Click below to see the photojournal of our impromptu day trip to Zion National Park with Amber, Brandon, Bree, Christiana, and Austin.

From gourmet fast-food (Taco Bell) to feeding donkeys, this day had a bit of just about everything. One look at the pictures and it is easy to see that it was a fun, eventful day.

 Click here to see all of the pictures!
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These pictures were taken in July, several months before this was converted into a FOWLER tank, much of the coral was fragged and sold or moved into a smaller reef tank.

After some work choosing the fish and plants for the pond, Kevin and the kids continued to slowly work on the project. After only a couple months and some minor modification to hide the pond plumbing, the patio project was complete. Well, at least until pond 4.0 expected in late 2011 <smile>.

Phase II of the side yard project included setting up and cycling a pond in addition to adding plants and other decorations. The pond was plumbed with flex PVC allowing the line to run into the garage for proper filtration. Some of the aesthetic considerations were addressed in phase 3. When the pond was operational, several small goldfish were added to seed the pond with Bacteria.  Upon being seeded, two Red-Ear Slider Turtles and a couple Koi. The livestock has grown considerably since. There are now 3 Red-Ear Sliders and two Painted Turtles as well as 4 types of Koi and some very large goldfish.

Meet Taeniura lymna Sharm … known around the house as; well, Batman. See the pictures below for a sneak-peek at the newest Batoid to join the Taylor family. Some of my friends may recall me saying very clearly that I would draw the line at shark husbandry. Evidently, the wife did not get the memo.

The Ray arrived about a week ago and did not take long to settle into his freshly cycled desk-tank. More information on his behaviors and diet soon to come! In the meantime, the tank parameters are within normal showing a complete cycle and he is anxiously awaiting the addition of some Ghost Shrimp to dine on.

Click Here to view the photojournal of our wedding.

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Princess Christiana in her new diggs

Today marks a week since a simple, two-bedroom remodel was initiated. Originally, the plan was to paint and remodel Brandon’s bedroom so that he can have the furniture and television given to him as his birthday present. Discussions with the extended familial units and the assistance and ‘flavor’ of everyone involved led to a bit more exhaustive plan that the ‘slap paint on the wall’ approach I was initially targeting. Brandon’s bedroom took about 4 days to complete and was a combined group effort between Adrian, Danny, Kevin, Stephany, and Ariel. Adrian did the artwork with Brandon’s name on the wall.

Once Brandon’s room was completed, we began the effort to paint and relocate Christiana from her existing bedroom to a newly remodeled princess suite. Another combined effort from Amber, Bree, Austin and Kevin led to a quicker start. However, the need to paint the dressers, relocate the saltwater tank, add the new Porcupine Puffer, and sort through a Hollywood wardrobe of clothes caused this part of the project to take longer than expected. After a lot of work, Christiana’s bedroom was completed this evening.

Seriously, 8 people to tackle 2 kids bedrooms and it took a week. Looking forward to the private comments on this one <grin>.

On June 12th, Christiana celebrated her 8th birthday. We were blessed to be able to help her celebrate and were able to put together a successful gathering of some close friends and family for a party for her at our house. She received lots of love, lots of food, and an over-abundance of gifts … all of her favorite things. In addition, she was able to spend time with her bestie, Brit. It was a last minute gathering since circumstances had made it difficult to put together plans in advance. Regardless, it worked out well for her and she said she had a terrific time. Below are some pictures of the party highlights:

Nathan, Trevor, Christiana, and Brandon took on the 2-day project of renovating the side yard. This process included cleaning up a tremendous mess of dirt and organizing a small amount of existing rock, smoothing down the left and right sides, and then adding 1 1/2 tons of rock in addition to some accents I had left over from the old house. We ran irrigation line completely around and I am about 25% done running the drips to the pots so the kids (who will take over the choosing and planting in the pots) do not run into a desert fry after their efforts. Although, I asked myself who had the bright idea to do this … I must admit it looks a million times better and the kids have about 20 pots to work with now … unless or until someone gets a bright idea to add more (shh).

