Paul's Saltwater Aquarium

Roll Camera...Action!

2005-10-08T18:52:00.000-04:00

http://files.filefront.com/MOV01417MPG/;4227325;;/fileinfo.html

Here is a link to a movie file of my fish swimming around. Just follow the instructions on screen. If you need help, just let me know. The file is rather big (around 20 MB), but it is worth it.

Negative Ghostrider, the pattern is full...

2005-10-08T17:20:00.000-04:00

So, the reason I haven't been posting in a while is because I had exceeded my bandwidth on the site where I host the pictures for this blog. So, unfortunately, I'm forced to put less pictures in my updates. I may be able to link to other pages with those pictures on it, though. I could also email higher quality photos to people who request them. Just send an email to CFI_Keeler@hotmail.com. As a treat, though, I'm going to be able to include some links to videos every now and then. So, I think some people will be happy with that :).

A lot has happened since I last posted an update on this site. I've added all the rock (30 lbs Lalo Live Rock and 30 lbs Hawaiian Base Rock), 60 lbs of sand, 3 shrimp (1 died), 35 snails, 24 hermit crabs (a couple died), 2 clown fish, and 6 blue-green chromis (1 died and 1 disappeared). Below is summary of all that has happened...

Adding the rock and sand was pretty uneventful. I set up the rock how I liked it and let the small rubble settle for a couple days before adding the sand. The rocks were arranged so that little caves and crevices formed so the tank would look more natural and the fish would be happy having places to hide. I also knew that the shrimp I was eventually going to get loved hanging upside down from the caves formed in natural reefs. The sand scared me initially because the whole tank turned white as soon as I added it. The particles are so small that they just floated around the tank taking forever to settle. I was much relieved once everything cleared up.

Next was the waiting game. It took about 3 - 4 weeks before all the garbage on the live rocks died off and the tank grew enough "good" bacteria to allow my ammonia, nitrate, and nitrite to dwindle down to zero. It was a that point that I purchased 2 shrimp and about 25 snails. The shrimp were pretty cool because they were nice and colorful, while the snails helped clean everything. Unfortunately the second day that I had life in my tank something died...one of the shrimp. I think he may have been stressed out from being shipping through the mail to my house. He didn't seem to lively when he arrived, so he was destined to die. The shrimp will actually molt every now and then, leaving a ghostly version of themselves behind. It was ironic that the lone shrimp molted the day after the other shrimp had died because it was almost like a ghost shrimp was haunting my tank. Because of this I named the dead shrimp "Marley" from A Christmas Carol. Luckily the company I bought everything from has a replacement policy, so I got a new one and they have been happy ever since. I named them "Jack" and "Jill"; One after Jack Sparrow and the other just to be a counterpart to Jack.

After a couple weeks of having just shrimp and snails I decided it was time to get some actual fish. I had my heart set on getting clownfish even before Finding Nemo was on the drawing boards at Disney. I have always been attracted to their orange hues and playful nature. So I ordered 2 tank bred Ocellaris Clownfish. These are your typical "Nemo" variety with orange bodies and white stripes. Since Clownfish are native to the Indian Ocean and in the reefs outside of Australia I gave them the Aussie names of "Bruce" and "Sheila". When I first got them they were so tiny that the current in the water blew them all over the place. They have grown pretty quickly, though, since I first got them and have got accustomed to the currents in the tank. They have even deepened their color to the point where they are more of a pumpkin orange as opposed to the yellow-orange that they were when I first received them. They continue to swim with one another throughout the tank all day long.

Lastly, I purchased 6 Blue-Green Chromis and about 24 hermit crabs this past Tuesday. The Chromis are cool because they are a schooling fish. They stick together in the tank and swim in packs. Their color also varies from silver to blue to green to purple depending on what sort of lighting they are in. I believe that gives them a good contrast against the orange clownfish and red shrimp. They don't have names yet, but I'm sure I'll eventually come up with something for them. I just need some inspiration. If you have any suggestions, just let me know. Unfortunately, when I first received the fish in the mail, one arrived dead. After being in the tank for 2 days a second fish just disappeared. Some say he could have been eaten, but he was also the biggest out of all the fish in my tank, so I doubt that happened. Maybe one day he'll show up again...

