Lifes been taking interesting turns, but none so much as using an aquarium for both physical and mental therapy. Since this tank was set up I've learned so much more than I could have at any school. Its that learning thats kept me sharp and not let me deteriorate any more than I have.
Originally we started scouring for parts and researching everything we could as a way to occupy my time and to give me something to zen out on and lower my blood pressure. Six months of collecting, bargaining, and robbing someone leaving the hobby, I had a fully set up the tank, rocks, corals, crabs, and polyps. Thats about when I found you guys here!
Here was a lesson I had to learn: Impulse buying. With the last push of gear, I had also bought an Anemone and an Urchin and set them up in a brand new tank. I didn't even have water in it before I bought them. Im sad to say the urchin paid the price for my ignorance, and was fearful the anemone would do the same. As it turns out, the nem was doing fine, and my lack of knowledge about this beautiful addition to my tank caused me to jump to the worst conclusions. Chiiwing was instrumental in lessening my stress over the matter and I couldn't have asked for someone better. :)
First week's water change was a major wake up call. 5 gallons of water is HEAVY. I couldn't keep this up for long, it put me out of commission for a while reeling with pain. What would I need to do to stop that entirely? So, time to do more research on removing or lowering water changes, is it possible to run a semi-contained system to filter itself, and also fill itself? I'm still talking it over with some, FutureDoc being a font of information thats proven invaluable so far. Big surprise I've been overthinking everything, eh? :P
Once the tank had finished cycling, what this community calls "The Uglies" reared its ugly head. A -massive- sudden bloom of a rust colored blanket: Cyano. I fought with it for weeks with water changes, siphoning, scrubbing, hell. I even boiled a patch of sand with it in, nada. Snails, nada. What else eats this stuff...? The tank was cycled, and stable... why not see if a fish would eat it and keep the sand sifted? Thats when the first fish was bought: An adorable Lawnmower Blenny.
This blenny was awesome and had a character of personality that reminded me of a secret agent. He'd sneak out, plastered to the side of a rock with its head on a swivel, and once content he was safe he would start chowing down on the algae. Success! That was a month ago, and while he never beat the bloom, he held it in check rather well. I continued with the water changes and siphoning, but the bloom wouldn't relent. Something had to be fueling this, where were the phosphates coming from!?
One of my biggest problems that I rectified last night was my protein skimmer wasn't producing foam. It always concerned me, but everything I read stated it would start producing eventually, that theres not enough nutrients in the water, etc. If there wasn't enough nutrients, why the outbreak? Something was wrong. It turns out that my brother who helped set it up had fed the air intake into the main water body. There was no oxygen to mix with the water! All it was acting was an over glorified filter! Dipchit. 9 Hours of proper skimming and the water is as crystal clear and beautiful as it should have been all this time. The water paramaters are brilliant, even with a second addition to the tank everythings stable and happy! The bloom even seems to have been culled and died back!
Thats the other change , another addition to our little family is the introduction of a Ray. The blenny doesn't know what to do with him, but the cleaner shrimp has had a fun time at his little cleaning station keeping him up to snuff. I swear he's the most cuddly thing in the world! He loves his stomach being tickled, gives kisses and nibbles on your fingers, and will even come to investigate whatever comes in the water! I never knew a cuddly fish, its intrigued me something fierce. The other plus for this little guy is he's a top water column swimmer! Apparently he doesn't know to stay on the bottom yet.
All of these things over the past few months has engaged my mind, kept me learning every step of the way, had me moving more than I believed I could, and given me a bit of a purpose while I continue to heal. Without this tank I couldn't imagine where I'd be. Probably sat on the computer turning into a vegetable. As I continue, the tank will grow, and when something new happens I plan to record everything here. Both the good and the bad, as well as any thoughts on the matter! Feel free to message me with any questions, those of you who read this. I dont bite. :)
Originally we started scouring for parts and researching everything we could as a way to occupy my time and to give me something to zen out on and lower my blood pressure. Six months of collecting, bargaining, and robbing someone leaving the hobby, I had a fully set up the tank, rocks, corals, crabs, and polyps. Thats about when I found you guys here!
Here was a lesson I had to learn: Impulse buying. With the last push of gear, I had also bought an Anemone and an Urchin and set them up in a brand new tank. I didn't even have water in it before I bought them. Im sad to say the urchin paid the price for my ignorance, and was fearful the anemone would do the same. As it turns out, the nem was doing fine, and my lack of knowledge about this beautiful addition to my tank caused me to jump to the worst conclusions. Chiiwing was instrumental in lessening my stress over the matter and I couldn't have asked for someone better. :)
First week's water change was a major wake up call. 5 gallons of water is HEAVY. I couldn't keep this up for long, it put me out of commission for a while reeling with pain. What would I need to do to stop that entirely? So, time to do more research on removing or lowering water changes, is it possible to run a semi-contained system to filter itself, and also fill itself? I'm still talking it over with some, FutureDoc being a font of information thats proven invaluable so far. Big surprise I've been overthinking everything, eh? :P
Once the tank had finished cycling, what this community calls "The Uglies" reared its ugly head. A -massive- sudden bloom of a rust colored blanket: Cyano. I fought with it for weeks with water changes, siphoning, scrubbing, hell. I even boiled a patch of sand with it in, nada. Snails, nada. What else eats this stuff...? The tank was cycled, and stable... why not see if a fish would eat it and keep the sand sifted? Thats when the first fish was bought: An adorable Lawnmower Blenny.
This blenny was awesome and had a character of personality that reminded me of a secret agent. He'd sneak out, plastered to the side of a rock with its head on a swivel, and once content he was safe he would start chowing down on the algae. Success! That was a month ago, and while he never beat the bloom, he held it in check rather well. I continued with the water changes and siphoning, but the bloom wouldn't relent. Something had to be fueling this, where were the phosphates coming from!?
One of my biggest problems that I rectified last night was my protein skimmer wasn't producing foam. It always concerned me, but everything I read stated it would start producing eventually, that theres not enough nutrients in the water, etc. If there wasn't enough nutrients, why the outbreak? Something was wrong. It turns out that my brother who helped set it up had fed the air intake into the main water body. There was no oxygen to mix with the water! All it was acting was an over glorified filter! Dipchit. 9 Hours of proper skimming and the water is as crystal clear and beautiful as it should have been all this time. The water paramaters are brilliant, even with a second addition to the tank everythings stable and happy! The bloom even seems to have been culled and died back!
Thats the other change , another addition to our little family is the introduction of a Ray. The blenny doesn't know what to do with him, but the cleaner shrimp has had a fun time at his little cleaning station keeping him up to snuff. I swear he's the most cuddly thing in the world! He loves his stomach being tickled, gives kisses and nibbles on your fingers, and will even come to investigate whatever comes in the water! I never knew a cuddly fish, its intrigued me something fierce. The other plus for this little guy is he's a top water column swimmer! Apparently he doesn't know to stay on the bottom yet.
All of these things over the past few months has engaged my mind, kept me learning every step of the way, had me moving more than I believed I could, and given me a bit of a purpose while I continue to heal. Without this tank I couldn't imagine where I'd be. Probably sat on the computer turning into a vegetable. As I continue, the tank will grow, and when something new happens I plan to record everything here. Both the good and the bad, as well as any thoughts on the matter! Feel free to message me with any questions, those of you who read this. I dont bite. :)
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