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Wow, seriously? Summer is just about ready to start winding down. In many parts of the country, the kids go back to school in just a couple of weeks, pre-season football starts, and MACNA is just around the bend (don't worry, I'll have my "Pre-MACNA survival guide, preview, and tips soon). Craziness.
Ok, so maybe I’m like the local Target, rushing out Halloween merchandise at Labor Day, but it is at least time to think about getting ready for “reef season” again!
If you’re like many reefers- despite the very best intentions, you’re reef may simply have not gotten the same degree of attention that it did during the cooler months, when there were far fewer distractions pulling you away from it. Let’s face it, for many reefers who live in areas of the country that had ridiculously long and nasty “Polar Vortex”-influenced winters (and springs) this year had far less motivation to stay indoors this summer!
What that translates into is that your beautiful reef aquarium might be showing the subtle signs of benign neglect. You know, it’s not a wreck or anything, but some of the super vigilant care that you bestowed upon the reef when it was -8 below zero outside and there was nothing to do but stay indoors may have fallen by the wayside a bit when attractive summer alternatives like barbecues, beach days, baseball games, vacations, and just plain hanging out in the backyard became available to you and your family.
What to do? How do you take back your reef from the “summertime malaise”, to get it ready for reefing’s prime season? Well, here are a few suggestions to get you started. I’m sure you probably have dozens more, so, in the finest tradition of open source modification, please contribute your ideas to this one!
Do some basic water tests- In order to assess just where you’re headed, you’ll need to know where you are. It’s never bad to have some good information about your system available. By running some basic tests, such as Alkalinity, Phosphate, and Nitrate, you’ll be able to get a board “snapshot” of the condition of your system. Sure, there is a greater benefit to super detailed water testing, but you’ll need to start somewhere, right? If you notice a lot of nuisance algae, and you are detecting higher phosphate levels and elevated nitrate levels, it’s a good indication that the system is showing signs of benign neglect, and needs some TLC to get it back on track.
Clean or replace filter pads and socks- We all know how quickly these rings accumulate all sorts of nastiness. If you let the tank go for a bunch of weeks or months, the pads and socks will be completely saturated, and will essentially become “nutrient sinks”, filled with decomposing biological materials and detritus from the reef, leading to degraded water quality over time.
"They need to be cleaned? Really? I did NOT know that!"
Check out your sandbed - Yeah, if you have a sandbed, and you’ve neglected your tank for any appreciable length of time, the sanded can not only accumulate a small layer of “funk” and algae, it can actually “clump” together to make an almost concrete-like block of substrate. Not good! So, what you probably want to do is give a nice little stirring of the very uppermost layer of the sanded, to get this stuff into the water column, where you can physically remove it. Notice that I didn’t suggest stirring the whole sanded, as this could seriously disrupt the very biological processes that you’re trying to foster in a sandbed.
An occasional little stir of the very top layer never hurts, IMHO.
Perform a water change- Oh yaay, the dreaded water change. You’ve put it off long enough; time to get back on the wagon with that. You don’t have to perform a massive water change- in fact, I’d advise against such a radical move, unless your tank is in extreme distress. Rather, I’d simply start with a 10-15 percent change, which will help “reset” your parameters and get you back into the groove of doing regular small water changes. Although the bane of many reefers’ existence, water changes are an essential part of basic reef husbandry, and the benefits are obvious once you embrace the process.
Re-evaluate your “Cleanup Crew”- Okay, we’ve covered the whole “cleanup crew” thing before, and I admonished us for our human arrogance about the way we stock and “assign” animals to the role. However, if you’ve embraced my philosophy about a minimalist “crew”, you should still make the effort to keep it operating at “full strength” if you feel they were getting the job done previously. Keep in mind that, in the benignly neglected reef system, you’ll have natural attrition of these animals, as well as some predation in many cases, particularly if you didn’t monitor your reef closely in the past few months.
Evaluate coral growth- Let’s face it- in your “absence”, some stuff will inexplicably thrive, some will falter a bit, and some will simply crap out. It’s always a good thing to give your reef a good, hard look to see what is thriving and what is on the way out. After this assessment, you may decide to frag or remove some of the stuff that is doing really well, and the same goes for the stuff that is doing poorly. If you’re dead-set on keeping something that is struggling, you’ll need to reconsider where you want to keep it in the future. If you’re fragging stuff, that’s perfect, because you’ll have plenty to trade with fellow reefers as the frag swap “season” heads into full swing. When stuff grows into something else (a problem, but a “good” one, at least…), decisions need to be made to ensure the future of the corals involved; the onset of “reef season” is always a good time!
