This nursy plays dirty and does it with pain...

Saturday, October 6, 2007

Salty

I always wanted an aquarium. The opportunity to have one came when I couldn't think of something to put in the atrium spot in my house. At the end part of my formal living room lies an atrium complete with sprinkler system. I didn't want to have plants there because of poor light source. I decided to put a 75 gallon salt water tank in the spot.


Why salt water aquarium? I like the idea that I can have many different colored fish and other water creatures. I read a couple of books from cover to cover about salt water aquarium. I checked 2 pet stores about prices of things I need to set this all up. I talked at length with a young salesclerk about my "want" and he gave me a website to check out and gave me a few pointers on having one. He later became my helper in maintenance of my tank until I learn to manage it myself. He comes over to my house every 2-3 months to check everything about the tank and my progress in maintaining it.

I was lucky enough that the tank set I bought was on sale with free set-up. It is not a cheap hobby. I am learning as I go along. I have lost 2 fish, just disappeared into the thin air or more like they were eaten... as my helper tells me. I am slowly building it up and learning the ins and outs of owning this fascinating contained salt water world...
It fits pretty good in the spot. I feel secured about where it is in case of glass breakage and or water leakage. It serves as a room divider between the living room and the hallway to the bedrooms.


I have 100 pounds of treated rocks, a few Damsels for fish. A few snails to keep the tank clean, mainly the glass case. Some cleaner shrimps that eat debris that keep the tank clean as well. A few Emerald crabs for the same reason as to help keep the tank clean by eating debris.

I see many new creatures on the rocks. I can see that the fish are getting bigger. I have to really get the hang of the pH deal so that the snails can be happier ... lost a few of them. Pretty soon I can let loose some bigger fish in there. My mom likes resting on the couch out in the living room because of the soothing sound of the water.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

we used to have an aquarium when kids were little. once a month, i had to clean it, which was quite a hassle. mine was huge so it took few hours to clean. i had to scrape the wall to get rid of the algae. i had to remove 2/3 of the water and replace with fresh ones. i had to clean the rocks and plants with fresh water.

while i loved the sight of it in my living room, i had to let go of it when we moved.

Anonymous said...

Looks like it's a lot of work. I find it very interesting to have a salt water aquarium. This is the first time I have "seen" it.

NursyE said...

Maybe I am suppose to do all of those Belle, so far, I have not yet. My tank is pretty low maintenance still. I have this magnetized tank cleaner that I rub the glass with. One piece is on the other/inside of the tank and the other is outside part that which I hold onto and move around to clean the glass. The cleaner shrimps, snails and crabs help with keeping the fish and the tank clean by eating the debris.

The equipments inside the tank get cleaned up every 2-3 months, the treated water gets added when I see the level in the tank gets lower and the filtering system gets cleaned up 2-3 months... an hour max of cleaning is all I ever spent.

Now I have an automatic feeder so I don't have to worry about missing their feedings. The light comes on and off automatically. I am excited to have more colorful fish in there... but taking my time on it.