The 3reef Tip & Win Contest

The 3reef Tip & Win Contest starts now and you can win a new CAD Lights Aquariums PLS-50 Elite protein skimmer! The rules are simple: leave a tip on maintaining a reef aquarium on this contest thread and you qualify to win. The winning post will be determined with a random draw in 2 weeks. Big thanks to CAD Lights Aquariums. More details below.



2014 Cad Lights PLS-50 Elite Skimmer Specs

• Footprint: 3.25” x 3.25”
• Speed: Air draw: 187 LPH
• Aquarium capacity: One size fits all from 5G up to 60G
• 100% High quality Cell-Cast acrylic
• Professional TIA protein skimmer pumps
• Superior skimming power designed to be Nano in size

Tip & Win Contest Details

• You must be a 3reef member to enter
• Qualify by leaving a helpful reef aquarium tip on this thread
• Tips determined to be not helpful by 3reef moderators will be removed
• Enter as often as you like - multiple entries allowed.
• The winner will be determined by random draw on Monday, August 18th at 10am PST.

More PLS-50 Elite info:
http://www.cadlights.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=56&products_id=289

Enjoy the contest!
Cheers!


matt

 

When possible, adjust water chemistry through water changes rather than dosing or getting new equipment.

 

Always research livestock before you make a purchase.

 

Think carbon dosing is only to reduce nitrates? Think again! It has been a huge advancement for keeping many types of filter feeders and some NPS by increasing the food chain from the bottom up.

 

Be sure to spend time with your tank daily, or at least every other day.

This can give you the upper hand at noticing any problem before it gets out of control. With out this tip you could go to do a weekly water change and find your fish to have brook, and it is to late to save him and the other fish in the tank. With the tip you can hopefully catch in time to QT your fish and save them.

 

Quarantine all inhabitants before introducing them to your tank. This will give them proper time to acclimate and gives you a chance to introduce the food you are going to feed them with out competition from other more aggressive fish.

 

Find the maintenance routine that works for your tank and stick with it. No amount of filtration will negate the necessity for routine maintenance, and adding filtration to a healthy, established system to reduce maintenance often yields negative results.

 

When introducing corals, place them in a low-light area to allow them to acclimate to your tank's parameters. It's far easier- for you and the coral- to increase light when it's ready than to nurse a bleached and stressed specimen back to good health.

 

Beware of miracle snake oils. There are many, many products on the market that are a mix of undisclosed elements (Purple-Up, Reef Accelerator, Reef Trace, and Green Trace, to name a few of the most popular). There's no such thing as "one size fits all" in SW aquaria, and one should never dose anything for which they cannot test.

There are also many products that are purported to reduce or eliminate maintenance. Just remember, if a successful reef aquarium came in a bottle, everybody would have one.

 

Keep it simple. There is such thing as over complicating. From your plumbing, to your rock formations, to your live stock list, to even your water changes over complication leads to excess not progress.
The ocean is the most vast and complicated ecosystem in our known universe…. Your tank is not.