melev

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 ...

I've been working to nurse the reef back to full health and each day I see a little more progress. I'd imagine by Day 365, all will be on track once more. That setback two months ago (if you don't count the leak in 2012) really put the brakes on how the corals were faring.

So here are some of the latest pictures taken this week. The mandarin has been out quite a bit.

Look at the size ...

Once a year I clean the protein skimmer. How I go about this task varies, but essentially I want it as close to like-new as I can get it. My Euroreef skimmer has been a valuable asset to my reef for the past 10 years, outlasting two aquariums and caring for the third at this time.

For the past week very little skimmate was being collected. The body seemed to be full of bubbles but they weren't fine like usual. More coarse, they just didn't extract much waste. For about seven days ...

For me, milestones are important. Being able to hit specific goals or maintain something for a measurable time period is always rewarding. If you aren't familiar with the 400g's history, here's the quick recap:

February 2011: I started up the 400g dream tank to be my reef for the next decade. 13 months later it sprung a leak. 18 months after that - November 10, 2013 - the 400g and a 60g cube were populated by the livestock waiting in a temporary 215g setup. A lot of work went on ...

Every few weeks I'll spot this flat gorgonian shedding some skin. It's like a snake, or a bad case of sunburn peel. This is completely normal and coral appears to always look better thereafter. I've seen hermits climb these branches to pick away at the skin, or any other nuisance algae that tries to take hold.