The end of Summer is a great time to evaluate coral growth!
Inspect equipment for wear and tear- While you were running around enjoying summer, your pumps, electronics, reactors, lights, and other equipment were doing their thing. What that means is that some of them may need service, cleaning, or flat-out replacement. In years past, I’d suggest checking lightbulbs, but this is becoming less and less of an essential task given the pervasiveness of LED’s. Do evaluate things like pumps, plumbing connections, and protein skimmers. Check for “salt creep”, which may be indicative of a slow leak somewhere, as well as for any loose connections, dangling wires, etc. Clean your protein skimmer thoroughly, to keep it in good operating condition. Pumps and ventures need to be clean in order for them to operate as intended. If you use a controller, review your program to make sure it’s doing the things that you want all winter long.
Inspect and replace worn-out stuff now, before the year gets away from you!
Stock up- Now is the time to stock up on essentials, like frozen food, carbon, filter pads, test reagents, spare parts, etc. Having this stuff on hand will be a great benefit to you on Thanksgiving Day, when the stores are closed and little dramas always seem to occur with our reefs. Take advantage of sales and the luxury that comes from knowing that your need for these items is not life and death!
In general- Just take a good, long, objective look at your reef system. Fall seems to be a great time to set new goals and embark on new projects. Livestock vendors seem to have even more of a great selection. Frag swaps and other events seem to pop up on an accelerated pace, and attention shifts back to your hobby. Think about the ideas that have been in your head all summer, and start planning to implement them. Try to attend a local club meeting or conference if you can, and hang out with local reefers. Trade some frags, Check out the LFS and all of the cool stuff they have in stock. Get on the forums and run your schemes by fellow reefers. To summarize, get ready to enjoy your reef during “Reef Season.”
Fall always means tons of cool corals are available!
Let’s hear some of the things on your “get back to reefing” agenda this fall!
Share, inquire, enjoy…and stay wet.
Regards,
Scott Fellman
Unique Corals
[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]
Ok, so maybe I’m like the local Target, rushing out Halloween merchandise at Labor Day, but it is at least time to think about getting ready for “reef season” again!
If you’re like many reefers- despite the very best intentions, you’re reef may simply have not gotten the same degree of attention that it did during the cooler months, when there were far fewer distractions pulling you away from it. Let’s face it, for many reefers who live in areas of the country that had ridiculously long and nasty “Polar Vortex”-influenced winters (and springs) this year had far less motivation to stay indoors this summer!
What that translates into is that your beautiful reef aquarium might be showing the subtle signs of benign neglect. You know, it’s not a wreck or anything, but some of the super vigilant care that you bestowed upon the reef when it was -8 below zero outside and there was nothing to do but stay indoors may have fallen by the wayside a bit when attractive summer alternatives like barbecues, beach days, baseball games, vacations, and just plain hanging out in the backyard became available to you and your family.
What to do? How do you take back your reef from the “summertime malaise”, to get it ready for reefing’s prime season? Well, here are a few suggestions to get you started. I’m sure you probably have dozens more, so, in the finest tradition of open source modification, please contribute your ideas to this one!
Do some basic water tests- In order to assess just where you’re headed, you’ll need to know where you are. It’s never bad to have some good information about your system available. By running some basic tests, such as Alkalinity, Phosphate, and Nitrate, you’ll be able to get a board “snapshot” of the condition of your system. Sure, there is a greater benefit to super detailed water testing, but you’ll need to start somewhere, right? If you notice a lot of nuisance algae, and you are detecting higher phosphate levels and elevated nitrate levels, it’s a good indication that the system is showing signs of benign neglect, and needs some TLC to get it back on track.
Clean or replace filter pads and socks- We all know how quickly these rings accumulate all sorts of nastiness. If you let the tank go for a bunch of weeks or months, the pads and socks will be completely saturated, and will essentially become “nutrient sinks”, filled with decomposing biological materials and detritus from the reef, leading to degraded water quality over time.
