My view of the Ocean

My latest Additon - A beautiful Atlantic Anemone

2009-03-10T14:25:00.000-07:00

I've recently added a beautiful purple tipped Atlantic Anemone into my tank.

It's currently doing well and looks truly stunning.

The Anemone has moved slightly into a cave but it's now settled.

Here's a quick video of it in action.

Long over due Update

2009-03-10T14:21:00.000-07:00

It's been far to long since I did and update and my tank has developed quite a bit, so I'm going to post a few entries over the next few days

Interesting Hitch hiker

2008-09-29T14:10:00.000-07:00

After breaking up some live rock and putting it back into the tank, we noticed a tiny starfish looking hitchhiker - very cute.

So we had a problem over Summer.

2008-09-29T14:01:00.000-07:00

Take a look at this video.

It's a Eunice Worm and they aren't good in a Marine Aquarium, they munch on anything and can grow up to 8ft, and even when smaller they think nothing of moving Live rock and breaking it into small chunks.

THEY ARE VERY DIFFICULT CATCH ;-)

...and we had 2 causing havok.

In the end following advice we took the live rock and broke it into smaller peices in a bowl untill we found the beasts.

Breaking the rock:

The rock in peices:

The Worm in the Rock

The worm in a bowl

Summer Catch up

2008-09-29T13:36:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lack of updates over summer, We got married so there has been little time for Blogging.

Here's how the tank is looking at the moment.

We have added a rather large peice of Live rock which has allowed us to form more of a reef look with the Rock.

We have also just added a Leather Coral Frag.

Our Xenia and Mushrooms are looking nice and a selection of which are shown below.

My water Params are just about spot on according to the Test kit I have, but I'm going to get a second opinion the next time I go to Blu Zoo.

There are a few problems with the tank that we are working on at the moment. The back wall of the tank is Dirty and we probably need a larger clean up crew.

We have Aiptasia, in fact we have a lot of Aiptasia, we are going to get either a couple of Peppermint shrimps or some Aiptasia to help with the problem.

I've purposely keep the tank 3/4 full - I've decided that next weekend I'll fill it completly.

Stomatella snail meets Bristle worm

2008-06-18T13:37:00.000-07:00

Heres a nice video of 2 hitchhikers bumping into each other

New Tank Mates

2008-06-18T13:29:00.000-07:00

This is Jack and Jill. My new common clownfish.

Jack and Jill will be the only fish in the tank.

They are just settling in at the moment and we are feeding them live brine shrimp.

Here is a video of them swimming.

A video of a Hermit Crab feeding

2008-06-12T13:23:00.000-07:00

A video of a Hermit Crab feeding

A nice video of a large Bristle worm

2008-06-12T13:18:00.000-07:00

It's incredible how well they hide

Id of Orange shape

2008-06-12T13:11:00.000-07:00

The guys over at Reef Central have come up good

This is a Tunicate, a Filter feeder. It's mouth opens and closes as it feeds.

This can be seen in the following video

Latest pics from Tank

2008-05-27T12:59:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures of the tank with some new additions.
Full Tank Shot

New Purple mushrooms

Red mushrooms

Pulsing xenia

Blue Mushrooms

My new Torch Coral

A new green Mushroom

Notice the ornage object on the rock...it has a mouth which opens and closes, I'm going to ask for an ID on Reef Central

Video of Torch and Pulsing Xenia Corals

2008-05-27T12:58:00.000-07:00

All change - new bigger tank

2008-05-11T12:38:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I decided to replace my small nano tank with a much larger 3 (and a bit ) ft tank...the dancing shrimps have also gone back.

It's taken a bit of work to get everything up and running but things are starting to take shape.

Full tank shot of the new tank

Blue Mushrooms settling in well.

A frag of the blue mushroom

pulsing Xenia Frag
Pulsing xenia looking good.

New Orange Mushroom.

Red Mushrooms on show.

Latest Pictures and Vids

2008-04-16T04:24:00.000-07:00

Here are the latest pictures from the tank.

A dancing shrimp on the prowl.

An exploring Bristle Worm

A prety feather duster

Here are a couple of videos of the shrimps in action.

I have a dilema - these shrimps eat corals.

I've moved the xemia and xenia frags into the sump area, and so far they are leaving the mushrooms alone - but I've having to watch them carefully.

I'm feeding them with flake food every few days.
I really like watching them in the tank.

Latest pictures from the tank.