These pictures were taken last weekend when Christiana spent the day crafting with Kristi. Too cute not to share.

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The reasons many people decide to make lifestyle changes aimed at personal fitness goals are many. To watch someone transform themselves into a more physically fit individual over a period of time can be pretty amazing. Sometimes, it can even be enough to make someone consider becoming a part of that transformation. However, when you are the person who is being transformed, the desire to spread the word on just how achievable and FUN reaching these goals can be becomes a powerful and burning desire.

I have people who have not seen me even in a few months have a difficult time recognizing me. They ask me how I did it and I am always happy to explain, “I had fun!” There are a lot of people who have had a role in my successes, especially Michele Chovan-Taylor and Justin Paneda from 24 Hour Fitness, and many others. So, now I find it is my time to help pay it forward.

The biggest differences I made in my life to achieve my loss of over 110 pounds (and counting) is listen, learn, and have a blast! I listened to what nutritionists and my personal trainer recommended; although, I did not always follow it. I made changes to my diet slowly over time but I enjoy what I crave and cut nothing out completely. I listened to what knowledgeable doctors said about the importance of maintaining proper electrolyte balance and allowing the body to rest and recover. I also use massage therapy and chiropractic in order to ensure I would be able to continue doing what I attribute 75% of my success to … dancing. Dancing out at clubs and dancing at home. Dancing at the gym with Zumba Fitness. With Zumba Fitness classes I never experienced a plateau that lasted more than a week and on average burned 600 calories in each one hour class. More importantly, it helped me build my metabolism over time to where I can easily burn 4500 to 5000 calories in a day. It is hard to eat that much food <smile>.

(Click Continue Reading to see the Transformation)

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After 10 days, the new house is habitable and feels comfortable. There is still a lot more to do; but, it can finally be pushed to the proverbial back burner for work and rest <smile>.

In August, once the new tank had established a healthy balance, I began to introduce a variety of new species:

This is an awesome lightbox photo gallery. Please make sure the page is loaded before clicking the first picture (for optimal results).

In June, the 75 Gallon inhabitants were migrated to a new acryllic 240 gallon reef.

The new tank was plumbed with a 30 Gallon deep sand bed refugium and 30 gallon sump. The plumbing project took me just over 15 hours. A variety of macro algae was included in the refugium along with mangroves. Over 100,000 copepods were released into the refugium and the tank over the period of a month in order to begin establishing a healthy population. The tank is light by 2 sets of dual actinic lights, and one metal halide. There are 18 LED lights.

Halloween Tree

Halloween had more activity and less candy. Although, there were plenty of opportunities for treats … Christiana and Brandon were both a bit more brave and active than usual. Of course, some parental coaxing was involved <grin>.

From haunted houses around town to Halloween Haunt at the Springs Preserve and the Easter Seals Halloween Trunk-r-Treat (both highly recommended), Christiana and Brandon celebrated the Holiday nonstop this year! And, doesn’t everyone have a Halloween Tree?

Click here to see the photo gallery!

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Dad’s most fun in an hour … check out these quick video’s and you will see what I mean!

Christiana loves her dance days and although she has only been enrolled at Bunker’s Dance for a few months now, she is catching on very quickly … most importantly, watch her smile!

(Click continue reading from the front page to see the video gallery from this event)

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We (Kristi, Christiana, Brandon, and I) just had the opportunity to take some pre-prom pictures with Ariel and Nathan before they left for their big evening. Click the ‘more’ link just below to see the gallery. I am hoping to add more pictures as they are sent. Enjoy!

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Last week, Christiana, Brandon, Kristi, and Kevin went on a long awaited trip to the magic kingdom. After spending 24 hours in the park (in 2 days) we went on all but 4 rides. The kids had a blast and we were all wore out from the trip that started on Tuesday and ended on Friday. Brandon and Christiana both said their favorite ride was Indiana Jones.

There are a ton of pictures so click here to go to the next page and see them.

