I love water. Correction – I love un-frozen water.
Growing up in Tennessee meant being on the lake 8 months of the year and every spring our family would travel to Maui, Hawaii for spring break. I remember our first trip – I was 9 which meant that I couldn’t partake in scuba diving. All I could do was sit on the shore and wait for my father and older brother to come out of the ocean and tell me about what they had seen.
I remember hearing about different colored fishes, eels, which looked like snakes underwater, and even sea turtles. I was left to image what these creatures must have looked like as I couldn’t SCUBA – yet.
When I turned 12, that was my year. My year to get PADI certified and to see this underwater world that my brother and dad talked about. I sat through the 30 minute “intro” session and then I walked out onto the beach, into the ocean, swam out about 30 yards and then descended to behold the new landscape of ocean reefs. My addiction to the ocean had started.
Next up: salt water aquarium. My first tank was 75 galloon tank that sat in my bedroom. In keeping this tank, I learned about nitrogen cycles, what fish played well with other fish and most important of all, what worked and didn’t work in regards to keeping a saltwater tank.
Fast forward 20 years and now I have a 90G tank that sports all kind of equipment that was virtually unheard of back then. And, I have corals – again something not commonly found in tanks in the late 80′s as no one knew about the lighting requirements of these animals and how to care for them.
The addiction continues and through this blog, I intend to provide a place to document what’s worked for me and what hasn’t as well as to bring timely information to readers.
{ 15 comments }
Thank you for all the info it’s been invaluable as a 5 yr vet I’m almost an enthusist Im just missing the big tank I’m a nano junkie my systems packed full of softies as it’s safe for my pc lights and also have a friendly maroon clown that eats from my hand but is a gold stripe( 2nd one I’ve had like this guess better lucky than good). I soon plan ( within a year ) to make the jump to a 75 rimless and am very gracious to have found your site.I’ve learn more from u in a week then in 5 years of LFS advice. Keep up the good work. Thanks again.
Mark, I have recently set up a 29 gallon tank. Built the stand and hood assembly myself and filled it with about 25lbs of dry rock I hand picked in Florida. It took the tank 8 weeks to cycle. I am getting ready to stock the tank, do you recommend ordering on line or using local fish stores? I know you can get more for your money on line, but you have to purchase many fish/inverts/corals to make it worth your money in regards to shipping. I’m afraid the tank will not be able to handle the load.
Any input would be great and I love your website,
Lance
Lance…local fish stores are great for only getting a couple of items but many don’t offer the care or guarantees that the online guys will. Given your tank size, I’d shop local unless you want to put together a group buy so that you can make the minimum amounts to get free shipping.
Mark Callahan,
I had a 45 gallon, fish only tank, back in the late 80′s. It was loaded with angels, butterflies and tangs, which many said would not get along . . . but they did; however, it was a trickle filter all-in-one acrylic tank, and one morning I woke up with most of the fish dead. Many of them I had for a good number of months — some even came and ate out of my fingers. Needless to say, I got angry and sold everything I could.
Move forward a few decades, and I have found the hobby has come a long way with many advancements. Although I have been laid-off of work like many, my interest has grown. So in place of starting a new aquarium, I have made use of the time to educate and research the new technology and the philosophy in producing much more successful results; furthermore, in doing my research on line, I also started using YouTube and found your excellent contributions. I must say that through your friendly and well-produced, informative presentations; I have brought up to the twenty-first century in the areas of saltwater fish and reef aquariums. Just wanted to thank you, and to let you know your time and efforts are very much appreciated.
Russ
this is a great website. I am so excited. I am getting a huge tank as a gift and am so excited to take the plunge into saltwater. I have done freshwater takes my whole life but have always wanted to do saltwater.
I’m going to use your site as a resource and probably work closely with Vivid in Canoga Park. What is the biggest tip you have for a noob?
Thanks!
James…congrats on the gift. i’m not sure how big “huge” is but make sure you read this first: http://www.MrSaltWaterTank.com/go-big-but-not-quickly/
Hello,
I live in Domincan Republic, which is an island in the caribbean. Because of this it is extremely difficult for me to get frozen food. So I tried to buy the components of the frozen food but dry. I have soft corals and LPS corals. I have tangs and clown fish. I’m going to list what I’m using as well as the frequency so you can make your suggestions if there’s anything I need to change.
• FOOD (I ALTERNATE THE FOOD, I DON’T USE THEM ALL TOGETHER):
PRIME REEF FLAKES (OCEAN NUTRITION)
FORMULA TWO FLAKES (OCEAN NUTRITION)
DAPHNIA (HIKARI)
BRINE SHRIMP
CYCLOP-EEZE (ARGENT)
• ADDITIVES (I ALTAERNATE AS WELL):
SEACHEM CALCIUM
KORALLIN AMINO-LIFE
KORALLIN S-PLUS
MARINE SNOW (JULIAN SPRUG’S FORMULA)
Thank you for your response.
ALFREDO REYES
Alfredo…Dominican Republic..?Wow…can I come visit?
Your food mix sounds good. I’d leave out the:
SEACHEM CALCIUM
KORALLIN AMINO-LIFE
KORALLIN S-PLUS
MARINE SNOW (JULIAN SPRUG’S FORMULA)
Though…some of those are tank additives not food additives. If you can get your hands on selcon, that would work great.
Wanted to know if you are selling the apex jr. yet?
Please let me know. Rather order from you than other sources.
Where do you get your awesome shirts?
Mark know any fish stores in AZ that have good prices on fish?
My story of fish keeping started when i was 3. i started liking fish because Elmo because he had that little goldfish. then i got a goldfish too and kept it. fastforward to when im 10. then my friend gets a 5 gallon goldfish tank and we would buy fish and plants for that little tank. that was the good times. the next year i got a ten gallon with a catfish still living now. the next year for christmas i got a 40 gallon tank for the 1.5 foot catfish( dont worry its verry long ) and the ten gallon i put some tropical fish in there. the same year me and my friend mike started saltwater (me and him were in to fish at the same time). we started with 1 gallon tank and now i have a 12 gallon tank running perfectly and he has a 30 gallon reef tank. thats my story of reef keeping.
Greetings Mark…. I’ve set up NEW SALTWATER TANK!!! and stumbled across your site on YouTube.. I’m way impressed and will be leaning on you a lot here in the near future. I’ve already sent you a “skimmer” note and look forward to what advice you have to offer to me in future !
Dear, Mr.Saltwatertank
I have a saltwater aquarium setup and my Niger trigger seems to be attacking my smallest clownfish in the tank I don’t know what to do, and I was wondering if you have any advice?Thanks.
-Ethan
Ethan…remove it.