Here is what Michael wrote:

Ocean at Home – Thanks for the cool BLOG! I just found the note on Twitter. As a special gift for that, I’m going to offer you and all your readers here an additional 10% Off anything you want with no limit including already sale and clearance items! Just enter coupon code: oceanathome (all lowercase) and the system will discount all Ocean At Home readers!

So check out their site and make sure to use the coupon code “oceanathome” (all lowercase letters) when checking out. If you have any problems or questions, feel free to add a comment here or contact Oceanpro direct. When you are done, please come back and let us know what you got and what your experience was overall…we’d love to hear it!

The year started off pretty well with my first fish being added to the tank (water was added in May 2008 and I went slow) right before Christmas so there was a lot of new things done right off the bat in 2009 including more fish and corals, some equipment upgrades, more lighting and a lot of hit and miss tweaking to improve it all. I went through cyano outbreaks, nasty algae, losing a few corals to bleaching and some minor equipment failures but as the year closed, things were looking really good!

During the year I did not one, but two major aquascaping makeovers with the addition of some really nice pieces of Sumatra live rock with really nice holes the fish really love. It was nice to replace a majority of the lace rock I used to start it all. The fish really have some great paths to dart through but let me tell you it was a bitch to get it all to a place I liked.

This blog itself went through some great growth. I started off as just a side project on Blogger before deciding to get my own domain and move over to WordPress on a hosted server allowing me to have more fun with it and add more “oomph!” to the site. I was honored to have a few articles picked up on my favorite reef blog Reef Builders and was really surprised and honored to Jake Adams ask me to contribute some articles to the site on Blue-Collar Reefing. As the year progressed and our friendship grew, he made me the offer to come on board as a full-time writer right before MACNA and I jumped at the chance!

Blogging at Reef Builders has been great and this next year looks incredible for the site with plenty of great events to cover. Unfortunately, I haven’t been on here as much as I’d like. I keep meaning to pound out some prose but between work and everything else, I’ve been brain dead at the end of the day and just want to relax and unwind. I’ve deciding to use this platform to chronicle my tank and what’s going on more with that and of course, come in with some great topics on the hobby.

This past year I was able to bring in my friend Scott Fellman up from LA to speak at my local club and it was great to be able to spend a few hours in the car driving back and forth from Sacramento catching up and throwing around some great ideas about the direction of the hobby. If you’re looking for a sharp and interesting speaker for your club, make sure you check him out!

In June I went to BayMAC (Bay Area Marine Aquarium Conference) in San Jose and was able to meet more great friends  and get introduced to many awesome people in the hobby. Gresham Hendee put on a great event for hobbyists and clubs and was able to catch up with Gresham, Jake Adams, Scott, Rich Ross, Robin Bittner and a slew of other great people in the hobby.

The end of July I was able to head down to IMAC West in Long Beach for three days of reefing goodness on the historic Queen Mary. Once again it was great to catch up with all the folks I’ve met along the way and was able to meet some great new friends. Our club’s booth was right next to SDMAS (San Diego Marine Aquarium Society) where I was able to get to know two fun people, Jessica Timko and Pete Martis, who made the time there so much more enjoyable! Thanks for the sandwiches and potato salad!

It was also fun since I got to spend some time with one of my best buds from college, Ginn Sampson, at his place in San Pedro. Was great catching up and reminiscing about the times at San Jose State and found out he was a reefer too, except in retirement from a tank. Maybe someday the bug will bite him back, if so I’ll have frags waiting!

Technology continues to push the hobby in great directions and this year should be just as exciting. It’s amazing to see the new species that are being successfully captive bred and the needs of fragile corals being uncovered making it much easier to keep things thriving in our tanks. The amount of new information we get each year is great. So many incredible hobbyists and marine biologists pushing the hobby to new and exciting levels.

I’m hoping my system continues to thrive and I can clear a few hurdles in my own system to ignite and fuel coral growth. I have had some really great growth in some corals but others have barely grown in the year-plus I’ve been at it. Finding the balance of stability in the system is key and I am hoping through continued good husbandry (and improving where it needs it) I will see the fruits of my labor pay off in 2010. So stick around and check back from time to time as I start documenting the growth along the way. Reminds me I need to do a baseline post soon for you all…until then happy reefing and as my friend Scott says, “Stay wet!”

As a special holiday gift, I wanted to repost this awesome poem by George Adkins, who is the president of the Central Oklahoma Marine Aquarium Society (COMAS), that originally appeared at Reef Builders. George has taken “The Night Before Christmas” and tuned it to our hobby. It is beautiful and funny, something you may want to share with your tank inhabitants on this blessed holiday—enjoy!

