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I have recently been using live bookmarks as a way to be notified when a blog or site is updated. It gives you both a bookmark and lists the posts on the site (great for figuring out if there is anything new on a site). Here is a sample
I have created a convenient tutorial for the viewers who are not technology savvy. Remember you must have firefox to use the live bookmarks feature.
Go to the subscribe box:
Click what you want to subscribe to (I recommend posts [in green])Once you have clicked on it a little box appears that looks like this: Click "atom"
or you can chose how you want to subscribe.... I only use the "add to google" which puts it on your igoogle [you don't need firefox for that]. Or the atom, which is what you need to click to get the live feed book mark.

It takes you to a field that asks if you/how you want to subscribe, select Live Bookmarks and click subscribea new window will come up which asks you to name and place bookmark. You can name and place it wherever and hit 'ok' when you are done.

Finaly the New Equipment Upgrade :)

I recently have been working on compiling the materials for a sump. It has been slow going because I have been busy and the stuff is expensive. I decided the first step was to find an acceptable in sump skimmer to replace the crummy cpr backpack. I decided to get a Turboflotor T1000 Skimmer (click here for more info) and upgraded it with an Ocean runner 2700. The initial skimmer with smaller pump is rated to 250 gallons, but I don't know what it is rated for with the better ocean runner pump. I got it very slightly used from someone who upgraded tanks. Here are some pictures of it
Arrival: Assembly
Look at that collection cup!!Finally it is assembled. Full shot (look how big it is 22" tall)Close up
Once I got it assembled I put it on a bucket in my salt mixing container. It produced so much foam!!! So far so good, I will update more on it later. I can't put it on the tank until l I get moving on this sump. One more reason I guess
Skimmer (filling up) on sumpNow for some general news:
agenda:
- general update tomorrow (includes breaking anemone news [yes more crazy stuff has happened])
- How I mix salt post coming in a couple days too.
- skimmer and sump news coming soon too.

I have finally found the cause of the chaos in my reef: The skimmer overflowed and caused a large salinity increase which screwed up my ATO (automatic top-off). The salinity increase caused a calcium and alk precipitation. I tested today and my results were not good.

Salinity: 1.025 (I got it back to normal)
Nitrate: 0
Calcium: 325 (was 450 when I left)
Alkalinity: 4.5 (was 9 when I left)

When I got home here is what the tank looked like (I topped off though) (New anemones circled in red, but are hard to see as they moved into a cave.)
These results prove my theory correct. Surprisingly enough almost all the corals looked fine, maybe even good. I think the BTA split because of these changes, this is relatively common reason for a split. It has a better chance of surviving if it splits. It is currently recovering in a cave, which I hope it will emerge out of soon. I have significantly adjusted my dosing plan to raise the levels. I am both sad and happy over the split, but I am exited to see how it will turn out.
I have lots more news and some stuff that should be arriving this week that I will post about so stay tuned.
Here are some tank Pictures
Birdsnest:

M. spoggodas (need a spelling lesson in latin, not sure if I spelled it right).
A cool pic with my cool logo

Back from California

I just got back from California! I had a great trip, but it is nice to be back. The lights were out when I got back, but I noticed my anemone had crawled into a cave. I was shocked, I knew water quality would go down, as I was not able to test when I was gone, but something else must have happened. Upon closer inspection I have come to the conclusion that my anemone split! I can't really tell though. I still need to top off, test and clean the algae on the side before the day is done. I will update (hopefully) tomorrow with more news and pictures. As for now I am to tired to write any more :)

Update

I just wanted to get a quick update out before I jet off to California for a week. The tank is looking very nice and everything is doing well. I tested water today and here are my results:
Salinity: 1.025
Calcium: 400
kH: 7
Nitrates: 0

This is pretty good, but I will raise the kH and Calcium slightly. I also made a frag of my yellow polyps awhile back and just wanted to show how much the have grown. They went from the 1 polyp i took off of the main colony to this:
This colony is available for trade and purchase at my frags account (click button on right-hand side of the page to see my frags). I don't ship (yet) but pick-ups are accepted. I also have been looking into getting a better camera, so once I get back I will post some info on that too. Lots more coming to Henryreef soon :)

Midwest Fragfest 2009

If you read the Henryreef News Flash it mentioned the Fragfest in Illinois. I just wanted to enlighten everyone about it. Now for some quick info

• It is in the Clock Tower Resort and Conference Center in Rockford, IL.
  
• It will be held on April 25th and 26th.
  
