Happy Holidays!!!

Merry Christmas (belated) and Happy New Year!  It has been a hectic couple of weeks here, what with all of the family events and things to do.  But, rest assured that my tank saw a lot of action this week (some good, some bad).

I have my first death to report.  The baby half moon angel died after just a week in the tank.  He disappeared for a few days (he was getting harassed) and he showed up dead a few days before Christmas. 

In the meantime, I got a nasty outbreak of both hair algae and cyanobacteria.  And, at the same time, my macroalgae (chaetomorpha) was melting away in my refugium!  Oh no... 

This was so much easier in my little 14g BioCube (where it was supposed to be so difficult).

Well, I managed to figure out the problem in the fuge, I think.  The lights were too close to the water and the chaeto was cooking.  Apparently, it is very temperature sensitive!  So, I raised the lights and it seems that the chaeto is coming back nicely.

My cyano is going away, but the hair algae is still there in full force.  I will give it some time and see what happens.

Meanwhile, my elegance coral bit the dust.  That hurts!

And, the other Christmas present from my wife, the majestic angel had experienced a lot of stress in the new tank and his color was fading badly. I am doing Melafix in the main tank because we could not catch him (and we tried for a half hour) and he seems to be doing a little better.

Who says a bigger tank is easier than a small one?

But, the good news is that everyone else is doing very well.  And I got three firefish for Christmas from a family friend.  

The rest of the fish and coral look great!

Jay (from the Delaware Valley Reef Club) gave me four SPS and they are doing great too!  I got a Tyree Pink Lemonade, ORA Cali Torte, ORA Fuzzy Blue Stag, and one other from Jay!  All beautiful!

More to come!  Happy New Year!

My "early" Christmas Present

Well, my wife took me for a drive on Saturday and we went up to  AZ Pets & Pondz in Reading.  What a great fish room.  She took me there to buy my Christmas present.  I got 2 fish.  First was a majestic angel.  What a beautiful fish.  Really nice colors.  And there was a little tiny half moon angelfish juvenile, couldn't be more than the size of a quarter.  So, I bought him too.

I really love both of these fish.  We will see how they do in the tank however.  So far, my yellow tang is annoying the majestic and the 6-line wrasse is annoying the baby half moon.

I also bought myself a little early Christmas present, an elegance coral. For those of you not familiar, the elegance is a beautiful coral that was once in abundance.  These corals were great for beginners and very hardy.  But over the last couple of years, they have gone down hill, where recent stats show as few as 1 in 30 surviving.  But, I got mine from Australia, which is about the only place you can get an elegance that will survive.  So far, so good.  I have had it for only 10 days though.

Also, I got some nice frags from Angel at the DVRC Holiday Party. 

Here are some of the latest pics of my tank and some not-so-good shots of the two new fish.

 

 

 

My 125g ate my BioCube!!!

Well, I made the BIG move last night.  It took almost 3 hours with all of the drip acclimation, but I moved the contents of the BioCube into the main tank!

First, I drained some of the water and put it in a Tupperware  container.  Then I took out the corals that were not fully attached to my main rock.  I let them drip acclimate for 45 minutes and then placed them in the tank.

Then, I drained much more of the water and pulled out the rock (it was one large piece).  I used a razor to scrape off all of the bubble algae and placed it in a larger tub.  That rock had the  following on it:

• 6-7 ricordeas
• 1 bubble-tip anemone
• a blue zoa colony with about 18 heads

I also removed the fish and put them in the same container which I drip acclimated for another 45 minutes and then did some minor aquascaping to make room and put everything in the new tank!

So far, all looks okay.

The anemone is on the move trying to hide a little more.  The fish are all a little skittish.

I put the trumpets too high I think and the branching frogspawn in the direct path of too much flow, so I will have to move them, but otherwise, all looks stable.

The leather looks great and my ultra crocea clam looks better than ever!

I am running the halides on a shorter schedule to help them acclimate since they were all previously under 48w of power compact lighting.

Once I get my camera out of my wife's purse, I will upload some pictures.

Which brings up another point.  What do I do with the BioCube?  My wife bought it for me for Christmas last year.  It is now empty (and I have to clean it out).  I don't want to sell it because she gave it to me.  I think she might be upset too.

Maybe I can convince her to make it a sea horse tank!!!  lol... not likely...

Scientists trying to save Coral Triangle

Wow... 2 articles in 2 days about the reefs dying...   I hope everyone is paying attention.   

For time beyond memory on this remote bay of neon fish and underwater gardens, people have avoided the "masalai," taboo waters, where a monster octopus might lurk or spirits dwell in coral caves. Now it's science that wants no-go zones in Kimbe Bay, and it's because of a new fear.

From the Caribbean to the Indian Ocean to the central Pacific, global warming and the sea's rising temperatures have been "bleaching" and killing the world's coral reefs.