Once upon a Montipora…

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the aquarium.
Not a fishie was stirring, not even Z. veliferium
The socks were all hung by the reefer with care,
In hopes that Poseidon soon would be there.

The clownfish were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of brine shrimp danced in their heads.
And Dori in her cave, and I in my cap,
Had just slowed our gills for a long water’s nap.

When out from the pumps there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the monti to see what was the matter.
Away to the front glass I flew like a wrasse.
Knocked down some frags and stirred up some gas.

The moonlights on the crest of the surface you know
Gave the lustre of mid-day to the coral below.
When, what to my wondering fish eyes should I find
But a water sleigh, and eight wrasses Six-Line.

With a watery driver, so lively and satin,
I knew in a moment it must be Poseidon!
More rapid than sailfish his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name!

“Now Deb! now, Jacques! now, Bubbles and Bloat!
On, Anchor! On, Chum! On Peaches and Bruce!
O’er the top of the rock! to the top of the flow!
Now splash away! splash away! splash away yo!”

As dry nori before the wild hurricanes fly,
When they meet with a wave, mount to the sky.
So up through the tank the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of Mysis and Poseidon, too.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard in the din,
The swishing and stirring of each little fin.
As I tilted my head, and was turning around,
Through powerhead current Poseidon came down.

He was dressed all in scales, from his head to his tail,
And his big brother Neptune was there as well
A bundle of Rod’s they had flung on their backs,
And they looked just like reefers, just opening their snacks.

Our eyes-how they twinkled! Our pectorals how merry!
Our dorsals all quivered, our gills like a cherry!
Our droll little mouths drawn up like a bow,
In anticipation of the goodies soon to flow.

Poseidon spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the socks, then turned with a jerk.
And laying his watery finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the water column he rose!

He dove to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all swam like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, as he surfed out of sight,
“Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!”

Image from FreakingNews.com

I am planning on doing a couple of projects around the tank and am working on a progress post, while I look at using Ocean@Home as my breathing tank journal along with some good insight on the hobby. For more reef hobby tech and product news and stories, make sure you head over to Reef Builders and catch my posts there. We have a great team with Ryan Gripp, Jake Adams, Scott Fellman, Rich Ross, Paul Whitby, Taka Kamata, Guin Burnard and all the great guest authors that drop on by occasionally.

Hope Santa has left a few goodies under the tree tomorrow for you and your reefing buddies! I’ll be back with all the stuff I ordered put on my wishlist for Christmas! Until then Feliz Navidad!

Image credit: FineArtAmerica.com by Kenneth F. Aunchman

The articles penned from the “Reef Squad” tackle a variety of issues around the hobby and can provide to solutions to the problems. With over 115 articles and growing, chances are most of your common problems are covered. I enjoy reading them when they come in the old inbox regardless of the topic and if its something I already know or haven’t experienced. It’s a good reminder and I always seem to learn another tip or trick. I got a kick out of the ever-appropriate Halloween version that came out today “HOWTO: How to Get Rid of Reef Aquarium Pests” by Scott Brang. The email newsletter included a great classic horror movie poster look and had some useful nuggets as always.

In this hobby knowledge is great and we all are researchers and scientists in a lot of ways. We should approach everything with an open mind and a hint of skepticism. The more sources we have to build our knowledge, the better off we’ll be. I always advocate becoming a search machine and not just relying on one person or one forums’ views on something. Kudos for Marine Depot for cataloging some great and informative articles!

There are plenty of things to lay blame on: crazy work schedules, helping my friend move his reef shop to a new location, being too tired at night, my new writing commitment at Reef Builders, and a bunch of other things.I think we’ve all been here at one time or another where we lose the balance of things and everything gets a little attention but definitely not enough to make any area happy and content. What I always relied on in the hobby going back to my youth and my first aquarium was the opportunity and love I had to just chill in front of the tank and relax, get lost in the underwater world the aquarium offered.

When life gets too hectic, I find myself less and less taking the time to sit back and enjoy the system I spent so much blood, sweat and tears putting together. I love to tinker around but sometimes just a glass cleaning becomes the most daunting of tasks and I begin to notice little adjustments I’d hoped to have made six months ago are still on the to do list. In fact there is NO to do list!

I’m using this post to try and motivate myself and provide some accountability to myself and my tank upkeep. There are some really good things happening for me in my life, I just need to learn to not only take time for myself but take quality, productive time for myself. I’m getting the great opportunity to test out a new skimmer by Grey Seas Aquatics that will most likely mean I will HAVE to get under the tank and take care of a few things around my sump so I might as well take a hard look at things that need to get done down there and get it rocking and rolling.

