Tank Entry

I've been watching the staghorn coral grow upwards for the past few months. When the tip hit the surface, I figured it would stop. But when I looked more closely at the tip, there are about 8 corallites poking up even though they have nowhere to go. It's kind of funny.

Here's a better picture of it. I left the pumps on so you can see it with the water level at the normal height.

And ...

Many years ago, I had an SPS die in my 29g reef. I was told that it likely died due to boring algae. Unsure what they meant by that, I asked for a little more information since the coral never had any type of algae on it while it was alive. I was told that the skeleton being green was an indication that a type of algae was within the skeleton itself, that it had bored its way into the coral and weakened the living tissue. The most common cases of boring algae are when a system has very high ...

Checking on an acropora in the reef today, I saw new white areas of damage on a coral that has never suffered once. Since I thought I'd resolved the alkalinity situation earlier this week, that meant two things: 1) I'm not done with areas of loss, and 2) I hadn't found the solution yet. The anemones still aren't their normal happy selves, and the SPS losses are discouraging. I should just fill the tank with leathers and mushrooms and call it a day.

Every day this week my skimmer ...

My blog a few days ago detailed how some corals and anemones were distressed, while other livestock seemed fine. I learned a few things that day when I tried to restore the lack of alkalinity in the system, which is great.

I think more personal reefs suffer from alkalinity swings than most realize. Sure, accidents happen and excess solutions pump into the tank non-stop to the point that the livestock has little chance of survival. Some tanks overheat, others literally catch fire, ...

With the 8-month anniversary of the reef mere days away, I'll just post a few images taken recently.

The Staghorn acropora has breached the surface of the tank.

The Montipora capricornis is just a gem to see in person. It was more lime-yellow originally and I hope it will get back to that color again.

The clowns have resumed laying a big clutch of eggs every two weeks. (the ...