SuncrestReef

The lasers are real, and they do work, as long as you have an unobstructed line of sight to the aiptasia. I started a thread about this back in November with photos and a video of zapping an aiptasia: The only problem is that any aiptasia that grow in spots you can't hit with the laser will continue to multiply.

I've been using my laser for about 4 months now. It works great on the aiptasia you can see and have a clean line of sight to reach with the laser, but the ones behind rocks or in the sump keep reproducing so it's a never ending battle. But I never get tired of hearing that crackling sound as the laser cooks them! I'm zapping about 10 per week on average as they pop up. At some point I'll probably get some berghia nudibranchs.

Thanks @Gil&Fin Holly! As usual, a great selection. Here are my 5 new frags in their new home:

Just curious, do your neighbors know what this is all about? Several times per year all these random people show up with buckets and/or come out carrying lots of little plastic bags. I can only imagine what they think is going on! Do they refer to you as "that crazy coral lady"? 🤣

Lefty (my hermit crab) is having territorial disputes with my new emerald crab. "Let's meet at the mushroom...then we'll see who's the toughest..." 🤣 My money is on the emerald crab.

Oh yeah! I’ll be first in line, with your loaner bucket in hand!

If you drive about 4 miles beyond Cuttlefish on Beaverton Hillsdale Hwy, you could stop at World of Wet Pets. They will test your water and have a variety of test kits for sale. They're open every day. I'm sure there are other shops, but that's one I know of. http://worldofwetpets.com Cool algae photos! I'm glad the cell phone adapter worked out for you. 😀

My BRS refractometer was defective. I would calibrate it, take a measurement, then take a second measurement of the exact same water and it was off by 1-2 ppt from the first reading. I'd recalibrate it, and the same thing happened. BRS refunded my purchase and I bought a Milwaukie digital refractomer. Its readings are consistent and I have a lot more confidence in it.

One of my all-time favorites:

Thanks everyone. I can honestly say this hobby has sucked me in more than I ever expected. It's fun, interesting, challenging, frustrating, and obsessive all rolled into one.

Maybe on my 13th month anniversary I'll post photos of the low points: Dinos, aiptasia, clam death, HLLE, brown jelly, and red bugs. For now, I'm focusing on the positive!

Today is my one year anniversary in reefing! Last February I started my build thread on R2R and ordered my equipment. When I started this hobby last year I had no idea how much I would learn, how much I would enjoy it, how much excellent advice I would receive, and how many nice people I would meet. Thank you all! Here are a few highlights over the past year: Here's the tank today: Here's to another great year. Happy reefing!

He could also easily solve the dual power cord complaint with a Y pigtail cord.

This guy did a good review video. He points out some design problems, but in the end he really likes the unit.

Here's one more. I picked up this leptastrea at @CuttleFishandCoral yesterday:

"I already asked you once nicely; now get back inside and clean my litter box...Or are we going to do this the hard way?" 🤣

It's interesting...I couldn't access the site all day from Safari on my Mac, but at mid-day I could access it on my iPhone. Later, I tried Chrome on my Mac and it worked, so I cleared my browser cache on Safari and finally got in. I hate all the platform differences. And I have 30 years of IT background, yet sometimes it still doesn't make sense...

Just curious...what happened to knock the forum offline today? Was it the #pdxsnowmageddon that only hit the east side while leaving us on the west side without our promised snow? I stocked up on kale and kombucha but didn’t get snowed in, only to make it worse when I couldn’t post hourly updates of my new pipefish that won’t venture up from the sandbed to discover the buffet of red bugs awaiting them on my acros at the top of the rocks. To top it off, my super expensive generator is still waiting for the opportunity to run for a few minutes during a power outage to make sure my clownfish have some flow to swim against while they avoid going anywhere near my anemone. 🙄

Still just drizzling rain and 34F at my house in Beaverton. Where's the snowpocalypse they were promising me???

Ha! I hope you have enough disk space for all those 36mp photos you're going to be saving. It adds up fast. If you're ever interested in the 60mm, shoot me a PM. I could even loan it to you for a day to see how you like it.

Congrats on the D800e! That's a nice camera. I upgraded to my 200mm macro from the 60mm macro: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/545660-USA/Nikon_2177_AF_S_Micro_Nikkor_60mm_f_2_8G.html If you're looking for a macro without breaking the bank, I could make you a good deal on the 60mm...

Nikkor 200mm f/4 macro. One of the best macros you can buy!

I use a Nikon D610 with a 200mm macro lens. I’m not using any apps. These shots are straight from the camera with no post-processing.