You might think of all the time we think we spend on the hobby. We post on a few forums and are constantly “checking in” to see what’s new. We read wonderful blogs (like this one!), feed our fish, clean the glass, etc., but are we just spending time or taking quality time to really enjoy our tanks and make sure they are operating the best they can be to make your aqua-pets happy (don’t forget we have living things we are taking care of–don’t they deserve the best too?).

So here are some things I’m going to try and implement in my life to see if it will make a difference. I could probably go on and on with more great things to do but I want to start small. If you have any ideas or tips that work for you, chime in on the comments!

• Track your time: I really hate tracking my time for work and personal life but maybe keeping a simple log of your day will help ID areas where you can consolidate or eliminate things. It will also probably give you a better understanding of your daily routine and what days or times are best to take you time. We all love hitting the boards looking for new ideas, corals and fish, and to check up on our fellow reefers trials and tribulations but maybe taking some of that time and applying it to your tank and yourself would help.
• Identify and track your maintenance: Plenty of really smart people have helped this hobby out and there is no shortage of maintenance schedule “cheat sheets” out there to help you out. Take one of these and then think about your tank and your needs and try to stick with it. Spread out the load so you’re not taking every second Saturday of the month to tackle it all. This will also make it feel less like “work.” Use calendar alerts on your phone or email client to remind you to do things like make up new saltwater, set a schedule to order new light bulbs, etc.
• Take 15 minutes for just you and your tank: Pull up your chair, drop in some food and just sit and watch your tank for 15 minutes each day. You might have to sit on your hands to resist the urge to “tinker” but do it. Don’t stress about not liking your rockwork, this is time to enjoy what is going RIGHT! Not only is this a great way to enjoy your hard work but it is also thereputic and a great way to de-stress. Make the time and make it just about your tank and enjoying the beauty even in your worst hair algae outbreak. Ask your family to give you that quiet time with no distractions and don’t let your mind wander to work or anything else…..enjoy and savor it!
• Take time for family and friends: I know I have phone calls to distant family and friends to catch up on as well as making better use of family time at home. We tend to have lots of things to do around the hobby and is a great fellowship but take the time for your non-reefers too. Something I’m really horrible at is making that quality time at home or getting out of the house and doing something fun. I know the better I do that, the more willing they are to let me spend time around the hobby and actually brings them closer to the hobby.

Pinch me I must be dreaming. I’ve been a big fan of Reef Builders and have made it a part of my daily-dose of reef knowledge and was stoked to be asked to do some contributing pieces on Blue-Collar Reefing but was honored when they approached me to become more of a permanent fixture on the writing staff.

So right before MACNA, I made my first post as part of the day-to-day writing team and its been a lot of fun. I should be contributing 3-5 posts a week or more, depending on what’s going on in the industry. It’s fun to be a part of a great staff of reefers all looking to bring the latest and greatest news, products and analysis behind this great hobby.

What does this mean for Ocean@Home? Well I’m still going to be writing and contributing my thoughts right here. There are topics, ideas and opinions that come across my mind that are a better fit for this blog. I plan on doing more commentary on what’s going on with my personal experiences in my tank and around the hobby. I think this adds a nice one-two punch to my thoughts and hopefully will be able to give you all even more great and useful information!

Want to get a peek at what I’ve written so far at Reef Builders? Take a looksie over here.

I know they had discussed the upgrade and it was publicly posted but today I’ve been stuck waiting to make a post for our club’s event as they do the rollout. My first attempt at posting today included the typical way of getting customized text and hyperlinks into the post–manually. The old format included buttons to insert the code but it was almost counterproductive and much easier to learn the basic codes and insert them manually. Most of the time it was just easier to ignore it and just do simple text.

I nearly got the post up the first time but from the time I began to write it, to the time I was going to post it, the database and software upgrade was in progress. So I waited patiently, clicking refresh every 15 minutes or so waiting for her to come back up. Finally I got a glimpse of the new site and really liked it. It’s nothing new and extremely whiz-bang, just the kinds of features you’ve seen on other more up-to-date forums.

So there I was, typing and formatting away ready to post again in the new format when they decided to do some checks on the forum database and I was stuck again! I guess the moral of the story is I guess our club, the Northern Valley Reefers, really needs to host our own forum and not on Reef Central!

I wish they has some of the speaker sessions and workshops streaming but I haven’t been able to find out if they will. If it were up to me, I’d stream sessions for free. Sure you are giving away info, but it will also spread the vibe the show has and infect some future attendees! If you know of any other places sharing info on MACNA, let me know.

Twitter: Not familiar with this service? It’s a simple way to share tidbits of information in 140 character or less. Plus with the addition of apps like TwitPic and TweetPhoto, you can snap pictures and share right away. The perfect vehicle for quick updates like “OMG! Just saw the new Warner Marine skimmer at MACNA … awesome!” I’ve already got a peek at the goody bag they’re handing out thanks to @drimo717 and his TweetPhoto.

