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:

The New Additions

Well at the MMC conference I picked up much more than just a few dry goods. I went coral shopping :). I purchased my corals from Paul's Corals, he had a nice display and all his corals looked outstanding and were moderately priced. Best of all he brought so many, he had crates and crates of corals waiting to be sold.
Here is what I brought home:

1. Green Slimer (Acropora yongei)
2. Blue Tort (Acropora Tortuosa)
3. An unknown montipora ( I think Montipora Sponodes)
4. Green/Brown Zoas (Zoanthus sp.)
5. Brown/Red Zoas (Zoanthus sp.)
6. Green Milli (Acropora millepora)

I floated the bags in my tank to temperature acclimate them and then got to work and placed them in my tank.


Now for the Pictures!!!
The Green Slimer - Already looks great in my tank (pic 1 day after adding)
Blue Tort - A slower growing coral that is more dificult. (pic 1 day after adding)Unknown Montipora, I am calling this one 'the blob' is green but covered in brown polyps, seems to plate but branch too. (pic 1 day after adding)
Greenish/brown Zoas -- Just another pleasing variety for my tank! I have remounted the plug as of this picture (pic 1 day after adding)

Brown/Orange/Red Zoas -- Like the other variety I picked up, interesting and this specimen really pops under my actinics
Green Milli -- A hairy cool looking yet beautiful coralI am very happy with all my new additions to my 55g mixed reef. I personaly love the Slimer and the Milli. I lately have been noticing good polyp extension, especially at night by my Blue tort. I think it is trying to feed but I am not sure. As for the 'blob' I am still trying to get a scientific name but I am thinking it is Montipora Sponodes, If anyone knows for sure just comment on this post, Email me @ henryhockey101@gmail.com or PM me (for RC) my member name is Henryreef.