• Hands-on Workshops and excellent speakers (they include Kevin Kohen (the mastermind behind Drs. Foster & Smith's, Mark Eisenhandler & Matt Pedersen.
• Fragswap !!!! Wahoo
• Raffel

It sounds excellent and I would love to go but I am not sure if I can commit. Here is why: (ps look closely)
I hope, despite the long haul, that I will be able to go and I encourage you to attend.
For more info:

• The Thread on RC
• The Frag Fests own Page
  

I will be in Orange County next week so yet again I will have someone take care of the tank. My "new equipment" has been delayed so you will not hear about it untill later. This is a relativly short post, so I will try to get something out to you before I depart. I may even post some pictures :)

Baltimore Aquarium

I had a chance to stop by the Baltimore Aquarium when I was in DC and it was very nice. I took lots of pictures and will share them with you.

1. First off they had a large shark/ray/large fish tank that was really cool. I wish I had gotten pictures of it but the light level was too low for my camera.
2. Next they had a cold water anemone tank that had a tide-pool replica as it had a surge setup that crashed water in every minute or so. Here are some pictures of it.

They had several other setups and here are some pictures from them: (I don't ID them due to time constraints).

The Baltimore Aquarium was very cool and I highly recommend it if you are in the area. I also had someone with a much better camera and skills take pictures of the Baltimore aquarium, so those will hopefully be on the site soon.

Now for a quick teaser: find out what i got in the mail later this week!

The Sump Dilemma

I have been in the process of building a sump for my reef. I really need a way to hide and find a place for all the equipment that I have been adding/wanting to add to my tank. Also the additional water volume will help to dilute nitrates and other pollutants.

"Dilution is the Solution to Pollution" - an Aquarium Saying

I wanted a sump to be at least 30 gallons, but hopefully bigger. When I examined the lengths of the tanks and whether I could fit them in or not I encountered a major problem. There was a large post in the middle of my sump that would not allow anything bigger than a 10 gallon in.
Here was the sump closed:
Opened up: (NOTE: Everything is full, but it will be empty once I put the sump in)See how the support beam makes it impossible to fit a large tank under there. I was at a loss until I looked around and talked to some people on RC (Reefcentral) and got a very cool idea. Here
is a link to it on Marc (Melev)s site. It shows how you can use (2) 2 x 4 to brace the tank so you can cut out the bar, add sump and then put it back. This really got me thinking and I thought it would be possible. The Sump specs are still sketchy as I am really busy (just got back from DC and going to California in about a week). I will have more news shortly.

Here is the list of posts coming soon.

1. Baltimore Aquarium (I went there and have some cool stuff to share)
2. Tank Update
3. More Sump News
4. New Equipment
   

Dosing Kalk

I recently picked up an Aqualifter Dosing Pump to set up a better method to drip kalk (also called kalkawasser or Calcium Hydroxide) . Here is a very nice article about the benefits of using kalk, how to mix it and suggested drip rates. The main use of Kalk in a reef is to raise Calcium and Alkalinity, but primarily calcium. It had a pH of 12 so it also helps raise pH. It MUST be added slowly so as not to shock your tank. To drip kalk it is really benifical to have a sump, where you can put your setup over it so all you need to do is suck to start a suction. Originaly this is what I did on my display tank as I have no sump. This is fine, but in either case you need to drip it in a place where it will be quickly mixed up with the tank water (ie lots of flow).
Here is a picture of my old setup. Ugly but effective for dosing.
I know this is a bad picture but you can see how ugly it is to have a bucket sitting ontop of my tank. To not have it ontop of your tank you have to options:

1. Put it otop of your sump
2. Dose it with a pump

I have been planing on getting a sump, but since it is still relativly far off I decided to go with the latter.
First you need to know how an aqualifter works. One of the two red outlets sucks water or other liquid in well the other pushes it out. So all you need is a little airline tubing and you are good to go
Here is a nice diagram (photo credit: smarcus101 on photobucket)
NOTE: I don't use a powerhead to mix the kalk.

So I put the bucket of kalk under the tank, and connected airline tubing from the bucket to the pump and some to the output where the water would flow to. See PIC
Then I put the output all the way up to the display tank where I wanted the kalk to drip. I also added a flow control valve to limit flow (remember: Kalk needs to be dripped slowly!)
See Pictures
Finlay I positioned the end where I wanted the Kalk to dripClose up
Finlay I plugged it in and it worked beautifully: all the equipment and buckets were under my tank closed away in my stand, while the kalk was pumped up unobtrusively. Once in install my sump I will use an aqualifter pump topoff water into my sump when a float valve trips (this is called an ATO or Automatic Top Off). But that is another post ;)
Here is one final shot of the setup under my tank: