Saltwater Scientist

So I had no idea when my husband decided to get a saltwater tank that I was going to be the scientist behind the curtain. Learning about the process and maintenance of this tank has been insane...we're literally going to have a little eco-system in our living room! We found a beautiful 90 gallon corner tank on craigslist for $500 and learned later that it was made from on of the top of the line companies (and is valued at $1200!). There is still so much to learn but I'm slowing jumping on the band wagon. Levi has been studying hard and relaying to me what I need to know, but I'm sure that it's going to be quite the adventure. We were also fortunate enough to find another killer deal on craigslist last week. We found a guy (who happened to live in on of the wealthiest parts of Anchorage) who was relocating to Florida. He advertised that he was looking for someone to buy his HUGE lot of goodies, so we immediately snagged it up! After getting all of the products home and looking all of them up online, we realized they valued at over $1700...and we only paid $300! And mind you, most everything was new or in near perfect condition. If you can't tell by now, I LOVE a good deal!

We have the filtration system, the reverse osmosis machine, protein skimmer and the lights all set up. It's been filled with water and after it reached the correct temperature we added the salt, sand and live rock! The rocks require time to "cure" and so we've been forced to leave the tank alone for a while now. The rocks are constantly changing every day and growing the bacteria it needs to help our tank thrive. I know I'm a dork, but I never thought I'd be so excited about bacteria! I'm also learning about all of the chemicals levels that I will need to test for on a weekly bases (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH, salinity, etc.) WHEW! What did I get myself into?

But I suppose the most exciting news is that we finally added our first live animals into the tank last evening....4 little snails! I was off taking a chemistry exam but Levi said that Lucas was just infatuated with them! The tank set up has been a project for the boys and Lucas has taken such an interest in it. I can't wait to see his reaction once we're ready for fishies! We've been researching and picking out all of the corals and living creatures that we'd like to add to it and honestly, I'm starting to get impatient! Levi has constructed the entire layout in his head and he is going to screw the rocks together to form such an amazing landscape. I really can't wait to see it up and going! But for now...we wait.