toastiireefs

Hi Everyone. This is kind of weird since I am not technically in the area anymore, but my area does not have an active aquarist society. I have graduated college with my Marine Biology degree and now I am a Masters Student doing Coastal and Ocean Policy (All thanks to my high school hobby of saltwater aquariums). For the last 5 years my aquarium has been the ocean since I live only 4 miles from the beach. However, I acquired a 20 gallon long, I believe, which originally had a crack in the bottom of it and the silicon was super worn down. So I scraped out all of the old silicon and resealed it, and sealed the crack in the glass as well. It survived the bathtub test and I am satisfied that it is water tight-- if anyone else has any suggestions about using this tank please feel free!. I have convinced my husband that we need to upgrade our fish keeping skills (I have a beta which I have kept for a year and a half now in a beautiful vase). SO This leads me to transporting my aquarium from my parents house in DC back to North Carolina, where I am currently living in hopefully about 3 weeks. My Biggest concern as of right now is when I had my 45 reef tank, the salt splash pulled off all the paint from my parents wall-- (They were very pleased by that). As I am renting an apartment, I would really like to not do a few hundred dollars worth of damage to their walls. Does anyone have any suggestions to how to set up a sheet, acrylic, optimal distance away from the wall to avoid the paint coming off the wall? Thanks Sara

If I had the ability and time, and wasnt 3 months late-- I would have been on that so fast. I hate school

I love coral nurseries and rebuilding the reefs responsibly and manually. However when it comes down to it... unless the ocean environment and the way humans treat our ocean will be the ultimate factor in coral reefs surviving. :(

I know that in NC now they have been doing many "Lion Fish Roundups" as dive trips and contests. The fish are sold/ donated to fancy restaurants. And seminars are given about conservation and how to cook the lion fish. And I think there is also a tasting or something fun like that. They normally happen over the summer though. I think they do travel south for the winter-- gets slightly too cold-- but arent they found further north than NC. But we definitely still have them off our coasts. (I go to school in Wilmington NC.) Sara

so after two years of your camera, how do you like it. since I am now considering a Sealife just because it seems like a good all in one package with out having to deal with housing etc. but your underwater pictures in what i assume is your tank look really fabulous! i know this is a stupid question, but would is there a significance between diving and tank photos as far as lighting goes. (i kinda know the answer to this just need it better explained). Basically if I were to dive with this type of camera as opposed to a sealife would it still take good photos, just because sea life has the color correction modes.... ??

oh i wish i had a good picture of the kissing grunts i saw in florida!! it would be perfect

omgosh that show is sooooo amazing i cant wait to go and watch it on HD!!!!!!! its FABULOUS! and the mudskipper was INTENSE i was soooo impressed and amazed at that

can i donate hair algea?/

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/14/business...nted=1&_r=1 really interesting!!!!!! (i wish i worked at jcvi. :( (craig venters institute) )

it looks similar-- but not the same as hippocampus bargibanti-- which is also from indonesia- but just from my very limited knowledge of seahorses- i know that there have been a number of seahorses that are the same species but have been mistakenly "discovered" and named something different.... idk with technology as it is now - if they took DNA samples and compared bargibanti to satomiae-- and it could just be a "recent" evolutionary relative-- since they live in similar waters-- idk just food for thought-- i guess- but cool find!

i have a tank that if it doesnt sell i can donate it-- but i have to get rid of it this summer

OMG those are amazing photographs!!!!!! i love the spiders

whos doing the totals?

question before i apply- this does mean that members of WAMAS qualify for this scholarship right? Because i am applying for any and every scholarship i can!!!! and i am definitely going into marine biology as my major next year

not quite a home aquarium, but in one of the aquariums at the National Zoo (Invertebrate Exhibit)

some pictures from the North Carolina Aquarium in Wilmington

Submitted by: Toastiireefs/ Sara Locataion: Aquarium of the Pacific (i think) Camera: RAZR Camera phone Subject: Leafy SeaDragon

soooo as you guys guessed it it was my heater. . . . it had a blow out/ holes in it and the cord fried. . . . buuuut now EVERYTHING in my tank is DEAD!!!! even my really cool clams and mussles that i kept alive that were on the rock . . . . sooo i am gonna do a massive water change. . . . annnd add some biro spira . . . since thats all i really have time to get to restart. . . annnd gonna go get a grounding probe

wow soooooo much information!!!! hmmm now understanding all of it. . . thats the challenge!!! hahah i should be going out today to pick up something . . . . ahaha no i will figure it all out bfore i buy of course oooooh i have an experience with that too and my seahorse tank. . . . . . that was crazy

no it was fuming from inside the sump, and that is where the noise was coming from. sooo yea i will go invest in the GFCI thing, which i read about a long time ago, and thought less of it. . . until now. . . . of course. thanks!! and i will try to figure out the source, which i agree is the heater. . . i am just a little paranoid about electrical stuff and salt water now. . . since i finally got my self electricuted a few weeks ago. (wasnt that bad-- but thats what you get for playing with salt water and electricity!! ) and thanks soo much guys! i will update laters

Sooo I cleaned out my entire tank, moved my fish, did a huge water change took params. . . and then after a few days my tank started fuming. . . and i thought it was just low on water and the pump over heated. . . sooo it stopped for a while. . . and then after a few more days the problem started again . . . annnd i realized that the popping/crackling sound-- was not water but was i think an "electrical leak" if that makes sense . . . . but my tank was fuming from below and i am amazed the wood never caught fire and my house is still standing.. . . . but i have NOOOO clue which of my wires are causing it. . . and i dont know what is a safe way to figure that out.. well i turned off my entire tank and needless to say everything has died in it. . . (there was nothing but some snails and bristle worms in it anyway but still sad) But i do not know what to do, now that i will truely have to COMPLETELY recycle. . .when my short cycle with already live rock was only a couple more weeks away. . . if it was not already stable. . . but any advice? anyone to hire? -thanks sara

that would be wonderful!!!!

Freshwater Giant Prawn

these are reallly beautiful