Jamaica Scuba Diving Trip

Not only do I love reef tanks, but I also really enjoy anything that has to do with the ocean. Last new years I went to Jamaica with my mom. A while before we left, we both started a class to get scuba certified. My mom is afraid of the ocean but she did it because it was something that I really really wanted to do.

Taking a step away from all the things directly related to fish, I want to share the some pictures of just on land stuff that we say there in Jamaica. The culture there was amazing: super laid back and everyone was super friendly.

You can view my slideshow of a few pictures that I took while I was there.

A Death In The Crew

My hardest working sand-sifting starfish died last night. It is very unfortunate because he was my hardest worker in keeping the sand nice and turned over. I will now be on the lookout at local fish stores (LFS) for a nice replacement.

Scrubbing Algae

When scrubbing the inside of either a glass or an acrylic tank, make sure to frequently check the tool for sand. Any little bit will scratch the tank like crazy. An easy way to avoid it is to just not get close to the sand bed at all.

Cleaning Acrylic

When you are cleaning an acrylic tank, don't make the mistake of using windex or any other ammonia based product. It causes little cracks to appear that can't be buffed out. It is a permanent marking that will ruin the tank.

Live Rock

When working with live rock, be cautious and gentle. They're rocks. Rocks are sharp. Sharp things cut you. Sharp rocks cut you over and over in various places. Sharp rocks in saltwater makes it worse. Saltwater in open wounds stings like crazy. Lesson in a nutshell, be prepared for cuts and stinging when working with live rock.

Water Changes

The most important thing about keeping a tank is to keep up on water changes. A water change takes out old, contaminated water and replaces it with new, nutrient full water. When you mix salt water, you are not only adding salt. You are also adding in nutrients that the corals absorb to survive. As they remove these from the water, you need to replace them along with removing the collected waste in the water. An ideal tank should get a 10% water change at least once a week.

Overflowing

Today at work, I learned a great lesson. My manager had unplugged the sump to the reef tank to do something. While I was walking past, I noticed a puddle underneath the stand. My other coworker panicked and hurried to plug it back in. My manager said that was a bad thing to do because wherever it was leaking from, it would have shot out quicker with the pumps back on.

Die Off

When your corals experience the poor event of dying, it is important to take care of the dying parts before it spreads to throughout the whole tank and takes more coral with it.

To prevent this from happening, follow these steps:

1. Start a siphon into a bucket and suck off all the die off from the corals
2. Empty the bucket and then siphon some about 2.5 gallons of tank water back inside the bucket
3. Add 25 drops of Lugol's Solution to the bucket
4. Take out corals that had die off and place them in the bucket for 10 minutes tops
5. During the ten minutes shake the corals around to get additional die off out of the bases
6. After the ten minutes, add the coral back to the tank, no need to rinse

Good morning and welcome to my blog

This is my first go at blogging and I thought that I'd give a shot at it with one of my favorite hobbies, saltwater reef tanks. I have had a reef tank for a little over a year, yet have been very interested in marine life for a while longer than that. I enjoy reef tanks and I also enjoy writing about things that I am really interested in and passionate about. So here we go, feel free to accompany me on this new journey.

I don't remember if I had actually wanted a fish tank before this particular school assignment, but I do know that after the assignment, I didn't want to give the fish away. I started my first fish tank in a little ten gallon as a freshwater tank after begging my mom to let me keep the little Zebra Danio that had survived a freshman echo system in a bottle experiment at school. She agreed and my first aquarium began. My mom had no idea what she had just set in motion. My love and knowledge of sea life has grown and expanded so much, neither of us even saw it coming.

My small ten gallon world grew fish by fish, snail by snail, and eventually ended with a crab. One Christmas, after my parents started to notice just how much I loved fish tanks, I received a 36 gallon bow front tank. This tank was a monster sized tank to me. I didn't even know what to do with myself with all that space for fish and decor.

Fast forward about a year later, my interest and desire for saltwater tanks increasing more and more each day. Workimg my way through a computer science degree as an employee at Acrylic Tank Manufacturing of Las Vegas didn't help dampen that desire either. Being surrounded by 200+ gallon saltwater tanks and being able to see just what was possible made me want one of my own even more.

A few months of research and asking coworkers about just went into a saltwater tank, as well as saving up some money to make the switch, I finally made it. I rounded up all my freshwater fish to take to work and put inside a tank we had in the offices. After bringing my fish inside, I left work. Super excited to get home and start the setup of my saltwater world. At this time, I only had my driver's permit so my mom had come with me. As I was pulling out of the parking lot of my business complex where I worked, I made a left turn onto the main road without checking traffic thoroughly both ways. I hit an oncoming car and my mom's car was totaled. Right after the car accident had been sorted out with the police and other driver, I walked back to work and asked for my fish back because I wouldn't be able to afford a saltwater tank now with my little mishap.

Time went by and I eventually saved enough money again to start the tank up. It has been running as a saltwater reef tank and I have recently passed my 36 gallon bow front on to my dad after being given a 75 gallon system II to move my reef into. I have had my reef running for over a year now and it has been a very fun journey all along the way.

I will post to this blog about my tank, issues I run into, interesting things that happen inside it, as well as tips that I learn along the way to share with you all. Thank you for joining me on this journey!