Frogfish Friend

 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 wh

 Hi friends! I would like to talk about filtration in the reef tank hobby. These are the main three: 1. Mechanical 2. Chemical 3. Biological Mechanical filtration in this hobby is typically a filter sock, sponge, and filter floss . There is also more advance equipment such as roller mats. The idea behind mechanical filtration is to strain matter from the water. So as water flows through a sock, larger particles (typically 100-200 microns) stay inside. It is best to change and wash these every 3-7 days depending on how much is being fed to the tank. Mechanical filtration is typically easy to use, easy to clean and maintain, and very efficient if changed regularly. Chemical filtration is typically GFO (granular ferric oxide) or activated carbon. GFO is used to control phosphates and silicates. This may seem tempting to many new reefers that have an algae outbreak. But chances are this will mask a problem until it "explodes". Carbon, on the other hand, is safe to use. It hel

One of the most important parts of reef keeping is clean and consistent water parameters. Water is something that has a little bit of a learning curve but gets easier with practice. Here is a link to a good salt mix if you need some ideas. To start, I STRONGLY recommend using RODI water. RODI water is filtered water. An example is in the picture to the left. A standard 4 stage filter will normally be sufficient. This may seem unnecessary to a lot of people. But something to consider... We are responsible for the health of the coral. We need to know exactly what we put into the tank. Otherwise one mistake can destroy everything we work so hard to care for. In order to do that we must strip everything from the water in the form of filtration. We add everything the coral and fish need to survive through the salt mix. It contains the salt and major and minor trace elements. Once filtered, it is important to verify the water comes to 0 PPM with a TDS (total dissolved solid) meter . This is