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Somatic has a line of in-sump protein skimmers that should take care of many reef tanks. This one is rated for tanks 40g to 120g, and costs less than $200 online. Designed as a space-saver skimmer, the footprint is 9" x 9" x 22.5" tall with an internal SICCE pump. The entire unit can be disassembled for easy cleaning. It runs quietly, efficiently, and uses 18w of power. With a 2-year warranty, I really like it and can easily recommend it to others. Matter of fact, I'm going to keep it on that aquarium for the time being. ...

Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to visit ORA - Oceans, Reefs & Aquariums - to see what goes on in their breeding and aquaculture facility. While most of their complex is off-limits for photography, I did get permission to share a small portion with you. Dustin Dorton, president of ORA, was kind enough to narrate and answer some of my questions.



ORA is based in Fort Pierce, Florida, and operates seven days a week caring for corals, fish, & invertebrates. They sell tank-raised (aquacultured) livestock to fish ...

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 ...

It's so simple, one has to wonder why no-one had thought of this before. Rod's Food is known for a variety of flavors, offering nutrition for tiny mouths all the way up to predator-size fish. Speaking to him recently, I found out that he's got a new blend coming out and this one will make every reefkeeper happy. What he's done is collected up all the known reef pests, carefully determined ideal ratios and created a new line that will help eliminate them once and for all. Here are some of the known ingredients:

Red Planaria, Montipora-eating ...

Telling the difference between a living coral and a dead coral isn't always that easy to tell, especially with LED lighting flooding the tank with that ever-popular blue hue. Saltwater reef tanks can be challenging, and SPS (small polyped stony coral) is considered the true test of hobbyist husbandry. Even if you purchase quality equipment, maintain excellent parameters, carefully select reef-safe fish to populate your biotope, corals can be finicky. They may not like their neighbors, ...

The only time I think of Okinawa is because Mr. Miyagi (The Karate Kid trilogy) movie mentioned it way back in the 1980s. When I spotted some reef-worthy pictures from Okinawa in a facebook group, I was immediately impressed. A coral farm in Japan is right up my alley.


Mike Kirkpatrick was nice enough to share a bunch of images from his recent visit to Sea Seed in Yomitan Village, Japan.


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