On-line names???

[zima]

Ha haaa! No, it can't be the cold, now how could it???  Oh well, I suppose a decent answer would be that it is the lenght of winter, not the cold (that is if we have to relate it to my nick). There is nothing else ot feel sorry for, really. Besides the political opinions/differences into which one could get over a pint, not on a forum  . Keep on rocking in the free world!

[babblefish1960]

I imagine it is a good thing that the winters are so short then, heck we didn't even have a white Christmas.

I am curious about your avatar too, what exactly are those things on the pikes? They appear to be fish of a non-animated nature.

[zima]

Oh yes, those are fish. Fountain figures with water coming out of their mouths. But it looks like they're having a cigarette, doesn't it. Heck, I should stop pretending: google.ca, searched for funny+fish+pics. Tons of neat stuff, if one, such as myself, lacks imagination!

[hamstercaster]

My whacky name has nothing to do with casting (trolling)hamsters in order to catch a pike, muskie or anything like that.  It actually comes from the music I listen to.  I'm a 36 year old Metallica fan and have been since the early 80's.  The name comes from Metallica's lead guitarist Kirk Hammett who was and sometimes still uses a Fernandes electric guitar.  That guitar as the shape of a Fender Stratocaster which is a very popular shape and also a very well known guitar brand.  So, Kirk Hammett renamed his Fernandes guitar to Hamstercaster... It read Fernandes Hamstercaster - The Edna and I have stuck to that name the longest time now for both forum names and e-mail addresses.  I used that name for my personal e-mail address at home until my wife kinda forced me to change it when we changed ISP..

[babblefish1960]

Fascinating, never thought of the fishing thing though, I was afraid that it was the moulding of hamsters into little bronze figurines or possibly, like dwarf tossing in the 80's, was a sport for the weaker folk who couldn't actually toss a dwarf to cast hamsters across wherever they needed to be tossed. So your explanation was something of a relief, though honestly, I cannot imagine why The Edna would find this moniker less than appropriate for business, go figure.

Metallica is the only band that I am aware of that has been religiously attending group therapy to work out their creative differences to keep the band going, very serious about their music. I'm sure the Edna told you that already though, welcome to the website.

[hamstercaster]

fortunatly, no more group therapy for them lol.  As for the Edna, I wouldn't know.  I think it's not a nice word actually, but I could be wrong ;-)

[CuckooJay]

Cuckoo Jay... I used this name for a few reasons. First of all, I truly started to get involved in the hobby when I owned my first Tanganyikan Cichlids... A group of Ocellatus. The resulting hours of research in the the African lakes lead me to be known as the "African Guy" at my store. Although I've done other things since then, they're still my absolute favorite group of fish.
  The "Cuckoo" part came from the Cuckoo Catfish, or the "Synodontis Multipunctatus" that have been in my display tank at the store, since I started working there. Seeing as I've changed my tanks around a hundred times over, that makes them the oldest pet fish still in my position...
   Not to mention, the first fish I owned (without my dad taking care of it for me) was a pair of Clarius Catfish. In six months they grew about a foot longerl, outgrew there tank and killed there tank mates(a pair of oscars). I can still remember them trying to knock the bricks off the lid of their tank at night....creepy.
Point being....catfish are cool.

[babblefish1960]

Now that is funny too cuckoojay, I never thought of catfish, I was thinking of birds like silly norwegian blues that pine for the fjords, or maybe a lunatic from some asylum somewhere.

I think your pictures may have picked you up a few fans. Your Dad sounds great, I'm sure his teaching will impact you always as you go out to learn things he had never even thought of.

ummm, hamstercaster, I'm uncertain what it is to which you refer as to the status of that which is not understood insofar as Edna, whomever she may be, is concerned?

They don't call me babble for nothing you know!

[busdriver]

As per your request, Princessfish!

[PrincessFish]

As per my request BusDriver??  No, me thinks that it was you who wanted me to post to this thread -- true?  And I'm sure you've been wondering . . . Whatever possessed this woman to choose the name PrincessFish?? 

Like Crumpet, I chose PrincessFish after one of the first fish I have ever owned.  Not I, but a certain young lady who is a big part of my life and is in the 'Princess' stage of her life named that fish "PrincessFish".  Unless one thinks about a moniker before actually being confronted with the request, one tends to choose whatever can be quickly dredged up from the recesses of the mind.  Well . . . It would have taken me much longer to dredge up something more creative.  (not 29 anymore  )  And I must say that it has crossed my mind that perhaps I should have taken the time but truthfully I have NO time and shouldn't even be spending half the time I already am on this new hobby of mine!!  Alas, I am in the infatuation stage . . . And you know what that is like! 

PS, would have posted earlier but it took me forever to get through the NINE pages of this thread!  Had a couple of good chuckles though so thanks!

[babblefish1960]

I  must say Princessfish, that sounds like a very thoughtful reason for a moniker. I'm sure the fish itself is quite honoured and you let it read the posts don't you.

As for the "no time for the fish hobby", I'm sorry, I just can't see what you mean, we all take time out to eat, and go to fish club meetings, and some even sleep for a bit.

This infatuation stage sounds intriguing, it's not something I recall, is it a good thing?

