Nano Reef Aquarium

new Deltec MCE300 Skimmer

2012-01-02T08:03:00.000-08:00

Christmas has just been and i decided to treat myself. As you may well know from previous posts. One of my to buys, was a new skimmer. After reading reviews and comments posted on reefing forums i decided to buy a Deltec MCE skimmer. It's awesome, running at just 10 watts it produces loads of micro bubbles. It is producing much more waste than my old TMC V2 500 skimmer and this was running from

What lighting are you using?

2011-11-26T15:56:00.000-08:00

With all the lighting options available. LED, Metel halide, T5's. What is your preffered option? For the very first time i have added a poll for all blog readers to let everyone collectively know. You can enter your option on the top of this page. lets see what reefers use and prefer. All comments welcome in this blog post.

Ecotech and D&D New Cree LED Lighting Options.

2011-11-22T13:41:00.000-08:00

Upon the desisson to adopt metal halide with my current led setup. I may now be changing my mind again. The news of big aquarium manufacturers such as ecotech and D&D, utilising the new Cree LED lighting technology is making me listen. Metal halide performance is becoming achievable with led lighting with many advatages, such as reduced heat, lower running costs, and much more it has to be the

Vortech MP10 placement

2011-11-04T14:27:00.000-07:00

For some time now i have used the Vortech MP10 power head for water movement and i am really happy with it's performance, even more so from reading articles about there underrated flow rates. These power heads produce much more flow than stated on there specification sheet, leaving other competing brands behind with rated turn over/flow. Regular readers of this blog will know about my battle

LPS and SPS corals do grow with LED lighing.

2011-10-20T14:45:00.000-07:00

The challenge of keeping LPS and SPS is demanding enough just maintaining good stable parameters but many say they cant thrive under LED lighting. I have to disagree, below are some growth shots for you take a look at. I know colouration is'nt great but these corals have almost doubled in size in the last 12 months. Before Now Before Now

TDS and how to get it to zero.

2011-07-14T14:25:00.000-07:00

Total dissolved solids, or TDS as it is otherwise known can be the cause of many problems. One of the main problems that it can cause, is nuisance algae like i have had. As you will know from following my blog, i have had major issues with Algae. The RO water with a TDS reading of 9 that was being used woud'nt have helped. So how do you overcome this? Get yourself an in line TDS to establish

Red Sea Algae Control Test Kit, NO3 PO4

2011-07-12T13:25:00.000-07:00

It was my Birthday last week and i decided i wanted to visit a local fish shop. Off we with the intention to get a few bits and bobs and came away with a Pair of tank bred Percula clown fish, a really nice acropora frag and the new Algae Control test kit from Red Sea. My intention was to purchase the high sensitivity Phosphate Merck kit from D-D, But as informed by the shop that this had been

Deltec, D-D Aquarium Solution Magazine out now

2011-06-28T13:51:00.000-07:00

After waiting for the latest Ultra Marine magazine to drop through the door and wondering about this months contents it arrived. upon arrival it appeared some what thicker and heavier than usual? The reason, a wonderful glossy magazine/ catalogue from D-D aquarium solutions. What a fab magazine this is, it is full of really helpful reef keeping articles, these are Rowaphos, why waste your money

Digital SLR Canon EOS 500D camera purchase.

2011-05-17T14:06:00.000-07:00

After some thought and discussion with my partner we have decided to pursue a new hobby in photography. This has brought to us to the purchase of a Digital SLR canon EOS 500D camera. It's an amazing piece of kit and to say it is an entry level camera, there is like reef keeping, loads to learn. The trouble with many hobbies is it tends to lead you into other interests. I suppose it is highly

Peppermint shrimp and mythrax crab.

2011-04-25T12:35:00.000-07:00

I have today finally made it to one of my local fish shops. I managed to get hold of a peppermint shrimp, although i wanted two. These seem very difficult to get hold of at the moment. My other purchase was a mythrax crab, to munch away on the overwhelming amount of bubble algae. I have just checked my water parameters that now have been resolved. Alkalinity is back to 9.0 and the corals are

Algae again, This cant be right.

2011-04-19T13:29:00.000-07:00

I have just returned from probably the best holiday i have ever had in Rhodes, Greece in a place called Kiotari. All inclusive. Only to return to even more algae, I cant believe my luck with this hobby. Time to refresh the rowaphos in my reactor although not due. You May have noticed that i have not wrote many posts recently, this is because of a long ongoing project in the en suite. This has

Seeking Mythrax crab and Peppermint shrimp

2011-01-29T14:49:00.000-08:00

Aiptasia and green bubble algae are about to defeat me. I am becoming unable to control aiptasia and green bubble algae. The only solution other than pulling all my hair out from using aiptasia x and removing bubble algae one by one, only to find it seems to double every time i do this. Is to use natural cures. Namely a Mythrax crab to eat the bubble algae and a Peppermint shrimp to consume all

