Ever wonder how some of those sweet little mini colonies of acroporas are grown before they arrive at your LFS. I found this cool video out on YouTube that explains the process and also how it is helping to not only provide livestock for our tanks, but also as a possible way to re-seed degraded reefs around the world.

I just finished reading an excellent article from Ronald L. Shimek, Ph. D. on temperature and salinity tolerances and their optimums for maintaining coral reef aquariums and animals. I have to say that after much anecdotal information I have gleaned over the measly three years I have been in this hobby, I was quite pleased to really dig into the science behind what is an optimal temperature and salinity, how much it matters, what happens in the physiology of the animals when kept at the limits, etc. Fascinating stuff really. There actual is an equation that determines the rate of biological reaction within an organism based on the change in temperature! If you really want to geek out and go from anecdote to science, grab a beverage and a quiet spot and give this article a read. Click the title below to link to the article.

Temperature and Salinity in Maintaining Reef Aquarium Animals
by Ronald L. Shimek, Ph.D.

Click image for full size

Yesterday I had the pleasure of seeing Brad Syphus’ reef tank for the very first time. All I can say is that, like all tanks, it looks better in person…and I thought that couldn’t be possible. But rather than go on and on about the tank, I simply wanted to lay it out there that he has what must be the biggest LPS coral in a home aquarium in Utah.

This thing was ENORMOUS!

It is often hard to get a feel for scale in photos but let me assure you, this thing is at least 20″ in diameter…and growing! It looks like a Euphyllia divisa (frogspawn), but also shows some polyps that make it look like a Euphyllia ancora (Hammer Coral). You can clearly see how this thing should be nicknamed “The Blob” as it is slowly taking over other corals as it expands through the tank.

Brad says that its growth is most likely tied to the fact that his large collection of fish require frequent feedings.

Hats off to you Brad and I hereby make you the Utah LPS record-holder!

The UTMAS tank of the month for August 2010 belongs to Levi Bradley (Lurkerz).

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To call Dave Anderson’s setup “Tank of the Month”, is comical.  In this case we will be calling it “Ocean of the month”.

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We all know that corals draw vital substances from the water colomn, such as Calcium, Alkalinity and Magnesium.  Here is a way to replenish these without doing a water change.

To create these additives you will need the following:

• 3 one gallon containers. I used simple juice containers with twist lids.
• Almost 3 gallons of RO/DI water.
• Calcium Chloride (I recommend buying chemical grade, but people have been know to use Prestone Driveway Heat)
• Sodium Bicarbonate (Baking Soda from any drugstore or grocer)
• Magnesium Sulfate (Epsom Salt from any drugstore or grocer)
• Magnesium Chloride (If Available in Chemical Grade)

Each of these additives will be mixed in their own One Gallon Container with the exception to the Magnesium Sulfate and the Magnesium Chloride, those will be mixed together.       Read the rest of this entry »

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.

So, you just bought your first Chalice coral (Echinophyllia). You brought home this small, expensive, colored tissue-covered “rock” but have not yet had time to find the right spot for it. Up until this point, you have dabbled in various LPS and soft corals but you are by no means an expert…

So, you place it in the tank next to a prized, two-headed Rainbow Acan you bought last week. You put it about two inches away thinking that should be plenty of space. You go to bed that night with dreams of hundreds of dollars in frags you will sell from this beauty months down the road.

Two mornings later, you wake up, flip on the lights to your tank to see your new prize and to your terror, your prized $80 Acan is a shriveled mess and is clearly dying.

What happened? Read the rest of this entry »

What could be more important to your fish and corals than the quality of their water? This article by Randy Holmes-Farley in Reefkeeping Online Magazine discusses reef tank water parameters and has helpful charts you can use to determine and maintain the correct water parameters for your reef tank. http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/index.php