It's in Kimbe Bay, and in the surrounding triangle of sea stretching from Indonesia up to the Philippines and down to the Solomon Islands, that the strange, beautiful form of life known as coral may someday have to make its last stand.

Read more...

Using electricity to revive the reefs in Bali

There is an excellent article from the AP on how low-voltage electricity is being used to stimulate the reefs to grow. 

While it is impractical to be used on a large scale, the results are impressive. 

Read more...

The things we find...

hiding in live rock.

So far my list of interesting things found in my live rock include:

• many bristleworms
• many peanut worms
• a beautiful, full size feather duster
• 2 asterina starfish
• multiple outcroppings of an as-of-yet unidentified red marine plant/shrub
• 2 very cool, but altogether different chitons. (to the right)
• I also believe I found a small bubble-tipped anemone, but it is almost too small to be sure.  It is about the size of a small zoanthid head right now.

Can't wait to see what else pops up!

17,000 gallon Tank Build

Yes, you read that right.  A 17,000 gallon reef tank!!!

There is a forum over at The Reef Tank that is now 48 pages long.  But, man is it worth checking out.

I have been following along with the progression for about 6 months now and realized that many of you may not have seen it.
Bill (some guy) is building a new house with a 17,000 gallon reef tank in it.  It is not done yet.  He just water tested it and is now on vacation for a week, but aquascaping starts next week from what I understand.

In the midst of all this, you get to see pictures of his house (in Illinois, I think) as it is being built and his birthday present to himself (Ferrari) and his break-up with his girlfriend which almost ended the tank build.

It is worth a read and there are plenty of pictures.
Check it out here.

An update on the family and the tank

As I stated when I started this blog, I would also discuss how this tank impacts my family relations.  As many of you know, it is a constant battle with a spouse who is not fully involved.  The issues are all about time and money and how much we spend on each.

Well, I was definitely in the dog house for a while.  Getting the plumbing done and running was very important and it took many more hours than I thought it would (of course).  During that time, my wife was left to watch the kids (who can be a handful).  I knew it was a problem and I was just as frustrated as she was that it was taking so long, but there wasn't much I could about it.  It needed to be done and quickly or the entire investment would be lost.

After the fuge went online last week, my need to tinker with the tank went way down.  And, because I designed it correctly, a water change (25 gallons) takes about 7 minutes.  That is huge.  So, I was home all last week and off Thursday and Friday and spent what I consider to be a very little amount of time with the tank.  I actually just got to sit and look at it and I really enjoyed it, even with all the green algae. 

And my 2 year old daughter sits on my lap and likes to watch the fish and snails and crabs.  My 2 month old just stares at it in awe...

its so great.  And my wife even commented on how I have been "around" all weekend!!!  So, we are moving in the right direction.

Quick Update on the tank

Well, my algae still persists.  But, this is normal as you reach the end of the Nitrogen cycle.  This is where patience really comes into play.

My ammonia and nitrites are down to zero, but my nitrates are still way high.

Why?  Here are some reasons:

• Remember that the tank existed for about 18 days with no filtration, just a recirculating flow and  6 fish adding lots of detritus (read: poop) because the plumbing was not done.
• The live rock that came with the tank was not to my satisfaction and I have since replaced all of it over the last 3 weeks (4 times).  This meant almost starting over.
• I have re-aquascaped the rock several times (the last time was yesterday and hopefully THE LAST TIME).
• I had no refugium until last Sunday, so there was no additional biological filtration besides the liver rock.  The fuge now has lots of chaeto, real live sand, and more live rock.
• My clean-up crew (CUC) is not enough to keep the nuisance algae to a minimum yet.

So, those are the reasons.  Regardless, the algae seems to have leveled off and might even be dissipating slightly.  The skimmer is pulling out lots of good junk.  The fuge is working well.  The CUC is catching up.

My nitrates went from off the scale (over 200ppm) to about 60ppm) now.  I am hoping that I can move over the BioCube contents (fish, rock, coral) this weekend.

As a test, I moved my purple gorgonia this weekend and it is doing very well.  I also moved over my queen conch and bought 2 additional conchs.  They do wonders on the sand bed.

I lost one of my 5 emerald crabs.  Found his carcass in the back corner.  Not sure if I crushed him in my aquascaping efforts (as I suspect) or for some other reason.

I am seeing lots of life in the tank now.  Bristleworms, copepods, mini feather dusters.  Plus, there is a nice full size feather duster that is very pretty that hitchhiked in on one of my rocks.  He is doing well, too.

Algae, Algae Everywhere

The refugium went online on Sunday after replacing the broken  tank.  And, besides a small leak on one of the overflows (fixed), the system has been running fully for almost 3 days!

