Continue reading »]]> So. Its Called Big Dog Reefs. But What most people don’t know is that there Actually is a Dog!

So the other day I’m woken up at 4am by barking. Its dark, my eyes are glued closed by that funk that grows magically over night.  Then I hear it.  Its that sound that can only be identified by a Saltwater Reefer as Holy crap! my pump is running dry! Its the same noise that Superman must hear from outer space when Louise Lane is in trouble.

So I run out of the bedroom and down the hall and into the living room when I notice that thing that every father fears.  Smoke. Crap, now its not a dry pump, the Damn House Is ON FIRE!  I grab a extinguisher and run for the fish room. I pass Tubby who is still barking(Mostly because the smell offends him nose and the sound has disturbed him beauty sleep).   I round the corner and throw the switch to turn on the lights. The Atinics flare to life and I find myself in Blue Smokiness  Hell.  There is no fire(yet)((Thank God)).  But I begin looking around. I find that a surge Protector has gone ABOVE AND BEYOND the call of duty.

Later, After the smoke has died down and the room(and the house) is(are) no longer in danger, I bring in a arson specialist (Me, and not really) . My bio pellet reactor blew an O ring. The huge amount of pressure thats moving thru my system then exited in an arc that would set records in the Hammer throw event, and landed directly into the surge protector. Which is almost 10 feet away, and 4 feet higher.  This then fried everything that was within 2 plugs of my protein skimmers plug. Yes. It fried the main reserc pump for my skimmer. Also lost 3 Hydors too.

Moral of the story? Stuff Happens? Get good surge protectors? Make sure you have drip loops?

I say its: Have a good Dog!

Continue reading »]]> Acanthastrea lordhowensis, or as we like to call them:           Lord Howie Acans                      

Whatever you call them, they have been around for a while. First reported scientifically in  (Ehrenberg, 1834) this little Acanthastrea keeps reef keepers in awe today. As sessile invertebrates go, they really are remarkable, becoming available in the 1980′s few people had the knowledge to care for live coral, let alone the specific needs of an Acan. That’s just it though. Its their ability to endure less than perfect (to say the least) water quality and there Diversity of coloration that has made them so popular.

Its very difficult to find two of the same color (unless your buying frags). The diversity is so broad it can quickly turn’s into I’ll take that one that one that one…….The wife walks away….That one….The wife divorces you and marries a professional juggler in Boise. None of which help you out. I recommend you buy frags. As large colonies can be  very expensive and you’ll be able to get much more diversity of color. All while knowing you didn’t rob a reef. Most “Lordhowensis” is of Australian origin, An already over fished and exploited region for the coral trade. Its not hard to  seek out 100% aquacultured Acans. With there popularity bigger than ever many places offer stunning  Acan frags “Be warned some people exploit the hell out of good coloration to the tune of excessive pricing” I’ve seen Acans marked up to as much as $250.00 U.S. for a 1″x 1″ frag. That’s just stupid. How can They  justify so much for just a polyp or two. Easy you the consumer keeps paying it, Its that simple.

Caring for Acanthastrea Lordhownsis isn’t really different than most L.P.S..  Moderate lighting seems good around 150-250 par for best coloration 200-350 par seems to provide the best growth rates for ours. All of our acans are grown under 400w MH in the 14000k spectrum.  My acans have always done well from the sand bed to mid water in the tank  with good flow and current. I know its difficult to explain good flow as our tanks and yours have different requirements, they like it when the current is fast enough to jiggle them slightly. This helps promote full inflation of the mantle and make’s them more capable feeders as more food is moved by them thru the course of the day. This gives the tentacles more chances to feed naturally. Acans readily accept most “prepared foods” i.e. oyster larva, brine shrimp (yes they will eat live food) to every now and then we will see one catch a lose copepod. They are voracious eaters and I can’t recall ever seeing one not take food.

They can be gruff neighbors. Quite frankly they can stop star polyps in there tracks.  Ample care should be taken when choosing the home for your acans. Because of there superior grasp on biological warfare they can potently overwhelm a small to medium 1-100g aquarium much faster than you think. A customer told me about how he had a acan colony of about 100+ heads that over time had grown “Near!!!!” not touched just NEAR! a colony of blue montipora digitata  and over a agonizing month of trying to determine what was killing his tank once the digitata was dead  the tank went back on track. So he assumed it was his error and that water changes and so on had solved it. Like anyone else he replace the lost corals….. you guessed it over the coarse of a few weeks with another coral in that spot again the tank began to crash. Now to my knowledge no one sells a saltwater venom & toxin test kit  (bet yer ass API is making one as we speak). So how do you know whats to close?  No one really knows, but I can say this, I never place them closer than two times the width the colony.  So if your acan is 4″ wide at its widest you want at least 8″ of space before you reach the next coral. Once more, if your acan is a 1″ frag leave 2″ around it or more. Remember they grow.

