melev

Whenever I have to head out of town, I have to trust all will go well with my reef in my absence. When I walked in the door 30 minutes ago, it was great to see everything looks perfect and all the corals look right.

I had a nice time in Louisiana at Fragniappe this weekend. I visited a couple of fish stores, got to stay with a hobbyist and see his tank, worked the event as a vendor as well as a speaker, and ended my day with a tour of Coralvue's warehouse. My flight home today ...

... but the refugium is still lit up, it's easy to grab my Nikon and get a few more pictures for the night.

Feather caulerpa fills the refugium from end to end.

These sponges are growing on the back wall, so I moved some plants out of the way to inspect them. I spy some red feather dusters, lots of spirorbid worms, and some amphipods scurrying around.

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Every three months, I refill the poly tank to the top with RO/DI water. This upright container is rated at 265g, and I have a small float installed to stop filling it at 250g. This provides enough room to add salt to the water.

For the past three years, I've used Sybon Reef Blend salt. It takes two cases of salt to mix up 250g at 1.026sg, so I got four cases of Fritz salt last year and am finally getting around to using it. Right before the cold front hit my area on Sunday, I ...

The most frequent question I get is "What type of macro algae is that in your refugium?" It's feather caulerpa (C. Sertulariodes), and I've been growing it for at least 8 years. I've used a few others, but this one has been the dominant one. From time to time I'll pull a few handfuls out, usually when someone needs some. I thought I'd clean it up but noticed the tiny pods, bugs and other items so instead I grabbed my camera.

Here's a close ...

Since a mouse or mice chewed through the blue self-flattening hose in the garage, I had to get a new piece. When I got some in 2011, you had to buy it by the foot requiring a Home Depot employee to cut it and provide you with a ticket to hand to the cashier. Now you just buy a roll. I got a 10' package of "1.5 inch Flat Discharge Hose" for $10, and as I walked to the car I spotted a brand new black zip tie in the parking lot perfect for this project.

The reason I use this tubing ...