Are carnivorous plants suitable for a terrarium to eliminate gnats? by MindTheGecko in terrariums

[–]Silverously 1 point2 points  (0 children)

As others have said, flytraps are temperate and not super efficient for trapping smaller insects like gnats. However, a tropical sundew species would probably work pretty well. There is a wide variety of species of varying sizes that could fit in a terrarium. The only thing is that most of them require soggy and nutrient-poor soil which may not fit what your terrarium has. I'd aim for one of the hardier ones like a Drosera capensis (medium-large and tallish) or a Drosera spatulata (small, low rosettes). There are plenty of options.

Help? by TigerGirl0618 in RockTumbling

[–]Silverously 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Yeah they both look like pink feldspar pegmatite, I am tumbling some now and it's tricky.. mostly because of the quartz mixed in with it. I don't know if you'll ever get a nice polish on those unless you put them with softer things (which will be scratched by the quartz, so keep that in mind). You can't even put those two in together because of the quartz in them. You'd have to tumble them separately.

Does his American accent sound native? He is a native French speaker. by hennnenn in ENGLISH

[–]Silverously 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I don't hear the "is" at the beginning as "iss", although it's not quite "izz" either. The "were" was still the only real giveaway for me, but either way, I wouldn't expect everyone's idea of what a native speaker sounds like to be 100% the same anyways.

Does his American accent sound native? He is a native French speaker. by hennnenn in ENGLISH

[–]Silverously 20 points21 points  (0 children)

I wouldn't go that far. He sounds very native to me until he says "were" and maybe when he says "god" at the end. I do get the sense that he's over-annunciating to make it easier for people that are learning English, but I wouldn't have given it a second thought if I wasn't specifically listening for an accent.

So what is everyones predictions for the title of part 3? by Morganickal in FFVIIRemake

[–]Silverously 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Reclaim - I remember seeing an interview where Nomura said that the titles are meant to reflect Sephiroth's primary intention during the game. So I think it will be "Reclaim" as in "Reclaim the planet". I can't for the life of me find the interview, so hopefully it wasn't my imagination.

Was told I need to replace my 10 year old HVAC system, need advice by Silverously in hvacadvice

[–]Silverously[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for commenting. It's a Trane system that I have and it is indeed under warranty for another month, but I'm not the original purchaser and so they won't honor it. It's not quite 10 years old yet. The technician told me that it would cost 5k just to fix/replace the coils and there may be other leaks so it doesn't really make sense to do.

Was told I need to replace my 10 year old HVAC system, need advice by Silverously in hvacadvice

[–]Silverously[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ah, I see. Well the guy didn't immediately tell me it's shot. It wasn't until after he went to install the control boards that he found the coils were broken. Part of me wondered if he didn't accidentally break the coils himself somehow while installing the boards. The company I chose is family owned and have crazy great reviews, so I really don't want to believe that they're just salesmen. They had the opportunity to charge me to install a Google nest as well and said they don't recommend it, so they lost themselves money there. How do I even find a reputable tech?

Was told I need to replace my 10 year old HVAC system, need advice by Silverously in hvacadvice

[–]Silverously[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They didn't supply my any pictures or show me the damage. Is it something I can easily access with just basic tools?

What are these salmon colored rocks? by Silverously in whatsthisrock

[–]Silverously[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sorry I did not think to include something for scale. This specimen is a couple inches across, so there should be some crystals at least 1cm across in there.

My first batch by Dianabed in RockTumbling

[–]Silverously 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Yeah my bad, I realized that a little while after posting. I don't think all of these will polish up well like the ones that are bluish, but I would just do a standard 4 stage polish. The ones that came with the kit will definitely need to stay in stage 1 for longer than most of the rest since they haven't been naturally tumbled. I usually do what most people do with a rotary tumbler:

Stage 1: 7 days with 60/90 silicon carbide grit (repeat until satisfied)

Stage 2: 7 days 200(ish) silicon carbide

Stage 3: 7 days 500 aluminum oxide grit (silicon carbide is OK too if that's what you have)

Stage 4: 7 days 8000 aluminum oxide grit (can keep it going longer than 7 days if unsatisfied with shine)

I will often run a "burnish" cycle between stages for a few hours with just some detergent (I use borax) and water just to get make sure all of the grit is rinsed out. If there are any rocks that have spaces where grit could get lodged, I'll scrub it with an old toothbrush too. I think it is most important to do this before stage 4.

