Michael changes a Freshwater into a Saltwater Tank

After reading some of 'The Reef Aquarium' volume 3, I was a bit dismayed by what the authors had to say about the use of aragacrete and other aquacultured rock. They felt that nothing comes close to Live Rock from a reef area. Homemade rock was looked down upon, and it had me questioning my own experimentation with making live rock. So after a few days, I decided to do a couple of things. First up was to convert my 29 gallon Freshwater into a Saltwater tank. Second, is to make this tank my Aragacrete tank, and see how it actually compares to a tank with all live rock. Compare that is, when the new tank arrives sometime towards the end of June.

In the mean time, here is a pic of my 29 gallon tank with my own homemade rock, 20 lbs. of Bio-Active Aragonite sand (read: a calcium carbonate sand, that has nitrifying bacteria and other beneficial microbes present for the marine tank).


I should also mention that this tank now has Sunpaq Dual Daylight (10,000 & 6,700K), Dual Actinic (460nm & 429mn) lighting system at 65 Watts. This is so that I will be able to keep the Live Rock and corals that I put into this tank healthy and alive (more on this later).

The tank looks barren, but when conditions stabilize (pH, temp, etc) I will be adding some select pieces of Live Rock to seed my Aragacrete rock. From there, we'll see how things go. That's it for now.

The ocean of nature

No news on the aquarium front, as I now expect that It won't be arriving until some time in June.

Watched an interesting movie today. Directed by James Cameron, "Aliens of the Deep" is a pseudo-documentary about Cameron taking some NASA Scientists and Marine Biologists on some 40 dives into the deep ocean. The cinematography was truly remarkable. We are allowed to go beyond lights penetration, many leagues into the deep and dark ocean. Revealed through amazing technologies and lenses is a world that we know so little about. Along the way we are introduced to the various people Cameron chose to come along, and what it is that they seek to gain through the experience. What the viewer gains is an overwhelming appreciation for how little we really know about our planet.

...more to continue

No Tank, Future Publications, and Something New

It's now officially over a month since I pre-ordered my saltwater tank. I've had a couple of conversations with an apologetic retailer who said that it appears that the shipments from overseas were in two batches. Unfortunately the one batch that has still yet to arrive has a critical part (have heard that it has something to do with the light) that needs installing on the tank before it can be shipped. While anxious, I am still in the curing stage of my concrete/oystershell base rock so I'm not bothered by this. I've read that patience is critical in this hobby, and I'm getting good practice with this right from the start.

In further publications, I would like to present a clear overview of how the oceans are involved in global warming, and what is at stake. Rather than submit all the detailed scientific data, the plan is to give a basic rundown of concepts and cycles with referrences to further details, if you choose to delve deeper. I believe that education and having a true understanding are the base requirments to making good decisions. Thus, having an understanding of the roll of our oceans in our lives, will help us make wiser choices when it comes to making decisions with regards to this Big Blue Planet.

I added something new to the blog today. If you look below the 'Archive' you will see news as it relates to keywords listed there. In this case, things related to the saltwater/ocean topic that I find important. Simply click on one of the key words, and a few of the latest news feeds will pop-up with that subject matter.

Some ocean facts

Well, I still haven't received my tank yet, but I have been reading, reading and then some more reading about saltwater reef systems. Online I've frequented nano-reef.com, reefcentral.com, reefbuilders.com just to name a few. It's truly amazing to see the myriad of successful and beautiful reef systems that people have put together. Their working reefs further confirm that the oceans are an intricate and diverse wellspring of life.

I thought for the time being, that I'd list a few ocean facts that might not readily be known to help create a better awareness of the watery mass that makes up 71% of this planet.

Fact: An estimated 80% of all life on earth is found under the ocean surface and the oceans contain 99% of the living space on the planet. Less than 10% of that space has been explored by humans. 85% of the area and 90% of the volume constitute the dark, cold environment we call the deep sea. The average depth of the ocean is 3,795 m. The average height of the land is 840 m. (http://marinebio.org/MarineBio/Facts/)

Fact: The highest tides in the world are at the Bay of Fundy, which separates New Brunswick from Nova Scotia. At some times of the year the difference between high and low tide is 53 feet 6 inches, the equivalent of a three-story building. (http://seawifs.gsfc.nasa.gov)

Fact: Even if you live nowhere near the ocean, you will still experience the ocean's influence in our Earth system. Most of the rain that falls on land comes from the tropical ocean. The ocean is the primary driver of weather and climate and can give us clues to global phenomenon such as El Niño. The phytoplankton (microscopic plants) that live in the ocean are responsible for almost half the oxygen you inhale and play a vital role in the carbon cycle. Far inland from the ocean, fields of crops enjoy rainwater that traveled through the water cycle and spent a few days or perhaps thousands of years cycling through the ocean. (http://science.hq.nasa.gov/)

Fact: A swallow of seawater may contain millions of bacterial cells, hundreds of thousands of phytoplankton and tens of thousands of zooplankton (http://www.savethesea.org)

Fact: Over 60% of the world's coral reefs are threatened as a result of pollution, sedimentation and bleaching due to rising water temperatures caused by global warming. Global Coral Monitoring Network (GCRMN) states that currently 27% of all coral reef worldwide has disappeared and around 2050 only 30% will be left. (http://www.savethesea.org)