Given its vivid coloration, the ORA Pearlberry is a must have coral for many SPS collectors. When it first came out it generated a lot of excitement and I was stoked to add it to my tank. According to ORA’s description of the Pearlberry, the coral looks like an Acropora desalwii, although they never came up with an official lineage.…
For the last 4 weeks I have been running my 187 gallon reef tank without a skimmer as sort of an experiment.
A few months ago I lost a number of corals due to what I believe were very low levels of phosphate in the tank.…
Activated carbon is a porous form of carbon that can be used to absorb or remove dissolved organics that give water its yellow tint. Removing these materials will help with biological filtration and increase water clarity.…
Recently I had been having issues getting some consistent and, I believe, accurate readings with my Hanna HI736 Phosphorous Ultra Low Range Checker. Here are some tips to help ensure you do get the most accurate readings possible.…
A while ago I blogged about how you can shoot macro videos without a macro lens, providing a step by step guide on this neat procedure. Recently, I purchased a Blackmagic Design Video Assist Recorder to help me shoot ultra close-up videos using a Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro Lens on my Canon EOS 5D Mark III.…
AÂ few months ago my tank was spiraling downhill pretty quickly, as I was mysteriously losing a large number of corals, including many LPS colonies and SPS frags. I probably lost 50% of my corals and the ones remaining were not looking good.…
When starting a reef tank it is always a great idea to lay out your plans for how you want to plumb together or connect all of your equipment. I call it a plumbing roadmap. I start by breaking out a pad of paper and doodling some sketches to see what works and what doesn’t work.…
Some reef keepers out there are considered wrasse guys or gals and feature as many of these beautiful creatures as they can in their reef tanks. I don’t consider myself to be a wrasse guy or wrasse head (excuse the pun, but I like the Grateful Dead) but I do come close.…
In my 25+ years keeping reef tanks I figured I had seen it all. Well, this can be a humbling hobby and I was reminded of this when I discovered dinos, short for dinoflagellates, in my 187 gallon tank about two years ago.  …
In this video I am going to take you through my weekly routine on how I clean my Pax Bellum ARID algae reactor and harvest the chaeto. I am then going to turn it over to Tristan Wilson, the owner of Pax Bellum, so he can demonstrate the proper way to swap out a light tube.…