DIY Artificial Saltwater

Here's a very simple guide and some old photos on how to create your own artificial salt for reef tanks.

What you need:

Reef Chemicals
Digital Weighing Scales
Latex Gloves, Face Mask

Where to mix:
A cool and dehumidified room

Recipe:
Marty's Modified Recipe (Password is pinoyreefers.org)
You may also check the PR Newsletter for more details


Frank Millero's Original Recipe

From his book, Chemical Oceanography (http://books.google.com.ph/books/about/Chemical_Oceanography_Third_Edition.html?id=Xt5T8LtPjBgC&redir_esc=y)

If you can manage to find all the needed reagents, Frank Millero's Recipe would be the best way to go.

Photo: Marty's Modified Recipe

 Always purchase from a reliable source, and always use USP (Pharmaceutical Grade) or Food Grade reagents, especially for the Major Ions. Technical Grade may contain too many impurities which are unsuitable for tank use.

The recipe above would be good for about 130-150 gallons, depending on the quality of reagents. Some reagents may be absorb too much moisture, so be sure to check the parameters after mixing.

Photos:

The reagents, from Alysons Chemical Company

(You may also find some reagents at other chemical stores. A small caveat: availability of reagents may vary from time to time.)

Mix well, store in an airtight container and use when needed. Or better yet, mix it all together in a enough water then store in a clean, food-safe drum or container.

The Hypocrisy of PETA

Don't get me wrong, I am against any kind of animal violence. And I really despise people that mistreats animals. I also don't eat 'exotic' animals. That's just stupid.

But

I eat animals in these forms: Beef, Pork and Poultry. They are tasty. They provide adequate sustenance and nutrition. I like them broiled, sauteed, stewed or fried. Ask me why? I say, 'Why the heck not?'.

If you are against animal cruelty, better donate or join other organizations other than the hypocritical and mostly crazy people that are collectively called PETA.

If you're a PETA member, better follow your founder and have yourself strerilized.

2011 Pyrolympics at the Mall of Asia, Pasay

Photos taken by me. :)


Click Me

XP Tweaks

Have an old PC that's slow as shit? Try a bit of tweaking. :)

Some common sense tips:

- Don't install programs or add-ons that you won't use. They eat up space, RAM and probably bandwidth.

- Always clean your PC. Do regular defragmentations and use CCleaner or similar programs.

Most tweaks are covered here: Tweak XP

PLEASE, oh please read the instructions carefully before you do anything! READ, READ, READ! And always make sure to do back-ups.

Network tweaking:

- Disable any programs that hogs system resources and bandwidth. If you don't use it, close it.

- Download Cable Nut

- Test your net speed here.

- Compute your net speed here: Cable nut calculator ,save the tweak file and apply in cable nut. Make sure to do back-ups first. 

Firefox Tweaks

Here's an easy, no non-sense approach Fire Tune

- Use Ad Block Plus and Ad Block Plus Popup Add-on to remove stupid ads. (Mozilla Firefox>Tools>Add-ons>Get Add-ons)

- Disable any unnecessary add-ons and plug-ins.

More tweaks next time.

Cheers. :)

The PR Newsletter

Pinoy Reefers' Online Publication. Lots of DIYs and other interesting stuff. :)

This issue includes the DIY Saltmix and some pump modifications.

Download Issue Number 1 Here

Gome Flytouch - Part 1

This device is mistakenly sold as APAD or Iped here in the Philippines. Cheap and quite handy if you ask me. But do not expect this to be an Ipad killer.


Recommended for:


Wireless internet browsing
Listening to music
Games
Comic book reading


Not recommended if:


You are not familiar with Android
You want a faster tablet
You want HD games
You want a tablet with a long battery life


The package includes:

1 gray Pad
1 9V charger
1 gray adaptor with 2 USB ports and a LAN port
1 nondescript manual (without any model/brand description)
1 small stylus

SPECS:

(Using Quick System Info)

Internal Storage:
618 mb total

System Cache:
100 mb total

Memory:
256mb

Processor
ARM926EJ-S rev5 (v5l) 174.48MHz

Sensor
WM8505 3-axis accelerometer

Model Name
generic

Firmware Version
1.6

Kernel Version
2.6.29-00236-g4f8dbbb-dirty

Build Number
WMT2.1_88


Some Pics:

L-R: Speaker 1, Micro SD Slot, 30 pin Communication port, 3.5mm headphone jack, 9v adapter jack, Speaker 2

This is how it looks inside.

A closer look on the board.

The camera and the Wi-Fi chip

Performance:

Fast loading on

- Comic books

- Music files

Slow on

- Video files

Part 2:

Unbricking a gome flytouch

Compatible games and apps

Speaker mod for the flytouch

Thermal management mod

See ya. :)

Happy New Year!

A meaningful and peaceful new year to everyone.

And happy new year to my tank too, it'll be 3 years old this coming may. :)

Here's an old video clip of my pink skunk clownfish (amphiprion predaeiron) nesting on a toadstool coral (sarcophyton sp.)

Here's my tank now:

Woot, just a few more weeks and it'll be better. :D Hooray for metal halide bulbs.