agould53
Reefing newb
My three children (10, 7, and 7) wanted to put their savings together and purchase an aquarium. We recently moved to a beach house on Oahu's North Shore, and started our aquarium about a month ago. We've spent a lot of good family time collecting, researching, and maintaining...great time so far.
Everything we've added comes from the same reef near our house (it's all legal).
Here's what we've done so far. Any big mistakes? Advice?
55gal, basic "all in one" kit from Wal Mart.
Live sand from the ocean (about 2 inches deep in aquarium).
~20lb of live rock from the beach (loose rock that rolls around 2-3 feet near the shore).
Ocean water (~10% change weekly).
1 Banded Moray Eel (~18in)
1 Reef Trigger (~5in)
1 Raccoon Butterfly (~3in)
1 Whitespotted Toby (~2in)
3 Brittle Stars (2 very large, 1 small)
1 Banded Sea Urchin (venimous)
6 Hermit Crabs (some w/red legs and some w/blue legs)
3-4 other crabs...not sure what they are but they bury themselves w/just their eyes showing
Everything's eating and getting along so far, although the Trigger ("Duke") is pretty pushy.
I think one of the brittle stars has been eaten, not sure though.
Based on the water test kit, the water seems to be good (execpt maybe a little warm during the day, ~80).
Are the artificial decorations from pet stores safe? (tree stumps, etc.?)
We plan on adding 2-3 more small fish, and a few more crabs, snails, etc.
We look forward to learning and sharing our experiences!
Everything we've added comes from the same reef near our house (it's all legal).
Here's what we've done so far. Any big mistakes? Advice?
55gal, basic "all in one" kit from Wal Mart.
Live sand from the ocean (about 2 inches deep in aquarium).
~20lb of live rock from the beach (loose rock that rolls around 2-3 feet near the shore).
Ocean water (~10% change weekly).
1 Banded Moray Eel (~18in)
1 Reef Trigger (~5in)
1 Raccoon Butterfly (~3in)
1 Whitespotted Toby (~2in)
3 Brittle Stars (2 very large, 1 small)
1 Banded Sea Urchin (venimous)
6 Hermit Crabs (some w/red legs and some w/blue legs)
3-4 other crabs...not sure what they are but they bury themselves w/just their eyes showing
Everything's eating and getting along so far, although the Trigger ("Duke") is pretty pushy.
I think one of the brittle stars has been eaten, not sure though.
Based on the water test kit, the water seems to be good (execpt maybe a little warm during the day, ~80).
Are the artificial decorations from pet stores safe? (tree stumps, etc.?)
We plan on adding 2-3 more small fish, and a few more crabs, snails, etc.
We look forward to learning and sharing our experiences!