Over the weekend I went to AZ Pets & Pondz in Reading, PA.  For any of you local reefers, it is worth the drive for the rock alone!  And, Mike, who runs the fish room, is very knowledgeable.  (they are known for their pond supplies, but their saltwater fish/coral section is pretty cool, too)

So, I bought another 50+lbs of live rock, 35lbs of live sand (not  the bagged junk, but right from their tanks) and an Oceanic sump that I converted to a fuge.

All is now good with the system. However, because I have replaced all of the rock in the last 3-4 weeks, I am still suffering through a longer than usual cycle.  My nitrates are still around 80ppm and I have  been doing 25 gallon water changes for 4 days straight now, not to mention the additional 45 gallons of new water that was used when I brought the fuge on line.

In addition, my tank is covered with algae.  I mean completely.  On the right hand side, on the sand, there is the brown slime algae and the rest of the tank (sand, glass, rocks) has a nice green coat of algae.  Add to that , the water has a white-ish haze to it, I am now fully engulfed in algae. 

The protein skimmer is working overtime and doing great, though I am still dialing it in a little.

In addition to the skimmer, I also have a full bag of ChemiPure Elite in there, three small bags of Algone and a Phosban Reactor running with 150ml of Phosban.

The fuge has 35lbs of live sand, long with a large amount of chaeto and a piece of live rock. 

I will post more pictures as the tank clears.  As a test, I moved my conch from my BioCube to the big tank and I also moved my purple gorgonia to see how he fairs in the murky waters.  He has opened his feeders so I guess that is a good sign.

I am also excited to see a population of copepods in the tank.  My coral beauty and yellow tang are dining on them a bit, I think, because they keep picking at the rocks.  But, that will change when I start a regular feeding process.  I am holding back right now because I don't want to add excess detritus. 

Once my algae goes away (I hope another week), and my nitrates go to zero, I will begin the process of moving my other fish and coral from the 14 gallon BioCube over to the main tank.  I am really hoping that this algae dies off quickly.  It is rather annoying.

For now, though,I will leave you with this FTS (full tank shot).

Delaware Valley Reef Club

So, a new reef club was formed in the last few weeks.  The Delaware Valley Reef Club serves Southeastern PA, Southern NJ, and Northern Delaware.  While I have yet to make a meeting, I am working on building the website for the organization.

Though it lacks content right now and hasn't officially been unveiled to the club yet, I wanted to let everyone know the URL so you could check it out:  www.delvalreefclub.org

It is based on Joomla with a RocketTheme layered over it.  Also, I have gotten a lot of help from Phyllis over at the NJ Reefers Club!  Thanks, Phyllis!

All Systems Go!!!

It has been a long, hard couple of weeks.  But, I am proud to announce that at 6:52pm on Monday, November 12, 2007, the system officially went online! 

The main plumbing system (minus the refugium) has been running for about 30 minutes now.  Let me describe what has happened over the last couple of weeks.

Plumbers are hard to come by.  Could not get anyone to show up for 2 weeks.  So, I decided to do it myself. 

A friend of a friend is an apprentice and he helped me get the RO/DI unit up and running on November 3.  So, at least I was making water.

Took my two tanks to Eagle Glass to be drilled and to have baffles made.  Don't ever ever use them.  They took forever.  Almost three weeks to cut 3 holes and they kept promising me tomorrow for days.  As it is, they never made the baffles.  So, here's some advice. If you ever need glass or acrylic cut, go to Lowes.  They have everything and will cut it for you while you wait.  No charge!

I spent the better part of November 3/4 trying to do the plumbing.  It was very difficult and by late Sunday night (November 4), I had the plumbing through the walls and hooked up tot he tank, but nothing at the back end inn the basement.

Picked up the tanks on Thursday, and (as mentioned above) Lowes cut my baffles on Saturday.

This past Saturday (November 10) I finished off the plumbing and began to try to test for leaks.  In the process, I cracked the glass on the refugium.  So, I am down a tank right now and another is on order.

I had a minor leak at the drain of the sump, but I managed to fix that with some silicone.

Powered on the pump and had lots of problems!!!  Turns out I had plumbed the drain to the return and vice versa!!!  Ugh!!!

Luckily, I had installed unions in the basement and was able to simply switch them (after getting soaked).

But, I had a new problem.  The drain side under the tank was leaking badly.  Sunday night and I am off to Pickering Valley Farm and Feed to buy new hoses.  Last night I hooked up all of the new flexible plumbing to the tank, sealed it with silicone and put on clamps. 

Tonight, my dad came over and we fired it up and balanced the system for drain/return. 

It's alive!!!

The protein skimmer is on and in the breaking-in state.  The flow is really nice in the aquarium and lots of detritus is being moved around.  I am just hoping it makes it to the basement to get cleaned out...

I will let this run unchanged until I return from work on Thursday night and then begin the process of checking all my levels and hopefully move some of my coral in this weekend!!!