On that note, growth seems fairly steady unless you run a primarily S.P.S. tank.  Acans don’t generally thrive in lower ph systems.  Anything under 8.0 seems to slow them down. I’ve found somewhere around 8.1-8.2 seems to be about as hard as you can push there bicarbonate consumption. Anything lower or higher seems to slow growth or affect coloration and overall heath of the coral.

This was a single polyp frag I was able to get at a local swap. It will likely be a year until its reached a sufficient size to Warrant culturing a frag or two. You can see along with the small aiptasia anemone a juvenile head with mini feeders. I will remove the aiptasia once I feel the juvenile will be ok with the proses.

So in conclusion whether your new to reef tanks or an old salt,  Acanthastrea is a fine addition to any reef so long as you understand that the resilience that we have grown to love it for comes at a price. Nature believes in survival of the fittest, and Acans are the fittest. Respect their personal space, give them lots to eat, and enjoy.  Next time your at a swap or ordering some coral on line grab an acan frag if you don’t have one already. You’ll see the reasons other reefers go crazy for them.

John B.

Big-Dog-Reefs.com

Continue reading »]]> So….. Lets talk basics.

Every once in a while, some gets the notion into their head “I’d really like to start a Saltwater tank”.  Now, that is followed by some Research (we hope). Talk to other people that have a tank(more then one). Then talk with your LFS associate(who we hope knows what their talking about). Remember that its really easy to spend alot of money, really, really fast on things that you don’t actually need in this hobby.

Now, The guy at the Local Fish Store  Is going to tell you to buy a few things. The most basic of these is SALT. Its what makes the whole system what it is, and more importantly, what it isn’t. It isn’t fresh water, and there won’t be goldfish in this here tank. So lets take a minute to talk about what that box or bucket of salt is all about.   Inside that container is salt, yes, but its special salt. Its got something called trace elements. Its got Extra Calcium in the mix so that the tank starts off with that little something it needs. It also comes with ” Extra Vitamins”, but not much details on what that means, no matter where you look. The last thing that most brands of Reef salts claim to add is a Metal detoxifier.  Side Bar: if your not ready to add Reverse Osmosis water to your system, STOP. Get some. Then continue.

The only real difference in brands is the content of Calcium and Magnesium, the pH target It is blended for, and the dkh (a measure for hardness that well get into some other time) of said mix.

So.. How do u decide which to buy? You need to decide whats going in you tank. Fish? Coral?

If your happy with a fish only system then you can get what ever you chose.  The only thing you can’t do is add Morton’s table salt! Get your self some salt. Follow the directions on the packaging to you desired salinity, and try to keep it around 1.020 range. and your done.

However. Your reading this article on a Saltwater Aquaculture site.  Its alittle more complicated for maintaining a reef.   Most reef keeper like to maintain a salinity of between 1.022 and 1.025. Calcium and magnesium also need to be about 420ppm and 1460ppm respectively. These ranges are found in most salt mixes and should be stable for a period of 2-4 months. That means water changes.  So, as a personal preference,  I like to buy a brand that offers me a reasonable amount for a reasonable price.

What does all this mean? Not much really. Decide what you are looking for.  Fish only or a reef tank. Decide if you need to spend that little extra on a more expensive brand. Make sure your ok with the amount that you paid, because that’s the brand you’ll want to stick with. Talk to a few Different Local fish guys. Ask them what brands they use in their tanks at home. And as with all my articles, the most important thing you can do to avoid trouble, research, research, research.

Chris Wall@ BDR

Continue reading »]]> Ho Ho Ho Merry Christmas and happy holidays from Big dog’s. Just in time for the holidays we are offering you MASSIVE savings on incredible lighting.

Not to mention the Happy little hermit elf’s have been slaving away in sub arctic conditions for room and board so that we could extort err…..bring you super savings on some MP-10′s. So Don’t wait these deals wont last at these prices and your fish and coral will thank you.

And remeber if a large man with a beard falls down your chimny looking for cookies  search him for lights or pumps befor you call the law.

Happy holidays

Big-Dog-Reef’s

Continue reading »]]> Lets take a look around the Tanks and see whats ready. Looks like some sps for this go around

look to the store to see some of these little guys before they are all gone.

So whats going to be on special this month

Looks like Pacific Orange Rim’s. Here is the deal, until Christmas these pups are buy one get one free and if you do it on a Friday you buy one zoa  not only do you get one free but you’ll get a free frag from free frag Friday’s.

