Water tests were completed yesterday. While it is important to test the water often, I find myself putting it off for various reasons. I think the biggest reason is because I worry the water results will come back negatively, and it'll be one more issue that needs to be dealt with. Yesterday's results were pretty good, which was a nice surprise.
I created a new page showing how the Acropora valida has been growing over time.
Acropora valida
I'm about to try a new product in my reef tank called Prodibio. It comes from France, and there are a few different types of additives I'll be utilizing. With a 90 day supply, I hope to see if there is any discernible change with this product line. Thus, I took a bunch of pictures and put them on a webpage, so I can compare against them later. This page has roughly 6 megs worth of images, so consider yourself warned. ;)
For those of you wondering when the next Podcast will be out, Evan thinks by Wednesday night now. Sorry for the long wait guys.
Many of you enjoy my site for the latest information about my livestock and various ideas. Last year I participated in a book project, and am a co-author for Reefkeeping Basics. This is an e-book, one you'd download to read on your computer as you have the time. There are a total of 14 authors that participated, and each one was interviewed with the same questions, which allows you to compare the comments and learn from all of the combined knowledge. So if you'd like to purchase the book, click on the banner below:
Here are the pictures from the drilling project. I have to tell you, it was much easier that I expected, but then again I wasn't aiming for perfection nor was I scared what might happen. I already had the tank and was ready to give it a shot.
I used a DeWalt cordless drill, and expected the battery would never keep up. I had a back up battery ready. Surprisingly, one battery drilled both holes, and it wasn't even freshly charged.
I talked with Keys Critters, and they suggested I keep them away from the Harlequins. I'll try to retrieve the starfish and put them in a different tank.
Tonight I polished off the rest of a Costco-sized jar of pretzels. While looking at it, I thought how it would make a cool tank. :D After peeling off the label (which is aggravating and takes far too long), I cleaned it up well and filled it up with water to see how much it could hold. That would be two gallons. So what to do?
The newest episode of Reefcast is available. Episode 4 can be found on the Downloads page. Remember, right click and save as will let you keep a copy on your harddrive. 
I took apart my Pico tank tonight to siphon out all the detritus. My seahorses are in a hospital tank, so all it contained was rocks, zoos, a dendrophyllia and a cleaner shrimp. I pulled everything out and picked off any fat bristleworms, as well as any razor caulerpa that continues to spread and annoy me. (Larger bristleworms are not good for seahorses, I've been told.)
For a long time, I hated the returns on my tank. InterAmerican drills the return hole in the overflow box, below the teeth. On a larger tank like mine, a couple of inches equals a lot of water in the sump. So I solved it by adding twice as much locline, and had it shaped in an arch. At the apex of the arch, I drilled three holes in the underside to break the siphon and stop draining so much water. This worked great, until about 6 months ago when I soaked the locline in muriatic acid, which cracked the joints and allowed more water to seep out quietly.
