DebsSisterFlo's blog

[DebsSisterFlo]

Well Hello!
I do appreciate you checking out my blog. This is the first blog that I have ever created since I've never been a diary girl and if I want to type my thoughts they usually go into a post.
I will put my tank info here tho, and a link to my online gallery (which is also in my sig) because don't we all like to show off and brag up our tanks!

tank keeping history:
I have had aquariums since I was 17, so it's been 13 years now (but don't add those numbers together, for the love of God don't do it!!!)
My first tank was my 38g, and my family gave me such grief about wasting so much money and how in a few months I would tire of it and give it away...
well 13 years later and it's never been empty aside from complete cleanings and when I converted it to salt.

I have kept so many fish as we all have. Everything from guppies and angels... bettas to catfish, pacu's, knifefish, etc, etc. Freshwater is great; cheap to run, cheap to maintain, and cheap to purchase gear and fish. Unlike salt!



my tanks:
Ok, so I started learning about salt tanks and got itchy to try it. In October 2005 I brought up my 20g and filled it with salt water and came here to TRT. I cycled it for a month with a few pounds of live rock and then I got a green clown goby, a scarlet reef hermit and a peppermint shrimp. A while later I got a few very small zoo frags and a mushroom. It was going pretty well, but I wanted seahorses! I registered on a couple seahorse sites and kept learning.
On January 7th I emptied my 38g of freshwater. I gave most of the fish away to a friend, and then I set up a little ten gallon to house my kribensis school and the pleco. They weren't real impressed but all are still with me.
That was a whole weekend putzing with the 38g; empty it, clean it, fill it, sure easier said than done. I got 50 lbs of live rock and cycled for 5 weeks. In that time I got weak and bought Tigger and Bob (on Jan 28), my two H. Comes male seahorses, oh, they went into the 20g. Once the water tested good for almost two weeks straight in the 38g I purchased a dozen snails, a green feather duster, and Lucy (Feb 25). During that following week I slowly moved my mushrooms and few zoo's into the 38g; I'd add one or two, wait a day, add a few more... things have been going fairly well, although in the 3rd week of April the green clown goby and Bob both passed away. I'm not sure what happened, everything else is fine.

So now, as of today (April 25) my 38g currently houses:
fish & inverts:
Lucy and Tigger, both H. Comes species seahorses
one firefish
two PJ cardinals
two scarlet reef hermies
a dozen or so snails
3 peppermint shrimp
green feather duster
double crowned feather duster

corals:
silver branch xenia
pom pom xenia
two types of GSP (one has much thicker tentacles than the other)
two types of button polyps
5 types of zoos
montipora digitata
green ricordea
5 types of mushrooms


The 38g has a 36" long Coralife PC light fixture with a 96w 10k bulb and a 96w actinic. For filtration there is the live rock and two Whisper HOB filters (remember that seahorses can't handle high flow tanks). I do have a Coralife Super Skimmer but it is not on the tank, and I do not have a sump. If you go to the seahorse forums they agree that this setup is just fine. Once in a while I will hang the skimmer on the front of the tank during the day just to see what I'll get for skimmate, but so far the surface is quite clear.

freshwater:
I've still got my freshwater tanks as well. The 20g as mentioned above houses a school of about a dozen kribensis, a pleco and a little blood parrot cichlid.


The 72g bow is freshwater, and although I'd love to convert it over for a dwarf lion, GSM clown and an angel of some sort, the initial cost and time, not to mention I don't want to get rid of the fish that are in it, prevent that from happening.
The 72g currently houses a larger orange blood parrot cichlid, a green severum, a firemouth, a pleco, a clown loach, 2 pictus cats, 2 knifefish, and 3 giant danios. Some will say that it is overstocked, but I haven't lost a fish in that tank for the two years that it was set up, and a few of those fish used to live in the 38g.


Both freshwater tanks are filtered with sponge filters as you can see in the pics. I'm not that concerned about being able to see them, and after years of trial and error with all the different filters out there (everything from undergravel to Fluval canisters) I've come to love these the best. Just squeeze them out until they run clear and vac the gravel and I'm done.

If you'd like to check out more pics of my saltwater tank just click here: http://jessica.photos.us.com/c923975.html

Well I hope you've enjoyed reading about my aquatic life. This is a nice way to keep track of things. Thanks Greg!

[DebsSisterFlo]

Just thinking I should make it say that there is a post in this thread, wouldn't want people looking at that zero and passing me by!

[DebsSisterFlo]

It's may 14 now and all my critters are doing fine. One of the peppermint shrimp had molted last thursday night and was carrying a clutch (?) of eggs.
I have also added two new zoo frags from piberoptikz, and a pink zoo frag that I bought at the april reef club meeting. Oh let's not forget my little pipe organ as well.

[DebsSisterFlo]

Hi! Wow, that first post was make back in April... I'm proud to say that everything is doing great with the only exception being the montipora; I didn't notice that it had been knocked over and it is now wedged between the rock and the back wall and I don't think was pleased with that. Ah well, in the scheme of things I don't think that's bad at all!

The salt tank is now 6 months old... I can't believe I was toying with the idea of tearing it down and selling off... I'm glad I was talked out of it, my reef club told me that happens in the summer when outdoor interests take over the time, but I'm better now and I even got a new fishie! This is Lenny the bi-colored Blenny!

