20150111 Coral Frag tank

For those growing coral either as a hobbyist or a retailer, frag tanks is almost a must have as you propagate your coral to grow out in it. For the most part people tend to house their frag tank either at a side or behind the scene but still connected to the main water body of their display tank. The benefit of this is to maintain stable water perimeters as frag tanks tend to hold smaller water volume thus prone to status swings. By linking to the main system not only the water remain more or less stable. It'll be a smooth transition too to transport the freshly propagated coral into the frag tank, or vise versa.
As for the dimension of the frag tank. I recommend something no less than 8" deep but not more than 1' high. This gives you enough room to maneuver also provide room for coral to grow if necessary, but not too deep to prevent light generation and water circulation issues. For the width and length, I guess it really is up to you on how much you wish to keep and how spacious if your set up.
One thing I need to point out is that many people ignored the proper movement in the frag tank. So I have seen many cases of "flow dead spot" in these type of tanks. One smart idea I have seen from a friend is to place buffers so the water flows through all corners of the tank.

20141104 What Light for your Saltwater tank? Part 1.

One of the most commonly asked questions is the choice of lighting. What's appropriate for your critters? What's the best color temperature combination to bring out those colors? All lights seem so expensive, can I just DIY?
First, I must say that without proper training in light, physics, and electrical, everything I am going to discuss is entirely based on observation and real life experience.

LED light reflecting from the surface

Currently some there are many options for aquaria lighting. Among some of the less expensive but least light output are:
Regular T7 florescent tubes, incandescent bulbs, power compact lights
These lights are suitable for fish only aquaria or some of the non-photosynthetic or least light demanding soft corals. But in most cases will not provide enough energy for higher end corals and inverts to thrive
Some of the more sophisticated lightings are:
VHO T5 florescent tubes, Metal Halide bulbs, and LED lights
These lights tend to have a higher cost and drains more electricity, but can sustain some of the most light hungry creatures such as small polyp stony corals (SPS), large polyp stony corals (LPS), clams, anemones, etc.
Another option is DIY- if you are skilled in electrical, you can also design and put together your own lights. You can find many light parts, ballasts that are suitable for your project. Warning, if you do not construct the light correctly it can result in fire.
There are many other aspects of lights such as PAR, light's distance from the water surface, water depth, and light color temperature. We can save all them for the ensuing parts of this series.

In the mean time, there are some good readings I recommend from a couple reputable online livestock retailer:
Liveaquaria Light article
Pacific East Aquaculture Light article

Aqua Illumination Sol Super Blue LED Part 1

I finally did it! spent $500 on this new lighting system! The Aqua Illumination Sol Super Blue LED

I was trying to cut corner and being cheap when I first set up my 92 Corner. I bought the cheapest Metal Halide+T5 system available online at that time- The Odyssea from Aquatraders.com.
Don't get me wrong, I got exactly what I paid for- not a whole lot of coral growth and not so pretty color.

So I then bought some LED system try to make the color "pop"
The color looked a lot better after that but the coral growth was still painfully slow.
So then I decided it's time to step into the 21st century.

I first saw this fixture at the local aquarium store. They hung four Ai Sol super blue over their coral frag tanks and the color looked amazing. I then did some research and read some reviews online then decided to give it a shot.

Placed the order on Drs. Foster & Smith online pet supply store. The order was placed late Saturday night and even with standard ground shipping I received it Tuesday morning. I am very pleased with the shipping time.

The coolest part of this light is the ability to program sunrise, sunset, lunar cycle, and weather. So the controller is a must (see above). I will go over details of the controller and its functions in my next post.

The controller looks like of like an old generation ipod nano. It comes with a simple velcro and screw so you can mount it near the tank. The power cord comes with a USB cable and adopter. My only complain is the connection between the USB cable and adopter is rather loose. So you must make sure all components remain stable and that no one trips over the cords or it'll just fall off.

The light is surprisingly a bit heavier than I thought, and also larger when compare to the photos online. I do like its sleek design, it definitely add value to the overall appearance of the tank. The hanging kit is optional, depends on how many units you are purchasing and how is your aquarium cabinet built, you might be able to skip it since the fixture itself does come with screws that can conveniently offer easy hanging option.

Alright guys, I will save the best for last. Tomorrow I will go over how to program and set up this light over the tank, and then I will wrap up the final post with some awesome photos to show off what this light can do.

Hungry Rosy Bubble Tip Anemone

Hungry RBTA

Although my RBTA has been doing fairly well including splitting and growing, they seems to be always very hungry despite the every other day meal of a whole dinner shrimp.

I am debating to upgrade my light just for them. But again I do like the flow in the water look versus the stubby little bubbly tentacles (even though that's what most people get them for).