1 Year In

Happy 1 year be-lated-ish birthday...  Its so hard to keep track of these things.  Many amazing things have happened with the tank and I have learned so much.  Changes in hardware, Livestock and even location.  The tank is doing better than it ever has been.  The corals, fish and all the other live stuff is really moving into full gear and I notice daily changes in the tank.

Everything started off seemingly pretty slow.  Adding sand & rock, letting it "cure" and stabilize the tank, adding a few corals here and there. Getting my first pair of fish a pair of domino clowns.  Trying to keep up with water maintenance and flooding my house a few times.  Thanking my wife for putting up with my addiction and I think if she hears the words "making water" one more time she will FLIP!  Adding a anemone, maxima clam and sps corals are so exciting.(having them live and flourish is even better)

For those interested in the hobby here are my 4 lessons I learned.

1. When they say its all about keeping your water parameters consistent, they aren't joking.  EVERYTHING  in the tank benefits from it in a visual and almost seemingly instantaneous way.  To add to that the smaller the tank the harder keeping those parameters in check is.  I will say I think I have finally come up with a system that fully supplies the tank with everything it needs for success, and my method for doing so unfortunately is to incorporate lots of hardware.  4 items that have helped in my success here lately are chiller, calcium reactor, kalk reactor and biopellet reactor.  The combination of all 4 of those has made the tank so much happier.  All of those enable me to do less day to day task and sit back more and enjoy.

2. The amount of "energy" that goes into the display tank to make things thrive is truly amazing.  I don't mean my energy I am referring to the food & minerals that all of those things in the tank need to flourish.  It gives me a whole new perspective on our oceans and how much of an energy producing/consuming engine it is.  Alkalinity, Calcium, Magnesium, Phytoplankton, Zooplankton, Amino Acids, Carbon, Bacteria, the list goes on about what you need to add almost on a daily basis, not just to be successful but to create a similar habitat to what these animals have in our oceans.  They all need to be in balance.

3. Patience... I wish I had more... nough said.

4. Moving a reef tank is scary and something I don't wish for anyone.  You need experience because it is unlike anything as far as just building it.  Hire a professional, I did.  Mason the Fish Whisperer is the man.  I had zero fatalities.

I have 4 fish now which I so love.  For a while there I had none, as the 3 I had over time had jumped out.  I really think in hindsight that my water quality was bad and I was making some rookie mistakes.  Don't by an expensive pair of fish when you are just starting out.  Start small and buy the expensive ones later.

Anyways I have the ubiquitous clown fish, & a chromis,

A 6 line wrasse & a Maxima clam

A orange stripe prawn goby.

1 Rose bubble tip anemone & a Poreclain Crab

2 Peppermint Shrimp
1 Fighting Conch
All different kinds of snails
A few hermit crabs
& many different types of corals.

Just wanted everyone who hadn't had a chance to see it to have a look and enjoy.

Cheers
-M