Reef Aquarium Beginnings

**carriej22** · 04-18-2013, 04:50 AM

LOL Don is right, there isn't much here... hehe

It is very, very, VERY rural.. lol. This city only has like 17,000 people or something; and it covers a huge area.

I would start a business with it; if I could. Alas; it is very expensive business to get into. Some day down the road; maybe I will try my hand at it. I would like to learn lots more first; as I only keep certain species of things - and have not kept everything. It's a very underlooked hobby.. I think everyone should have a fishtank! LOL

**Debbie C** · 04-18-2013, 10:13 AM

Very beautiful Carrie,you did a great job. I wish I knew how to do salt water tanks,I'm going to sell my empty tank in a garage sale (hopefully)

**carriej22** · 04-22-2013, 08:03 AM

Noooooooooo@! DON'T SELL IT!! haha. It's like a crime!

More pictures.

Skunk shrimp (he gives manicures, I have a vid somewhere!)

Meet Mr. Scopas. The handomest fellow in the tank

He likes to play games

This beautimous thing... Is called an elegance coral... Don't you want to touch it? But alas.. it stings!

**annekat** · 04-22-2013, 11:39 AM

Carrie, you have the most interesting looking creatures in your tank. This whole thing must require a huge amount of attention and work to keep everyone happy and have it look as good as it does! Congrats on a job well done, and thanks for sharing it with us!

**carriej22** · 04-22-2013, 12:06 PM

Anne, I enjoy it like some people enjoy gardening, or knitting or what have you (I like gardening too). My husband has built me all sorts of things to make my life easier (trolleys for carting water around, etc) and I use a small pump to change the water so it's really not much work at all.

The most work is feeding the fish; lol. I take a turkey baster and shoot some towards them so they will eat it. I feed the corals too and they can be pesky; but I really enjoy it. It certainly has a "wow" factor; I drag everyone down the basement to show them my masterpiece

I have all sorts of tools to reach into the tank with, like today I had to rescue a crab that got his shell stuck; and I had to rescue a snail that was flipped on it's back. In this hobby, if you have the money (which I don't!) you can essentially buy all kinds of equipment to do the work for you.. Monitors everything, even automatic water changers.. But I think it's fun to work on the tank!

**carriej22** · 05-27-2013, 03:17 PM

A video of one of the corals moving.. Time for some motion... A little taste of what it's like!

**whatthewhat** · 05-27-2013, 03:53 PM

Wow, I was really enjoying reading about your creation and looking at the pictures but then I saw the video! Just lovely!! Thank you so much for posting.