situation and are in contact with the county health department. If the situation changes we will let everyone know Mike

Name: Ben Meyaard Gender: male Age or Age Range: 39 Twitter/Instagram: i don’t actively participate in twitter, but you can dig up all my terribly former thoughts at bmeyaard and BenMeyaard and there was a local news troll account at one point ... Where are you from? Flat Rock, Indiana. I’ve lived in 10-counties but never out of state. Type of Tank(s): 40 breeder Photo(s) of you: Full Tank Shot(s): Favorite tank pic(s): How long have you been in the hobby? Since 2011 when a friend moved out of state and left me a 5g, 3-rock, 1fish, I pump, no filter unit, and an rodi unit and said ... good luck, do your water changes, your kids will love it What do you like most about the hobby? The idea that Indiana can be a part of the #thirdcoast and keep oceans near us too... I have one of those three rocks still. Other pets: no, I’m a divorced dad with four kids who drew the line at no further pets. Other hobbies: disc golf, super Mario maker, chartguys/technical analysis, Work: TORAY accounting supervisor, moonlighting as INDMAS treasurer Favorite food: yes please... anything set out with care for others Favorite music: Umphrey’s McGee. You all above said “not country”... I like lots of not-pop country. I enjoy blue grass, western, folk etc. .haha Favorite movies/shows: peaky blinders, sons of anarchy, true detective, the wire, spongebob, macgyver, simpsons, and not many marvel/superhero movies. Something else you’d like to share about yourself: my tank took a back burner in 2018-2019, so I’m looking forward to the 2020 swap to kickstart my enthusiasm while I ride everyone else’s excitement.

I've been here awhile, and I know a few of you from meetings. However I don't get around to meetings as much as I would like too, or my introverted self doesn't reach out to try and get to know you all as much as I would like. So in spirit of learning more about you, and to try and get a little participation going on these forums I'm starting this thread. I hope you all participate in some way or another to not only help me learn more about you, but help others as well. I always feel so lost at the swap or meetings, so maybe this will make us all feel a bit more comfortable. Maybe this will mold into a new chat thread for people that might want to chat about their tanks, the reefing community, and life in general. Name: Gender: Age or Age Range: Twitter/Instagram: Where are you from? Type of Tank(s): Photo(s) of you: Full Tank Shot(s): Favorite tank pic(s): How long have you been in the hobby? What do you like most about the hobby? Other pets: Other hobbies: Work: Favorite food: Favorite music: Favorite movies/shows: Something else you’d like to share about yourself:

One week until the 2020 INDMAS Frag swap!

Welcome to the club!!

Hello. Do you need anymore prizes to give away?

I agree, since it is already empty I would re-seal it now. Better now while empty versus after the tank is set up, has live rock, fish, and coral that would need to be broken down if a leak developed later. There are plenty of videos on line and many in the club have done this and have experience. I recently resealed a 220G that I was setting up. Probably didn't need it, but it was better to take care of it while it was empty just to be sure. It is a lot of work and you do need to pay attention to the details so that you have a good water tight seal afterwards.

So my wifey got me a surprise gift. I love these T-shirts so much. Has anyone else gotten any cool gifts? Here’s a tread to show them off. Post pics of your cool stuff😎

Progress Update: Stand came together perfectly with space for the 75gal sump & 23gal rubbermaid ATO reservoir, and is rock solid with the tank in place! Plumbing is next

Needs more euphyllia.

Progress Update: Panels painted and installed.