Product Reviews

My latest video discussed the Nyos 300 protein skimmer, including a full breakdown of all its parts.

Using it for six months, I'm quite familiar with how it operates and for the most part I didn't have to interact with it much. There was no need to constantly fiddle with the internal water level, in part because the skimmer zone of my sump maintains the same height at all times. Initially I used it just how it comes, but within a few days the waste collector was implemented to disable one pump if too much skimmate was exported. This is how I ran my previous skimmer as well, which not only keeps things clean ...

When it comes to securing corals in our tanks, we need to use putty when super glue gel won't suffice. The 2-part epoxy putty offered by D-D The Aquarium Solution is the brand I recommend most. It is reef-safe, comes in a coralline-pink color, and lasts a long time. I often refer to it as "Deltec putty" so if you are having trouble finding some, try that name instead.



This product has been around for years, but I never did a full write up about it until now.

It's recommended to always wear some type of gloves when mixing two-part putty to avoid absorbing the chemicals in your skin. One presenter described how he used putty for years with bare hands, but one day he had a bad reaction and ended up in the emergency room, and decided ...

I wanted to do a review of a product that I have been using for about a year, so I feel that I have pretty good experience with it. It is The Flipper glass cleaner. http://www.flippercleaner.com/

I saw this at MACNA 2012 in Dallas, and after watching a few demos of it in person, I had to have one. The booth at MACNA said it was selling really well, they had gone through all they brought, and promised to ship me one when they got home. Sure enough, I talked to the owner ...

The Hanna Phosphate Checker allows you to get a digital reading instead of having to judge the color of the mixed reagents in a vial.



I've used a number of test kits over the years to measure Phosphate, and my default has been Salifert. The kits costs about $25, and you can test about 50 times before needing a replacement. I test PO4 (Phosphate) all the time, so I know how to use that kit by heart. If the vial is clear, I'm good. If it's blue, oh no! If it is slightly blue, grrr. Yes, those are my reactions to seeing 'algae fuel' show up in a test kit.

At MACNA, I went to the Premium Aquatics booth to buy a new kit, and Jeremy was all out. He recommended the Hanna Checker to me. It's about $50, and includes a few tests. I was told 10, but I didn't get 10 in mine. Knowing how much I test, I asked for two additional boxes of 25-each to have enough for a full year.



In addition to the test, you'll need a plastic syringe, a dry towel and ...

A new resource is now available to help aid in routine fish tank maintenance such as checking water parameters, monitoring livestock behavior and growth, and keeping track of your aquarium's monthly and fixed expenses. This new resource is a free online program called Reefware.



The official site URL: www.reefware.com

I spent about 45 minutes on the website to see what it can do and where it is going. The first thing you'll need to do is log in.



Once your email activation has been confirmed, you'll be able to start entering whatever data you know now, and you can log back in for future entries. I created a tank profile for the 400g as well as another profile for the 10g frag tank. Profiles ask for name, gallons, dimensions, fresh/saltwater, and the date of inception.

Entering water parameters is easy, and for precision use the Up and Down arrows on your keyboard. ...

Sometimes I just get an urge to buy a new measuring device for my reef's needs. I've been using a refractometer for probably a decade, and while it still works it surely is approaching the point of needing to be replaced. For the past 24 months I've seen more and more digital products come to market, and last September the new Milwaukee Digital Refractometer caught my eye.

There are three ways to measure salinity, primarily. You can measure it with a floating or swing arm hydrometer to determine the specific gravity of the water. You can use a refractometer, which is the preferred method for accuracy. And now you can measure saltwater electronically and view the digital readout with greater ease. ...