As for your post script, I am impressed, you actually read the entire thread? Well kudos to you for enduring such a comical thread, I'm very glad you found parts of this cause for a good chuckle, we are definitely full of entertaining folks here.

[pnmdsz6]

my name is a combination of all the 1st letters of the 1st names of everyone in my family, and then the # 6 because there are 6 of us!

[babblefish1960]

I am so glad you explained that one, as I was having a heck of a time trying to pronounce it. Pity no one in the family had vowels.

[PrincessFish]

Ahh yes . . . the infatuation stage . . . well, like anything else it has it's good and it's bad!     I just can't get enough of it (much like addiction - or better yet lust) but on the down side . . . I am getting frustrated at not accomplishing much in the rest of my life. 
I won't go on . . . lest I be accused of thread jacking 
BabbleFish . . . you sleep?  truthfully now 

[babblefish1960]

That sounds absolutely fascinating, I think I remember something of this, a rather strange feeling that occupies the mind in spite of deadlines and tasks at hand.
As for not accomplishing things in the rest of your life, well, at least you have your priorities. As for sleeping, not really something I like to do lest it interfere with the rest of the world's unusual habits. It is something like the weather, it keeps moving while you sleep, and by the time you wake again, so much has changed.

Your lack of explanation for fear of thread jacking is quite intriguing by its very absence, remarkable indeed.

[PrincessFish]

Explanation for fear of thread-jacking:
Well, you see, I'm the new kid on the block and trying to make a good impression.  And I've heard fear in the posts of others lest they be berated about thread-jacking . . . so . . .
Not to mention that I've read the thread-jacking thread and am not sure that I want anyone to know that I relate to it enough to have guffawed most of the way through it . . . well on the otherhand I guess that may be the best way to make a good impression! 
Oh dear, am I starting to babble??     

[Alchemist]

Hi..I was asked to explain my name here..so here goes...

I'm currently a professor of chemistry (not full time) and a researcher (full time), I teach and do research in medicinal chemistry which is the development and design of new drugs.  It's kind of like alchemy in that we take cheap reagents (which gives me an idea...more later...) and hopefully turn them into "gold"...gold being a blockbuster drug for some weird and not so wonderful disease.  My current target is a new drug for arthritis/osteoporosis.

Now..I've noticed that in the saltwater hobby you use quite a few different reagents/chemical additives, ion-exchange resins, chemical probes and this set me wondering as to whether the bulk chemical and equipment suppliers might be able to supply these a little cheaper?  We use a lot of diatomaceous earth for example in the labs as a filter aid, the same stuff that you'll find in a diatom filter.  Also a lot of glassware that could be used for calcium reactors, fluidised bed reactors and the like etc.  Some of it will not be a good deal, lab glassware is generally expensive.  I don't really know the prices of equipment but anyone interested might like to have a little look online at the following (be aware that I don't know about restrictions for ordering chemicals/equipment to private addresses, call customer services if there's anything of interest here to check.):

http://www.sigmaaldrich.com/Area_of_Interest/The_Americas/Canada.html  (general chemical reagents and labware, usually a little more expensive but the glassware is top quality and the chemicals generally arrive quickly)

http://www.fishersci.ca/  (a good, comprehensive range of glassware, equipment, analytical probes (temp, pH etc) and basic chemicals at good prices.  The prices quoted are not always the final prices here and there is room to ask for bulk discounts or repeat buyers discounts).

So...have a look, there may be things there that are interesting for DIY'ers.  The sites may not be that much help sometimes as they have specialty names for some equipment that you might call something else but if you are looking for a piece of equipment that you can't find there, describe it to me and I'll see what I can do.

Also...chemicals come in different grades. Technical grades are the lowest and can contain several impurities and may need some kind of "washing" before use.  HPLC grade is the highest (HPLC is High Performance Liquid Chromatography and is a means of separating mixtures of compounds), sometimes the purity is given instead of HPLC, say 99.9% etc.

Some other items of interest, although they are usually very expensive, are things like high pressure pumps for forcing liquids through very tightly packed media.

PM me if you have a chemistry question and I'll see what I can do.

Cheers,

J

[Crumpet]

wow-- cool, Alchemist!  Your work sounds really interesting, and your call sign is fitting

Welcome to OVAS

[babblefish1960]

I love that you can babble and guffaw princessfish, the world needs more of us in it, otherwise only the accountants would be left.

Alchemist, that is some fascinating vocation you have there spilling over into your avocation.  You clearly have a number of skills that translat ewell in the aquarium business, I am sure many will flock to your private messages with oodles of questions.

Did you know Merlin, apparently he was the leading scientist with the arcane arts of controlling reactions.

This is definitely going to be fun, Thanks for posting, hope to jar your memory with suitable queries.

[Sue]

.  My current target is a new drug for arthritis/osteoporosis.

OMG small world. I was a tech in the PTH group (up till last year when NRC axed it). We designed and tested the peptide 'ostabolin-c' that Zelos has just completed 2'cd round clinical trials on. (Its a treatment for osteoporosis). Dr. Jim Whitfield is still around in an emeritus position at NRC and I bet he would love to chat with you about your ideas related to the bone world. He's pretty much been given freedom from politics now that he's emeritus, and he's a truly brilliant man.

Its Wonderful to have a chemist in the club! We on the biology side are always asking Q's of you guys!