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.
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 ...
Just put this on ice... the one year anniversary of the 400g is almost here. This will be opened on Monday. I'll be doing some cleaning over the next day to have a nice system to showcase. I'm hoping to record a video summary of sorts.
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 ...
I hate cleaning filter socks, and I've made that point known for many years. I own four 7" filter socks, and it's my annual task to clean them - and even then I hate it. It's rare that I even install a sock in my sump because it will get dirty, I'll have to take it out to clean and invariably it will sit in a dark corner covered in leaves waiting for #2, #3, and finally #4 to join it. When they are all dirty, I'll still put off their cleaning for weeks... it is literally the last thing I want ...
Recent Comments
