Tank Entry

It's around this time of year that I watch the TDS of my RO unit drop. I'm talking about the output of the RO system before the DI stage.

Whenever I turn on the RO/DI system, which is twice a week, I open a valve before the DI stage and let it run for 90 seconds. By avoiding TDS creep, DI resin lasts longer. Link: http://www.reefaddicts.com/content.p...thy-of-concern

Once the water is flowing, I'll turn on the TDS meter to observe the numbers ...

When I added the Golden Dwarf Eels to the 60g cube, I noticed how the Peppermint shrimp were far more shy than ever before, and they were big guys. Since they were tearing up stuff more often than not, that timidness was a perk. Within weeks, I noticed I rarely saw them at all. And another two weeks later, they were gone. No trace of them, and I surmise they were delicious.

The Blood shrimp, typically shy but visible on occasion - it seemed to hold its own though. I had a feeling ...

Here's a shot of the gang devouring half a sheet of nori. I do this daily, but I'm thinking I may need to offer a full sheet instead since the food is gone in less than 2 minutes. I use the MegaVeggieMag to hold it securely to 3/4" thick glass. http://melevsreef.com/catalog/megaveggiemag

I'm not going to show you the actual actinic picture because it will be dark, blue and essentially not of much interest. But somehow I need to document how this one montipora's transition from healthy to sick and back to health is a wonder to observe.

Here's the coral in the bottom left corner of a picture taken in August.

Here it is tonight.

The main area of the coral is ...

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 ...