The hermit crabs were purchased because the algae in the tank was getting out of control. Snails were very good at cleaning the glass and most of the rocks, but the sand and some of the out-of-the-way areas of the tank were growing algae like crazy. With the 24 hermit crabs in the tank that stuff should be gone in a matter of weeks. Nature is very slow in the way it works, except when it comes to growing the algae in the first place ;).

Well, this kinda brings you guys all up to speed on what has happened since I last updated. I really hope to get some pictures an movies up soon. As soon as I have something I'll post another update with links to that site. Until then...

~Paul Out

Ouch...

2005-08-11T14:34:00.000-04:00

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

2005-08-05T15:09:00.000-04:00

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!

2005-08-01T20:03:00.000-04:00

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:

The Powerhead - Used to move water around the tank to create a current
The Heater - Used to, duh, heat the water
The Filter - Used to filter larger contaminates out of the water
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?

Like a kid in a candy store...

2005-07-31T20:20:00.000-04:00

Well, now that I'm back from LBI I can resume my progress on my tank. A lot of stuff has happened tank-wise in the past day. I had ordered all of the electronic equipment that I needed while I was away so that it would arrive once I got back. Little did I know, Dr. Foster and Smith upgraded my shipping for free so that everything came on Saturday. I was surprised by that. I guess when you spend about $500 on aquarium supplies they do stuff like that ;)

I guess the next biggest thing that I got accomplished was that my Dad and I finished up the stand and brought it up to my room. We put the doors on the hinges and the doorknobs on. Speaking of doorknobs, I can now reveal what they look like:

Let there be light...houses!

Surprisingly, the doors went on without a hinge...I mean hitch...

The tank looks really nice sitting on top of the stand. It fits very well with the rounded edge of the stand sticking out an even amount around the tank. Never before have I put something together and had it come out the way it was supposed to on the first try ;)

You can see that the tank fits just as it did before on top of the buckets!

Another item that I put on yesterday was the compact fluorescent lighting system. This thing could probably light up a football stadium if you wanted to. It is powerful enough to simulate the light found in the shallow waters of a tropical coral reef.

4 fluorescent bulbs + 2 LEDs = One helluva cool light fixture

One of the coolest features of the lighting system is that it has 2 different types of daylight and a night lighting system as well. There are 2 10,000 K daylight bulbs and 2 Blue daylight bulbs that add some needed nutrients to the water. There are also 2 Blue LEDs that are used at night time to simulate what the reef would look like at night. It also brings out certain instincts in the fish so that they behave as they would in the wild.

10,000 K Daylight: The bright light

Blue Daylight: Very mellow...

Both at the same time: Very natural looking!

Blue LEDs: Psychedelic!

So that is my lighting situation, and that's all you are going to get for now. I've gotten a bit more accomplished today by test-fitting some of the other equipment I got, but I'm going to save that story for later. Again, I have to have something for you all to keep coming back to see ;) Until then...

~Paul Out

I'm Back!

2005-07-31T08:00:00.000-04:00

I'm back from vacation and got a whole bunch of stuff to update...but that will have to wait till later this afternoon because I'm at work right now. Look forward to more later today!

I'm off...

2005-07-22T21:59:00.000-04:00

Well, I thought I'd have time to update before I go away. Unfortunately things have been really crazy over the past couple days and I had to prioritize things. I promise that once I come back next week I'll have something to write here. Hopefully by that time I would have ordered everything I needed and can write about that. Until then...

~Paul Out

It's Alive! Well, not yet...

2005-07-20T16:51:00.000-04:00

I think the biggest question I've been getting since I started this blog a couple days ago is "What are you going to keep in your tank?". So, today's post is going to cover that topic a little bit. The coolest thing about saltwater aquariums is that more than just the fish are alive. Everything from the sand to the rocks to, of course, the fish are alive and kicking in a typical tank. For starters in my tank I'm going to go with CaribSea's Arag-Alive Bahamas Oolite Live Sand. The sand is extremely fine and white. They call it "Live" because it actually comes packed in water with special bacteria living on each grain. These act as a sort of biological filter.

