We have just put our membership purchase gateway online! You can now purchase your UTMAS membership by visiting this page.

If you have a reef tank sooner or later you are going to want to frag some of your corals. Fragging corals is one way your reef tank can begin to pay you back for all the money you’ve spent setting it up. There are many different techniques  that can be used to frag corals. In this video Eric Borneman demonstrates how to frag several common corals. http://www.reef-tube.com/video/11/Eric-Borneman-on-Coral-Fragging

Here is a link to another good fragging article by Anthony Calfo. http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-10/ac/feature/index.php Thanks to Pete Moss for pointing out this article.

I have had this green fern like algae popping up in my tank. I tried scrubbing it off the rocks with a toothbrush, bought some herbivore fish, snails, and crabs but nothing would touch it. It grows in low nutrients and low light. Upon closer examination I determined it was the dreaded Bryopsis. When the algae started growing on and in my corals I decided something had to be done. Read the rest of this entry »

Many saltwater hobbyists these days use a controller of some sort that has an electronic PH probe. These controllers are used generally to monitor the tank PH or to control a device based on the PH level of the tank or the device output. Devices such as Calcium reactors or even an air pump can be controlled by a PH controller.

There are two main things that have to be maintained when it comes to PH probes. They are:

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If you are in this hobby, that is the most unwelcome thought you can have!

How many times have you been away from your house for a couple of hours, days, weeks and wondered what might be failing in your system? Many of us have fish friends that come over every day or so and check things out for us but how much water can your ATO push out if it failed to shut off right after they left for the day and there is 24 more hours until they return?

So, how do you protect not only your investment in your aquarium livestock but also protect your hardwood floors, carpet or even your marriage?

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Like most all things in the marine aquarium hobby, this topic is controversial and has valid arguments on both sides. What I am talking about here is the use of filter socks in your aquarium.

Now, for those of you that are unfamiliar, filter socks for your aquarium are not old, grungy unmatched socks from your sock drawer. They are large polyester filters that look like some sort of funky oven mitt.

They generally come in two types: one with a drawstring, and one with a semi-rigid nylon ring around the top. These “socks” are put in the sump of the aquarium where the water enters from the overflow above thus providing mechanical filtration for the larger particles of poo and other nasties that make their way to the sump. Read the rest of this entry »

We would like to welcome you to the opening day of the newly created Utah Marine Aquarium Society, also known as UTMAS. Please explore the site and see all that is available for guests and members alike.

UTMAS is a non-profit organization with the single purpose of providing the structure, support and camaraderie for Utah marine aquarium enthusiasts so that together they can learn, enjoy, and get the most out of the hobby.

To fully get the most out of UTMAS we encourage you to become a member, use these online resources, but also attend our meetings and special events.

There are two main areas of the web site. The content area you are currently in will be a “living” newsletter of sorts bringing you informative content on best practices as well as current events and news in the hobby.  There is also an interactive community forum utilizing the latest forum software with an ebay-style seller rating system not found on most forums out there.

We are fortunate and grateful to already have some great sponsors including our first Founding Sponsor, The Living Planet Aquarium. Through their generosity, all of our meetings and events will be held at their state-of-the-art facility in Sandy, UT. Our first meeting will be March 18th – stay tuned here for more details on this over the next few days!