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Christiana and Ariel both mentioned that this may have been their best Christmas ever. An abundance of love and family activities made the time quite special. In the pictures below, you will see Kristi, Christiana, Brandon, Ariel, Mom, Dad, Toni, and Gary. There were a lot of other activities this Christmas season that were not captured on film; but, will surely survive eternally in our memories. Enjoy!

After a nightmare of treatment with CP and having to move the tank to a new location, this tank has been reborn as a rapidly developing reef community. However, with just over a year in the marine aquarium hobby, I have learned the importance of patience … and learned it the hard way. To date, the tank is home to the following:

Fish

• 7 Blue/Green Chromis
• 1 Lawnmower Blenny
• 1 Bicolor Blenny
• 1 Black Percula Clown
• 1 Pearly Jawfish

Inverts

• 2 Cleaner Shrimp
• Pearly Bubble Coral
• Gonipora (FlowerPot) Coral
• Pulsing Xenia (several colonies)
• Star Polyps
• Zoanthids
• Toadstool
• Candy Cane Coral
• Several Hermits and Snails
• About 50 lbs of Live Rock
• 50 lbs of Live Sand

This tank still has a refugium with DSB and 24 hour lighting in the sump. The sump is home to Cheato algae but no other intentional marine life. I hope to add some refugium pets in the near future.

Last week, Kristi, Christiana, Brandon, and me took a trip to Williams, AZ to experience the Grand Canyon Railway’s version of the Polar Express. Rather than write a lengthy review of our wonderful experience, we will let the pictures speak for themselves:

Hi Bob –

Following up and asking for your assistance again:

I have completed the process following your instructions. I ran the skimmer and poly filter for about 3 weeks following the final treatment.

During the course of treatment, I lost numerous fish and my shrimps for unknown reasons. I also lost some coral due to the quarantine cycle process. However, I stayed on course.

I put the my surviving coral (from my QT) back into the main DT after the 3 week polyfilter period. Also, I have slowly added MH lighting at 1 hour per day … leaving the actinic on for about 14 hours each day so as not to shock the coral. Now, most of the corals, including 2 bubbles, a frogspawn, open brain, plate coral, and several others have died within a few days. Just seemed to melt and slime away. Should I also be running activated carbon? Any ideas on the most likely cause of death?
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Christiana and Brittany at Scotty's Castle

Saturday brought the urge to get out and explore a bit.  So, Melissa, Brandon, Christiana, David, Betty, Brittany, and myself went on a one-day road trip.  Ariel did not want to join us so she made other plans.

Christiana and Brittany decided they wanted to go to a princess castle. So, we set out for the next best thing … Scotty’s Castle in Death Valley. We drove North on 95 through Beatty and entered Death Valley that way. Then, we went to Scotty’s Castle and down through Death Valley. We made a couple of stops and headed out through Pahrump. The kids were exhausted but had a great time.

Porcupine Puffer

The Volitans Lionfish and our new friend have expired, less than a week after Smiley, a Porcupine Puffer, was added to the tank. Hard lesson reinforcing the need for quarantine.

This tank is currently fallow and being treated with Chloroquine Phosphate concurrent with the treatment of the 300 Gallon Reef.

These images show the symbiotic relationship between the Haddoni Carpet Anemone and the Oscellaris Clownfish. The relationship took approximately 2 minutes to form, once the Anemone was introduced into the tank. My initial plan was to add some more clownfish. However, I have decided to leave these 2 alone. Nemo now jumps out of the water at my arm to protect the Anemone when I go to feed him. A bit more agressive than usual … <grin>.

Coral and fish seem to be happy and healthy! These pictures were taken about a week before the parasitic infection was noticed in the predatory reef tank that the Powder Blue Tang was transferred from.

