Saturday, February 28, 2009

Starting off


My first memory of a saltwater aquarium was while accompanying my family on a visit to some friend or family member. I couldn’t have been more than 8 or 10 at the time. I don’t remember who it was but it was either someone my parents didn’t know very well or lived a long way from us, because it was a one time visit. At the time it was one of the most exotic things I had ever seen. Corals drifting in the soft current, brightly colored fish darting in and out, it was hypnotizing. This thing (at least to me) was enormous. Thinking back, based on the size of my childhood memory, I’m guessing it was probably about 250 gallons.
A few years ago I bought some used equipment and started my own 30 gallon tank. It was a blast to watch, but cost a lot of money. And I killed more fish than I care to admit. It lasted about a year or so before I packed up and sold off all the remaining gear. Even though we enjoyed it for a year I still consider the effort a failure because I just had trouble keeping stuff alive. About 6 months ago I got the itch to start up again. I finally pulled the trigger last week and ordered an all in one tank. I chose a relatively small model, 12 gallons, because I wanted it to fit on an existing counter in our kitchen. This is the room in which we spend most of our time, and the counter top that my wife has set aside for it can also be seen from the living room while watching TV. It just showed up in the mail. In this blog I will attempt to document my progress, hiccups, failures and whatever I learn along the way.

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