Tag Archives: reefaddicts

Latest Posts

Diving Galapagos

bb6cattachment.php_
There are endless dive spots to visit in the world, but there’s no doubt in my mind that Galapagos is on the “bucket list” of every diver out there. I know it has always been on mine, and it absolutely did not disappoint. While the rules and regulations have changed a bit over the last few years with regard to combined land/water-based trips, you can still experience both underwater and topside locations on the same trip. Ideally, it would be perfect to book two weeks or more in Galapagos, the first half diving, the second hiking around on land, but since this much time off from the grind is not always an option, I think 10 days, including travel, is a reasonable amount of time to get the feel of this incredible place and hit the major dive spots and explore a bit on the islands.South of Mexico, West of Ecuador, a small group of islands draws divers year round.I booked my trip through DEEP BLUE (http://www.deepbluegalapagosdiving.com) and they did a fabulous job with every aspect of the trip. The staff was extremely knowledgeable about the history of the areas visited, diving conditions, and all manner of wildlife both underwater and on land.  MORE:  Diving GalapagosMore:

Continue reading

Posted in Conservation, Fish, Science, Seahorses, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

My "Reef Friendly" Quarantine System

I haven’t been involved in this hobby very long compared to other folks but learned very quickly how much of a pain it can be to eradicate, or try to eradicate pests such as Aiptasia, Majanos, Bubble Algae, zoa eating asterinas, and Marine Ich. When I started, I did what I’m sure all of us have done at one time or another: just drop things in the tank and hope for the best. I recently upgraded from a 70g to a 260g tank and decided never again! Unfortunately, everything I found online regarding QT setups mainly dealt with fish only setups, bare bones systems, or that were more of a temporary solution. I’ve had to treat fish in smaller systems I had setup twice for Marine Ich and went through the hyposalinity treatments using a bare bottom tank, HOB filter, and a couple of pieces of PVC

  Read the article:
My "Reef Friendly" Quarantine SystemMore:

Continue reading

Posted in Fish, Uncategorized | Tagged , | Leave a comment

SCUBA Certification – Open Water Dives 3 & 4

The final part of my PADI Open Water diver certification was Dives 3 & 4. Yesterday, Dives 1 & 2 were done in Terrell, Texas . Today’s took place in Glen Rose, Texas. The purpose of this documentation is to provide information to consider so your experience will go smoothly, and that is why I opt to share a number of details, including minor ones: I awoke at 8 a.m. so I’d have an hour to get myself going before my drive to Glen Rose. As soon as the alarm sounded, I jumped up but wow did I feel like heck. I could see through the closed blinds that it wasn’t

  View the original here:
SCUBA Certification – Open Water Dives 3 & 4More:

Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | Leave a comment

SCUBA Certification – Open Water Dives 1 & 2

To receive my PADI SCUBA certification, I have to complete five “open water” dives with a qualified instructor. This weekend is halfway over, and I was able to get two of the five done today before we ran out of daylight. Here’s the link to the planning blog: http://www.reefaddicts.com/entry.php…-certification Yesterday (Friday), I went to We B Divin’ to pick up my gear. This includes the BCD, weights, 5mm wetsuit and 5mm Hooded Vest. Because the dive shop doesn’t have any Large wetsuits at this time, I used the LL (large-long) and an XL hooded vest. The purpose of both is to insulate me from

  See more here:
SCUBA Certification – Open Water Dives 1 & 2More:

Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | Leave a comment

SCUBA Certification – More classwork, and finals

With a heavy schedule carrying multiple responsibilities, it has literally taken me years to get SCUBA certification, or should I say the necessary training to become qualified to dive. When I designed the logo for my company, a diver was included in the artwork as a constant reminder of what I wanted to do. It was a personal goal. No matter how I tried to map out my schedule, I never seemed to have the time to take my classes. About a year ago, due to a friend’s reminder, I purchased a Groupon for classes, and even with the four month period before expiration, I couldn’t mesh my schedule accordingly. Customer orders needed filling, traveling for speaking engagements or MACNA promotion, as well as club business / events, my reef tank’s issues… my days were full. Allocating time for

  View original post here:
SCUBA Certification – More classwork, and finalsMore:

