We bring your attention to the newly designed Stream2. Smaller and quieter than previous models, but with the same low electric consumption. If you look at the photos you can see they have enlarged the slots, lessening restriction from the previous housings… Hopefully an increase in gph? Not only does this design look better, it comes with magnet mounts like those on the 6025/45/55 models. These are due out by the end of summer.

Next up is the 7096 Multicontroller. It will be about $100 less than the current 7095 controller and via USB allows separate control of each pump and over the food timer. This nice compact unit can also control waveboxes…which might become much more prevalent with the release of their Nano-Wavebox…

The Nano-Wavebox is designed for tanks between 30-150 gallons. It measures in at L 4.9 x W 2.1 x H 8.6in.  Not bad at all if performs anywhere near the larger model. Here’a shot of it in action at InterZoo. Note the Aqua Wind Fans mounted on the left side of the tank.

To go along with the Master DOC Skimmer line, Tunze has created the NW powered 9410. Electric consumption is only 16w, but no reports yet on air draw. Tunze is crediting a Neodymium drive unit for the low electric consumption. Two pump sizes will be available and MSRP is reported to be less than $450 for this plug and play unit. Both this model and the Master DOC skimmer will now come with 50um filter socks as you see pictured.

Function:

noun

Etymology:

Middle English sojorn, from Anglo-French sujur, sujurn, from sujurner

Date:

13th century

: a temporary stay <a sojourn in the country>

Monday’s are dull and painful as we get back into the swing of things. How about some beautiful photos to cheer you up? Starting from now on, we’ll do our best to post a captivating image every Monday to take you away when you need it most; a mental sojourn. 

This was captured by Linda Cline in the Limbeh Straight.

Warner Marine has created a complete line that we feel can satisfy every hobbyist. There will be 2 series of in-sump and 2 series of external recirculating skimmers. Most will come with enlarged necks and the option of an Eheim pump(s).

We’re impressed by the gentle necks, thick acrylic construction, and sch80 piping. The red airline tubing looks great…Check out the images and info below.

The basic series is the Sedra powered S-Series. Below you can see a picture of the S-150 powered by a Sedra7000 drawing in 500lph of air going into a long neck tapering to 3.6″.

The AS-Series will come with a bubble plate as well as oversized pumps and necks.

The R-Series will be a standard recirculating skimmer coming with single or multiple pumps depending on the model. 

Then there is the AR-Series… It is an external recirculating skimmer with oversized pump(s), necks, a bubble plate and waste collector included.

Dual Eheim’s + Bubble Plate

Bubble plate close up 

  …the works

Powered by Becket

Higher performance skimmer models are in the works. They will be 100% made in the USA and come with some great pumps… For you ULNS people, keep your eyes out for Warner Marine Zeo reactors and future additives.

Please do not re-post without permission. 

We have seen a video of a large Clarion in a Japanese reef tank in which it bullied fish twice it’s size, and I saw a similar feat done by a specimen at Old Town.  It was not happy with the Annularis Angel in the same tank and was chasing it around.

The owner then told me that it nearly killed a larger scribbled angel, and even after netting the Scribbled the Clarion was attacking it through the net!  As if the price tag wasn’t enough to keep us away, their temperament certainly will.   

The specimen I mentioned above was about 6-7in and in full adult coloration. The second was about equal size with some juvenile blue stripes still showing. It was being housed with a Clown Trigger and Polleni Grouper.

The Clarions were beautiful, but some other fish  struck my fancy too… African Marcellae Butterfly, Christmas Island Emperor Angels, Tinker’s Butterfly and not to mention a 2in Black Tang.

There are not too many stores around where you can walk in and find this kind of selection, thankfully we have one  so close…just a few stops away on the L.  Sorry for the blurry phone pics, if you have the chance stop by and see them in person. 

Unfortunately we do not know what many of these amazing creatures eat, making most best left in the ocean.  Some feed exclusively on tunicates, hydroids, and sponges, all of which as hobbyists we have yet to grow in large numbers. Often times they take on the characteristics of their food source, such as nematocysts and toxins; hence the colorful markings as a warning to predators.

There are a few that have made there way in the hobby with a bold statement, such as Montipora eating Aeolid Nudis… but we do not suggest attempting to keep those. Other commonly kept nudis are the lettuce and berghia for their pest eating abilities.  These can be okay choices provided you can supply enough food to sustain them long term and have all pump intakes covered…a better option is to find the root cause of your problems.

View them in their natural habitat or in online image galleries like this one our dear friend Matt sent us.  This gallery from National Geographic shows them in a pure white environment, displaying every detail… and people say only black pop’s colors.

As bacterioplankton (read bac driven) systems are becoming more popular and understood there are many looking to hybridize systems similar to our “method” we discuss here. But Bak and Carbon Sources will only get you so far.  Trace elements and amino acids are especially important. (more…)

Known with DIY gurus for their small size and immense air induction they are a less expensive substitute for the Sicce PSK2500. With Cast acrylic Construction, Sch80 piping, Silicone O rings, a 5 year warranty and 12month warranty on moving parts,  it seems Octopus is catching on to user wants.

We must give Octopus praise for their new logo and photo’s. Hopefully with this new looks will come greater performance and reliability.  

We found this today on Reef Central, pictures are from tang_man_montreal. Look at that volute! This is the CV Octo Pro 300 and we have very high hopes for it.

KCl is 52.5% Potassium by weight, using this percentage and the dosing for anhydrous calcium chloride we are able to get a rough estimate for the amount of KCl to dose… just multiply the number given by the calculator for the anhydrous calcium chloride by .7 to find the amount of KCl to add.

Some users are using iHerb KCl with good results. We have not tried it, but if you are a bit skeptical be aware that Warner Marine makes a balanced ion potassium supplement that is not too rough on the wallet. 

To get an idea of where your K levels are at, look into a test kit. Currently only Korallen Zucht and Fauna Marin make kits for this parameter. After reading reviews on both it seems like Fauna Marin’s is the easier of two to use… For an indepth look at the FM kit check out StonyReef.com’s write up. 

Whichever K supplement you should choose, always start slow and observe your animals for any reactions. 

For awhile the DAS was not removing much, and our clean-compulsive nature had us cleaning the neck and cup every other day. This skimmer seems to do best when cleaned every 4-5 days and skimmate production is definitely up.  

We also reduced supplemental dosing to every other day. The coral snow seems much more effective this way. When adding CS everyday it seemed to actually stay in the system and not get removed in 24 hrs.  With cal/alk dosing we have reduced our calcium dosage to drop the levels to ~400. They were at ~430 and this caused more coralline than we like. 

Here’s a photo from today, our point and shoot does not represent them as well as they appear in person… but this was the best we could get.  We are experiencing some very heavy metallic shimmer/glow from the coralite tips of our corals.

We’ve had a very busy last couple of weeks, but we will have some new material going up on here soon so keep checking back for some new write ups regarding carbon dosing. Carbon Dosing 101 is in the works.

The angles remind us greatly of one our our favorite artists DAIM. If you don’t know who DAIM is (pronounced “dime”) check his work out.

 We must give credit to our friend Marlon Studio where we found this.