Randy Holmes-Farley, A profile of the community

-

 Hi friends!



Today I would like to introduce you to a person that helped me deep dive (get it?) into the reef tank hobby. Randy Holmes-Farley is a chemist by trade that is very active on reef tank forms (primarily Reef 2 reef). He has been in the reef tank hobby for a little over 30 years and has helped advance the hobby to where it is today.


He has a BA in chemistry and biology as well as a PhD in chemistry. He breaks down a lot of water chemistry and parameter topics into something easy to understand and use. 


Water chemistry is a fundamental part of excelling in the reef tank hobby. There is a difference from having your tank functioning and surviving to thriving and glowing. An understanding of water chemistry will help you know what the coral and fish will need and how to keep things stable and safe. If your alkalinity is low, for example, your coral may have stunted growth. Knowing how much of what to add (I use ashe water for alk drops because of him as well), how slowly, and why you are adding it will save you a lot of trouble.

One of my favorite things about reading his posts is that it gives me a really good jumping point to do more research. I have to give him a lot of credit for the information I have learned. 


If you are interested in some more reading, here are some links to his pages:


Randy Holmes-Farley Author page

A reef tank guide for water parameters


As always, if you have any questions or comments please let me know :)

-FFF

Popular posts from this blog

Hypothetical: What if coral became the new "Betta" fish?

-
Image
 Hi friends!   I have a question for you today! What if coral became the new "betta"?  What do I mean by this? Well, betta fish are sold in small cups in stores across the country. This is because they sell them so fast (they claim). It leads people to believe they do not need a bigger home too. Along with this, companies market small containers and wild gadgets that really do not promote the health of the fish.  So what if we changed betta for coral? At first I was not sure what that would do... But now I actually think it would be an amazing achievement.  See, coral do not need a certain size container to live in. As long as they have light and good water they should be able to grow healthy. I think this alone would reduce the ethical issues around bettas in a cup. Coral in a cup!  The downside to this is I do not see it taking off. Everyone likes a fish because it swims around and "does stuff". It is active and bright and catches people's attention. Coral ten
Read more

Sneeze: Learning Biology/Chemistry basics

-
Image
 Hi friends! I get asked a lot of questions every week about my reef tank. One of the more common questions I get asked is along the lines of: "How do I get to the next level in reef keeping?".  I LOVE vague questions like that. Everyone's reef tank experience is different and everyone learns at different paces. So this is a hard question to blindly answer for everyone. But if I were to give a general blanket statement, I would recommend everyone brush up on their biology and chemistry. Learning the basics of these two sciences can greatly expand what you know and connect all of the dots.    There is a lot of overlap for the two, so it helps to know a little of everything. First, if you have not checked out my posts about cycling a tank, check them out here:  Cycling a tank  Ways to cycle a tank Its the nitrogen cycle! These links will help you understand a little more about the biology process going on inside of the tank and why things such as live rock are so important
Read more