Island Reef 242
Active Member
Hello to everyone around the world on this amazing sight. I have been lurking around here for about 2 months and decided to finally introduce myself.
A brief history. I have been keeping fish off an on for about 30 years. When I was around 8 years old I decided to keep a small fish that I had caught, in a empty one gallon paint bucket. The next morning it died, and I learned my first lesson on keeping fish. You need some sort of aeration or gas exchange for a fish to breathe, What! Fish can breath underwater! The following Christmas I got a 10g fresh water tank with black mollies and swordtails. It was fun watching them grow and have babies, but it was not long until I turned it into saltwater. During high school I kept everything from Angels to Octopi, basically whatever I could catch.
My backyard.
There were only a few of us keeping saltwater tanks at the time. For equipment all I had was a Aqua Clear HOB filter, heater (to compensate for our AC rooms), and a hydrometer. I always used live sand and rock and would rarely do a water change. Testing, for PH and Ammonia, was even rarer. If a fish looked stressed or sick, a simple water change and/or removing whatever might be dying on a rock would do the trick. Once we could get a fish to eat (flake food) they would live until they jumped out, got eaten, or died from a long power outage. The only time I can remember having a tank crash, during the early days, was when a Hurricane left us with out power for two weeks. I was mostly into fish and live rocks, it was cool to see all the things living on and in the rocks. Coral was hard to keep unless you had really good lights.
A juvenile french Angel fish, 100 feet off shore.
I went to collage in the US and found out how expensive this hobby is. Some fish I could easily catch would sell for $30-$150. And you had to pay for rocks and sand, that’s crazy. During collage I had a 55g and only kept predators. After collage I took a break from salt water tanks until I helped open up a small restaurant. I set up a 55g in the restaurant with a sump, skimmer, UV filter, and some good quality lights. I was able to keep some small stony corals, gorgonians, and fish alive for about 3 years, until one day the whole tank just died. I don’t know what happened, but I suspect one of the janitors was careless when cleaning around the tank and contaminated the water. I did not set up the tank again, and unfortunately had to close the restaurant a couple years later.
A beautiful colony of coral.
A few years ago I decided to get back into the hobby and started doing research on new techniques and equipment. My how some things have changed, and some old practices are coming back into favor. Whenever I get a chance to travel to the states I try and pick up some equipment, and I feel I now have enough to get started. My dream is to have a thriving reef tank with many stony corals, to the point where I could regularly frag, and place back into the ocean to replenish what has died. So far, in my short life I have seen many beautiful reefs just die and fall apart, as well as clear evidence of the sea level rising. Whether you believe global warming is man made or not, the earth is going through some major changes. And the reefs are taking a hard hit.
A small Damsel and Goby in my 10g tank.
A terrible full tank shot of my 10 g, I promise i will do better next time. And, yes, those are mangroves in salsa jars behind.
Last month I set up a 10g tank in anticipation for a 75g, which I am currently building a stand for. The 10g will eventually be an observation/staging tank for fish that will go into the 75g. I through in some rubble from the beach, rocks from the shore line, fish, crabs, urchins, snails, and plants. I will start a build thread for the 10g as well as for the 75g for everyone to follow along as well as for records.
For those wondering about laws regarding collecting coral and fish in the Bahamas. Black coral is totally off limits. There is no catching or taking of anything in the land and sea parks. And export of live corals and ornamental fish is illegal. As far as I have read, seen, herd, there is no law against me collecting/catching fish or coral in an unprotected area for my tank.
An awesome colony of Elk horn coral.
A reef, duh.
Wow, I think I have broken the record for the longest opening post in the Meet & Greet section. I don’t think I have ever giving out this much info about me to the interwebs. But, from looking around here I can see there are a few good crazy, like minded people with salt water running through their veins that might like to read and appreciate my story. I look forward to learning and growing with you all, as well as answering any questions and sharing my experience.
Happy Reefing,
Chris
A brief history. I have been keeping fish off an on for about 30 years. When I was around 8 years old I decided to keep a small fish that I had caught, in a empty one gallon paint bucket. The next morning it died, and I learned my first lesson on keeping fish. You need some sort of aeration or gas exchange for a fish to breathe, What! Fish can breath underwater! The following Christmas I got a 10g fresh water tank with black mollies and swordtails. It was fun watching them grow and have babies, but it was not long until I turned it into saltwater. During high school I kept everything from Angels to Octopi, basically whatever I could catch.
My backyard.
There were only a few of us keeping saltwater tanks at the time. For equipment all I had was a Aqua Clear HOB filter, heater (to compensate for our AC rooms), and a hydrometer. I always used live sand and rock and would rarely do a water change. Testing, for PH and Ammonia, was even rarer. If a fish looked stressed or sick, a simple water change and/or removing whatever might be dying on a rock would do the trick. Once we could get a fish to eat (flake food) they would live until they jumped out, got eaten, or died from a long power outage. The only time I can remember having a tank crash, during the early days, was when a Hurricane left us with out power for two weeks. I was mostly into fish and live rocks, it was cool to see all the things living on and in the rocks. Coral was hard to keep unless you had really good lights.
A juvenile french Angel fish, 100 feet off shore.
I went to collage in the US and found out how expensive this hobby is. Some fish I could easily catch would sell for $30-$150. And you had to pay for rocks and sand, that’s crazy. During collage I had a 55g and only kept predators. After collage I took a break from salt water tanks until I helped open up a small restaurant. I set up a 55g in the restaurant with a sump, skimmer, UV filter, and some good quality lights. I was able to keep some small stony corals, gorgonians, and fish alive for about 3 years, until one day the whole tank just died. I don’t know what happened, but I suspect one of the janitors was careless when cleaning around the tank and contaminated the water. I did not set up the tank again, and unfortunately had to close the restaurant a couple years later.
A beautiful colony of coral.
A few years ago I decided to get back into the hobby and started doing research on new techniques and equipment. My how some things have changed, and some old practices are coming back into favor. Whenever I get a chance to travel to the states I try and pick up some equipment, and I feel I now have enough to get started. My dream is to have a thriving reef tank with many stony corals, to the point where I could regularly frag, and place back into the ocean to replenish what has died. So far, in my short life I have seen many beautiful reefs just die and fall apart, as well as clear evidence of the sea level rising. Whether you believe global warming is man made or not, the earth is going through some major changes. And the reefs are taking a hard hit.
A small Damsel and Goby in my 10g tank.
A terrible full tank shot of my 10 g, I promise i will do better next time. And, yes, those are mangroves in salsa jars behind.
Last month I set up a 10g tank in anticipation for a 75g, which I am currently building a stand for. The 10g will eventually be an observation/staging tank for fish that will go into the 75g. I through in some rubble from the beach, rocks from the shore line, fish, crabs, urchins, snails, and plants. I will start a build thread for the 10g as well as for the 75g for everyone to follow along as well as for records.
For those wondering about laws regarding collecting coral and fish in the Bahamas. Black coral is totally off limits. There is no catching or taking of anything in the land and sea parks. And export of live corals and ornamental fish is illegal. As far as I have read, seen, herd, there is no law against me collecting/catching fish or coral in an unprotected area for my tank.
An awesome colony of Elk horn coral.
A reef, duh.
Wow, I think I have broken the record for the longest opening post in the Meet & Greet section. I don’t think I have ever giving out this much info about me to the interwebs. But, from looking around here I can see there are a few good crazy, like minded people with salt water running through their veins that might like to read and appreciate my story. I look forward to learning and growing with you all, as well as answering any questions and sharing my experience.
Happy Reefing,
Chris
