TexasYeti
New Member
OK so I have kept FW fish on and off for years. I have lived in E Texas for about 5 years, and a year ago, found a forum that was for E texas. A few were FW guys, but the most active were the SW freaks.. I looked at my beautiful Cichlids as they grew and developed colour, and read about the stresses and concerns of the SW guys. However, as time went by, I gradually started to recognise an amazing fact. In my FW tank, even with my Eheim biotic/ceramic tubes, I was still in the end, artificial.
So as I read more about these guys tanks, I started to research more and more, and then started to ask the "newbie" questions, of Ritter and some others, that have since become valued friends.
I recognised that, in fact, you can set up a SW tank, such that it is in a sense, it's own ecosystem. You have no idea how stunning this was. Well OK, you do, you also have reef tanks.
But also that was the other part.
A Reef Tank. Not just a SW fish tank, but a tank that could grow coral.
Let's take a pause here. I am in my 50's. I grew up in the UK (in the US for only the last 6-7 years), I used to be glued to the TV any Sunday evening, when Jacques Cousteau documentaries were on the TV.... in colour! (We got colour TV when I was 12). He was a hero to me.
So here I am, reading about Ritter and the others, not only having Coral, but they grow! But to grow coral, well you have to be mega rich, come on, I've seen these tanks on the internet. You need to spend thousands of £'s, let alone dollars. You need to have some weird system, in a room, dedicated to pumps, filters, and pipes that go everywhere. Then I see that's not how it really works for the smaller enthusiast.
It's all to do with the balance of nature. Your tank is what you make it. A heavy bio-load needs more but a light bio load, with lots of rock, clean up crew, cheato, a sump, with more rock etc, and, well darn it, a skimmer to take the C**p out too. As it was explained to me by Jason, you see the foam on a beach, that's the C**p, that a skimmer produces. What a simple explanation.
So I went back to the UK to see my parents last summer 2011. And came back to a stand and tank. "This is for you to do with, as you wish".
A 30G bow fronted tank with stand. And an open licence. Gods, but I am loved!
I had been tempted to the "darkside"
So I then had the fortune of getting some live rock, live sand, from a close friend for an "enthusiastic beginner price", something I have now carried on to another "enthusiastic beginner" (My ethos being spread the hobby, spread the addiction, spread the enjoyment to all the family").
To be continued, when I really understand how to post pics.
So as I read more about these guys tanks, I started to research more and more, and then started to ask the "newbie" questions, of Ritter and some others, that have since become valued friends.
I recognised that, in fact, you can set up a SW tank, such that it is in a sense, it's own ecosystem. You have no idea how stunning this was. Well OK, you do, you also have reef tanks.
But also that was the other part.
A Reef Tank. Not just a SW fish tank, but a tank that could grow coral.
Let's take a pause here. I am in my 50's. I grew up in the UK (in the US for only the last 6-7 years), I used to be glued to the TV any Sunday evening, when Jacques Cousteau documentaries were on the TV.... in colour! (We got colour TV when I was 12). He was a hero to me.
So here I am, reading about Ritter and the others, not only having Coral, but they grow! But to grow coral, well you have to be mega rich, come on, I've seen these tanks on the internet. You need to spend thousands of £'s, let alone dollars. You need to have some weird system, in a room, dedicated to pumps, filters, and pipes that go everywhere. Then I see that's not how it really works for the smaller enthusiast.
It's all to do with the balance of nature. Your tank is what you make it. A heavy bio-load needs more but a light bio load, with lots of rock, clean up crew, cheato, a sump, with more rock etc, and, well darn it, a skimmer to take the C**p out too. As it was explained to me by Jason, you see the foam on a beach, that's the C**p, that a skimmer produces. What a simple explanation.
So I went back to the UK to see my parents last summer 2011. And came back to a stand and tank. "This is for you to do with, as you wish".
A 30G bow fronted tank with stand. And an open licence. Gods, but I am loved!
I had been tempted to the "darkside"
So I then had the fortune of getting some live rock, live sand, from a close friend for an "enthusiastic beginner price", something I have now carried on to another "enthusiastic beginner" (My ethos being spread the hobby, spread the addiction, spread the enjoyment to all the family").
To be continued, when I really understand how to post pics.
