Coming from another time, money, resource consuming hobby....

I have been riding horses for thirteen years.  It has become a lifelong passion for me.  I love learning about the animals, the different styles, everything.  For the last seven of those years (it definitely doesn't feel like seven years), I've ridden dressage which is perhaps one of the most time consuming disciplines I have ever tried to pick up.

Dressage is a french word for training.  It is the constant pursuit of perfection.  The rider and horse are given a score out 100%.  This is such a demanding and tedious sport that the current world record in freestyle Dressage is 89.4% by Edward Gal (one of my favorites) on Moorlands Totilas.

 Why am I talking about this on an aquarium blog?  Because of my reasons for getting into this hobby (and because my mother in law asked hubby what got me interested and he couldn't come up with an answer).  At the moment, my station in life does not allow me to pursue dressage as much as it deserves and as much I feel is necessary to maintain my current skill, let alone surpass it.  The last year has been difficult for me to reconcile that I need to "hang up the bridle" so to speak.  I'm not giving up my passion, but it is a fruitless endeavor to pursue something I only have half of everything it deserves.  I will still ride when the opportunity presents itself.  My cousins own horses, there are a couple customers at work I ride for when I have the time, and my in laws have a friend I've yet to take up an offer to ride with so there are sparse opportunities to at least scratch the itch.

Pumpkin, the last horse I was riding before leaving for college (me in the background) 2008

But I love dressage.  I love the challenge.  I love the pursuit of perfection.  I love the idea that every day until the day I die, I will never cease to learn about the sport, about the horse I happen to be riding (everyone is different), about myself and my body and its limitations.  It is very addicting.  And when I read this:

"A word of warning: starting and keeping a marine tank cause a serious change in human behavioural patterns - looking dreamy eyed at your tank for hours on end; phoning your loved ones (or anyone!) in the middle of the night to tell them about a new polyp, worm, glowing thingy about 1mm long, ... which you have just discovered; not buying new clothes, furniture etc. because your tank REALLY needs that new light, filter, ROCK, etc.... Oh well, maybe you won't get hooked so badly."

I knew I found my new hobby.  It was exactly how I feel about dressage.  Keeping a salt water tank is a lifelong learning experience.  It's complex, it's exciting, it's always changing.  There is always something new to learn about whether it's a new coral, a new piece of equipment, a newly observed behavior in a fish kept for years that revolutionizes the approach to keeping.  This is exciting.  I was that person who talked endlessly about how my horse finally moved how I wanted which meant nothing to my husband, my parents, no body except for those familiar with my sport.  But for me, every little thing was a high.

I have longed for a hobby that fill those needs.  I refuse to believe dressage is the only thing that can do it.  And the more I research, the more I am intrigued, the more excited I become.  The passion that I was longing for after realizing I needed to give up dressage for a time, is back.  And I am thrilled to death and very daunted.  Because if there is anything horses have taught me, is anything good and miraculous takes a really, really, really long time to cultivate. And I think, judging by my research, any one who has kept a salt water tank can agree with that as well.

Here's the link to that awesome article I quoted. It is a great run down on FAQ for starting a tank:  So you want to start a Marine Tank

And, if you're interested, an article on my favorite rider and his record breaking ride: Moorlands Totilas Ridden by Edward Gal to World Record Score of 89.400 Per Cent

Happy Swimming!

PS Today I bought Krylon Fusion Patriotic Blue gloss spray paint and Krylon Fusion white spray paint for the tank. Both are at Ace Hardware for $5. I plan on buying the tank this weekend or the following weekend.  I just started working after being on a 2 month emergency out of state and I forgot when I get paid. haha

Proposed Set Up

No, I am not stealing underpants... But it is a good South Park episode.

Today is the big day where I reveal my totally awesome, blow your mind plans! Maybe that would be a good starter if I was more experienced. But since I’m not, my plans are actually not mind blowing, but I’m excited all the same.

Remember I said I’m doing this on a budget of $30 a month that is slightly flexible. It is slightly flexible because I can take out advances. So I can technically spend $60 dollars for September but I will not receive $30 for October. We really are trying to pay off our wedding and cars. Also, later on hubby wants to build a custom stand in which case we will be combining our respective fun money and our joint fun money (joint fun money is for dinners out and dates and stuff). But that too will be done on a budget… I hope… That is sort of his project so his rules are different than mine. Now that I've explained the money, lets get on with the plan!

As I said before my tank will be a 10 gallon set up similar to this:

You can read more about this tank at Advanced Aquarist

The basis for my project will be a Walmart freshwater set up that you can get for $30 in store. It is not available online.

