We went to Namibia during the last week of April, and something terrible happened. I have filled the 480g to the max with RO/DI prepared saltwater, in order to have the live rock complete the curing process while we were away.

Well, two days after we left I got a phone call from my security firm - telling me my power has tripped. So I sent some people over to have a look - and there it was. 480g of saltwater on my living room floor - flooding everything. The tank cracked its double 10mm base lengthwise - a 2.7m long crack. It took a couple of minutes for all the water to leak out.

When I got back Exotic picked up the tank to fix it. They replaced the broken base with 3 x 10mm panels. Extra bracing was added to the square tubing stand, and the metal is both thicker and bigger. Hopefully this time it will hold that water. I am expecting it to be delivered early next week.

Needless to day, I am ecstatic. My 480g tank arrived today. The sumps and equipment are still outstanding, but at least the hard work of bringing that tank to its current location is over (and fortunately Steven and his team at Exotic Aquariums did all the physical work).

New 480g FOWLR

Once again I believe I am the first person in South Africa to own these fine products:

1. Sonnet Temp eSATA ExpressCard/34
2. LaCie d2 Quadra

Eat your heart out! South Africa's importers should only begin receiving stock in a couple months' time.

I have two brilliant little books on Marine Invertebrates and Marine Fish - one by Shimek, the other by Scott W. Michael. Now usually advise is something you take with a grain of salt since in the reef hobby, the only two certainties are

"The faster you go the worse things will get"

and

I have been playing a bit with my microscope and under 4x, 10x and 40x objectives I managed to capture these pictures of various macro algae. Try to identify them... (PS Go to my reef gallery for the answers)