My friend Scott Fellman sure is coming out firing with great commentary and topics over at Reef Builders and today’s post is no different. Scott’s latest musing is titled “Energy Efficient Reefkeeping: 8 Tips to Help Save Money and Energy” and has some great tips to help cut back on the energy hogs our aquariums can become and a perfect Blue-Collar Reefing topic. I have decided to include Scott’s tips below as well as add my two cents worth to the conversation. Great job Scott and keep the great posts coming!

Another great vendor I was able to spend some time with at IMAC West was Piscine Energetics makers of a great product PE Mysis. Since the show, I’ve also heard a few great chats on the great product on Blue Zoo Radio with host Frank Reece and PE’s Nuri Fisher and the story behind this great food for your reef critters is just a fantastic as the product. I ended up leaving the show with four packs of PE Mysis and so far, they are a hit.

One of the best and most comprehensive magazines in the saltwater hobby is CORAL Magazine. Contrary to rumors on forum boards, the magazine is still alive and kicking after moving to a new publisher. I was able to catch up with the current U.S. editor and publisher, James Lawrence, at IMAC West last weekend and get a hands-on look at the current magazine and have to say, the quality of the magazine is phenomenal.

I was excited and depressed at the same time reading that MACNA XXII (Marine Aquarium Conference of North America) will be held in Orlando, FL and hosted by ORCA, the Orlando Reef Caretakers Association (big kudos for the name! I love it!). Excited because this is the crème de la crème of hobby events but depressed realizing once again, MACNA is being held back East making it more economically challenging for us “Left Coasters” to attend.

I’ve started contributing to one of the best reefing news sites Reef Builders for the last few months and am pleased to announce my latest post “If it’s Broke, Better Fix it” went live yesterday. What a great Father’s Day surprise!

UPDATE: The BAYMAC website is up and running with the event schedule, a great list of raffle sponsors and more! Visit www.thebaymac.com for more info!

Acrylic lends itself quite well to the hobby so its no wonder why so many people find this a valuable material for DIY and commercial applications. It is readily available, reasonably inexpensive, easily cut and fabricated and is inert meaning it doesn’t leech off any negative substances or reacts with the saltwater in our systems. There is a lot you can do with acrylic from a simple box to complex components like protein skimmers and media reactors. The best part is, it is not as difficult to work with as you may think. Here are some quick tips and tutorials on working with acrylic. I hope you find something useful and take the plunge and give it a shot.

I’m going to tell you something and promise not to laugh? I’ve never seen the movie “Finding Nemo” but the good thing is the movie did not inspire me to get into the hobby so “Nemo” was not on my list as the first fish I bought. When I got bitten by the saltwater bug in the mid-1990s I wanted to get a Flame Angel, an anemone and some clowns. I have yet to get the anemone opting for a frogspawn coral but have a pair of Oscellaris or False Percula clowns in the tank. The interesting and peaceful fish are a great addition to any reef tank.

If you recall, one of my mantras for Blue-Collar Reefing is to know the difference between cheap and inexpensive. Granted, this is definitely about the cheap side of things but a great way to stretch your budget getting tons of little additional tools and goodies to help out in the hobby. Take advantage of the dollar or 99¢ stores around-you’d be surprised what you can get.

I wanted to do a spotlight on a friend’s site since it was through my site that we met. Tatu Vaajalahti of Finland has a great site as his outlet in the hobby called “Grumpy Old Reefer” and I just love his tagline–opinionated and most of the time grumpy postings about reef aquariums.