Showing posts with label how to. Show all posts
Showing posts with label how to. Show all posts

Saturday, March 9, 2013

Back to Basics: Mixing Saltwater...

There's probably about a million posts about this already... but here's post number 1,000,001!

Mixing saltwater: it's easy and convenient. It's often even more economical than buying it, especially when you have a large aquarium.

I hate to say it, but it's been over two years since I bought premixed saltwater. It was a chore to drive to my local store and then come home with mixed salt, only to then begin the water change. The chore of going to get the water was my old excuse for not doing frequent enough water changes. (I have now developed more complex excuses... Did you hear about the time my RODI unit was sabotaged by a band of of rouge agents bent on world domination through the proliferation of cyanobacteria and destruction of coral reefs?!) Well the moral of the story (the purchasing of water not the rouge agent thing) was that its a mission to go get water, especially if buying large quantities of saltwater.

Besides the chore factor, the costs can add up quickly when you're paying someone else to mix water for you. While I can concede that it's less equipment and cleanup to just bring a couple of containers for fill up, I would not want to have to buy 30 gallons per week to change water on a 300 gallon system.

There is also a final consideration: emergencies. It's easier to always have a little saltwater on hand when you can mix it yourself. This is good in case something unexpected happens- and "it" will happen. Having water on hand might be the factor that saves your reef from failure.

Friday, November 11, 2011

Digital Aquatics RKM-Net Module

I got a new module for my Reef Keeper lite! The RKM-NET module will allow me to monitor my aquarium when I'm away from home, and recent updates to the software allow me to control my channels remotely.

The install isn't any more difficult than say, a webcam or home-network router, however it's definitely going to be a challenge for anyone who is not comfortable with computers.


I have some more tinkering to do, but so far I'm really happy with the new capabilities!

Check out the pictures and screen shots below. I'll post more info soon!