20141111 Driftwood for Fishtank

I attended the Aquatic Experience last weekend in Chicago to meet some of the leading aquarium industry venders as well as some local retailers. I will go through some of the highlights with each separate post. I know I seldom talk about freshwater so I feel like I owe this one.
So what is Drift wood?- Driftwood is mostly collected near water- ocean, river, or lake. These are mostly tree roots that have grown around rocks to form the unique shapes and curves you see. They are mostly dead trees that have been toppled and gets washed down by storm flood.

Driftwood vender- some jumbo pieces

So why drift wood? Do you go with natural or artificial? What kind of tank are driftwood suitable for?
To answer that question, I will break down some of the common functions of driftwood.
1) Decoration- similar to rock, drift wood help create landscaping dynamic in the tank
2) Structure- driftwood provide places for plants to root and grab onto
3) Food- Believe it or not, many fish, including many pleco species actually use driftwood as part of their diet.
4) Nutrition- When soaked in water, driftwood would slowly decay and release the nutrition, minerals into the water.

Driftwood Vender- Tree Trunks

What about artificial drift wood? The pro of artificial driftwood is they are light (mostly plastic), can be cheaper, and doesn't "color" the water like real drift woods would.
The con is they serve only function #1 & 2 as describe above but not 3 or 4.
Since real drift woods are collected from dead trees, it is not harmful to the environment in a direct way. Though if too much driftwoods are collected from the water body, organisms that relay drift/rotten wood to thrive and breed may face some challenges.

Driftwood Vender- Roots

20141027 Reef Aquarium Salinity

So I have been doing a lot of research and reading for the last 3 days on reef aquarium salinity.
There are some nice readings here, or here, and here- this one is a must read (you need to be a big enough aquarium geek and some basic understanding to physics and chemistry to fully grasp the power of this topic). Additionally, there are also plenty forums you can submerge yourself in to gather a good round of opinion from other successful reefers.

After my research, I am deciding to raise my tank's salinity. Previously, my practice on tank salinity was heavily influenced by all the aquarium retail works I've done- keep it as the lowest possible safe margin. Well, I don't keep it as low as 1.020 like some, but I do keep it a tad lower than idea- 1.022-23. But then I realized that's probably the reason why I have faced so much challenge in successfully keeping much sps and lps despite adequate light, good filtration, and perfect water chemistry- except for salinity! Over the weekend, I raise the tank to 1.026 specific gravity, or 35 ppt (parts per thousand) salinity- which is the closest to natural coral reef condition. Below is a snap shot of my refractometer's reading after completion of the raise.

Then a shot of the hydrometer- the two instruments are maginally different, but close enough to support relative accuracy.

Next week I will be attending the Aquatic Experience in Schaumburg (outside of Chicago). I plan to use this opportunity to stock with some of the corals that I have previously failed to keep long term and will update everyone on this.