Todays Tank Project

Testing outside aeration on tank water pH levels. Up next, inside air.

Crystal Clear :)

The tank is crystal clear today!! just having a slight problem with pH and temp but working that out.  I think the temp will be fine, my biggest concern is swings in the temp.  Going to try to adjust my heater so that it wont get quite as cold tonight when we turn the a/c down to 73…haha. I turned the settings up on it a little so we will see…I just dont want it to turn on when it’s already 80 in there.  It has been running 80 since yesterday afternoon but went back down to about 76 when I got up this morning.  Also went and invested in a refractometer to measure the salinity and specific gravity of the water since that is one of the major things with salt water tanks.  You can test it with a little $10 hydrometer but most people think that they dont work at all.  One person on the forums said that when he finally upgraded to a refractometer he realized his hydrometer was way off and it was causing lots of problems.  It makes since, the hydrometer is just this little plastic thing with an arm that basically measures how buoyant the water is which can change depending on temperature.  The refractometer actually using light to measure how much refraction (light refracts off of salt) comes off a drop of salt water.  Fresh water would refract zero light and salt water refracts about 1.023 light.  Anyway, I am happy I have it now.  It also make it much easier to test water from other sources like the fish store so that you can slowly increase/decrease the water in the bag with your new fish/coral so they dont go into shock.  You only need about 1 drop of water with the refractometer and with the hydrometer you need about 1/4 a cup.

New picture below! until next time, just keep swimming!

Secondhand = Good for the budget

Hey Guys,

So I was doing some research today on the Biocube we will be purchasing in 11 days.  Lots of folks on the reef forums say that the water pump is not strong enough to maintain a water flow good enough for corals (water movement is essential to coral heath) so I started looking into purchasing a better pump and modifying our Biocube set up.  I looked on Craigslist and found a guy selling a heater and a Maxi Jet 1000 (heavy-duty pump) for $25! wow, the same day I find out I am going to need a better pump someone posts that they have one and they also have a heater?? I was just looking at heaters at the aquarium store and the one I would need was almost $30 alone! I quickly worked out a deal to purchase this stuff and met the guy right down the street at 7-Eleven.  Got the heater and pump for $25…combined value, $60.  Good deal!  Some pics of the new stuff are below.

Until next time, just keep swimming!

p.s. He also threw in a Water Deflector that is worth $10…total value of the package, $70!

You can check out all the updated tank specs on our Aquarium Specs page.