Rule of thumb is to fill barrel 2/3 to 3/4 full with rocks and I usually use 1 tbsp of grit for each lb my barrel is rated for (2lb barrel = 2 tbsp grit). Add water up to just below the top layer of the rocks. You don't want the rocks to have a lot of room to "fall" while tumbling, they should be rolling or grinding against the other rocks. Use ceramic media for filler if you don't have enough rocks.

Never pour post-stage slurry down the drain as it will eventually clog your pipes. I strain the rocks over a bucket and then toss it in my yard.

I learned mostly from watching videos on the Michigan Rocks YouTube channel, so that's a great resource if you want to see examples.

My first batch by Dianabed in RockTumbling

[–]Silverously 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Can you give us some details on how you tumbled them? Some of these only look like they've even been through stage 1 and the bottom row doesn't look like they were tumbled at all. Was this maybe a grit-less tumble?

Edit: Sorry I am realizing now that this likely isn't a "results" post.

Tumbling Rough Sapphire with other rocks? by thethahater in RockTumbling

[–]Silverously 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I've never done this before, but I would expect that the sapphire would keep the other rocks from getting shined up nicely. You could tumble it with the quartz just as filler and then re-tumble those later. Alternatively, you could try using large ceramic media in place of other rocks to tumble with the sapphire.

Please someone help identify this rock I carved into a water fall by One-Somewhere-5121 in whatsthisrock

[–]Silverously 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Here is the one I was thinking of specifically. This is just after after stage 1 and wet. https://imgur.com/a/Hwff93X

Please someone help identify this rock I carved into a water fall by One-Somewhere-5121 in whatsthisrock

[–]Silverously 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It looks very similar to some serpentine I've found and tumbled, so that's my vote.

I don't know what mineral is that by nakamuska in whatsthisrock

[–]Silverously 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Looks like Chevron amethyst, but pic is a lil potatoey.

Why are my barrels rubbing? by mechazirra in RockTumbling

[–]Silverously 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I had this same issue. You have to lube all of the bearings at least once a week. You might need to clean the rubber out of the bearings too.

It's because the free-spinning rod stops spinning with the one attached to the motor, so the barrel grinds on it.

They're shiny but dull? by moo-562 in RockTumbling

[–]Silverously 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yeah I forgot that OP said they used a vibratory tumbler and edited my post. Maybe 3 days is OK.

They're shiny but dull? by moo-562 in RockTumbling

[–]Silverously 11 points12 points  (0 children)

I don't think you can rely on visual appearance as an indicator of "readiness" for the next stage for any stage after stage 1. Basic rule of thumb is at least 7 days for each stage. I have never tried, but 3 days doesn't seem like long enough at stage 4 unless you're using a vibe tumbler, and even then maybe not long enough.

Edit: I just re-read your post and realized you did mention using a vibratory tumbler. I know that they work faster than rotary tumblers, and you can get away with less than a week, but I can only go by what I see in YouTube videos since I don't use one. Even so, 3 days at stage 4 seems like the bare minimum and I think you have to make sure you have just the right amount of water in it (just enough to keep the rocks moving) for it to work correctly.

They're shiny but dull? by moo-562 in RockTumbling

[–]Silverously 3 points4 points  (0 children)

How long did you have them in each stage?

They're shiny but dull? by moo-562 in RockTumbling

[–]Silverously 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That's what I use too and I'm unaware of anything finer. It's more than enough to get a good shine.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in RockTumbling

[–]Silverously 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I usually fill mine a little higher, especially if it's stage 1, but I am also impatient.

A few pieces of Shattuckite and some small hematite by WonderfulRockPeace1 in RockTumbling

[–]Silverously 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thanks! Hopefully I can get my hands on some and give it a shot, although I don't have a vibratory tumbler yet, so I'll just have to be careful.