my new pet project

[sapphire]

So, where I live now I can't have my pet chickens...so, to fill my very little off time y kid and I started a new project. This is phase two. Phase one was getting the blasted heavy thing home and on to it's stand.
Phase two is adding some of the sand(there are 60 lbs of live sand waiting to be added), water, and hooking up the filter. The water is very cloudy because she forgot to rinse the sand before adding it.
Phase three will be setting up the lights, heater, and adding salt.
Phase four..cycle awhile and add fish.

[Pariah]

Phase 5 should be posting pics of the finished product.

[sapphire]

of course more sand added(enough for fish, not enough for the corals we plan), lights are on, salts on board. Holding off on the skimmer for now, don't want to throw off the cycling before I get fish in it.

[sapphire]

OK kid and grandma jumped ahead of the list and got 3 little fishies today. The rocks are in the back of my truck and won't be added until cleaned tomorrow.
its a crappy pic, but here are the three little dudes



hmmm not sure what i'm doing wrong, but here is the pic of fishies

https://scontent-a-pao.xx.fbcdn.net/hph ... 8563_n.jpg

[sapphire]

up to 5 fish, all green chromis

[sapphire]

snails and a clown fish added today. We have growth happening. Water tested near perfect(ph a tad high but still in normal range).

[sapphire]

meet Dio. Mr. Dio is a rather nasty little thing. Those beautiful spines on its back contain a lovely neurotoxin. Oh it feels like a bee sting they told me. Oh it doesn't hurt that much they said.... ever been stung by a scorpion? or a red wasp? actual victims equate it to those... having never been stung by one of those land creatures before I can't compare. Try stabbing yourself a million times in a one inch spot then drowning it in boiling ammonia mixed with fiberglass and alcohol. that may come close...



This is Dio when he's not royally pissed. He's actually rather pretty an peaceful looking. but don't let it fool you. he is evil.

[sapphire]

And this really is a much more peaceful creature. oh it has a toxin in those little arms also, but it doesn't feel to bad really. It feels more itchy, like rolling in fiber glass. Its name is Audrey, and Seymour is it's resident clown fish.

[Pariah]

Perhaps Dio learned something from his master...

"The villainy you teach me, I will execute, and it shall go hard but I will better the instruction."

[Opopanax]

Looks great

My brother used to have a marine tank with a foxface rabbitfish. He used to have a lovely copperband butterfly fish too and some elegant fire fish. What further marine life are you thinking of adding?

[BabySpendy]

There so cute!!, Saph!! you need to get a dory fish now you have Nemo now you need dory,or a Puffer Fish because those things are so CUTE!!
P.S If you do get a puffer fish name it franklin ... >.>

[sapphire]

lol not likely to get a puffer because the toxin they release when they get stressed...kills other fish
got a couple new pics today




all the little spots that look like water spots are tiny air bubbles. I changed the filter return from the underwater wand to the waterfall. I needed to hyper aerate it because the ph was to high. I added 3 liters of carbonated water and the waterfall aerates it also. Got the ph from 8.6 to 8.0 doing it that way, the range should be 7.8-8.5, I prefer it 8.0-8.2. The nitrates are nearly off the charts high, I've had to turn off the skimmer and remove the filter carbon because we had to treat for a fungus.

this is what we call fun with home chemistry....it's a balancing act.

[sapphire]

more pet fish spam new additions to the tank.
This is A picture of a clown fish in an anemone taped to the side of our tank. It's taped there with the hopes it would encourage our clown fish to hang out in the anemone we got her....yes...we tried that. Limited success. She actually slept in the anemone last night.


peppermint shrimp


feather duster worm


another astrea, this ones covered in a purple scale algae


African two spot goby


watchman goby


This video is hard to see. the water is very cloudy after the sand was stirred up. Its the african goby hopping. my kid says it loks like a walrus.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=1444404232508385