Blogs: We’ve gotten quite used to live blogging from all sorts of events and MACNA should be no exception. We’ll hope our favorite blogs will not being having any internet issues and can pump out information to us. I know Reef Builders already primed the pumps (no pun intended) with lots of sneak peeks earlier this week and they’re already onsite and scoping for news. Jeff will be on hand from Frag’d It and from my Twitter stream, I heard that Jeff should be there any time. Also looke like Eric and the GBD team will be there. Check out your other favorite blogs to see if they have some news coming from the event.

Word of Mouth: If you really are patient (who is in the digital age!) you can do it the old fashioned way — wait for your friend to come home, acclimate his new corals, catch up on sleep, knock out that “Honey Do” list that suddenly got HUGE because they took off for a “Fun” weekend and then fill you in on all the details. I’ll be waiting for the trickle down news to come through, but I’ll definitely be hitting refresh in my browser all weekend (while taking care of MY “Honey Do” list!).

• Buy Used — This one sounds like a no-brainer but probably one people don’t take advantage of often enough. You always hear about the people that get out of the hobby after just a few months or the person making that upgrade — this is a great time to get what you need. Please do your homework though and realize most often a seller is going to be looking to recoup as much of their investment as possible and paying 80-plus percent of retail for a used pump doesn’t always equate to the best deal. Often times you can find great deals on things that might just need a little cleaning or a new part. Buying a new $80 pump for a skimmer you bought for $100 that retails for over $400 is a pretty good deal that just saved you $220 for other stuff!
• Save Up and Make One Big Purchase — Most online vendors are going to have some deal on free shipping if you spend enough. Also it can’t hurt to ask for a discount on a large order. Let’s say you are going to spend $800 on lights, another $300 on a skimmer plus another few hundred on various stuff, that’s one big order that they are getting. Asking if they offer any discounts on large orders may be able to save you another 10, 15 or maybe even 20%! Remember, if you don’t ask, the question is already no. Also be polite about it and don’t try to strong arm or bully your way into it. Vendors are looking to make a great relationship with you as a customer and being difficult is not a way to start things off. The old adage “you catch more flies with honey than vinegar” holds true here!
• Group Buys — There are power in numbers. Many places will cater to the group buy or club buys giving you a discount and helping defer the shipping costs. Just ask your favorite vendor about their group buy policy. Some will ship it all to one place, while others will give you a great discount and let each person purchase individually making it simple since you are not having to collect money or figure out pickup and drop-off times. Just be careful and make sure you’re not ponying up all the money and hoping to get it after the delivery, there are many horror stories about people getting left with the bill!
• Buy Locally — Sometimes there is just a HUGE difference in price between something sold online and what is on the local store’s shelf but most of the time the difference is not that much if you take into consideration shipping and other charges. A lot of the good LFS’s are very competitively priced and their wholesalers and distributors are good at taking care of the brick-and-mortar shops. Also it takes money to have things on the shelf, so if you don’t see it on the shelf see if they can order it for you. It only takes a few days and it helps keep your local proprietor in business. I ordered a pump from my favorite LFS and he had it two days later with a price that very comparable to an online purchase — he’s happy and I’m happy!
• Trade — Chances are there is someone around your area that has something you need and you have something they need. Use your local group forum and put what you have up and ask for something you want in return. It’s simple enough and will make both parties happy!
• Join a Club — Not only do you get to socialize with fellow local reefers, clubs usually have some great sponsors both online and local giving club members discounts! For our club the $20 I spend on a membership is pretty much paid for after a few purchases I’d be making anyway. The club gets happy members and great raffle prizes and the store/vendor gets customers — a definite win/win!
• Get Online and Use Social Media — I’m a big fan of social media and sites like Twitter and Facebook. The great thing about social media is it has turned the internet into a conversation! It’s no longer one way and is a great opportunity for companies to reach out directly to consumers and participate in conversations with you. See if your favorite store or vendor is on Twitter and follow them and check out to see if they have a page on Facebook and join that. It is a great way to hear about new products and what’s happening as well as a great way to announce specials. I’ve gotten many “Tweets” from vendors having sales or giving a promo code for a discount.
• Watch for Holiday Sales — Many places will have sales around major holidays. If you have the time and can wait a bit, see if they are running any sales! Summer is usually a pretty slow time in the industry and you’ll generally find sales and specials around Memorial Day, Fourth of July and Labor Day. Also I’ve been noticing vendors are starting to get in on the Black Friday theme around the Thanksgiving Weekend with great specials if you act early before the holiday rush.

Have any other tips for saving money on your purchases? Add your tips below!