Frogfish Friend

 Hi friends! One of the most common questions asked in the hobby is "How do I get rid of X Algae".  Unfortunately that is a really hard question to answer blindly. There can be a lot of reasons for an algae bloom and every tank is unique. So treating each tank can be its own challenge. Just remember to do things slowly and carefully. Nothing should be resolved in a day or even a week.  Fortunately a lot of simple tank manors and husbandry will go a long way. If you want to get algae under control you need to work really hard on a good foundation. This means properly cycling a tank, giving time for bacteria to populate the rock and sand, regular water changes, and much more.  One of the easiest ways to reduce algae is to cut back on fish and coral feedings. Most fish have fairly small stomachs and eat a lot less than people believe. Clownfish, for example, have a stomach about the size of their eyes. So maybe two pellets is enough! Also, coral do not need to be fed often. This

Hi friends!  Today we will look at something a little different. The ugly side of my tanks! Normally I give my tanks a grace period of 1-6 months before I post them for the world to see. This gives it time to break out of the ugly phase after it has been cycled. (On that note, I always start with already cycled live rock to help the process) The first picture above is when the tank was roughly one month old. It has a standard white led light and a sponge filter. I had no vision of where the tank would go. I stuck with mostly LPS (long polyp stony coral) in this tank. It is considered a mixed reef because there are a few different softies and SPS. But the majority of the tank is LPS. This second picture is roughly around month 4-5. As you can see I added a lot of critters to the tank. Mostly the two clownfish and the anemone. In month 2 the green zoas began to grow off of the plug onto the rock. Once this happens growth becomes exponential as it has a lot of surface area to spread. The

5. Peppermint Shrimp The peppermint shrimp is a wonderful creature to have in a tank. It has a fairly high bio load and can be known to nip at coral and smaller fish. But it serves the purpose of cleaning detritus as well as aptasia. They prefer to hide in caves and they are really active at night. 4. Emerald Crab Emerald crabs are the only crab I keep in my tank now a days. There are people who claim they will nip at coral. But from my experience I have not seen any go rouge. They are very busy members of the clean up crew. They pinch at algae throughout the day and help keep the tank clean. One of the main reasons reefers keep them in the tank is for their bubble algae control. Typically you will notice clean sleek rocks near where they hide.  3. Cerith Snail These are my favorite snails and they are great for beginners. They breed very easily in a healthy tank, which promotes a healthier ecosystem. They bury themselves under the sand (a sand bed is required) and clean almost every a

 Hi friends!  Today I am going over Aqua Illumination's current lineup of lighting. Their flagship products, the AI Prime and the Hydra 32 HD , are one of the most popular in the hobby and for good reason.  There are very few differences between the two products. The Hydra 32HD is essentially 2 AI Primes housed in one body. The AI Prime has 16 LEDs per puck while the Hydra has 32. The only other difference I could notice is the blue and UV channels on the primes are a little bit weaker. As in, when I had all of the lighting programmed to the same intensity and color, the Primes needed the blue and UV higher in order to reach the same effects. All in all, it was not a big deal and does not change the rating on the product.   Coral growth- 10/10 Coral coloration -10/10 Ease of use - 7/10 Quality - 9/10 Price. - 7/10 Total: 43/50 I rate these lights really high. It grows coral really well if you program it to the proper spectrum. The coral look absolutely beautiful under the lighting.

Hi friends! I asked a betta breeder two questions.  1. "What are improvements you would like to see in the industry?" 2. "How do we make the hobby as simple as possible for new tank keepers?" Saltwater and freshwater fish tanks have different equipment and care but they have a lot of over lap in in the industry. Betta fish have a bit of a sore spot in the fish tank community. This is mainly because a lot of people do not understand the care requirements for the fish. Unfortunately this is the case in a lot of the hobby. Newcomers are interested in buying a little colorful fish in a cup. Then often times they do not have the proper equipment to care for the animal. Margaret's response reflects a lot of these issues.  "One improvement I would like to see? Easy. Properly displayed fish. Betta fish need at least a 5 gallon tank with a heater and filter. Most fish stores keep them in a cup and leave them on a shelf. That is also how you make the hobby simple. Pe

Hi friends! I hope you are all doing wonderful today. I would like to offer some words to the companies that create products in the hobby. Overall, I am fairly upset at the prices for the quality of most products. I think it is absurd that they charge so much for equipment that is fairly cheap. I think one of the better products to look at is LED lighting. It has grown very fast in the last five years. Take a look at the Hydra 32 HD . It is $400! That is not including the equipment to hang it either. That can range from $80-200 in addition. Focusing on the hang on equipment, it is typically of nice quality. It is sturdy and mostly clean looking. They started adding on nicer qualities such as clips so the cord does not dangle over the tank. But that $200 hanging arm cost me $20 at Menards. It was just a bracket and some parts to put it together. And they look very similar.   The LEDs themselves are not much better. LEDs are fairly cheap to make. It is surrounded by a cheap plastic body.

 HI FRIENDS!!! It might look like my caps lock got stuck, but I am just excited. I get to talk to you about the nitrogen cycle today :)  To start, here is a link to BRS about cycling a reef tank.   Here is a link to R2R talking about the nitrogen cycle. If you have never checked out either pages, I urge you to give them a visit. BRS is a great source of information for the hobby and R2R is one of the more active forums that discuss more complex mechanisms in the hobby.  A quote from K-Philly in the R2R link sums up the nitrogen cycle really well; "From a general standpoint, it is in the most basic sense a culturing and promotion of particular groups of bacteria that target inorganic wastes or organic wastes, to to utilize them for growth. This utilization in turn, benefits the hobbyist by providing a natural way to expel these toxins from their aquatic systems."   This is in short why live rock and sand are so important as the backbone for filtration. Nitrogen is converte