WARNING: Don't do anything you see in this thread—it was all a horrible mistake based on a tiny event.
Intro:
My daughter found a turtle—not just any turtle, a random, very young baby turtle—now named Bob Ross, as it's a typical wild-painted turtle that she thought was a shiny rock. On finding the turtle, the argument broke out - can we keep it... Being a foolish old man, I walked away, having been down this road myself, having kept aquariums from a very young age...and having been out of the hobby for almost 18 years... Of course, I dug out an old 10-gallon tank (don't ask why I still had a 10-gallon tank.. or a 250-gallon rubber-made water trough still being lugged around... or a ....) and yielded to my daughter - for that's what foolish old men do. Well, that little turtle... quickly outgrew that 10-gallon tank. So I found myself in my local aquarium center (LifeAquatic), getting a 30-gallon breeder to house Bob Ross. But of course, being a foolish old man with two daughters in tow ... now surrounded by reef tanks, bright fish...and the yearning look of my children for... can we dad....I went OK - and impulse bought a tank; why not? I still have a bunch of stuff, and I can reuse the equipment from the days of yore.
Tanks stand, and a small sump was ordered—a reef octopus skimmer that would sit in the sump also got ordered. Of course, I didn't need any flow pumps. I had my old tunz from my prior 360-gallon system. No, I don't need a return pump; I've got this great Pan World pump still. Lights - no, I think I have that covered; I've got 2 *forgot the brand* HQI halide bulbs and fixtures that will be MORE than enough to deal with a 60-gallon reef. (Yes, I lugged all this stuff around from an apartment to our house in Maryland, then somehow to Connecticut...Yes, I would restart the hobby; the time just had to be right...)
When we get home with the 30 breeder, the wife raises an eyebrow and asks where we are going to put it. Of course, on the old desk, dear. It's only going to have a few inches of water, so it won't be a big deal. No sooner was that settled than my daughters ratted me out about my impulse purchase.
The wife's immediate comment was, "Oh, did you know?" Am I going to be living in the National Aquarium's basement like your old apartment? Did you think this through? How much is this going to cost? Not much, dear. After all, it's just the tank and stand and a few things. Did you think about how much energy this thing will take - it's not cheap here in Connecticut. "I won't be paying the increased electric bill she states!" - Don't worry, it shouldn't be that bad... I start looking at the energy draw on my old equipment... gulp. Ok, dear. Maybe I need to get some different equipment.
The Mars Mission begins May 15th 2024:
Evolved to the current day—rather than fighting about the electric bill, the tank is entirely solar-powered (yes, solar-powered in New England...). According to my friends and co-workers, it has enough technology to make a NASA mission to Mars possible, is fully capable of surviving a prolonged outage or my absence for a relatively long time, and accounts for all prior experienced system failures, and is continuing to evolve for all the new ways I am messing everything up. Oh yeah, and the budget overruns belong in the NASA category. Thankfully, I'm employed as the village idiot.
Dinner tonight, day 162 of the Mars mission :
Maybe I'll be able to provide updates and the journey later if my wife doesn't push me out of the airlock... and if anyone is interested.
Fen
Intro:
My daughter found a turtle—not just any turtle, a random, very young baby turtle—now named Bob Ross, as it's a typical wild-painted turtle that she thought was a shiny rock. On finding the turtle, the argument broke out - can we keep it... Being a foolish old man, I walked away, having been down this road myself, having kept aquariums from a very young age...and having been out of the hobby for almost 18 years... Of course, I dug out an old 10-gallon tank (don't ask why I still had a 10-gallon tank.. or a 250-gallon rubber-made water trough still being lugged around... or a ....) and yielded to my daughter - for that's what foolish old men do. Well, that little turtle... quickly outgrew that 10-gallon tank. So I found myself in my local aquarium center (LifeAquatic), getting a 30-gallon breeder to house Bob Ross. But of course, being a foolish old man with two daughters in tow ... now surrounded by reef tanks, bright fish...and the yearning look of my children for... can we dad....I went OK - and impulse bought a tank; why not? I still have a bunch of stuff, and I can reuse the equipment from the days of yore.
Tanks stand, and a small sump was ordered—a reef octopus skimmer that would sit in the sump also got ordered. Of course, I didn't need any flow pumps. I had my old tunz from my prior 360-gallon system. No, I don't need a return pump; I've got this great Pan World pump still. Lights - no, I think I have that covered; I've got 2 *forgot the brand* HQI halide bulbs and fixtures that will be MORE than enough to deal with a 60-gallon reef. (Yes, I lugged all this stuff around from an apartment to our house in Maryland, then somehow to Connecticut...Yes, I would restart the hobby; the time just had to be right...)
When we get home with the 30 breeder, the wife raises an eyebrow and asks where we are going to put it. Of course, on the old desk, dear. It's only going to have a few inches of water, so it won't be a big deal. No sooner was that settled than my daughters ratted me out about my impulse purchase.
The wife's immediate comment was, "Oh, did you know?" Am I going to be living in the National Aquarium's basement like your old apartment? Did you think this through? How much is this going to cost? Not much, dear. After all, it's just the tank and stand and a few things. Did you think about how much energy this thing will take - it's not cheap here in Connecticut. "I won't be paying the increased electric bill she states!" - Don't worry, it shouldn't be that bad... I start looking at the energy draw on my old equipment... gulp. Ok, dear. Maybe I need to get some different equipment.
The Mars Mission begins May 15th 2024:
Evolved to the current day—rather than fighting about the electric bill, the tank is entirely solar-powered (yes, solar-powered in New England...). According to my friends and co-workers, it has enough technology to make a NASA mission to Mars possible, is fully capable of surviving a prolonged outage or my absence for a relatively long time, and accounts for all prior experienced system failures, and is continuing to evolve for all the new ways I am messing everything up. Oh yeah, and the budget overruns belong in the NASA category. Thankfully, I'm employed as the village idiot.
Dinner tonight, day 162 of the Mars mission :
Maybe I'll be able to provide updates and the journey later if my wife doesn't push me out of the airlock... and if anyone is interested.
Fen