Slowly but Surely

I am making progress every day with the tank, but I am still far from where I should be.  The big mistake here was buying a tank already set-up and not having the plumbing ready to go. 

I am now roughly 3 weeks into having the tank (with fish in it) but no filtration is happening. 

Over the weekend, I managed to run the plumbing from the tank to the basement.  Both the drain lines and the returns are hooked up to the tank and the plumbing is run to my make-shift fish room in the basement.  It was a bear getting the lines run from the living room down.  We ended up cutting a few holes in the closet on the other side of the wall from the tank and then drilling a big hole in the sub-floor.  We then went from the basement up.  I ran 2 lines of 1 1.2 inch Spa Flex horizontally through the floor and then up into the living room.  However, the lines are not finished in the basement.  They are just hanging out of the ceiling.

Why?  Because the folks at Eagle Glass can't seem to find the time to drill three little holes in my two tanks for the basement.  They have had them for over 2 weeks and keep telling me they will have them tomorrow.  I got pretty ticked off at them Friday morning and they said I could pick them up Friday evening.  Went down at 4pm and 5pm and 6pm and no one was there.  Worse yet, I can see the tanks through the window and they are not even started. 

Unfortunately, I am going away for 3 days now and I am praying they will have them done when I return.  Then I can finish the plumbing and get this thing powered up on Wednesday night.

Also, I got the RO/DI unit all plumbed and it is making nice clean water.  Unfortunately, I ran into an issue there too.  We have that draining into the sump in the basement (the one used for the bathroom, not for flooding).  Well, it failed last night and I had a fair amount of water on the floor.  Luckily, it was in the back area and just concrete foundation, not the finished area.  But, the hits just keep on coming.

So, the plan is to finish up on Wednesday night and fire up the pump and get some filtration going!!!

Oh I also got my 50lbs of Florida rock from Live Rock International.  It was a lot of rubble and much of it was crushed in transit.  So, I ordered 50lbs more from Premium Aquatics and that came Saturday.  It went right in the tank and is very very nice rock.  I also added a CUC (clean-up crew) of three varieties of snails and scarlet hermit crabs (also from Premium Aquatics) and they are taking care of the algae bloom from the cycle.

I hope these fish last until I can et some filtration going.

Update on my 125 gallon adventure

Well....  Things are moving along slowly.  Here is where we are right now...

I have sold a bunch of the equipment that came with the tank itself in the past week and replaced it with new stuff.  Here is a list of what has changed.  But, before I give you the list, I can tell you that the plumbing is not yet complete.  It should happen this week.  The tanks for the sump and refugium are at the glass shop to be drilled and should be done tomorrow.  The bulkheads are sitting on my desk ready and waiting.

	OLD	NEW
Lighting	440w VHO in the original canopy	Current Outer Orbit Pro 3x250MH and 8x39w T5 (no more canopy)
Filtering	2 Wet/dry filters (one is sold)	Separate 29g refugium and 29g sump
Skimmer	Berlin Hang-on (sold)	AquaC EV-180 w/ Mag-7 pump
Flow	2x Koralia-1s (sold)	2x Vortechs w/wireless controllers
Main Pump	2x Rio2100s (sale pending)	Blueline HD70
Live Rock	200+lbs in okay shape	50+lbs Florida Aquacultured & 50+lbs Marshall Island plus 20lbs from my BioCube
Sand	none (bare bottom)	180lbs total (aragonite, crushed coral)

I got 12 snails and an emerald crab from someone on the forums and the existing fish are doing fine.

The cycle is in process and my ammonia and nitrites are down to almost zero, but my Nitrates are spiking.  Unfortunately, I will have to endure another mini-cycle soon when I replace the old rock with the new rock.  I will be re-curing the new rock for a few days when it arrives tomorrow to minimize the cycle.

The old rock was not as bad as I thought, incidentally.  I scrubbed it all down and dipped it in fresh water before putting it in the tank (and then deciding to replace it).  Last night I saw a few bristle worms, a peanut worm, and a few baby feather dusters.  But, it still has a fair amount of hair algae coming back.  This is going to be a very painful set-up when all is said and done, but I think the end result will be better with the new rock.

Day One - Water, Sand, Rock and... Fish???

Yesterday was a busy day.  I spent most of the time cleaning the rock and trying to figure out what pieces were worth putting back in the tank. 

Not many. 

So, I chose the best that I could, scrubbed them down, dipped them in fresh water and moved them into the empty tank.  Next came the sand.  I put in about 150lbs of aragonite and crushed coral.

Then I took the green (barely salt) water that made the move and filled the tank to about 2 inches below the overflows. Next came the new lights (Outer Orbit Pro) and the flow (2 Vortechs with wireless controllers).

