melev

Once a year I clean the protein skimmer. How I go about this task varies, but essentially I want it as close to like-new as I can get it. My Euroreef skimmer has been a valuable asset to my reef for the past 10 years, outlasting two aquariums and caring for the third at this time.

For the past week very little skimmate was being collected. The body seemed to be full of bubbles but they weren't fine like usual. More coarse, they just didn't extract much waste. For about seven days ...

I hate cleaning filter socks, and I've made that point known for many years. I own four 7" filter socks, and it's my annual task to clean them - and even then I hate it. It's rare that I even install a sock in my sump because it will get dirty, I'll have to take it out to clean and invariably it will sit in a dark corner covered in leaves waiting for #2, #3, and finally #4 to join it. When they are all dirty, I'll still put off their cleaning for weeks... it is literally the last thing I want ...

It's around this time of year that I watch the TDS of my RO unit drop. I'm talking about the output of the RO system before the DI stage.

Whenever I turn on the RO/DI system, which is twice a week, I open a valve before the DI stage and let it run for 90 seconds. By avoiding TDS creep, DI resin lasts longer. Link: http://www.reefaddicts.com/content.p...thy-of-concern

Once the water is flowing, I'll turn on the TDS meter to observe the numbers ...

Back in 2011, I built a black overflow cover for the 400g to avoid nuisance algae growth in that external compartment. Here are a few pictures.





The Apex probes were inserted through that lid, and the caps of the Durso standpipes poke up through individual openings. It worked quite nicely.

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When I added the Golden Dwarf Eels to the 60g cube, I noticed how the Peppermint shrimp were far more shy than ever before, and they were big guys. Since they were tearing up stuff more often than not, that timidness was a perk. Within weeks, I noticed I rarely saw them at all. And another two weeks later, they were gone. No trace of them, and I surmise they were delicious.

The Blood shrimp, typically shy but visible on occasion - it seemed to hold its own though. I had a feeling ...