Yes, yet another Hobby. Where does one find the time??

Among the R/C models, full scale aviation, computers, and pet birds, I also keep a saltwater aquarium going. Currently it is inhabited by fish, including a Yellow Tang, a Purple Tang, a Sailfin Tang, Scopas Tang, Niger Trigger, Rusty Angel, Coral Beauty Angel, Flame Angel, Blue Damsel, Green Chromis, Tomato Clown, a Foxface, several Clown Gobies, a Yellow Watchman Gobie, two Clownfish, and a Mandrian Fish. Also sharing the water is a Sea Urchin, a Chocolate chip Starfish, a Green Brittlestar, several Hermit crabs, three Anemones, snails and a Featherduster. The live rock also is home to animals I'm not really aware of yet. It's a lot of fun, a fair amount of work and very peaceful to just sit and watch. Each fish has it's own unique personality. The Tang will come to the side of the glass and wait for me to "scratch" him so I rack my fingers across the glass just to satisfy him.

I've also got an array of different corals that cling to the rock. These are very strange creatures that I sometime wonder what keeps them alive. There are several different species of Mushrooms, Bubble corals, Leathers, Polups, Ricordia, Sponges, and several Gorgonians.

It's a neat but expensive hobby so if you can't do everything required to safely keep these animals, leave them at the pet store. My current setup consist of a 125 gallon tank with crushed coral as a base, about 200 pounds of live rock, a wet-dry  biological filter,  a UV sterilizer and a protein skimmer. For extra water movement I have a closed loop re-circulating system just circulating water. Water is also pumped through a chiller to keep the water temperature under control. Calcium mix is dripped into the tank using an infusion pump to keep the corals happy. Above the tank is a 10 gallon refugium that houses live sand, live plants, micropods, snails, and all kind of other beneficial organisms that make their way into the main tank for feeding. It's a rewarding way out after a hard day's work!!

Here are a few pictures of my slice of the Ocean. Each will open into a larger version when clicked on.

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