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Tank alkalinity has been somewhat low but I couldn't figure out why. My calcium reactor was full of media, the CO2 tank was full of gas, everything looked right. That's when I realized I was missing the point, that the pH measurement inside the reactor was not where it belonged. Normally it's between 6.1 to 6.5 depending on my mood, so to speak. The pH controller showed that it was 7.5 and my brain didn't click, that it wasn't 6.5... dumb mental error.

I wanted to share this item with y’all, because we all learn and relearn things daily. I’ve been testing alkalinity like clockwork, but the tank has been running lower than I like. I adjusted the black knob on this controller down slightly, but the number on the screen has pretty much been sitting at 7.5 (pH) for days. I thought that was odd that the number never changed, so I investigated further this afternoon.

by Brad Ward

How often have you seen a spectacular colored specimen at a store. I mean, one that knocked your eyes out! Only to find out that it was considered a "Hard to Keep" coral that was shipped in by accident or through mis-identification. Or even worse, bought one of these corals and had it slowly diminish in health and melt away before your eyes.

I've been using the Apex controller for my reef for years, and for the most part once it is set up, I don't touch it. If it works, I'm happy. Occasionally I get motivated to make some changes, be it because some equipment has failed and had to be replaced, or something was upgraded.  I tend to resist change, believe it or not.  I know that sounds odd from a guy that tries out new products and loves gear, but when you reef is happy you normally don't change anything to avoid causing problems.

I haven't blogged on my own website in what feels like "much too long" and tonight after getting back from dropping off shipments for my customers, I decided it was time to insert the walkboard, climb up upon it and take a few pictures of some corals from above.  My reef is looking so pretty day after day, and most of my updates seem to take place mostly on my youtube channel. Feel free to remind me to update things here, as there are times when it's nice to just read a quick update on the latest.

Scraping Manjanos off the rockwork is an effective solution that won't affect the reef tank adversely. Spending a few hours on this focused task will restore the aquarium back to a healthy state, and you'll feel vastly better thereafter because the difference will be remarkable. While there are other methods you could employ, this is simply one approach for you to consider. And it's essentially free!

When I have to do things in the aquarium, I like to have a solid work surface. What I want is something that will fit over the frag tank, over the 400g reef, or over the Anemone Cube. Each tank has a different dimension, so I designed a tray that could be placed over any aquarium using varied lengths of PVC pipe. This first tray is intentionally made to be right above the water's surface, allowing me to place fragging tools in the tray, as well as work with pieces of live rock.

Here are a few pictures I took over the weekend of my reef. Everything is running smoothly, and I've decided to begin dosing vodka to lower nitrates in my system. I used to do so years ago, and I'm ready to do it once more. 

Drew's Acropora

Unknown acro, but it may end up being something that tables beautifully. Lobophyllia polyps in the background:

For about three days in a row, I heard a slight 'beep' sound coming from my reef.  It happened exactly every five minutes, but I could not find the source. I'd set a timer, then run into the fishroom and stand near whatever I figured was causing the sound, yet had no luck after several tries.  Since I'd only get one tiny half-a-second to determine the source's origin, and when I couldn't would then have to wait five more minutes for it to happen once more, it became somewhat of a mystery. I wasn't about to spend all day trying to ascertain the object, though.