saltwatersmarts.com

I haven’t taken my cinema camera underwater, but my first underwater rig was a robust unit built around a small Panasonic camera. What I’ve done to offset this is to buy small action cameras and sell them once I have done a few dives with them. The plus side is I have a current action cam when I finally make it to the ocean. The best reviews I’ve seen are YouTube reviews where they show how the image quality falls off in different light conditions.

Known by a variety of common names—banana wrasse, canary wrasse, golden wrasse, yellow coris, et al—Halichoeres chrysus is hardy, readily available, reasonably affordable, well suited to modest-sized systems, and among the better choices for beginners. Aquarium specimens will accept a variety of small meaty foods, such as mysids, chopped crustacean/mollusk flesh, live black worms, etc. This species will predate heavily on amphipods, copepods, and other microfauna in the system, so other fish that depend on these populations for their sustenance, such as mandarins, may not be the best choice for tankmates. Though small crustaceans, worms (including fan worms), and mollusks are likely to become meals, potentially reducing the biodiversity of the system, corals and other sessile invertebrates will generally be left alone.

The next option was to try 200-micron-mesh socks, which did help extend the replacement period, but they did not polish the water as well and eventually still clogged over a period of time. It works by collecting overflow water that is gravity fed into the chamber and forcing it through the fleece to exit the sump, which is located in the center of the rolling web cage. The only electrical parts were a float switch attached to a small geared motor, which spools incrementally the dirty web as the web clogs and raises the water level. It definitely kept the system water quality more stable by keeping the detritus out of the water, made the hobby more enjoyable by reducing my stress, and, most important of all, made my wife’s life easier when I was away.

Last year saw the emergence of what I hope to be a long-standing event in northwest Ohio, the Buckeye Reef Marine Expo. Jesse Lambdin and the crew at BuckeyeReef.com will host the second annual Buckeye Reef Marine Expo. This year’s event will play host to two different presentations, one by The Toledo Zoo & Aquarium’s very own Jay Hemdal, and the other by yours truly. A mainstay at any modern reefkeeping event is the raffle and the Buckeye Reef Marine Expo certainly won’t disappoint in that regard.