2008-04-06T12:13:00.000-07:00

The dancing shrimps out as a pair.

A Bristle Worm moving from hole to hole.
My red mushrooms looking rather nice.

Latest Full Tank Shot

A video of one of the Dancing Shrimps in action

Latest pictures from Tank (inc new tank mates)

2008-04-01T12:19:00.000-07:00

A nice shot of my mushrooms
Ane ver growing Xenia which has now been fragged a few times
Red mushrooms
tank shot
You can just see a dancing shrimp there. We have 2 (a male and female)

although they tend to spend most of their time hiding in the rocks. (when they aren't munching my xenia frags)

Latest pictures from our tank

2008-03-10T03:25:00.001-07:00

A small but beautiful feather duster on full display

The picture captures one of the tentacles that I often see exploring the tank from holes in rock

One of the several Stomatella snails that hitch hiked into the tank

A great picture of the pulsing xenia which is now fully recovered and growing well

My red mushrooms looking good

Nearly a full tank shot

A Xenia frag - I've had no luck with Xenia Frags surviving so wish we luck

Video of the clown fish tank at the deep

2008-02-25T13:15:00.000-08:00

This is a video of the clown fish tank at the deep

Nice picture of my mushrooms

2008-02-25T08:50:00.000-08:00

Looking good

Final pictures from The Deep

2008-02-24T11:58:00.001-08:00

Deep Sea Anemones

More pictures from The Deep

2008-02-24T11:45:00.000-08:00

Nice pictures from the deep tank.

Pictures from a recent trip to The Deep

2008-02-24T11:27:00.001-08:00

The Deep is an amazing public Aquarium in Hull.
Here are my pictures from a recent visit.

Sea Anemone Reef Tank.

2 quick videos of my tank

2008-02-04T13:42:00.000-08:00

Are you 2 quick video's of my tank.

The first is a quick tour of my tank

The second is of a hitchhiking Stomatella snail

Latest pictures with new camera

2008-01-30T12:23:00.000-08:00

We have just got a new Sony camera, so I thought I would take some pictures of my tank, I've rearranged the tank slightly as well, adding some more live rock. The above photo nicely shows my main mushroom rocks. Everything looks nice and my harvesting of frags doesn't seem to be doing to much damage. The blue mushrooms are doing a nice job of fragging them selves.

A close up of my red mushrooms
A nice picture of my live rock rubble pile which will host my mushroom frags.

A picture of some of my frags
A close up of my blue mushrooms
That pulsing Xenia gets better every day

A close up of my Blue ricordea yuma

January update

2008-01-14T14:06:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the lack of updates: Christmas got in the way abit ;-)

Here are the latest shots:

Full tank shot

My new ricordia mushroom

Here are some of my frags

Heres a little tunnel made by a little mite...you can just see him in the mouth of the tunnel.

Quick update

2007-12-04T13:32:00.000-08:00

Heres a quick update on the tank.
The red mushrooms
The green mushrooms

A video of the (slowly recovering) xenia

Cool little burrow digger

2007-11-26T12:39:00.000-08:00

If you look carefully at the top of the live rock in the photo below you can see a tunnel that has built by a little bug. Grain by grain he dragged the sand and formed a long tunnel. It was fascinating to watch. Hard working little bliter.

New addition and corals looking nice

2007-11-19T12:50:00.000-08:00

I've added some Xenia to the tank - it was a frag from a friend (Thanks Dave)

As you can see some bits look a bit happier then others.

My mushrooms are looking happy and I like these pictures

Tank Update

2007-11-12T12:49:00.000-08:00

Here's the latest tank update.

The odd mushroom was identified as a manjano anenome, which has now been removed as I was warned that it would sting all the mushrooms.

Here's how the tank is currently looking

Both Mushroom coral rocks are looking good.The mushroom frags are developing quickly

Tank Update

2007-11-05T12:00:00.001-08:00

Here's the latest update of my tank -I've added a new beautiful green coral which I bought 2nd hand from a friend.

One of the mushrooms is slightly different so I'm going to find out what it is. - It's very pretty though

One of the mushrooms is huge

This is the head of the first mushroom I fragged - It's doing very well

Crab Fishing

2007-11-05T11:59:00.001-08:00

Over the weekend we had a little break in Scarborough and took the opportunity to do a little crab fishing. It's great to see the little blighters in their natural environment and watching them catch food (or bait).
When you crab fish you don't use hooks but a bag on a line filled with bait. You but the bags in the water and the crabs scurry from quite a distance on the scent of the food.
Crabs must have a very good scent of smell.
They then hang onto the bag whilst you pull them out of the water on the line.

