"My other Hobby"

[Striker]

Hi all,

Just wanted to show you my other hobby that has nothing to do with Astronomy.....hope you dont mind Iceman....

I am into Salt Water fish and Corals...I have a 600 litre Tank fully set up to keep intense corals.....this set up has been going for 3 years now and is looking good and changing all the time....I built it myself.

I have 2 clown fish that live in their Anenome plus another 2 black and White clown fish that are much smaller....then my prestige fish which are all very expensive starting with my Yellow tang that comes from Hawaii, then my Purple Tang which come from the Red Sea and last of all which happens to be my favourite is the powder Blue Tang which also come from waters around hawaii and further.......I love my fish and coral and in no way do these pictures give the true spectical of this tank...the color is so much brighter then can be shown in below pics....

Mike I have kept the images under 60k and tried to keep as much detail as possible.

[Striker]

Sorry for the seperate post my ftp program is playing up......

Yellow Tang

[Striker]

and again

Purple Tang

[Striker]

last 1

My Favourite the Powder Blue Tang

[iceman]

Awesome shots Tony, I think there was someone else about 3 or 4 weeks back who posted some images of their fish tank, i'm sure you'll find something in common!

Ahh found it, rumples riot, he's a fish freak too (http://www.iceinspace.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=243) :D

[Starkler]

Im also a fish freak but in a differerent way :fishing:

I bet those tang fish taste nice and tangy :rofl:

[Striker]

I request Starkler's post to be removed Mike....highly offensive....lol... my fish are human in little fish suits........lol......

[iceman]

:lol2:

[rumples riot]

Hey nice Salt water tank, beautiful, yes I am a fish freak. Love my Discus. Their busy breeding all the time.

Had a Salt tank about 15 years ago now, and found it to be a trial with regard to water changes. Salt was expensive then or I had to drive 1.5 hours each weekend to get clean water.

But with the corals now that are available and the technology to keep them alive these sort of tanks look wonderful. My LFS ower is trying to convince me to start a Salt tank. Not enough room for both.

Anyway nice tank.

Paul

[Vermin]

Have you ever seen how these fish are usually captured?

Dynamite and arsenic are commonly used in Asia, destroying the natural habitat.

Is there any way you can guarantee you have not purchased from these sea-bed rapists?

This is not a personal attack on you Striker (or any other fish fancier), just wondering if you were aware of this. I don't want to start a flame war.

[Striker]

Yes your right Vermin....there is many suppliers that catch these fish using those technique's.

I personaly Know the owner of the retailer who I get my supplies from......he is a very good friend of mine.....No chemicals are used only nets.....and the corals are only taken by Licensed contractors that have an area which they can retrieve corals from....

If you dont believe me Vermin come talk to my Tangs yourself...their english is a bit muffled from the water but after a while you can understand them...they are very happy with me and their home is fantastic.......if you come up just remeber to bring your eyepiece case......just bring it.....no reason....lol

Rumples Riot...i know everything about Salt water set up and maintenance...believe me if you set up your tank right in the first place their is very little need for water changes even with corals....last time I did a 1/3 water change was this time last year......and I am not going to do one this year either......
My readings 0 amonia, 0 Nitrite, 0 Nitrate, 0 Phosphate. PH 8.3.

To keep the tank constinently at this level you do need to spend money....and heaps if you want it done right...

I have a $1500 chiller that keeps my water 26 degrees constent.
I have a $1000 sump tank not main tank plus a $600 Nitruductor attached to reduce Nitrates with about 30kg of filtration material called Matrix and Siporax.......I also have a $700 protein skimmer that removes waste and adds oxygen.....plus $1200 of live rock as the basis of the tank enviroment.....add $200 for the Ozone reactor and you have a very good base to start a Marine tank...now just add about $1500 - $2000 for the fish and coral....lol....

Neally forgot I also have Metal halide lighting 2 x 250 watt 14000k bulbs plus 2 x 40 watt actinic fluro that costs about $900...a must for coral growth.

Because of my setup the only maintenance i need to do is the occasional magnet cleaner over the front and side glass...about 1 minutes worth twice a week max...and add some chemical's such as Calcium, Iodine, strontium once a week...again it takes me about a minute....obvioustly you need to feed and top up the tank with fresh water when needed.......I have 5 stage Reverse Osmosis unit so any water top up's are done with the highest water quality possible.....

So there...all I am saying is its very expensive to set up correctly but if done correctly their is virtualy hardly any cost for maintenance........and is so easy and not time consuming.....

These type of costs are only related tomarine Coral set up..if you want a marine fish only set up its much cheaper....

I recommend it....

P.S Vermin......any fish caught with arsenic normal dies within 2-6 months of capture as they can not digest their food properly from the poison.....FYI

[Vermin]

Good lord Striker! That hobby is as expensive as astronomy.
Sounds like a very impressive set up.

Do the corals or fish need any seasonal variation in the light cycle? Is it possible to get them (the coral) to spawn in a tank by doing this?

V.

PS: Eyes off the EP case! :tasdevil:

[ving]

er... i'll stick to geocaching thanks. :)
purdy tho...

[Striker]

It's very hard to get a home marine tanks setup to actually spawn......but saying that I have coral growing that I have never purchased......the live rock has many creatures and growth that seem to change......my anenome that my Clown fish live in has reproduced 4 fold.....it was origianly the size of a small apple...now their is 4 of them with the biggest being the size of a rockmellon.....

Picture of the Clown Anenome's below......Only Clown fish can live in these...any other fish that touches the Anemome......goodbye fishy(Dead)......never happened to me...the fish know they cant go near it beside the clowns.....must be taught in fish pre school...hehe

[Vermin]

I'd never heard of that before!
Interesting, I may have to dust off my Garmin etrex.

[[1ponders]]

Really awesome Tony.

I'm an ex Tanky myself. Tropicals only, no marine. Sold my 8 tanks when I decided to get more involved in Astonomy. I'm not sure now which one takes up more time and money:P

[rumples riot]

Striker tell me about the cost. Not a bidding war, but for a good freshwater tank that actually grows plants that you can sell back to the store, I spent: $2500 on my Metal halides all the way from Germany (aquarestarlight future). $1700 on CO2 injection system including bottle. $850 on undergravel heater thermostatically controlled. $830 on two Eheim pro 2 2026 (sumps not good for fully planted tanks). and of course the tank and cabinet 6 footer was $1600.00. Yep it is sure expensive and you are right about the setup of a current salt, but when I had my salt water tank, a lot of these items where not available or just way too expensive. I forgot the fish also 14 Discus at 85 dollars a pop, not including plants. Which I sell Lotus plants back for 25 dollars a piece. Should take me 4 years to get the money back. Maybe.

Great Hobby though and lucky to now have the funds to enjoy it. Been broke once and made it back. Thanks to luck, som brain power on my behalf and the powers that be.