We received this message and thought we’d share it with our readers. It is something that we feel should be done in both Carbon Dosed and Non-Carbon Dosed Tanks.
E&F,
Morning. I’ve been using your VSV recipe for the past 2 months, and tonight I will start adding some biodigest to re-kick start my bac population.
I was [...]
Following up from the Initial Impressions Post, here’s the RX150 in action on the glassbox.
The Warner Marine RX150 is as plug and play as they come. The install took no more than 5 minutes and it was skimming away soon after. We feel the vinegar bath helped significantly. The only connections needed were the 1/2″ [...]
We’ve now had Luca, our Declivis Butterfly for four months. In this time we’ve learned quite a bit about this beautiful species and their anomalous personality.
The Diver’s Den photo of Luca
You may notice the striking resemblance to other Chaetodontids, such as the Tinker’s Butterfly (Chaetodon tinkeri). They are in fact very similar, as they belong to the same [...]
Before proceeding, set aside all previous thoughts of aquarium lighting; No more spaceships or alien abduction machines. Vitrea has created what I would argue is the sexiest aquarium light yet. Of course it is meant for the freshies, they always seem to be a step ahead of the marine side of the hobby when it [...]
Around this time last year Hydor recalled many of their Koralia 2 and 3 pumps, but a few are still reporting electrical issues or voltage leaks. We know many of our readers use these pumps so to be safe here’s the info you need to see if you have a problem pump that slipped through.
An [...]
We are big fans of Seachem Reef Salt. It has always given us consistent numbers, Natural Saltwater (NSW) parameters, and easy mixing.
Lately there has been talk of 500+ Calcium readings. We usually only see such high readings when nearing the very bottom of the bucket. To prevent this we mix the dry salt [...]
We received our skimmer Friday direct from Warner Marine. It was packed extremely well– really, it was one of the best packed packages we have received. (say that 10 times)
RX 150 Basic Stats:
6″ Diameter x 24.5″ Tall
External Design
Recirculating Bubble Plate
Powered by Sedra 7000 Needle Wheel
The overall construction is very solid. I would rate it [...]
Yesterday, IceCap Inc. announced their new 48in T5 Pre-Wired Retro Kit. This plug and play unit is perfect the non-DIY type. Add some good fans for proper cooling and this will be one high PAR T5 Light system.
These units will be available with a 660 Ballast or naked without, for $445 or $275 respectively. We’re [...]
We can only dream of these Angels and Butterflies. These photos are from a Japanese Store, B-Box… I haven’t seen a single Paracentropyge multifasciatus at any Chicago stores in the past two years… how about 50?
A wild Centropyge interrupta
Arguable my all time favorite and the King of the Tinkeri/Roaops, Chaetodon flavocoronatus.
A beautiful Chaetodontoplus meridithi x conspiculatus hybrid!
Last [...]
Reef News
Quality Marine posted on their website this week that they will be the first in North America to introduce the beautiful and rare deepwater Pseudanthias privitera (Randall and Pyle, 2001) . Don’t be surprised if they pop up on LiveAquaria.com… Speaking of, did you see the Joculators they got in recently?
Warner Marine has begun shipping [...]
A few of the new Warner Marine skimmer models are getting an upgrade. The AS200, AS300, and RX200 will now be shipping with Warner’s new modified Sedra 9000HO pump. If you were one of the earlier adopters of these, don’t fret. Warner Marine will give you a free HO pump upgrade upon your request.
Here’s the [...]
We had previously posted this, but thought it was worth bringing up again. It’s simple and beautiful. Perhaps lower wattage Metal Halides and Spotlights will start becoming more popular here in the states?
The Japanese are at it again. With the recent development of self-ballasted or internal ballast metal halide spots, a few manufacturers have made [...]
Reef News
Yesterday was the last day of the 11th International Coral Reef Symposium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The bad news of the event, 231 species of coral are threatened with extinction with another 176 deemed near threatened. The good news, scientists believe they have found a strain of Acropora cervicornis that is resistant to [...]
We get many messages regarding our lights and lately they seem to be generating more e-mails than usual. Here’s some more information:
The bulbs we use are a spotlight with a 150w HQI bulb built into a typical spot reflector. The bulbs themselves have a dichroic coating that cuts UV and bounces IR out the back… [...]
More information and pricing has been released for the new 250w Elos e-Power HQI Metal Halide pendants. Per Jesse of Elos USA:
e-power 250w with IceCap ballast- $579.99
e-power naked 250w with cord only- $449.99
All include 3 year warranty, hanging kit and glass cover.
Tentative arrival in the US at the end of July.
The e-powers will also [...]
There is one thing we hate more than algae, and that would be wires. Loose wires hanging outside the tank and around the sump can not only be distracting, but dangerous as well.
With all the different controllers we have today one of the biggest hurdles is mounting them properly so that you can access them [...]
After reading our inital Aquacare post, our friend and experienced hobbyist Steve Norvich was one of the first in the U.S. to get his hands on the newly imported Aquacare Turbo Chalk Calcium Reactors. We asked Steve to give a review on his initial experience of the Model 3 which he currently has running for [...]
In our previous post regarding Hydor’s Wavemaker 4 we mentioned Hydor had some larger Koralia models in the works. Well, Hydor has recently updated their site with the specs of their Koralia Magnums for models 5, 6, 7 and 8.
These things should be able to kick out some serious flow, at a low wattage… but [...]
Elos has released their new 2008 catalog, available online in PDF form. There are some wonderful high resolution images like this one…
Check it out. (PDF links)
Part I
Part II
Happy 4th of July!
Floating reef tank anyone? A true floating aquarium that looks much better than the Spacearium. We’ve always wanted to do an install like this, but with glass; something about acrylic…
I’d love to see something like this in a Fulton market area industrial loft restaurant. Not a semi or rehabbed loft, but a [...]
We came across these nifty little skimmers in some InterZoo photos. Love the simple design and best of all small foot print. Thanks again to Sebastien for the photos.
Take a look at the smallest models “diffuser”. It looks to be a simple intake screen, we had never considered this… it may be something worthwhile to [...]
About a month back we got an e-mail from a French hobbyists asking if we had a newsletter. In a true sense no, but we felt it would be good to share with you all what’s going on behind the scenes here at glassbox-design.com and what’s to come.
30% Humidity
You guys in the area know what [...]