In researching the best possible treatment for the tanks parasitic infestation, Bob Goemans has been kind enough to offer his advice to my specific situation:

My text is below and his suggestions are in blue:

Hi Bob -

Thank you for your quick response. I am treating my 300 gallon reef for ich. I cannot catch all of the fish as some of them scurry through the sand when I try. So, I am quarantining the invertebrates and treating the DT. I have the book referenced below and am prepared, with the powder, to treat at 40mg/gallon (12 grams for the 300 Gallon Tank) for 10 days. My questions are primarily related to what to do at the end of 10 days, such as using water changes and/or carbon to remove the chemical. And, how soon may I add the coral back?

Thanks again for your great efforts in the hobby!

- Kevin

Hi Kevin,
There is a treatment mentioned in the book that has allowed leaving the inverts in the aquarium. Have you read that?

As for treatment, maintain proper specific gravity (1.024 – 26) and recommend an initial 20 mg/l, so that’s twice the amount you’re planning on. Thereafter, a 10mg/l dosage every 7 – 10 days for the next three treatments. (total of 4 treatments) Of course, during treatment, any phosphate removing product (CP will kill-off any algae) should be discontinued, as should activated carbon and/or ozone and skimming/UV. Once treatments are concluded, those products/devices and/or Poly-Filters can be used as needed.

As for water changes, a small change (20 gallons in your size aqu.) between each additional treatment is thought helpful, and also at the end of treatment. Otherwise, CP will be removed by the media mentioned above.

Keep me informed, and what city do you live in, as I’m tracking all CP data.
Hope this helps,
Bob

I am in Las Vegas, Nevada.

I have already quarantined my coral and all of the snails and crabs that I could catch. Surely, there is quite a bit more in the rock and sand. I am hoping that I will not have a toxic ammonia issue based on the dye off.

The method you are referring to in the book is about using the CP in food, right? If so, I did consider this but decided to treat the entire tank. I am actually treating 2 tanks, the 300G and a 60G that was the initial breeding ground. The 60 gallon tank is fallow, as well. (I moved a Powder Blue Tang from the 60 to the 300 and a week later lost my Volitans Lion and Porcupine Puffer to ich from the 60G Tank. Then, surprise, it showed up fierce in the 300 Gallon tank).

I have treated using the 10mg/l dose recommended in the book and was under the impression that this was the best method. Based on your suggestion below, would you recommend that I purchase more and increase the dose? Does your current data indicate that I will have issues with die-off from my live rock and sand?

Hi Kevin,
Lost Wages! You’re right next door to me here in Tucson. Post away, as helping others is what I’m about! What’s your blog?

Yes, the treat food method does work as on-going data has shown, but in some ways its more time consuming to apply.

And yes, following data has shown its best to up the initial treatment level.

Also, crustaceans don’t seem to be effected by CP, nor does the bacteria in the sandbed. That’s why its so much better than copper.

If more CP is needed, try:
Fishman Chemicals
David Fishman, president
215 Ojibway Ave.
Tavernier, FL 33070
ph: (305) 852-6121
fax: (305) 852-6272

David’s email:
sales@fishchemicals.com

Website:
www.fishchemical.com

He only sells wholesale, so maybe a local shop will have to purchase it for you.
Hope this helps,
Bob

As such, I have changed course and will be following these suggestions. More to come!

Subject: Chloroquine Phosphate and treating Display Tank

(WWM Comments in Blue)

Hi Bob and Crew -
<Kevin>
I spend at least 8-10 hours per week reading on your site and absolutely love and appreciate all of the great advice. I have only been in the hobby for about 6 months and already have a 300 Gallon Reef, a 60 Gallon FOWLR, and a 34 Gallon Species with a Carpet Anemone and one False Percula. You helped me identify a Nudibranch about a month ago and I have since invested in another 30 gallon tank for quarantine and treatment.

However, like many of your readers, I was devastatingly delinquent in adding the quarantine tank. So, today I write you regarding my 300 Gallon Reef System. I have spend many hours reading on your site about Crypto and other parasites and have recently added a Powder Blue Tang from my 60 Gallon to the 300 Gallon reef system. A week later, I lost my Puffer and Volitans Lion in the 60 gallon tank to Ich. Now, the Powder Blue Tang is showing signs of Ich and has evidently spread the love. My 5″ Foxface Lo is also exhibiting signs of ‘Black Ich’.