All the crabs were returned unharmed into the sea.
It's interesting peaceful and good fun.

Little and large bristle worms

2007-11-01T14:06:00.001-07:00

Here's a great little picture - a very big and a very small bristle worm.

The big one stretches almost the total height of the tank

New lighting in tank.

2007-11-01T14:02:00.000-07:00

I've added a reflector into the hood of the tank. It reflects twice as much light back into the tank. .I've also added moonlight LED's to the tank - the effect is beautiful

More coral fragging

2007-10-28T13:20:00.000-07:00

The first cutting I made has grown nicely and attached it's self to some of the substrate.
So I've moved it back into the main display section . The picture below shows it in its new home.I've taken 2 new fraggs, one of which I've cut into 2 fraggs with a sharp blade, and I've put them into the resting area in the sump.
This next picture shows the original stems left on the rock

A couple of interesting pictures of mushrooms

2007-10-25T14:58:00.000-07:00

The first picture shows a mushroom closed over it's self, I believe it's caught it's self a meal.
The second picture shows how well the cut mushroom is developing following the frag

Response about previous picture

2007-10-23T14:07:00.000-07:00

I've had a response on reef central.
It turns out that my mushroom was stressed and the white mass was it's guts.

Its a normal response and it will be ok.

Strange mushroom coral activity

2007-10-22T09:13:00.000-07:00

What sure what's going on here.

One of the corals had a white mucus comiong out of it's mouth with long strand like feelers waveing over the tank.
I've asked on Reef Central for advice on whats going on.

Little Snail ID'ed

2007-10-18T05:07:00.000-07:00

In this post and this post.

I showed pictures of a hitch hiker snail - it has been identified on reef central as a Turbinid snail.

First mushroom frag ;-)

2007-10-17T13:38:00.000-07:00

I've made My first mushroom frag, I got a shape blade and cut underneath the head of the mushroom, because it's my first frag I haven't cut the head any further - I'm nervous with out splitting the head into quarters.
So far things are looking ok. The first picture below is a shot of what was left on the rock - already it is starting to resemble the beginning of a new mushroom head.

The second picture below shows the frag sitting happily on a piece of live rock inside a

protective caseing made from a cut plastic bottle.

Hitch Hiker identified

2007-10-16T11:10:00.000-07:00

the Hitch Hiker mentioned in the previous post has been identified on Reef Central it's a Stomatella snail.
Completly harmless :-)

Slug Hitch Hiker

2007-10-16T10:23:00.000-07:00

This slug came in on the live rock. I'm trying to identify it.

Motion capture video of live Rock

2007-10-16T08:40:00.000-07:00

Last night I set up my Web cam and focused it on the biggest piece of live rock.
I set up the camera to record movement - the video below is the results.
watch out for snail and worm action

Missing feather duster

2007-10-15T12:45:00.000-07:00

One of my feather dusters has gone missing, the first picture taken yesterday shows 5 dusters

The second picture taken today only shows 4....1 has vanished without trace

More pictures of the hitch hiker snail.

2007-10-14T13:27:00.000-07:00

Here are 2 new pictures of the hitch hiker snail.

Picture 1: taken in a dishPicture 2: taken in the tank

Video of Coral

2007-10-14T09:48:00.000-07:00

Here's a quick video of the first coral in the tank

New Rock and first Coral.

2007-10-14T09:34:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend I've added another larger piece of live rock into the tank. Its looking pretty good at the moment although perhaps a little more aquascaping is in order. ;-)

The Big news is that I've added my first Mushroom coral into the tank.

It's quite a well populated piece of rock with several mushrooms on it. There are also several feather dusters.

2 of the feather dusters fell off the rock on the journey back home - so I picked them out of the bag and housed them on a piece of rock in the sump.

So far the mushrooms look happy and are fully opended whilst the tank light is on.

Tank Life

2007-10-12T04:56:00.001-07:00

Here's a couple of pictures of some of the hitch hikers that came in on the new batch of live rock.

1) Bristle worm stretching out through the rock

2) A pretty red snail.

More live rock and the tank comes to life.

2007-10-11T12:50:00.000-07:00

We added some more live rock to the tank tonight including a few larger chunks, and almost straight away we started to spot life.
To date we have seen:

Bristle worms
1 green snail
1 red snail
Mite type things!
and 2 tentacles sticking out from around a hole.