That’s three zoa’s for the cost of one!  Merry Christmas!.

Continue reading »]]> Welcome Back,

So last week we discussed  basic tank chemistry. This week, we are going to talk a little about what PH actually does for your tank. And remember, this is not a chemistry class.

 

A really nice scale I found

Alright, so this ones for US! The human body need to maintain certain levels, or bad stuff happens. You see, PH stands for “Potential of Hydrogen”.  In the human body, we stray to far into the acidic side; everything starts to slime out. Same as with our Reef tanks. If the body strays to far into the base side, we get sick and can fall prey to even the common cold. Same in the reef tank, only its more dramatic. To much base and all the  zooxanthellae algae in you corals dies. We all know what happens after that.

So,

Continue reading »]]>

So. I’ve noticed something while taking care of some of the reef tanks that i maintain for clients around town. Most people don’t understand their water At All. So today class is in session. We will be discussing PH, Alkcalinity, Calcium and Magnesium.

Calcium  is one of the major building blocks for your reef tank. In natural seawater, it is about 420 ppm, so it comprises just under 1.2% by weight of seawater’s solids. In the ocean, this concentration varies do to changes in salinity, which cause the calcium to fluctuate just as the salinity does.

Calcium is very important in a reef aquarium as many organisms, including corals and coralline algae, take it up in order to deposit calcium carbonate skeletons. If it is not maintained at adequate levels, such organisms become stressed and can even die. I recommend that reef aquarists maintain calcium at 380-450 ppm.

Alkalinity is a complex measurement. It is not a “thing” in the water. It is actually the summation of many things, all of which together provide a particular chemical property. The reason that aquarists measure alkalinity is that in normal seawater, most of it consists of bicarbonate and carbonate. Bicarbonate is what corals use in order to build their calcium carbonate skeletons. Consequently, alkalinity is an indication of whether or not adequate bicarbonate is present in the water.

Normal to high alkalinity implies adequate bicarbonate, while low alkalinity implies that it may be in short supply. In the absence of any method of supplementing alkalinity in a reef aquarium, the water can rapidly become depleted of bicarbonate. Alkalinity’s depletion from normal to unacceptable levels can take only a day or two in some reef aquaria, although it can take longer in aquaria with a lower demand for carbonate. When the water’s bicarbonate is depleted, corals that deposit calcium carbonate can become stressed out and even die. I recommend that reef aquarists maintain an alkalinity of 2.5-4  (7-11 dKH).

Magnisuim is nessesary for the bonding of calcium ions to other calcium ions. That is the simple way to explain it.  However, if your mag reradings are to high, then it will affectively “poison” the calcium ions. In other words, they start to take up to much space and the calcium carbonates can’t harden together.  A reading of 1250 ppm is what your shooting for.

I hope that this got some of you heading in the right direction, and didn’t just confuse you. This stuff is important for your tank, and if your serious about keeping a reef tank, then you’ll have to spend some time on it.

That’s the bad news. The good news is that its all really simple once you take the time to understand it. To that end, I’ll be doing an article a week on the subject of reef chemistry.

Look for more from us next week.

Chris@Big Dogs

Continue reading »]]> So i wanted to show off the little Nano Skimmer Dave Underwood helped me build when they had me down for vacation. Well the vacation was Boss and the chance to play around Next-Reef was a freaking blast only regret was not having more time but here it is after running for 2 weeks I’ve changed the cup 1 time in the last 2 weeks it makes really dry foam. So dry in fact that it has begun to build a ridge around the neck of solid waste.

As you can see the foam is really whipped with a extreme contact time hands down the best little skimmer I’ve ever had.`

The  Bad Puppy is build to handle tanks from 5-55 gallons with ease we speculate that it could handle as much as 65-70 gallons with its through put “We plan to find out just what it can handle very soon.

we hope to be taking orders soon and you to can have a completely over the top nano skimmer.

 we plan to reduce the neck collar for the prototype we just reduced the six inch collar. Witch allowed us to focus on testing and design as apposed to rewriting code for the new CNCing for a collar after all this was mostly build from spare parts lying around the shop. Don’t let that discourage you  this dose not mean that its a poorly made item Next-Reef doesn’t exactly have “Junk” lying around believe me when i say that there parts bins would make most reefers cry in envy. I know I did lets face it if Dave and Amanda told me I could stay and just sleep in the shop I would still be there.

This is a look down the throat after testing it over night in a bucket of saltwater. You can see that the skimmer was already making skimade “in a clean bucket with fresh salt” this little guy is really something.

Well that’s all for now I’ll be setting up more pic’s in the near future to let you see how it works.