<This, as you likely are aware, is not “that” deleterious>
I know that the drill is to capture and treat all of the fish. This is not possible in this tank. Even if I were to remove all the rock, many of the fishes would hide in the substrate,

<Mmm, they can be sand-sifted out>
etc. However, last night I ran across a post where I inferred that treating the display tank is better than nothing at all. I am afraid that this will be my only option. So, my plan is as follows:

1) Remove all of my Coral and place in a large quarantine tank
2) I have ordered Chloroquine Phosphate based on recommendation by WWM and the book “The Marine Fish Health & Feeding Handbook” This is truly the least lethal medication for the fish and the best for a display, right?

<Currently likely the most useful for Protozoans, including Amyloodinium>
3) I will remove as many of my snails and crabs as possible

<Mmm… this antimalarial (Aralen) is quite toxic to a range of invertebrates… and there are, assuredly, a huge mix of these in and about your rock, substrate… These may be killed (along with any algae), resulting in a toxic cascade effect… Again, it would be much BETTER to remove the fishes, treat them elsewhere>

4) I will treat the display tank for 10 days with 40mg per gallon of Chloroquine Phosphate

My question is, at the end of this treatment, assuming all of the fish look fine:
1) How long do I wait to add the coral and inverts back
<Three weeks or so>
2) Do I change 50% water and add carbon to rid the Chloroquine? Is this sufficient?
<Activated carbon and Polyfilter should do it>
3) I believe that I have read in several places that the necessary bacteria should not be affected by this treatment, is this still your experience?
<Yes… however… the above reference…>
Is there anything that I have overlooked that may cause me problems either immediately; or, long term?
<Turn off your skimmer, and UV, remove any other chemical filtrants…>
Thank you very much for all of your help!
- Kevin
<Welcome. Bob Fenner>

I left out my water parameters, etc:
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate less than 5
SG 1.027
PH 8.3
<These are fine. I’d like to add the possibility of your delivering the CP via foods… One formula calls for 3.7 grams of CP dissolved in a gel powder mix of 300 grams… this mixed with water, foods… less toxic to non-targeted “other” life. BobF>

The new tank has cycled in two weeks and a variety of additional inhabitants have been added, the most interesting of which is a Bubble Tip Anemone (BTA). The tank contains the following species:

• 7 Blue / Green Chromis
• 1 Foxface Rabbitfish (lo)
• 2 Cleaner Shrimp
• 1 Yellow Assessor
• 3 Yellow Clown Gobys
• 1 Pearly Jawfish
• 1 Lawnmower Blenny
• 1 Green Bubble-Tip Anemone
• 5 Feather Dusters
• Bubble Coral
• Purple flower Polyps
• Hammerhead Coral
• 1 Orange and 1 pink plate corals
• Purple, brown, and green striped mushrooms
• Toadstool Mushroom
• 50 Blue Leg Hermit Crabs
• 1 Serpent Starfish (12 in)
• Starter Copepods
• 50 Nassarius Snails
• 30 Nerite Snails
• 1 Scarlet Reef Hermit Crab
• 200 lbs of Live Rock & 150 lbs of Caribsea Live Sand

This tank has seen quite a bit of evolution. At the moment, it is home to the Volitans Lion, Yellow Foxface Lo, a Powder Blue Tang, and – as of last night – a 12″ brittle star. We will see how these specimins fare as I slowly remove the coral to the larger tank.

300 Gallon Reef tank at 2 Weeks

Pump 1 and Chiller (Closed Loop)

40 Gallon Wet / Dry

Skimmer and Pump 2

This is a 300 Gallon Display with a 40 Gallon Wet / Dry Sump, a chiller, 2 mini giant pumps featuring 6 powerheads and a closed loop system to ensure no dead spots.

It was initially picked up from ATM on Sunday, April 5, 2009. Less than a week later it appeared to have run its cycle and was ready for some livestock. A couple days later it appeared to enter another mini cycle. I have used a variety of bacteria products to hasten the nitrification cycle.