This set up comes with the tank, hood, and aquaculture 5-15 filter which I may change later depending on how my project comes along. Now, this is a freshwater setup, so the bulbs are not up to par. For bulbs I plan on using two Coralife 50/50 20 watt compact florescents.

While price shopping I also found a bulb called ReefSun 50/50 sold by PetCo. However, I noticed that the ReefSun was 6500k while Coralife is 10,000k. Which there is a difference, I will post a separate thing on that. My new friends at Nano-Reef.com (see Reef Resources in sidebar) were kind enough to point me in the right direction and tell me Coralife is the way to go. Once again, there will be a separate post on that later.

Once acquiring my "basic" items, I will also be buying a can of blue spray paint, white spray paint, and a piece of acrylic to cover the bottom of the hood to save my electrics from water exposure and my fish from my electrics. I will be following the videos posted on YouTube by Indo-Pacific Sea Farms. I made a nice and easy playlist for y'all to navigate through :)

Happy swimming!

My head needs to get organized

Okay, so I’ve restarted writing this post about three times now.  Why? Because a lot has happened the last two days and I also forgot some important information in my first post.  So, expect this blog to be fairly active the next couple of days.

First big thing I forgot to tell you is the size of my project.  I will be creating a ten gallon nano reef.  I know most experienced folk would say, “Sweetie, you should probably think bigger so everything won’t die in a weekend.”  And I understand that argument.  

For those of you at the beginning of your research, allow me to explain the somehow strange sounding logic that larger reef tanks are easier than small ones.  This is one example among many: let’s compare my future ten gallon reef tank to someone’s hundred gallon.  Both of us are in the process of mixing salt for the tank and let’s say that we make the same measurement mistake on the salt.  Well, my buddy’s tank salinity is only going to be thrown off by 2%.  My tank however will die because of the same mistake that caused salinity to be thrown of 20%. 

A larger tank means a larger system that can absorb small mistakes.  My ten gallon will not have that luxury.  This is why many experienced people caution the inexperienced against smaller tanks.  You will have a more difficult time keeping everything alive.

That being said, I am still interested in a ten gallon system.  This is primarily because I believe that it will cause a steeper learning curve and cause yours truly to pay closer attention.  In the future this will allow me to have a greater understanding of larger systems and hopefully increase my success rate.  Additionally, I don’t have the money or space required for a larger system... 

Speaking of money, I will be doing a nano reef tank on a budget of thirty dollars a month.  Why thirty dollars? Because after paying for a wedding, finishing school and buying a house, it is all hubby and I can afford as individual fun money. Now, it is not completely set in stone for reasons I will go into later, but don’t expect any spending of a hundred dollars on a LED light system either.  However, if you’re trying to do a nano on a budget, this is the blog for you!

For reasons of space and organization, expect each post to focus on a specific topic regarding my system, especially this early on.  I have a lot to share on the great many things I’ve been learning and I don’t want to be a clutterbug.  

I promise the next one will be about plans and set ups!

Happy swimming!

Welcome!

Welcome to the first post of this blog!  If you want to know more about me, feel free to mosey on over to the about me section.  But the most important facts you need to know is my name is Léa (like Star Wars) and I am an absolute animal lover.  I am not a dog, cat, horse or rat lover.   I am not a fish, bird, or reptile lover.  I am an animal lover.   Whether it crawls, runs, swims or flies, I want to know about them, how to care for them in captivity and how to protect their wild brethren.  Thus, my adventures into keeping fish begin. 

                I have never kept any fish more complex than betta.  I love salt water tanks but have always been afraid of the costs, the time and the potential to kill my fish, coral, and anything else alive.   Thanks to the show Tanked on Animal Planet, I became curious again and started doing some research that leads to this blog.   

              I strongly believe in smart animal care and research. I have kept most basic and a few exotic pets over my lifetime and I like to think I am fairly knowledgeable in their care.   When caring for animals, whether it is my cat, my greyhound, the rats I had in high school and college, the numerous horses and livestock I had the privilege to care for through a menagerie of barns, I strive to give them the best care possible.  I spend hours researching the animal’s history in the wild, history in captivity, behaviors, and nutrition. I take a huge amount of pride in good socialization, nutrition, and environmental stimulation.  I love seeing them thrive under my care and ache to see the havoc we are creating on their natural habitat.  Animals are my greatest passion.

  I hope this blog can one day be used as a resource to others who want to keep a salt water tanks.   This blog will not only follow my own adventures, but will also be a collection of resources and feature guest writers who are also experienced aquarists.

Well, we will see where this goes!  For the next post, look forward to proposed set up and goals for this first tank.

Happy  swimming!