Ooh Ooh Ooh it's Oolite, ya know!

Like I said before, even the rocks are alive. Old style marine aquariums used to have dead (white) coral as their main staple in aquascaping. New aquariums now use Live Rock to do this. It not only looks cool, but also serves a huge filtration function. The rocks house all sorts of animals large and (mostly) small. After the rock is cured and has been in a tank for a while it will start to grow all sorts of coralline algae and will be teaming with life. There are even different types of rock that you can get which correspond with the location in which they were harvested. I'm kinda stuck as to exactly which kind I want to get. Amazingly the rock is probably the most expensive item that will be in the tank. Here are my options as found on www.liveaquaria.com, the premier online fish delivery service:

Fiji Live Rock: Porous, Purple, and Pink

Lalo Live Rock: Multicolored Marine Mayhem!

There are a couple other types of Live Rock that aren't quite as nice looking or don't quite fit my needs. These are the two I'm kinda stuck between. I think I like the look of the Lalo Rock better. My main dilemma is that one "order" of Lalo Rock weighs about 30 pounds, but they say you should have 3/4 - 1 1/4 pounds of rock per gallon meaning that I should have 30-50 pounds of rock in my tank. I really don't want to skimp on it because it will be a big part of my filtration, but I don't want to get too much because it will take up precious space and it costs about $5 a pound including shipping. So, it's either $150 for 30 pounds, or $300 for 60 pounds...damn! Plus, the 60 pounds would be too much. The Fiji Rock is sold in 22 pound boxes. They have something weird going on with them due to a sale. For 22 pounds it is $110 shipped, but for 45 pounds it is $150 shipped. I'm so confused here. Maybe I can get by with only 30 pounds of Lalo Rock. If some expert is out there, please let me know!

Fully cured Lalo Rock...I want it now!

Now, all of those pretty colors you see on that rock are the healthy, coralline, algae. It takes about a month for a tank to stabilize and start becoming inhabitable for other fish. Sometime during this acclimation period it is likely that a "bad" algae outbreak can occur with some nasty brown and hairy algae. To combat this you have to add the algae "attack" creatures. They include:

Dwarf Red-Tipped Hermit Crab: An Algae Eating MachineDwarf Blue-Legged Hermit Crab: A Colorful Crab Concoction

Margarita Snail: Goes well with salt...

So, these creatures will help eat all the unsightly algae the tank. They will be the first highly mobile animals that I'll probably see in my tank. I think today we'll stop there and leave the fish for a later time. I can't give away all of my secrets up front, you'd never come back otherwise ;).

On a side note, today I put the third and final coat of paint on the stand. I'm gonna let that dry very well before I start worrying about mounting the doors and moving it into my room. I don't want to smudge the paint or anything. The glass top for the tank also arrives tomorrow at House of Fins where I bought the tank originally. The store is really cool. You can check out their site here: www.houseoffins.com. I think you guys can expect one more update before I shove off on my vacation till August. If anyone has any comments, especially those Live Rock experts out there, please be sure to share them. Until then...

~Paul Out

2 Coats (and it is still summer time)

2005-07-19T18:21:00.000-04:00

Today after work I stopped by the paint store to pick up some extra foam rollers and headed home for some more quality time spent with my stand. With dark clouds looming on the horizon I had to quickly get everything out to the garage before the skies opened up and it poured.

This picture was taken as the rumble of thunder could be heard

In order to put on a second coat of paint I had to first sand down any of the rough spots left behind while painting the first coat. Unfortunately this undoes some of the hard work I did the prior day and makes the stand look a lot less attractive:

Why must I destroy that which I create?

After a short interlude of depression suffered from looking at my now not-so-shiny aquarium stand I got to work. I never realized how easy putting on the second coat would be. Existing paint seems to be the best kind of surface for new paint to adhere to. Thanks to special guest photographer "Mom" I have some footage me actually painting:

and stroke...stroke...stroke...stroke...

I seem to have painted myself into a corner...

I've got probably one more coat of paint left to go. The inside of the stand is definitely done. I really don't need to waste paint on something I'll only see when I'm reaching for some fish food or adjusting the light fixture timer. I also ordered knobs for the doors that I think will look pretty cool. I'll show those off later. Currently this is what the stand looks like:

Oooooh, I can see my reflection...