The lighting itself deserves some special attention:

• 2 Metal Halide 250′s
• 4 T-5 Actinic
• 9 LED Blue
• 9 LED White

Livestock to date

• 200 lbs of Live Rock
• 150 lbs of Caribsea Live Sand
• Foxface Rabbitfish (lo)
• 2 Cleaner Shrimp
• 1 Yellow Assessor
• 3 Yellow Clown Gobys
• 1 Pearly Jawfish
• 5 Feather Dusters
• Bubble Coral
• Purple flower Polyps
• 50 Blue Leg Hermit Crabs
• 1 Serpent Starfish
• Starter Copepods
• 50 Nassarius Snails
• 30 Nerite Snails
• 1 Scarlet Reef Hermit Crab

A bubble tip anemone has been reserved for the clown fish to host in once water quality has improved. In addition, I plan to add about 150 more lbs of live rock over time. I estimate it will take about a year to complete this tank but I am very much looking forward to the long term project. Many thanks to my good friend David for all his help getting this set up!

Phyllodesmium magnum, an Aeolid Nudibranch with a taste for soft corals.

The most interesting hitchhiker in this tank, to date, is the discovery of the Phyllodesmium magnum, an Aeolid Nudibranch with a taste for soft corals. Many thanks to LynnZ at wetwebmedia.com for helping me to positively id this creature. He was spotted crawling up the tank wall toward the overflow. He has not been seen again since. However, the nudi’s tend to take on the look of the coral they feed from. This one did a complete number on my Sinularia.

Although, this is a very interesting specimine, it is not one I would like to see cruising around my favorite corals. I will be removing it when I see it again!

Over the course of the last week, I have added numerous coral additions to the 75 Gallon reef tank. These include candy cane, a flowerpot, frogspawn, pink plate coral, and sun polyps. See the pictures below!

Last weekend, we introduced a beautiful Naso Tang into the tank. Although, he was shy for a couple of days, he quickly befriended the foxface. On Thursday, the Tang died. Necropsy showed that he had consumed sand and was unable to eliminate it. We will certainly be looking to replace this little fellow in the near future!

Last weekend my friend David and I spent a great deal of time researching the best way to modify this 4-foot long tank for future marine use and accessability. It seemed the only way to move forward would be to drill holes for 2 bulkheads near the top and plumb in a wet dry filter that can later be converted to a refugium sump, if need be. So, the drilling began. Two drill bits and several hours later, the holes were completed and the tank was plumbed. In order to make up for head loss on the pump, we decided to power the return with a Mag 12. I also left a “t” in the line to accomodate a skimmer sometime in the near future. To top off the job, I painted the back of the tank using a black, water-based latex paint. Looks great! For now, the Koi are enjoying the revised home. However, I am a bit anxious to convert this to a saltwater unit sometime in the near future.

Refugium Conversion

Modified Plumbing

I have completed the project to modify the wet/dry filter into a refugium. I cut 2 pieces of acryllin in order to create 2 additional bafflles. Then, I added 40 kbs of live sand and some live rock rubble to the refugium side, removed the drip tray and ran a piece of pvc with a filter sock. Finally, I topped it off with cheatomorpha algae and some basic lighting.

Future concerns will be to add some pods and reduce the flow as much as possible without affecting the skimmers functions. The same pump feeds both the inlet and the skimmer. So, I will keep this problem in mind for future designs.

In an attempt to control algae in the display tank, and promote better natural biological filtration, I added 15 lbs of live rock to the tank and moved around some of the coral. This change was made during an adaptation from using a wet/dry to building out a refugium.

50G Reef Overview

March 12, 2009 I added an additional 15 lbs of live rock to the tank and moved some of the rubble to my refugium project on the 75 G tank.

X-mas Rock

March 7, 2009 we added a Christmas Rock. I have counted at least 25 tiny feather dusters popping in and out of this rock.

