Hello Reef2Reefers!
When we retired to Santa Fe from DC a few years ago, life improved in many ways. Right now I am looking out one of our windows onto beautiful pinyon-juniper woodland, which is hard to beat Plus, there is so much to do here. We are both from the southwest, so it feels like we are back home.
The downside is that I am missing out on the amazing reef aquarium community in the DC area. I was a member of WAMAS (the Washington DC Area Marine Aquarium Society) for over 20 years (member name mogurnda), and it was always so easy to get good advice, cool frags, and oddball equipment from one of the members or one of the many excellent local shops.
Nonetheless, I started a new tank, and it is getting established. The closest decent LFS is in Albuquerque (shout out to Southwestern Reefs!), and I ordered a 110 tall and plumbed it with a Bean Animal-ish overflow. I will start a tank progress thread soon, but the short summary is that I have two goals:
1. Keep it simple. Mostly soft corals and hardier SPS, so that I can travel and ignore it without getting stressed.
2. Stock it with captive-bred animals. It is especially nice that there are so many fish being reared in captivity.
The tank has been set up for about a year, and the corals are doing well. I plan to add another round of corals this fall, after some other things settle down.
I have also been keeping busy learning about the ecology of local animals and plants, especially the darkling (Tenebrionid) beetles. They are actually more interesting and important than you may think. My current projects involve looking at the seasonal appearance, heat tolerance, and oxygen consumption of the various species that live here. If anyone is interested, there is website describing some of the work here.
The rest of the time, I am walking the dogs, hiking with my wife, or fixing the endless things that need to be fixed.
Looking forward to being part of an online community again!
Cheers,
Dave
When we retired to Santa Fe from DC a few years ago, life improved in many ways. Right now I am looking out one of our windows onto beautiful pinyon-juniper woodland, which is hard to beat Plus, there is so much to do here. We are both from the southwest, so it feels like we are back home.
The downside is that I am missing out on the amazing reef aquarium community in the DC area. I was a member of WAMAS (the Washington DC Area Marine Aquarium Society) for over 20 years (member name mogurnda), and it was always so easy to get good advice, cool frags, and oddball equipment from one of the members or one of the many excellent local shops.
Nonetheless, I started a new tank, and it is getting established. The closest decent LFS is in Albuquerque (shout out to Southwestern Reefs!), and I ordered a 110 tall and plumbed it with a Bean Animal-ish overflow. I will start a tank progress thread soon, but the short summary is that I have two goals:
1. Keep it simple. Mostly soft corals and hardier SPS, so that I can travel and ignore it without getting stressed.
2. Stock it with captive-bred animals. It is especially nice that there are so many fish being reared in captivity.
The tank has been set up for about a year, and the corals are doing well. I plan to add another round of corals this fall, after some other things settle down.
I have also been keeping busy learning about the ecology of local animals and plants, especially the darkling (Tenebrionid) beetles. They are actually more interesting and important than you may think. My current projects involve looking at the seasonal appearance, heat tolerance, and oxygen consumption of the various species that live here. If anyone is interested, there is website describing some of the work here.
The rest of the time, I am walking the dogs, hiking with my wife, or fixing the endless things that need to be fixed.
Looking forward to being part of an online community again!
Cheers,
Dave