No plumbing right now.  The plan is to plumb everything into the  basement.  Here is a picture of how the plumbing will work (if I can ever find a plumber to help me out.)  I was going to buy a premade sump and a premade refugium from That Pet Place, but they were each $300 and the guy at the store convinced me to buy glass tanks and build them myself.   UGH...  I am not a DIY guy when it comes to this sort of thing, so now I need to go find a glass guy.

This set-up will have many benefits once complete.  First, all of the noise and a lot of the water will be downstairs. That means no pumps to listen to, no protein skimmers, etc. in the living room.  Second, the basement is much cooler.   When fully operational I will have about 180 gallons of water in the system and 60 of it will be down stairs where it is about 65 degrees.  Lastly, and this is the best part, water changes are simply a matter of turning 5 valves.  No siphons, no buckets, no time drain!!!

And, for those of you keeping up, here is a shot of the tank right now.

As the title of the post says, yes there are fish in there.  The tank came with about 6 fish and they have been living (and dying) in the garage.  No one bit the dust yet, but the water in that tank was horrible and the stress on them was terrible.  So, my wife and I decided that they will definitely die in the old water and they have a better chance of surviving in the big tank.  We will see.  I am hoping that they are tough enough to withstand the cycle.  (Nitrogen cycle)  It couldn't be worse than the conditions they were in back in their old home...

Tank Moving Day!

Yesterday was moving day for the tank.  Four of us left at 7:30 and made the 90 mile trek west to Mechanicsburg, PA.  We arrived slightly before nine and I got to the see the tank in person for the time.  Joe, a fellow reefer and friend who went along for the ride, said, "It's not that bad".  LOL  Well, that offended the guy a little but, let's be honest folks, the tank was in pretty bad shape. 

As suspected, much of the rock was covered with hair algae.  The glass tank has some scratches on it (not visible until I emptied and had it home).  And the filtration and flow set-up was a mess.  And, don't get me started on the lights.

The guy I bought the tank from was very nice, but thought he knew all about... well, everything!!!  So, it took a little patience, but no arguments ensued and I let him lead the way. 

I will be changing the entire filtration system along with lights and flow and I will be only using about half of the rock.  Some of the rock is absolutely beautiful. 

I forgot to bring a camera, but I am taking pictures today as I set this beast up. 

It took 2 full pickup trucks to transport the set-up.  One for the tank, stand and canopy and the other was filled with Sterilite tubs full of live rock and water (and one for the fish).

We were on our way home by 11:15.  We could have saved a half hour if he had not talked so much or let us do more, but c'est la vie.

By 1:30, the entire contents of the two truck were fully unloaded in the garage and I had a power head and heater on the fish.  (they remain in the garage).

My wife really wanted to paint the living room so we spent the rest of the day doing that. 

Today I will be moving the stand and tank into the living room and filling it with new sand, existing live rock and a mix of the GREEN water we took from the original set-up and fresh saltwater.

For the next week or so, the tank will run as a self-contained unit.  I plan to run a whole new plumbing system to the basement and I will post more on that later.

Back to work...

I accidentally bought a 125g tank!

Well folks I finally pulled the trigger on a larger tank, almost inadvertently. I offered a low amount for a Buy it Now set-up on eBay and they accepted my offer.

My initial response is "Oh crap".... now what do I do?

This is a 125g tank, drilled with overflows. The description was not too helpful as to what gear is under the hood. Here is what I do know.

There are no MH lights, only fluorescent tubes, so they will be replaced.

The tank is overfilled with live rock and I will probably be selling off some of it.   The rock has nice coraline algae growth, but also appear to be completely covered with green algae. Not sure if it is hair algae or not.  That means more work.  I will have to make a new batch of salt water, clean the rock with a toothbrush and rinse it and then put it back in the tank.

The plumbing underneath looks to be a wet/dry filter on one side, possibly a protein skimmer in the middle and another wet/dry on the other. (I will see what I can do to use what's there or replace it over time.)

So, while I have gotten a great deal, my work is definitely cut out for me...

Also, I am not sure what my wife thinks about all of this.  It means that I will be gone all day Saturday to pick this thing up and I would have preferred a system that was NOT running, so that means more time.  It also means that there are probably many components that will need to be replaced.  The good news is that I can sell the older stuff off to pay for the new gear.

Anyway, Saturday is the big day!  Three of us will be heading 90 miles west with a pickup and an SUV.   I will take lots of pictures and keep a little diary.  But, in the meantime, here are the pictures from eBay.

That's all for now.  I will post again this weekend when I get back with the tank.

Top Ten Most Costly Mistakes You've Made With Your Reef

Just recently I talked about the Top 10 from Reefkeeping Magazine.  Well, the October issue is now out and their Top 10 list does not disappoint.

This month's Top 10 is related to the costly mistakes we have all made.  Take a look. 

In the meantime, here is my favorite from this month's list:

My most costly mistake was telling my three-year-old daughter that I wanted to get more sand for my reef tank. She got some and added it for me... right out of the cat’s litter box.

