Ouch...

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I have received my live rock, sand, and a few other things. But, it will take a little while for me to post about these things. I accidentally pulled a muscle in my back from lugging the tons of sand and rock up and down the stairs to my attic. Doh! As soon as I feel a bit better I'll take some pictures and post them. Until then...

~Paul Out

...and not a drop to drink

I'm sorry I haven't posted in a little while, but I've spent all of my spare time over the past couple days actually working on my tank. I've actually done a couple of pretty important things recently to the tank that take it another step in the right direction. After work on Wednesday I came home and washed the inside and outside of the tank with a brand new sponge and some cool water. That ensured that there wouldn't be any major contamination when I added water. That's right, I said it, I'm going to be adding water!

So the search was on to find the best way to transport water to my tank from its source, but still measure it to know how much salt to eventually add. I ended up using a 1 gallon jug to bring the water to the tank and measure. Hmmm, lets think here...40 gallon tank/1 gallon jug = 40 trips back and forth to fill it. Doh! After filling the tank and plugging everything in I watched it go:

Water, water, everywhere!

Those lines that you see in the tank are created every time you add a layer of water aquarium. The water mixes with the air and creates tiny little bubbles. They eventually go away, but it serves as a sign of how many times I had to walk back and forth to get the tank filled ;). After letting everything run overnight I noticed a small "dead" spot in the water where a lot of sediment started gathering. This was a sign that I needed to get another powerhead for my tank.

New powerhead: much more powerful!

The new powerhead that I got is actually a Powersweep powerhead that has a nozzle that swivels back and forth to create more of a wave action. This is supposed to be more natural for all of the wildlife in the tank to simulate the natural ebb and flow of the tides.

After the tank ran for a bit with the freshwater in it the time was now to add the salt. The salt mix I used was Instant Ocean's Reef Crystals. This adds a lot of minerals and trace elements that will eventually make all of my fish and inverts very happy. I had calculated before that I put in about 37 gallons of water, and the mix requires 1/2 cup of salt to 1 gallon of water. So, I put in 18 1/2 cups of salt.

It is snowing...the salt makes the water cloudy initially

After running the system for a bit I realized that I should have placed the larger powerhead on the lefthand side of the tank. With the big powerhead on the right side it blocked my view of the tank from my bed. One of the reasons I got the type of tank that I did was because it has depth to it...allowing me to have a large view from the side. So I put the small powerhead on the bottom right rear of the tank and the larger one on the top right center of the tank.

A much better view: Kudos to my Mom for the idea

So now comes a bit more of the waiting game. My "base" rock and sand come on Tuesday and my "live" Lalo rock will come on Wednesday. This will give the tank some time to dissolve all of the salt and mix the water up very well. In the meantime it is fun to actually watch the tank move the tiny air bubbles around. I even saw a small "tornado" form at one point when I was move the powerheads around and adding the salt. I've set up a lounge chair in front of the tank for me and my family to relax while viewing the tank:

The typical relaxation technique of the littlus brotherus

As a bonus to all of you loyal fans I have created a video of the view from that seat. You can see that HERE. Be sure not to miss it. You can also adjust the size of the video so that it is larger and easy to see. Look forward till Tuesday when I get my initial rock and sand. I'll be sure to post some pictures. Until then...

~Paul Out

More stuff!

Yesterday I posted some pictures and commentary about the completion of my stand and the addition of my light fixture. Today I'm going to update you all on the rest of the hardware that goes along with my tank. I know most of you, including me, can't wait till I start adding the biological load to my tank, but unfortunately that will have to wait a bit longer...

So on the same day that I received my aqualight, FedEx delivered a bunch of other goodies to my door. I got my filter, protein skimmer, powerhead, heating element, testing equipment and a couple small decorations.

It's like Christmas all over again!

After coming home from my job yesterday I got to work on putting all the pieces together and attaching them to the tank preliminarily. That way I could figure out how everything fit and could start laying things out strategically.

If the shoe fits...wear it!

From left to right we have:

1. The Powerhead - Used to move water around the tank to create a current
2. The Heater - Used to, duh, heat the water
3. The Filter - Used to filter larger contaminates out of the water
4. The Protein Skimmer - Used to remove dirt from water's surface (think sea foam)

All of the components are very important to the use of the aquarium. They work together to condition and clean the water to ensure that none of the tank's inhabitants will get sick or die. Most, like the protein skimmer, use natural theories to mimic the function of the ocean. Adding air to the water creates a bubbly foam which rises to the surface carrying all of the waste up with it. You can then collect this foam (waste) and dispose of it.

Aesthetically I've added a bit to my tank as well. I bought 2 plastic anemones that, when water is added, will act just like live ones and sway in the current. Maybe one or two of my future inhabitants will make an anemone their home. They also glow in the dark and receive quite a charge from the lighting system I have.

I live in an amenemenoemeoemene...

Looking ahead I got the tracking number for my live sand today (the Oolite), so that is on its way. I also came up with somewhat of a solution for my live rock issue. Instead of going with a ton of expensive cure live rock sent all the way across the country I'm also going to include some "not-so-live" rock. This rock, also referred to as "base rock" will eventually become live rock after being in the tank for some time. I will talk some more about this in a later entry. Until then...

~Paul Out

Mine?