Continue reading

Posted in Events, Uncategorized | Tagged , | Leave a comment

SCUBA Certification – Classwork first, then Wetwork

Two weeks ago, I paid for my upcoming classes to get PADI Open Water SCUBA Certification. I received my educational packet, which included my main workbook, a diver’s log, and a computer workbook. Between work, I studied, answered the quizzes that appeared after each subheading, and completed the chapter review test. I sat down with a bowl of popcorn to watch both DVDs that rounded out the pre-class education, and soaked up all I could. The videos were funny at times, and explained quite a number of important factors. The video quality could have been better; I was wanting HD but this is what you get currently. My class is small. There are four students, and one instructor as well as his assistant.  More:
SCUBA Certification – Classwork first, then WetworkMore:

Continue reading

Posted in Funny, Uncategorized | Tagged , | Leave a comment

SCUBA Certification – Various Tips I’ve Received

After my initial excitement of buying new diving gear passed, I had to deal with something unpleasant. The owner of the dive shop took it upon himself to glue a sticker promoting his shop on the back window of my vehicle. That was a mistake on his part, and I’ll never spend a dollar in his shop again. Moving on, I’ve scheduled Open Water Diver Certification classes for November. The first weekend will be three days of education: Friday evening from 6pm to 10pm, then Saturday from 9am to 6pm, followed by the same hours on Sunday. Two weeks later, we’ll drive to a lake in Glen Rose for dives on Saturday and Sunday. This is PADI instruction, which seems to be the most widely accepted dive instruction organization. For two weeks, I’ll be studying about an

  Read More:
SCUBA Certification – Various Tips I’ve ReceivedMore:

Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | Leave a comment

How can I grow more pods in my tank?

Hi Marc, My name is Dennis and I am still kinda new to this. I have a 90gal RR tank with a 35 gal refugium. I have a mandarin and want to be sure he is getting copepods. I can see them in the first stage of my [sump] (where the overflow and my skimmer are) – they are everywhere swimming around. But when I look in the middle section (where the cheatomorpha and Miracle Mud are) I am not seeing them as much, maybe a glimpse of one or two. The same with the return pump section,

  Read more here:
How can I grow more pods in my tank?More:

Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | Leave a comment

Getting Wet At Last: SCUBA gear

Today, I finally took the official plunge into the SCUBA world. I’ve been circling the idea for the past six years, but knew it was an expensive hobby

  Continue Reading:
Getting Wet At Last: SCUBA gearMore:

Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | Leave a comment

Real Reef Rock Bowl

Prior to MACNA, I had the opportunity to ask the guys at Real Reef to create a Rock Bowl for my tank. I’ve wanted something to grow mangroves near the top of the rockwork, where they would be able to grow up toward the metal halides high above the water.

  Originally posted here:
Real Reef Rock BowlMore:

Continue reading

Posted in Tanks, Uncategorized | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Diving the Philippines: The Center of Marine Biodiversity

The Coral Triangle covers approximately 2.3 million square miles of ocean and encompasses six countries in the Indo-Pacific: Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, the Solomon Islands, and Timor-Leste. An unbelievable amount of biodiversity is condensed into less than 1% of the world’s ocean surface area: The Coral Triangle (CT) is home to one-third of the world’s coral reefs, 75% of known coral species (~600 species of corals), nearly 3,000 species of fish, half of the world’s seagrass and marine mollusk species, 75% of known mangrove species, six of the world’s seven species of marine turtles green ,

  See the original post:
Diving the Philippines: The Center of Marine BiodiversityMore:

Continue reading

Posted in Corals, Fish, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Product Review: Cobalt Aquatics Neo-Therm


I recently received the brand new electronic Neo-Therm submersible heater from Cobalt Aquatics. I was excited to test it out, because it doesn’t look like any heater you’ve ever had before. It’s about the thinnest I’ve ever seen, measuring at 8mm or the unusual 1/3″ listed on the box. More:
Product Review: Cobalt Aquatics Neo-ThermMore:

Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | Leave a comment
Page 1 of 3123

Reefs.com is the world's leading destination for sustainable coral reef farming and the aquarium hobby. We offer a free open forum and reef related news and data to better educate aquarists and further our goals of sustainable reef management.

Copyright 2013 Reefs.com