SuncrestReef

For the record, the rules you listed state: This months subject: Let's see some photo's of your favorite pet. You never said "Photo of YOU with your pet". Also for the record, my photo submission was taken by my wife, and I posted mine prior to you changing the rules saying: • Pic has to be taken by you Not trying to be a jerk. I'm just saying the rules were vague and easy to misinterpret.

Mine only do zig-zag patterns. I'm going to have a talk with them that they need to step it up. I expect a complex spirograph next month...

This is Cooper, our English Lab, when we got him at 8 weeks old. The inset shows him today at 4 years. It's funny, the ears didn't change at all.

I siphoned off as much of the brown jelly as possible, trimmed off dead or infected branches, and threw away entire corals that couldn't be salvaged. Then I did a series of water changes over a couple week period. I did a few experiments with various dips (Melafix, ReVive, etc.) but after treatment I still observed the live ciliates moving around under my microscope, so I know those dips didn't kill them. This is why I ended up cutting off and discarding corals.

My tank suffered a setback in December when I lost nearly a dozen corals to brown jelly syndrome. Things have been slowly improving, and several corals that were in bad shape are now looking good again. I'm finally feeling good about the tank again! Here are some shots I took this morning: I need to do something about this patch of algae next to my Oregon Tort. That's the only spot in the tank with algae, and my emerald crabs won't touch it: Not all the corals fared so well. This is all that's left of my green slimer:

My life acheivements pale in comparison to what some people accomplish. How do they come up with these ideas, and then implement them??? OK, back to cleaning my filter socks. (sigh...)

Great recap, Bert! I'm glad the microscope came in handy for those who brought samples to examine. I'd be happy to bring it to a future meeting if there's ongoing demand.

Here's a decent write-up of some underwater cameras that won't break the bank: https://www.leisurepro.com/blog/scuba-gear/best-underwater-cameras-for-scuba-diving/

Jealous! I had never heard of Ocean Gardener before. That’s pretty cool. Safe travels, and see you back at CNC soon.

That's pretty awesome! I wish I had access to a tank like that when I was in high school.

Where are you staying in Belize? We went a few years ago and spent a week at the Hamanasi resort on the coast, then the 2nd week at Thatch Caye, a small island only 12 acres in size. Had a blast! It was fun to kayak to neighboring islands, having a beer at their beachside bar, then kayaking back to our island where we stayed in a hut on stilts above the water. And the reefs were amazing!

Or how much of the reef DNA is now part of me? 😬

The general consensus I've read is that sponges are good filter feeders to have in your tank. However, I have also seen a few articles suggesting that some sponges can grow large and compete with corals. Unfortunately I don't have any specific knowledge on this species, but it does look like you found a match, so you should be able to do some research on the specifics of Clathrina clathrus.

Looks similar to a Guancha lacunosa sponge:

What has been your favorite reef so far? I've been diving at the Great Barrier Reef, Belize, Hawaii, St. Kitts, and St. Lucia. So far Belize has been my favorite. I was disappointed in Australia due to so much bleaching. Welcome to the group. Like Holly mentioned above, we love to see photos here!

You’re over-thinking this. The alert could have been for temperature, not voltage. All you need is a long AquaBus cable, a PM2 module, and a temp probe. Probably costs less than most of your frags. Although I do have a small powerhead in my sump to disperse 2-part that occasionally seizes up, so I monitor the watts and get alerted if it goes above 5w. Normal operation is about 3w: If Output EB_7_SMP_FLO Watts > 5 Then ON

How much padding/protection are they adding to the packaging? I have recently ordered some large art pieces and have been amazed at the hard-shell packing they put them in.

Is their customer support being cooperative?

Seriously? 3 times??? Why is it that things that don't matter arrive in flawless condition, but things you actually care about get crushed? 😡

Do the kids get an allowance? Not after this...

That's great to hear. I've had really good experiences with Neptune Support. No product is perfect, and having worked in IT support for over 25 years, I know how frustrating technical problems can be.

Regarding the specific issues you mentioned: WAV reported as Missing: This is typically caused by a loose connection, either on the WAV pump itself or the AquaBus cable between the Apex unit and whatever module the WAV is attached to. Salinity probe: The two most common problems are caused by bubbles in the probe, or the probe wire in close proximity to a power cord for a pump or other higher voltage device causing electromagnetic interference. I always invert my probe while under water to allow air bubbles to escape. Mine has been accurate since I discovered this trick. Outlets not working: This is usually due to programming logic problems, or in rare cases a device drawing too much current or insufficient current for a particular outlet type. Older EnergyBars had certain outlets designated for high load devices, so if you plugged in a device with a tiny power draw it wouldn't recognize it. Apex programming can be tricky, but it's solid once you get the logic programmed correctly, and that's where the user forums comes in very handy as other people will help vet your coding. Passwords: As Manny mentioned above, your computer/tablet/phone can be configured to either save your password or use a fingerprint to auto-logon. And yes, believe it or not, aquarium controllers have been hacked in the past due to lack of security.

Sorry to hear about your frustrations. Are you aware of the Neptune support forums? It's a community of Apex users who help each other out, and it can often help in those off-hour situations when the official Neptune support office is closed. I personally browse the forums frequently and offer help where I can, but there are some users who have considerably more expertise than I do. If you haven't been there, check it out: https://forum.neptunesystems.com

The power cord on mine is routed through the sump cabinet to my Apex. There's no way I would take the time to unplug it, pull the cable through the cabinet wall, take it to a sink to wash, then feed the power cord back through the cabinet to plug it in. It only takes me 30 seconds to wipe it with a paper towel every couple weeks. But if you want to wash yours, that's up to you.

I'm not sure what you mean about unscrewing the motor. I just take the lid/motor assembly off and wipe it with a paper towel, and clean the cup as I normally would. I don't unscrew anything.