On the hunt for the BIG Tank!!!

Well, the time has come to buy that tank.  I have been hunting them down for about 4 months now and my wife has made the call on the stand and canopy.  Now, comes the fun part.  I really wanted to buy a used set-up.  Much like cars, these tanks lose value the minute you put a drop of water in them.  In fact, here is a comparison of the prices you can get items for NEW versus used:

	NEW	USED
210g AGA Aquarium drilled with 2 overflows	700.00	400.00
Stand and Canopy	930.00	500.00
ASM G3- Protein Skimmer	325.00	150.00
Metal Halide Lighting Set-up (3x250w)	750.00	350.00
Wavemaker	135.00	35.00

So, now you can see why I want to find a used tank.  Well, I have been searching both craigslist and eBay in the Philadelphia area and I have "watched" a hundred tanks change hands. I found one that I really liked, but by the time I realized what a deal it was and how nice it was...it was gone.

So, now I am looking at a used one (see table below).  The color is all wrong for the stand and canopy, but the price is great!  If I get this one, I will have to spend a significant amount of time sanding it, and refinishing it. 

My other option is to order a new one.  If I order a tank, it will not be 210g.  It will most likely be a 150 or 180.  I am looking at two different brands right now.  First, there is the AGA tank with the Classic Series stand (mission Maple).  That is the one that my wife and I both like.  The stand and canopy would look nice in the living room.  The other option is Glass Cages (www.glasscages.com).  They make beautiful tanks and I have only heard good things about them.  The other benefit with them is that they will customize the tank for you.  But, I will have to stain the stand myself.

Here is another chart that shows my options right now.  Maybe you can help me decide.  For comparison, they are all 210g set-ups drilled with overflows.

	Used Tank	AGA	Glass Cages
Tank	$900	699.99	$970 (includes, glass covers, bulkheads)
Stand	included	629.99	475
Canopy	included	299.99	200
TOTAL	$900	$1630	$1695

Now that I have laid it all out, I think the best thing to do is to buy the used tank and move on....  I will talk to my wife an give you an update as to what will really happen.

The Fight Against Bubble Algae

I have been having an ongoing battle with bubble algae in my tank for the last couple of months.  For those of you unfamiliar with this type of algae, it spreads very quickly.  Here is a small image that I found on the net.   Anyway, it starts as a single bubble and arrives in your tank primarily from your live rock or on the rock or plug attached to any coral you acquire.  Removing it is very difficult.  You can not break the bubble itself or it will release spores that will cause its exponential growth throughout your tank.  Well, I was doing well in the beginning.  A small bubble cluster appeared and I removed.  Another group popped-up a week or so later and I removed that.  I then ignored a another cluster for a few weeks and it grew significantly.  When I decided it was time to remove it I noticed that one bubble was popped, most likely by my cleaner shrimp who is generally a nuisance.  Well, I popped another one while I was trying to remove it and BAM!, I have bubble algae in about 8 different places now and there is a particular cluster that is about 2 inches in diameter and in a place I can't easily reach.

So, I picked up an emerald crab last week.  Emerald crabs are very cute and generally hide in the crevices of the rock work during the day and blend in rather well.  At night they wander out and eat bubble algae.  They are complete herbivores and peacefully co-exist in a reef tank. 

But, here is the issue.  In order to eat the algae, they must pop it.  That is why I avoided the purchase for so long.  They essentially create a never-ending cycle.  They break the algae and eat which releases spores and creates more algae which they break and eat, etc etc etc.

So, we'll see what happens.  But, I want to solve this problem because this piece of live rock is beautiful and will most likely be the center piece in my large tank.  So far, I have noticed a few popped bubbles. 

Remind me for an update.

Mark Twain's "The Diary of Adam and Eve"

Mark Twain wrote a great short story that is called "The Diary of Adam and Eve".  Essentially, it is the story of Adam and Eve each told from their own point of view from creation until after they are kicked out of the Garden of Eden. It is a very funny read and I highly recommend it.

What does this have to do with me and this blog?  Well, I talk a lot about my wife on here and as I re-read some of this, I get to thinking that it is a one-sided view.  I also think I may have painted my wife in a negative light.  That is not the case.  My wife is a truly fantastic person.  I love her dearly and can't imagine my life without her.  I have a wonderful step daughter because of her and she has also suffered through childbirth twice to give us two more beautiful children, one is almost 2yo and the other just 4 weeks.

She keeps me in line and from overspending on my reef tank and pond.  This is in the best interest of the family!  

The reality is that the fish tank and the pond are just about the only things we disagree on or argue about and given all of the other "problems" that couples have, I think we are in great shape.  After all, in the grand scheme of things, this is a petty argument. 