Volitans Lion

March 7, 2009 we added a Volitans Lionfish to this 75G tank. We had to wait almost a week to bring him home as he was being weaned from live food and I wanted to see him eat frozen krill or silversides, with my own eyes, before adding him to this tank. The lion has taken to eating frozen food quite well and is in the process of acclimating to the new environment and making friends with foxy, the foxface rabbit fish

In addition to the lion, we added a polyp rock with blue Sponge, some hairy mushrooms, daisy polyps, and a blue rose coral.

Here is a day/night picture of our new Yellow Foxface (lo) Rabbit Fish. You cannot tell he is the same fish when he is asleep or stressed.

Yellow Foxface Rabbit Fish

In less than 72 hours, the tank has cycled and made way for some new friends. I attribute the rapid cycling to the live rock, live sand, and Seachem Stability. We introduced a Yellow Foxface Rabbitfish. He is very shy still. He sleeps in his pajamas. See, he can change his yellow color to camouflage in order to hide himself. He is the first of a couple venomous fish we will welcome to this larger tank. In addition, we have added some Red Zoanthids and a purple mushroom.

Red Firefish

Today we added a Red Firefish Goby to the small reef tank. He spent some time competing with the Ocellaris Clownfish. However, they seem to have worked out their differences.

In addition, the Pearly Jawfish continues to come out more often. Click the read more link below to see a better view of the Jawfish and current stocking of this reef:

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Clean tank = Happy fish and inverts

Today, I wiped the tank down with an algae cloth made for acrylic tanks and used a siphon to vacuum about 5 gallons of water from the bottom. This is the first water change from the bottom; so, I was a bit apprehensive to see if my water quality or nitrification would suffer. Needless to say, everything was perfect! We are starting to see more and more of the Pearly Jawfish.  The purple Star Polyps are starting to be seen in other areas of the reef. I have been advised that there must be something other than the fish and hermit crabs in the tank moving them. I suspect a worm or a shrimp from the live rock; however, I have not caught nor seen him yet.

SEE NEW PICTURES

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I have moved ten of the smaller koi from this tank to the office pond. Then, I proceeded to move the 4 larger koi from the smaller tank into this tank in order to begin the saltwater conversion on my smaller tank (see category 85 Gallon Reef).  Having different sized koi in this tank gives it more dimension. This transition also consisted of a water change of about 50 gallons (33%) and a thorough filter cleaning. Post cleaning test showed no readable levels of ammonia or nitrite. Current Stocking consists of: 24 Koi and 2 Plecos.

MORE PICS

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I have sold some of the koi in my office pond allowing me to transition the four that inhabited this tank to the 150 Gallon tank. This was one of my long-term goals so that I can convert the 75 Gallon tank to saltwater. The physical conversion started on Monday 2/23 and was completed on Tuesday 2/24/2009. The goal was for a 3-day cycle using 15 lbs of cured live rock and 40 lbs of Ocean Direct™ Caribbean Live Sand. I also used Saltwater Biozyme and Stability to ensure the fastest cycle time. Keeping in mind that only bad things happen fast, I will only add livestock once I have evidence that a cycle occurred and even then I will add very cautiously.

The main physical conversion consisted of plumbing the Top Fathom Skimmer back into the pump (as pictures below). In an effort to make this easily removable without getting drenched, I added 2 ball valves on the output – one before and one after the union. Since plumbing is not my best skill, this took quite a while longer than I had anticipated.

Reef Tank Overview

The reef tank is continuing to grow. This weekend welcomed the addition of some more crabs and snails for the clean up crew. But, the exciting part is the addition of a very small Rose Goby, a Pearly Jawfish, a Red Mushroom Anemone, Green Brain, Sinularia, and Star Polyps. We have also realized that there is a Basket Star living in the Favia. The marine tank is quickly become the most interesting ecosystem under my care.

Despite perfect test parameters, I also completed a 10% water change. It was not nearly as difficult as I feared saltwater would be. The pictures below showcase the new additions of this weekend.
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Today, we added a sand shifting star, 4 turbo snails, and a feather duster.

Check out these pictures!

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