Topic: Our saltwater tank

[barleychown]

Our saltwater tank is now a 210 gallon reef.

Mike and I decided we wanted the tank to be a sort of room divider between our formal living room and dining room.

[barleychown]

Picture of saltwater tanks are hard to take...it takes 100 shots to get one good one.

[barleychown]

[Dianna]

That is one awesome tank, Sarah! How in the world do you manage to keep it clean?

It is stunning!

[sunsoaker]

Beautiful tank!  My future son-in-law maintains fish tanks commercially (lots of them around here -coastal town) and I know they are a lot of work to keep just right. He and my daughter have one in their home. Kudos to y'all.  My fish all died in a fresh water tank... 

[MassMama]

  your Tank is wonderful!! I sure wish mine looked like that Sarah!!  I love the corals they are Beautiful!!!!!!

[barleychown]

That is one awesome tank, Sarah! How in the world do you manage to keep it clean?

It is stunning!

When everything is balanced just right all I have to do is scrape the glass ever few days. It will work together to keep itself clean...the crabs and snails do a great job.

When I set up a new tank i have to spend quite a bit of time on it, but after about 10 weeks I can scale back to just a few minutes a day, and then 30 minutes once a week...it's a lot like gardening.

[MassMama]

Ohhhh I need to scrape the coraline off my glass..
that is about how I do it too Sarah ... little bit here and there and it is easy!

[barleychown]

I took some good shots of the tank today...

First, a full tank shot:



This is a green monti cap coral, with a purple rim:

[barleychown]

Puff, the green spot puffer, says "what are you doing?"



A close-up of a bubble coral:



And a close up of some green mushroom coral:

[Tamara]

Wow, that is amazing. I don't know anything about aquariums. Is all that stuff in there real?

[Penny]

Those are so pretty Sarah.....i love the coral with the purple rim, very nice!!

[Triss]

Absolutely beautiful Sarah and it sure looks a lot fuller than when I saw it at the old house.

[Wrennie]

I miss my saltwater tanks. I love yours. What other fish besides the puffer do you have I see the Nemo~clownfish. Is that a gobi in the shot with the puffer?

[barleychown]

Everything in the tank is alive, even the rock and sand. You could sit and watch for hours and never see it all.

There is a blue hippo tang, a bannerfish, nemo, 2 black and white damsels, 4 firefish, a mandarin, a lawnmower blenny, and the puffer. Plus there are numerous snails and crabs.

[Patty S]

Great shots, Sarah! I swear, I could sit & watch your tank for HOURS & never be bored! There are so many things in there that aren't seen at a glance, & the critters are all so mesmerizing!

Tell me again, how long it has taken you to get your reef tank to this point. I cant keep up with my little 55 gallon tank... you wanna pop down here & help me clean it? You're my favorite, you know!

LaRelle was looking at your pics here the other day, & asked if you ever found out what the nasty critter was that showed up in your tank at the old house, the first time she went there with me... (I think it was a globby loach-looking thing, that you said you didn't put there.) I don't know if you remember what I'm talking about... if so, is he/she/it still with you?

[christy]

   sarah! thats beyond awsome!!!  its like you have a hole nother world in there, i could sit n watch for hours n hours!
 

[landofoz]

Where do you get corals and (what I think are) anemones? That is so neat.  I'd love to do that one fine day...  Your tank is beautiful!

[MassMama]

  Do you have any problems with the Puffer? I have always been told they could not go into a coral tank They are one of my favorite fish
The Cap coral is pretty too! I agree it is TOUGH to get a good snap shot of the coral.. you did a great job!

[barleychown]

The puffer does eat snails and crabs, so I try to make sure to have lots of cheap snails on hand for him to eat.

I get my corals from several different places, but always make sure that they are "captive grown", which means not taken from the ocean.

[Dianna]

Those are some fantastic looking creatures you have in there, Sarah. Beautiful tank!

[barleychown]

I got some updated shots of the tank this week.



This summer, we had an attack of hair algae, but it's dieing off now.

All in all, I still really enjoy my tank, but it's a roller coaster ride.

We lost Puff this week. I think that the mistreatment he suffered before coming to live with us is responsibe for his early death. I miss him every day, and as a result, have not spent any time at all on the tank. Hopefully I'll be back in the spirit soon.

Mike's clownfish, Nemo (original, huh?) has the life of royalty. He has not one, but several different corals he lives in. Granted, they are not the anemone he would live in were this the ocean, but he's happy all the same.



My hammer coral is growing nicely...



As is the fox coral...



Star polyp forrest...



 

[MassMama]

OMG Sarah what an amazing shot of the clown fish..  It is not an easy task to take pictures in a tank.. it could take dozens of tries just to get one! PERFECT!!

Sorry about Mr Puff .. I am sure he is in a happy place especially in your heart! 

your tank is just beautiful!! I had the hair alge what a pain in the keester to get rid of .. I actually removed all my rock to get rid of it.. it wrecked my tank and I kinda lost interest for a long time! 

[Dianna]

Sarah, your tank is absolutely beautiful! I would wanna live there if I were a fish!

[Patty S]

WOW, Sarah! What great pics!  I think these are the best ones you've come up with!

Darn, I liked that Puffer guy. You've told me that it takes a long time to get Puffers ready for a reef tank, but do you think you'll try getting another one?

Dianna, I'd like to live there too, even if I'm not a fish! (At Sarah's, I mean... not IN the tank.) It would be so easy to spend day after day, watching that reef tank... everything in there is alive, & the more you watch, the more things you see!