Anyway, I am thinking that maybe I should invite my wife to have her say and do a post or two.  Might make for an interesting point/counterpoint.... or Adam and Eve, if you will... ;)

Help! I am smoking my tank away

So, I said in the beginning that I would talk about my quest for a big tank and how that impacts the dynamics of the family and my relationship with my wife.  I jump into any hobby with both feet.  I did it with a home networking and video on demand project.  I did it with the construction of our house.  (No, I did not build it, but I visited every single day to make sure it was going well.)  I do with my love of the St. Joe's Hawks (The Hawk Will Never Die).  And I am doing it with my reef tank. 

So, it wasn't long after my wife bought me my current 14g BioCube that I started thinking BIGGER.  I haven't nailed it down yet, but we are talking somewhere between 180 and 240 gallons.  Yes, that's big.

My wife decided that I needed some incentive to quit smoking, so she said, quit smoking, get a tank.  Oh, and don't spend our money!  Well, she didn't really say that, but I took it upon myself to decide that I can only have one hobby with a full house.  So, I sold all of my tech gear (well, most of it) to pay for the new tank. 

And, I officially quit smoking on August 23rd.  I am now over am month into not smoking and I have started my search for the perfect tank. 

Top Ten Reef Purchases You Couldn't Sneak Past Your Spouse

I love Top 10 lists and this one is right up my alley.  Reefkeeping magazine's September Issue has the "Top 10 Reef Purchases you couldn't sneak past your spouse".  What a great concept and it just shows that I am not alone.  Apparently, OCRD is a phenomenon suffered by many, both men and women.  While I have to admit that I don't pass every purchase by my wife (chemicals, etc), I am honest about what I spend and what I buy.  We did have a little discussion about the chiller because it cost more than the tank itself.  But, in the end, it was a good purchase and the discussion helped her better understand the ecosystem I had built along with my passion for it.

Anyway, check out the Top Ten List above, but here is my favorite one that came in at Number 8 on the list: 

My wife caught my friend and I carrying in my new 150-gallon Tenecor tank on the day it was delivered. Good thing it was acrylic because the screams would have shattered glass!

Can't imagine trying to pull that off.  And I haven't even started talking about my pursuit of my ultimate reef tank, a 210g beauty.

Another really good Top 10 from Reefkeeping magazine is the "Top 10 Worst Days in your life as a Reef Keeper".  This was in their February, 2007 issue.  Check that one out too.  In the meantime, here are my two favorites from that list:

It's 11:00pm at night. I'm packed and ready to fly across the Atlantic to a week's vacation in the Canary Islands. The tanks have been cleaned, instructions typed, all is right with the world. UNTIL, my husband kicks the dog's bone down the stairs and BOUNCE - right through the side of my reef tank. 55 gallons of saltwater pouring all over the floor. Fish staring petrified as their environment gushes away! Luckily, I was able to stay up until 4am and throw together a backup tank, move all of the contents to the backup, say a prayer over the tank and leave for vacation. Luckily enough - everything made it through the week! How's that for good karma???

Any day there's a conversation with your wife that involves how much time (or money) you spend on the tank!

 

6 fish in an almost empty pond

How in the world does this happen?  At 4:30 I got a frantic call from my wife about our pond.  For the record, this is another fish "thing" which my wife begrudgingly agreed to.  And it is much smaller than my original plan.  I had planned a 2000 gallon oasis, we ended up with a 155g pond.  Still, it is awesome and I love it.

Well, back to the phone call.  4:30pm.  The pond is almost completely empty.  The 6 fish are basically flopping at the bottom.  No major leak as far as we can see.  So, here are the facts as we know them.  What the heck really happened.

1. 4:30pm - The pond is basically empty.
2. The fountain head is off and has fallen over, essentially shooting a 2 foot arc of water OUT of the pond, thus draining it.

So far it is an open and shut case.  The fish knocked it over and the fountain head fell off.  Nope, now I add the wrinkle.

There is a DEAD bird in the pond.

What the heck?  It is a very small bird.  So, what happened?  Did the bird swoop in to catch a small frog and knock over the fountain and then drowned?

Or did the bird have a heart attack in mid-air and fall into the pond and knock over the fountain?

We may never know...

As of 10:30 tonight, the fish are alive and well and the fountain is working again...and the bird has been buried.

P.S.  Lest I sound like I am complaining about my small pond and small fish tank, I must say in my wife's defense that I have OCRD and OCPD (Obsessive Compulsive Pond Disorder) and I will go overboard if allowed.  I have done this already with my home theater/bar/billiard room and my home network and Media Center set-up.

The Obsession Begins

So, I thought I would talk a little bit about my reef tank history.  For Christmas last year (2006), my wife bought me an Oceanic BioCube.  It is a 14g tank that is all-inclusive. 

By December 29, I had visited 3 different lfs (local fish stores), the best one at that time was 45 minutes away.  Salt water went into the tank along with 14lbs of live rock (at 9.00/lb) and some live sand.