"They need to be cleaned? Really? I did NOT know that!"
Check out your sandbed - Yeah, if you have a sandbed, and you’ve neglected your tank for any appreciable length of time, the sanded can not only accumulate a small layer of “funk” and algae, it can actually “clump” together to make an almost concrete-like block of substrate. Not good! So, what you probably want to do is give a nice little stirring of the very uppermost layer of the sanded, to get this stuff into the water column, where you can physically remove it. Notice that I didn’t suggest stirring the whole sanded, as this could seriously disrupt the very biological processes that you’re trying to foster in a sandbed.
An occasional little stir of the very top layer never hurts, IMHO.
Perform a water change- Oh yaay, the dreaded water change. You’ve put it off long enough; time to get back on the wagon with that. You don’t have to perform a massive water change- in fact, I’d advise against such a radical move, unless your tank is in extreme distress. Rather, I’d simply start with a 10-15 percent change, which will help “reset” your parameters and get you back into the groove of doing regular small water changes. Although the bane of many reefers’ existence, water changes are an essential part of basic reef husbandry, and the benefits are obvious once you embrace the process.
Re-evaluate your “Cleanup Crew”- Okay, we’ve covered the whole “cleanup crew” thing before, and I admonished us for our human arrogance about the way we stock and “assign” animals to the role. However, if you’ve embraced my philosophy about a minimalist “crew”, you should still make the effort to keep it operating at “full strength” if you feel they were getting the job done previously. Keep in mind that, in the benignly neglected reef system, you’ll have natural attrition of these animals, as well as some predation in many cases, particularly if you didn’t monitor your reef closely in the past few months.
Evaluate coral growth- Let’s face it- in your “absence”, some stuff will inexplicably thrive, some will falter a bit, and some will simply crap out. It’s always a good thing to give your reef a good, hard look to see what is thriving and what is on the way out. After this assessment, you may decide to frag or remove some of the stuff that is doing really well, and the same goes for the stuff that is doing poorly. If you’re dead-set on keeping something that is struggling, you’ll need to reconsider where you want to keep it in the future. If you’re fragging stuff, that’s perfect, because you’ll have plenty to trade with fellow reefers as the frag swap “season” heads into full swing. When stuff grows into something else (a problem, but a “good” one, at least…), decisions need to be made to ensure the future of the corals involved; the onset of “reef season” is always a good time!
The end of Summer is a great time to evaluate coral growth!
Inspect equipment for wear and tear- While you were running around enjoying summer, your pumps, electronics, reactors, lights, and other equipment were doing their thing. What that means is that some of them may need service, cleaning, or flat-out replacement. In years past, I’d suggest checking lightbulbs, but this is becoming less and less of an essential task given the pervasiveness of LED’s. Do evaluate things like pumps, plumbing connections, and protein skimmers. Check for “salt creep”, which may be indicative of a slow leak somewhere, as well as for any loose connections, dangling wires, etc. Clean your protein skimmer thoroughly, to keep it in good operating condition. Pumps and ventures need to be clean in order for them to operate as intended. If you use a controller, review your program to make sure it’s doing the things that you want all winter long.
Inspect and replace worn-out stuff now, before the year gets away from you!
Stock up- Now is the time to stock up on essentials, like frozen food, carbon, filter pads, test reagents, spare parts, etc. Having this stuff on hand will be a great benefit to you on Thanksgiving Day, when the stores are closed and little dramas always seem to occur with our reefs. Take advantage of sales and the luxury that comes from knowing that your need for these items is not life and death!
In general- Just take a good, long, objective look at your reef system. Fall seems to be a great time to set new goals and embark on new projects. Livestock vendors seem to have even more of a great selection. Frag swaps and other events seem to pop up on an accelerated pace, and attention shifts back to your hobby. Think about the ideas that have been in your head all summer, and start planning to implement them. Try to attend a local club meeting or conference if you can, and hang out with local reefers. Trade some frags, Check out the LFS and all of the cool stuff they have in stock. Get on the forums and run your schemes by fellow reefers. To summarize, get ready to enjoy your reef during “Reef Season.”
Fall always means tons of cool corals are available!
Let’s hear some of the things on your “get back to reefing” agenda this fall!
Share, inquire, enjoy…and stay wet.
Regards,
Scott Fellman
Unique Corals
[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]