Friday was the end of the 20g; I took the kribs and the pleco back to the lfs where I got the first pair some 5 or so years ago. I was sad letting them go because they're great little fish, but I didn't even look at the tank anymore other than feedings, so it was best to just shut it down. The little parrot cichlid now lives in the "grown up" tank and she's doing well.

I'm toying with the idea of turning that 20g into a sump for the 38g, but I'm scared to since I'm not certain on how to do it, but I did make a post in the diy forum so that I can learn!

Here's Lenny!

[DebsSisterFlo]

Today I overhauled the tank! I removed almost all of the rock, and all of the corals and mushrooms. I siphoned and pulled all the grape calerpa I could find (yeah that was a bad idea) then I siphoned again and began redoing the rockscape. I have been wanting to do this for some time now because I just wasn't pleased with being able to see the white pvc rack, talk about looking unnatural! After I had that the way I wanted it (for now) I then filled it with freshly mixed water and arranged the corals. The fish were not real impressed with the construction but it didn't take them long to start investigating their new landscape.
All in all I am quite happy with the results... the tank looks bigger and there is more swimming room, and I think it'll be easier to clean too. A pic is coming... the water has to clear up first!

[DebsSisterFlo]

I can no longer edit that first post, so sorry about the invisible pics!

Today I purchased a nice clump of zoo's, thought they were eagle eyes but some say no, either way they're nice! I also got a trumpet coral and it fluoresces like crazy! I'm a sucker for fluorescing stuff... here they are!

[DebsSisterFlo]

I got some more additions for the tank today; my dream ric (orange with blue edges and a bright green mouth). I also got a purple/green ric, and both were an ebay purchase done by the reef club.
Monday of this week I went to a fellow club members and got a light pink ric with 4 mouths, a rock with cute little tulip anemones, and a red mushroom (that is being stubborn and won't attach yet).
I made a trade with yet another club member; I gave him a little zoo frag and some shrooms in exchange for anthelia and yellow polyps. I don't have those yet since our schedules are complete opposite.
So now I'm toying with the idea of cutting that big rock into about three smaller rocks... I made a FTS post, maybe you saw it?

[DebsSisterFlo]

hehe, so I overhauled the tank again!
Well, that big boulder in the middle was a sore spot; I asked here to see what I should do to make my tank look better, and everyone seemed to think that rock had to go. So we cut it into three pieces and then I had to redo the tank, again! I'm so happy with the results, it's starting to look like a real reef now!
I picked up two new additions last night; a anthelia and a rock with some yellow polyps. I haven't seen a polyp yet, not sure what's going on. The anthelia I removed from the rock it was on due to hair algae, and it's having a hard time of it, but I think it'll pull through.
Here is the new and improved 38g!

[DebsSisterFlo]

Today was a big day! I went to the lfs and got two new peppermint shrimp to join my lonely one in my tank.
Then I stopped and picked up my part of our group order with my reef club, and I came home with a new harlequin serpent star! It's a very neat critter. I also got a clump of neon blue zoos and a clump of yellow eyed zoos, and 5 cerith snails that aren't doing much, and I am worried about them. The seller threw in freebie paly's, so I got a clump of chocolate brown zoo's as well. The star ended up being drip aclimated for 5 1/2 hours cuz I took a nap before work, but I think it was good for him, he sure was wiggly when I tried to pick him up to transfer to the tank!

I'm also in the process of buying a new/used tank, a 45g. It'll have the same footprint as my 38g, but it's 4" taller. It'll still fit on the stand and the lights will fit on it. If this works out I will have it drilled and plumbed for the 20g soon to be sump. Then I'll have to tear down the 38g and rebuild that into the 45g, which I'm just sooo not looking forward to. I finally got the 38g how I like it!

[DebsSisterFlo]

Well my little harly star is doing great! Everything seems pretty good with the exception of the green tree... it flopped over and looks very unhappy, I don't think it's going to come back for me. It has a baby on the side so I'm hoping that one will perk up. The purple ric is MIA, I'm sure it'll turn up somewhere, sometime.

[DebsSisterFlo]

I've got a new tank! I finally was able to get together with the seller and pick up my new 45g tank, stand, hood, glass top and lights for $50. I'm going to use the tank and the hood and the rest will go with all my other tank stuff in the basement. I'm all excited. I have to have it drilled yet, figure out how to plumb it, figure out the sump, figure out what I need for a return pump, and then move everything out of the 38g and into the 45g... lots of work... lots of work...

[DebsSisterFlo]

Well this will be my last blog post... I decided that salt just isn't my thing so I'm converting back to freshwater. I sold all of the corals and fish to a reef club member, he came and took it all at one time which is what I wanted. That was last week, and later today another member is coming to get all of the rock. Then I can clean it up and fill it with freshwater and I'm very excited.
I wanted to try salt, and I did, and I learned a lot, and I loved a lot, and I hated a lot about it. I made lots of great friends here and I'm not leaving completely tho my visits aren't as frequent as they used to be.
I'll be posting in the freshwater forum, tho I usually just hear crickets when I go there... and I'll be in the photo forum too, you can't get rid of me that easy!!!

THANK YOU to everyone for all of your help and support this last year! It really is appreciated!!!