In addition, I had started reading and reading and reading (and that is what had my wife frustrated most of the time).  I bought a few books and discovered many forums online including the two I continue to use today (Reef Central and Nano Reef).  I also learned a ton from Melev (Melev's Reef).  I ended up spending 2 hours a night on these forums at least at least for the first few weeks.

And, boy did I learn a lot!  I learned that, although my tank was all-inclusive, the reality is that I should do a bunch of mods (modifications) to make it really shine.  And thus, I spent more money!

What did I mod?

• Turn Chamber 2 into a refugium (scrape the glass, add a light, remove bioballs, add chaeto and live rock rubble)
• Remove the pad from Chamber 1 and add bags of Chemipure and Purigen and Algone.
• Add a more powerful pump and put on a HydorFlo.

Not too bad, all things considered.  But, I had spent about $400 so far and not added any fish or corals.

Now, add fish and corals and I am up to about $1000.  Plus, summer arrived and I needed to add a chiller.  That was another $350.  Bear in mind that the tank was a gift but only cost about $250 for the tank and stand.  Now, you can realize what an expensive little hobby this has become.

Anyway, I expanded my geography for local fish stores and I now frequent about 10 different places between home and my office (which is 100 miles away).  I do visit the forums less and don't spend nearly the amount of time that I used to on my PC reading.  As with anything, I have accumulated a good base of knowledge and go back to the web for specific questions and just to see what's up.

About 3 months in I started looking at bigger tanks.  Why?  Well, my tank is awesome, but it is very small.  Smaller tanks give you no room for error.  They have much less water in them so any small issue becomes catastrophic.  A big volume of water will buffer better.  For example, if a fish dies in my tank, I have to get him out right away or the ammonia will spike to the point of killing something else and a cycle will ensue that will crash the entire tank.  Luckily, no fish have died so far!  In a large tank, a dead fish may have little impact at all because the ammonia gets dissipated quickly.

Another reason is that I want to try my hand at SPS corals which require much higher light output than on my little tank.  And, finally, I am running out of room.  This tank is overloaded with fish and coral and it is busting at the seams.

Oh yeah, my wife wants a fish or two that just won't work in a small tank (like Dorie from "Finding Nemo" and a mandarin goby which needs about 75g at a minimum).

I don't have the big tank yet, but I will soon!

Watch Coral Reef Researchers Live

An article in the Science section of Yahoo!News highlighted a nine-day mission to study the change in coral reefs off the coast of Florida. 

You can read the article here.  And you can watch them here.

As you probably know, the coral reefs are suffering greatly because of global warming and pollution in the water run-off that flows into the ocean.  I make every effort to get my corals by trading with other coral reefers and by purchasing only from sites that sell aquacultured corals. 

Obsessive Compulsive Reef Disorder

What exactly does that mean? Well, it came from a forum post over at Reef Central in the Philadelphia Area Reef Club forum. It was from a reef widow, or a woman who has lost her husband to the reef tank. My wife claims that she is a reef widow and that I spend too much time staring at the tank, fiddling with the tank, looking at magazines and books about the tank and being online at forums chatting about the tank.

The woman on the forum said that her husband was obsessed with his tank and called it Reef OCD. I kinda think that it is a fairly appropriate term for anyone who is into reefkeeping. It is such an amazing hobby and you can get totally wrapped up in it.Honestly, if I wasn't married with children, I know that I would have already purchased several additional large tanks and be up to my nose in fish gear. (And being that I am officially a nerd, it would all be completely automated.)

Hello World!!

I am just starting a little blog to talk about my adventures in keeping a reef tank.

But this is about more than just the tank itself. This is also about how this little slice of ocean impacts my relationships at home with my wife and kids. As any coral reefer will tell you, having a reef is one of the most enjoyable and relaxing hobbies in the world. But, it is also expensive. And though maintenance of the reef tank takes little time, the "fiddling" and "staring" can easily usurp an entire evening without you even realizing it. And, that can lead to some pretty interesting conversations.

So, I will talk a little about my current reef tank, but I will really focus on my journey towards a "big" tank and what is involved from many different angles: costs, time, design, spousal negotiations.

Let's start with a picture of my current tank before and after. This was my tank when I started.

It is a BioCube 14g and my wife bought it for me for Christmas (2006). I think she has regretted it ever since. This picture was taken on December 31, 2006. Live rock and live sand in and the nitrogen cycle begins. I got a beautiful piece of live rock from my lfs (local fish store). It is a single piece that is 15 lbs.

And here is a picture from just a few weeks ago. It is B-E-A-U-tiful. But, it is getting very very crowded in there and its time to expand.

Next, I'll start talking about the "big tank negotiations." That is where the real fun begins. I'll talk a little bit about my reef obsession and how cigarettes play a major part in my 180-240g slice of paradise.