I'm actually quite surprised as to how much reaction I've received from posting this. In the last 24 hours I've gotten over 65 unique visitors to this page. Feel free to pass this along to anyone else who you think would enjoy my progress. I know I'm missing some email addresses of a few of my friends and family. Things are only going to get more exciting as time goes on. A saltwater tank progresses very slowly, but the steps are fun enough to be worth reading about. Join us next time when we'll find out the answers to a few major questions: What sort of fish will we find swimming in my tank? How long till we actually see some life forms? And, will Jane really go to the dance with Joey? The answers to this, and more, next time. Until then...

~Paul Out

As the sun sets over the island, we wonder who will carry the torch on to the next round...

It starts...

2005-07-18T17:12:00.000-04:00

So, before you can keep fish in a tank you need to actually buy the tank, figure out where to put it, and get a stand to hold it. For my aquarium I figured that I should get the biggest that my room would allow me to fit. With saltwater tanks it is always best to go bigger. That way if something weird happens it doesn't kill off the tank quickly. You don't want a fish to die and then give off harmful chemicals killing other fish and causing a chain reaction, etc. So, I went with a 40 gallon "breeder" tank. It is a shorter tank which will fit my sloped ceiling, but it also is a comfortable size to fit all sorts of fun fish.

Here is my 40 gallon tank

As you can see the tank fits nicely up against my walls and next to my end table. The top of the tank is just high enough for me to have access to it without hitting into the ceiling of my room. The next dilemma was where to get a tank stand from. My Dad and I figured that we needed to make the stand a little bit smaller than standard to comfortably fit my room, so we had to manufacture it ourselves.

The Tiki heads say this is the right height for the tank

So creating a tank stand is a lot of work. First you have to figure out how to build it:

Master craftsman "Dad" contemplates the meaning of life...

Then you have to clean out the garage so that you have space to build it:

Where'd all this crap come from?

We'll put this over here...

Shhhh...we seem to have found the elusive littlus brotherus

Hey, I've got to do something, right? On a side note, is that a bidet?

So after cleaning the garage out so that we can actually move around in there we set off for the lumber yard. My Dad and I figured that we'd need a sheet of plywood along with whatever scrap wood he had laying around to complete the whole project. It took about 2 days worth of cutting, gluing, nailing and screwing to get to a point where it actually looked like something:

Doors and a shelf. I really like the grooved texture we gave the doors.

This is the stand from the front. It is open in the back to allow for wires to go inside.

This is a real solid piece of furniture.

So there is only one more thing left to do to the stand...paint it! I decided that I wanted to paint it black to match the rest of the tank and its eventual accessories. We went with a high-gloss indoor/outdoor enamel. Damn does that stuff get messy. I'm going to have black paint on my hands and elbows for a long time...

This is before...

...and this is after.

This is a little bit closer. Notice how shiny it is :)

This is only after 1 coat of paint. I'm going to give it at least one more.

So this is as far as I've gotten with my project up until now. I'm sure for some of you this is the boring part, but it has to be done. I enjoy the woodworking and painting a lot, though. It reminds me of all the fun summers I spent with my Dad helping him with his contracting. It also brings back memories of building stuff with my TEKE buddies. Though, most of that stuff tended to fall apart ;). I guess I've always just been around tools of the trade and I enjoy that every now and then.

I've got at least one more coat of paint to add to the stand before I can bring it inside and set the tank on top of it. There is so much more left to do. Unfortunately for all of you guys out there in TV land I'm going away until August shortly, so I won't be able to really start the "biological" part of this tank until then. At that time I'll go into details on the lighting, filtration, and substrate. Until then...

~Paul Out

Welcome!

2005-07-18T17:05:00.000-04:00

Welcome to my new blog!

I intend to use this space to follow the progress of my new saltwater aquarium. Ever since I was a young child I wanted to create my own marine aquarium, but never had the patience, time, or money. Now that I'm working at a better job with a higher income I can finally accomplish that goal. What is to follow will be my chronicle of this adventure...