Unfortunately they are too small to be captured on camera but the tank has become very interesting.

The tank now looks like this:

I can see clearly...

2007-10-09T09:30:00.000-07:00

The water is clearing nicely as the sand dust is settling, in this picture you see the rock background I have on the outside of the tank....you couldn't see it in yesterdays pictures

Teaching school children about underwater environments

2007-10-09T09:13:00.000-07:00

Now this is a good idea. The only hope our wonderful ocean world has is for our children to have a good understanding of:

How wonderful it is
How fragile it is

News: Heavy coral concentrations found off Canada's east coast

2007-10-09T09:09:00.000-07:00

Picture of the display area 08/10/2007

2007-10-08T13:09:00.001-07:00

This is how the main display area looks on 08/10/2007 (Day 1 ;-)

The Sump

2007-10-08T13:05:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of the sump which houses the powerhead and heater. The power head pumps the water into the main display section of the tank. Water returns through a gap in the top of the sump partition wall.
Over time the sand bed will be made deeper and live rock will be added. The sump will also be used to home baby mushroom frags.
The glass infront of the sump will be covered up to hide it away.

Everything in place

2007-10-08T12:55:00.000-07:00

**Drum roll**

All the water is in place and all the hardware is fixed into place in the sump.

This marks the end of day 1 of my tank.

This is the view of the whole tank.

From little Acorns mighty oaks grow

2007-10-07T11:38:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I went to town with a shopping list, and came back with:

A bag of sea salt
A lighting unit and bulb
A container of RO water
A bag of Coral sand
A small amount of Live rock

And I started to put it all together.

It wasn't without difficulties I didn't have enough RO water to fill the tank. I've more water coming tomorrow but to tide me over I've kept the power head and the heater in the main display area of the tank and mixed in enough salt to give the water in the tank the correct salinity.

Also the Bulb I had for the tank was to big for the hood. I didn't want to use a smaller hood so I made a slight modification to the hood.

I've placed the live rock in the main display area.

and I've left the tank running.

Tomorrow I'll get the new batch of water, fill the tank and place all the hardware in the sump area.

I've also placed a 3D rock background against the outside of the back of the tank to provide a backdrop

It's very new and still much work to do but I now have my own piece of the ocean ;-)

The below is a shot of the main display area.

One little gap

2007-10-04T12:11:00.000-07:00

So nearly there.
I've just tested the sealent around the sump wall and found one small pin sized hole along the bottom of the wall.

So I dried the tank off and resealed along the wall edges again....this time using the opposite of the wall.

I filled the sump about a third full of water and the wall looked to holding strong.

Can Fluoro fish fight cancer?

2007-10-03T11:33:00.000-07:00

I found this clip from Reuters, I had always heard many reasons why we shouldn't have genetically modified fluoro fish and I've always believed that it's wrong. but watching this clip does offer a reason why the research behind them might actually be a good idea. Of course this may just be the company trying to put a positive spin on things.

My Mushroom Coral DIY Stage 1 - building the sump wall

2007-10-03T05:15:00.000-07:00

When setting up my first marine tank I decided that there should be no visible hardware to the eye.

So to assist this I decided that the tank should have a built in Sump to host the equipment, the sump could be covered so that the display area looks clean.

The tank i'm using is 2 foot long and will not house any fish. The goal is to have a mushroom only tank but a few other invertibrates may find their may in there as well.

To create the sump partition:

I purchased a plastic tank cover and cut it to size.

I dont want any harware to be visible so I cut a hole in the wall where the powerhead nozzle will fit

I Cut a section in the top of the wall where water will flow back into the sump.
I used silicon gel to fix the wall in position and I'm now waiting until the gel is fully set.

Sad news about fish leaving a coral reef

2007-10-02T13:59:00.000-07:00

I came across this sad news story on the web,

Welcome to my view of the ocean

2007-10-02T13:04:00.000-07:00

I've always loved fish and for many years have kept fresh water tropical fish.
Marine tanks have always intrested me with their vivid colours and strong characters and I recently decided to start a marine tank.

Setting up a proper reef tank is going to take time so whilst I get myself prepared properly I decided to set up a small mushroom coral tank to start myself started in the hobby.
This small tank wont be home to any fish.

This Blog will track my process in the world of marine aquariums and to provide a place for me to post any other information that interests me.