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Since I first started as a wee young reefer I have for one reason or another always refused to set up a refugium in order to help control the nutrient levels in my aquariums. At first it was because...well I didn't know any better and all I had was a couple fish and some zoas in a tiny nano tank anyways. Then it was due to space constraints under the stand and possibly a slight pinch of defiance. Well, my disobedience did not pay off and my corals suffered. For ages I couldn't figure out why it ...

It took three of us 5 hours yesterday to pull out the sump and get it set up in the livingroom. It's a horrendous science experiment now, eating up tons of space and looking truly insane. Amazingly, all was accomplished without a single run to Home Depot.





Full Tank Shot for August!
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I have decided to abandon the Oceanic Salt that I have been using since my 150g tank has been set up. I have found that the calcium levels are just too high for my tastes. It is staying up at around 460-470ppm, even with my calcium reactor turned down to bare minimum drip and bubble count. Oceanic is known to have high calcium levels, so to bring it down I am switching to a new salt that has come onto the market in the last year. It is Seachems AquaVitro Salinity. The unique thing about their ...

While I do tend to test various specific parameters as needed, I've gotten into a bad habit of not doing the full battery of tests regularly this year. Just looking at this chart, I can see just how infrequently I measured using all the kits. Part of the reason is because I don't like finding out what's wrong because then I have to fix it. For 2011 however, I need to work on a better mindset. Rather than fear the worst, I need to get back into the routine of testing to avoid problems.
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I've had the 120w 14k Evolution LED for just over three months now and I have enjoyed it. There are a few things I would love to be different, but in my opinion for the price of this unit you can't go wrong.

The fixture itself is attractive. 119 1 watt LEDs (60 blue, 59 white) are arranged well so that there is nice even coverage across your tank. No "stripes" or "spotlights" of different color lighting. Although early reviews suggested that the fans were very ...