January Photos

2011-01-18T14:00:00.000-08:00

Lighting dilemma

2011-01-16T14:17:00.000-08:00

I have a lighting dilemma and don't no what to do. I am considering two options. I will be keeping my Led lighting, but i am thinking of building a new hood. This could incorporate either T5 lighting with that i already have. These will be stripped out of it's frame and placed in new hood. The other option is creating a new hood that could incorporate a 150watt metal halide unit. Both these

New favia coral

2011-01-01T14:09:00.000-08:00

I have been getting ready for some new corals recently. So decided to place an advert on Ultimate Reef to get rid of some of my soft corals to make way for more LPS and SPS corals. The very next day i had a reefer collect a mushroom, zoa and toadstool coral. This allowed me to purchase a Favia coral which i put first dibs on a few weeks ago. With a couple of SPS frags thrown in. here's my latest

2011 a Reef keeping turning point.

2010-12-28T12:47:00.000-08:00

Well 2010 hasn't been the best year for my reef aquarium. But i am hoping 2011 is going to be much better. I have better aquarium control with a reactor for phosphate control, replaced transformers for my LED Lighting, and some proper flow courtesy of the Vortech MP10. With balling light in use i can report things or finally looking good. 2011 should see me sell all my soft corals to prevent

Nano Reef Aquarium blog starts a newsletter

2010-12-12T14:24:00.000-08:00

It's been a couple of years since i started this blog and i cant believe how many articles i have wrote based on personal experiences. With many mishaps and fantastic things that have happened in such a small amount of saltwater. I have decided to start a Newsletter where i will be publishing my articles before i publish them on My Reef Aquarium Blog. I will be keeping subscribers uptodate with

December photo album

2010-12-05T09:51:00.000-08:00

As promised here some new photos with the aquarium re-aquascaped, again!! Now i have figured out how to do this i will be uploading pictures more frequently. Sorry about the quality, Phone Camera.

Some photos of some of my corals and frags.

2010-11-26T14:38:00.000-08:00

Thought it was about time i uploaded some photos of some of my corals, frags and fragged corals. Took me a little while to understand how to upload pictures, any how i will now be uploading pictures more regularly. Please understand some of these pictures are old and i have upgraded my equipment. Newer photos will follow soon.

Replacement Aquabeam Transformers arrived Today!!

2010-11-23T12:57:00.000-08:00

As I said in my last post, It would appear that my look is changing. The replacement transformer's from TMC have arrived as promised. Big thanks Tropic Marine Centre. These replacement units are slightly larger to the original ones, lets hope they last and perform better than the originals. I Cant tell you how pleased i am now my lighting issues are resolved. With the bonus of having the new

Aqua-beam transformer problem, the problems keep rolling.

2010-11-22T12:58:00.000-08:00

As i said in my last post about things not going my way. Last Thursday i was sat watching TV when i noticed one of my aquabeams intermittently flashing. I was frustrated, but thought i would be able to sort it the following morning due to it being late. Luckily, don't think that's the right word. I could smell something burning just as i was on my way upstairs to bed. It turned out to be the

New Vortech MP10w es purchase at last

2010-11-18T13:58:00.000-08:00

Quite a few posts ago in the aid to help reduce my algae and flow problems. I said that i was looking at getting the new Vortech MP10w es power head. Well i have finally managed to get the funds together and although these pumps are very expensive, they are well worth every penny. The power of this pump is amazing. It features loads of different flow programmes at variable speeds with a very

My Reef Blog launches newsletter.

2010-10-23T14:23:00.000-07:00

My Reef Blog is now in the process of submitting a newsletter, you can subscribe by entering your email address and name in the "subscribe link" in the right hand column of the blog. AT the time of this post i have put together a simple email giving you a general idea of the newsletter contents. Further issues will follow. Subscribers will be able to read my articles before they go out on "My

Digital phosphate checker from Hanna Instruments

2010-10-15T14:26:00.000-07:00

Hanna instruments have recently introduced some new digital meters for checking Pphosphorus, Free chlorine, Nitrite and Phosphate. They are claimed to be more accurate than chemical test kits that are commonly used. With a ultra low range and reliable results. Having found that the phosphate kit i use is very unreliable and inaccurate. This is giving me the urge to purchase one of these over

Are You Thinking of Using Balling Lite to Supplement Your Reef Aquarium? Is It the Best Method?

2010-08-26T14:46:00.000-07:00

There are three methods of keeping Magnesium, alkalinity, and calcium supplements to the correct levels in a reef aquarium. These are. Manual addition of off the shelf additives, The use of a Calcium reactor and kalk stirrer, or the "balling lite" Method. The first method is probably the best method to start with. It will familiarize you with supplement addition to a lightly stocked reef