New Adventures in Marine Landscaping
Posted on July 18, 2006 in Life , ReefkeepingI have always been fascinated by fish, the ocean and other aquatic mammals. Don't believe me?Ask any of my roommates who have watched me lock myself in my room for the entire duration of Shark Week on the Discovery Channel only surfacing long enough to prevent bed sores from forming. [Shark Week 2006 starts Sun, July 30, at 9 p.m. ET/PT on the Discovery Channel – are you ready?]
I decided a while back that aquariums kicked ass and I am finally jumping in -– in typical Webster style -– head first with my first large Marine Tank.
For you non-reefers out there (not that kind of reefer) a Marine tank is also known as a “Saltwater tank” which can sustain life for not only fish, hermit crabs and invertebrates, but will also support the growth of a real live coral reef. It’s like scuba diving in your own living room, without the fishy smell and the possibility of getting the bends.
There is tons involved with operating a marine tank, as opposed to a freshwater tank and I have been reading feverishly over the past week to decide what my best course of action is. Now with a little help from my brother Joe, I am the proud owner of a 72 gallon bow-front fish tank.
There is still a ton to buy which includes $300 worth of filters and accessories, 90 lbs of sand and 90lbs of rock at $3 a pound – nobody said this was going to be cheap and easy.
I’m going to start with some Clownfish because supposedly they are easy to take care of and then I will progress slowly to a live, living, breathing coral reef where I hope to have hermit crabs, live coral, some angel fish and maybe some Seahorses.
I’ll try to randomly post pictures of my progress and some detailed information of project codename: "finding Nemo" – who knows I may need help in naming some of my new little friends.
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That's f'n sweet, Web. The old lady and I were just discussing this the other day. I remember about 10 years ago thinking it'd be awesome to have a saltwater tank. Then I found out it's like having a part-time job - tons of research and time and energy goes into getting the balance of the water content just right, etc. Plus I heard that the fish can be ridiculously expensive ($700 for a freakin' seahorse?!? C'mon!).
Good luck with it though and post some pics when you can.
Hey Mike -- yah like 10 years ago it was impossible to do on a small scale because the equipment only existed for large scale aquariums. But recently new advances in lighting and filtration have paved the way.
Its sill not simple by any means -- need to learn a lot and i'm only scratching the surface. Nitrate, NitrIte, Amonia, Cycles, PH, Salinity, Live Rock, Dry Rock and more acronyms than an obscure personal ad inquiring about S&M.
My main goal is to get a working tank without killing any fishies. That means I may have a large box of water in my house for a month before I figure out how to get the fucker to stabilize.
The fish can be expensive but they don't have to be. Just depends on how uncommon you want your tank to be. You can raise Morey Eels if you want and feed them baby sharks .. but that would be costly.
Clownfish are the staple of beginners because they are only like 10.00 each and they are pretty hardy.
Its a hobby, it's supposed to be challenging and fun -- so far, it is.
Sounds pretty cool, man. I'm fascinated by it for all of the same reasons you are.
BTW, you've got pics up of you and Lisa scuba diving. Did you guys get certified? If you're that into marine life/the ocean/etc. you should check it out.
No Mike, We did not have to get certified but we are somewhat interested in doing so. Have you been diving in the northeast, is it worth it? Can you see anything?
I figured that this is not a great region for exploring because of the lack of coral reef and out type of water (EFFING COLD) -- but I hear the shipwrecks are cool.
No, we haven't been diving up here in the Northeast yet. It basically just requires you to wear a much thicker wetsuit because it's most definitely cold. The visibility isn't what you'd find in the Caribbean or any other tropical locale, but it's just one of those things. If you like it enough, you'll find a way to enjoy it @ home. Our dive sessions were in 90 degree water in Key West. You'd be lucky if the water temp hits 70 degrees here in the dead of August.
This shipwrecks here are supposed to be amazing and there are a ton of sites dedicated just to providing info about these wrecks so they're fairly easy to find.
Check out scubaboard.com - it's a great community of people.
Let me know if you guys do get certified. I'd love to hear how it went. Total cost is around $300 for everything, including equipment rental, boat fees, classroom materials, etc.