Tips

A gunky skimmer neck is the number one reason skimmers start overflowing wet foam all over the sump. The neck is the narrow tube between the body and the collection cup, and it collects a film of proteins and salt that gets thicker every day. Once that film builds up, foam bubbles stick to the sides instead of bursting cleanly, so they climb higher and eventually spill over the cup. If your skimmer smells bad or the cup fills with thin, watery skimmate instead of thick dark gunk, the neck is usually the culprit, not the pump.What you need A...

Target feeding is one of those things reefers overdo or underdo, rarely get right. Dump a scoop of frozen mysis in the tank and half of it drifts into the overflow before a single polyp gets a bite. The fix isn't feeding less, it's feeding smarter, right at the mouth of the coral, with the pumps and skimmer working with you instead of against you.What you need A 5ml or 10ml syringe, or a turkey baster with the tip trimmed narrow A coral food matched to the animal, Reef Roids or Ocean Nutrition Reef Pulse for LPS and SPS, Vitalis...

A customer brought in photos of his 300 litre mixed reef last month. Sand dunes had formed on one side of the tank, his acropora tips were bleaching on the flow-facing edge, and a torch coral three inches away wasn't moving at all. One pump, wrong spot, wrong angle. That's the whole problem in a nutshell, and it's fixable in an afternoon without buying more gear.Wavemaker placement gets treated as an afterthought because the units are small and the instructions say "mount anywhere on glass." Technically true. Practically, where and how you mount it decides whether your corals get gentle,...

White spots appear on your clownfish overnight and by morning your tang is scratching against the rocks. That is marine ich (Cryptocaryon irritans), and it moves fast once it takes hold. The good news is that if you catch marine ich symptoms early and treat in a separate tank, you can usually knock it out in two to three weeks without touching your display or your corals.What you need A bare quarantine tank, 40 to 80 litres depending on fish size, with a simple filter and heater Reef Revolution Quarantine (18 AUD) to condition and settle the fish before treatment...

Brisbane storm season has a habit of taking the power out right when you least want it to, usually a hot afternoon in January with the tank already running warm. A reef tank without water movement can start losing coral within a few hours. A goldfish bowl will forgive you longer, but a heavily stocked freshwater tank or a reef system won't. Ten minutes of prep now saves a very bad weekend later.What you need before the lights go out A battery air pump, ideally one that also runs on USB or car charger power Spare airline tubing and an...