"FUCK YOU EDDIE!"

So we woke up Sunday morning to a bully fest taking place in the Blu Reef.
Eddie the Azul Damsel had his brother Charlie Murphy in the corner like Tyson on a 2 pump chump.

Blow after blow ,Charlie took it like a champ but was torn up to the brink of death. Well my kids had enough of it and asked me to return Eddie to Aquarium World the local fish store (LFS) that has a big selection of marine live stock. I called them and asked if I could take them both back and was told to keep the injured one because his chances of staying alive was greater in my tank. So I took Eddie back and they gave me credit towards another fish. It sucked because Eddie was a lively addition to the tank. Our first fish and he would be care free swimming around the tank.

Well here we are 3 days later and Charlie Murphy is on his way to recovery. He's having a hard time getting around but is he's a fighter! His tail fin is bitten up to the body and his two side fins are damaged.

The kids and I also got to see something amazing that really warmed our hearts.
Charle Brown the Clown fish was seen bumping a food pellet from one side of the tank to give to Charlie Murphy because he couldn't swim to get to the food. :D

U got the Look!

                                                   Welcome to the Blu Reef , Prince!

                                                             Royal Gramma Basslet

New sump ordered

So I finally was able to order my sump for the Nani Project,save about $75 going thru Amazon vs the Local fish store. So EXCITED TO START ANOTHER PROJECT!

Goober the orange spotted goby

My Posse's getting big and my posse's getting bigger!

Two new additions to the Blu Reef..
                                                                    Diamond Goby

Good Reef Fish - Good Sand Sifter

Description:  The Diamond Goby is also called the Orange Spotted Diamond Goby, the Pretty Prawn goby, the Maiden goby, or the Orangespotted Sleeper Goby. It is one of the more popular gobies. It can be fed just about any marine food, but, if you have a large aquarium, it will get most of its nourishment from the organic matter in the sand bed. The Diamond Watchman will usually dig a burrow underneath a rock in your aquarium, in which it will sleep and hide when frightened. Not only is it a very beautiful fish, but it is also quite beneficial for aquariums, since it will oxygenate the sand bed and stir up any waste. The name "Watchman" comes from their behavior in the wild, where they act as watchmen for the shrimp. The Diamond Goby is known to take an aquarium that has been ignored, filthy with detritus, and working non stop it starts passing the sand through its gills and makes the sand white again. It also seems to enjoy stacking sand in little mounds, which can be an interesting sight to behold.

Warpaint Clown Goby

Warpaint Clown Gobies are similar to the common Green Clown Gobies but they have the beautiful red "warpaint" markings on the face and body. They have a semi-elongated body form, similar to clownfish, but with a more noticably rounded head. Body tapers down towards the tail, the tail flares out in a rounded ball or fan shape shape. The Dorsal fin is split into two sections. The base color is a translucent green, given a blue cast in the head area from a patch of blue color that seems to radiate out from the cheek.

Blu Reef at night

New additions to the crew.

Shroon and Green Clown Goby named Payaso.

That makes two clowns in the house now...ICP!

All I need are some tasty waves, a cool buzz, and I'm fine.

So the tasty waves finally arrive to the Blu Reef yesterday via Marine Depot.
With the addition of the Hydor Koralia powerhead  my corals will grow stronger and the tank will be much cleaner with the improved water flow.

                                         Here are some shots after installing the power head.
                                                               Multi Buttons

                                                               Hammer Coral is looking better

                                           

                                                                 Night Life on the Blu Reef

Project Nani

I got a phone call on Sunday from my niece Deanna saying come now if you want that old fish tank!

So I high tailed it to the Willowbend area where my sister used to live when I was a kid.

48 Gallon Acrylic

 

I would spend days looking at this aquarium.Back in the '80s this was a aquarium people would dream about. My brother in law Henry claims this aquarium was custom and cost him $2,250 back in the early '80s.

Back then it was a freshwater aquarium with a frog and some perch,fresh water sharks and other I can't remember.

My plan is to reseal it make sure it doesn't have any leaks and then start saving $$ to turn this into a Fish only Saltwater tank the kids can have fun with.

Party time!

Instagram flexing !

Jan 15,2013

Time to add more rock and roll!

So after looking at the boring aquascape I have in my Biocube ,I decided I really wanted to add more live rock to the Reefer Madness.

I took a trip down to visit my friend Paul at T n T Reef and Fish. , they have a great selection of Fuji live rock and Tonga branch rock. Took me about 30 mintues to pick out the right pieces.

I'm starting to learn you really have to inspect all live rock for unwanted hitchhikers and don't settle for just any piece of rock. I'm wanting a unique look  

Tonga branch live rock is a form of rock found in the Pacific Ocean around the island of Tonga and Fuji. Saught after by saltwater hobbiest all around for it's branch look and it's ablity to host various small marine invertebrates such as, Mollusks, Crustaceans, Phytoplankton, Worms, Sponges, Starfish and Corals to name some.

By looking at my picture you will tell that the color of the new rock isn't the same as the others ,but over time that will change once coralline algae starts to  grow on it.

Live rock is like opening up a box of Cracker Jacks...you never know what kind of surprices you'll get!

I noticed some nice feather duster worms and corals on the pieces I picked out.

Mexican and the Turbans clean up crew save the day.

                            Even underwater the hardest workers are the Mexican Turbo snails!

                                               Meet Flautas , the Mexican turbo sail

                                   

She was named by Kayla, since Flautas are her favorite Mexican dish and the snails has a really nice purple color on her shell.

We added 2 Mexican turbo snails and 2 Astraea Turbo Snails.

That now brings our clean up crew to 6.

4 Snails and 2 shrimp.

Post up some comments and let me know what to name the other 3.

I was thinking

Dirty Sanchez for the other Mexican , Kumar and Pumba for the Astraea turbos

THAT's RACIST!! hahaha

In a few days that pesty unwanted eye sore brown algae should be gone.

Next up...more live rock, Tonga Style!

Attack of the brown algae!

Over the weekend we had a attack of Diatoms (brown algae).

5 gallon water change and added a bag of Boyds Chempure Elite.

added color to the fish but also kicked up the algae. Finally purchased a MagFloat to remove the algae from the glass and planning to add some snails to clean up the sand in the next few days.

I hear this is common and everyone has to go through it once. Here's hoping the changes will produce in a clean and healthy nano tank enviroment.

Peppermint Patty waiting to be fed.

New mushrooms (multi color 1 big 2 xsmall ones)

new Colony of button polyps

Another addition to the Salt life.. 3 types of buttons under the blue moon lights

The Blu Room's Reefer Madness

So after a few weeks cycling the water to get the levels right ,I was finally able to start adding buddies to tank.

                                     First up a Coral Brand Shrimp by the name of Candy Man.

First Coral in my tank is a Branching Hammer Coral  

Next up a Maroon Clown Fish named Charlie Brown the Clown aka the Aggie Clown
Also pictured is a Peppermint Shrimp named Peppermint Patty and some Green Button Polyps.

Finally a week later I needed to add some color so we added two

Azure Damselfish named Eddie and Charlie Murphy due to them being Hollywood show offs in Laker Colors.

Things are coming together nicely and I'm hooked like a red fish on a circle hook!

 

The starter tank

Many moons ago I started out with a ten gallon birthday present and I ain't talking cowboy hats.

Back then it was tadpoles and Bala sharks. Algae suckers that out lived dogs and out grew that ten gallon tank as well.

Who knew a gift from my big brother Ray would root my love for all things aquatic. 

From fishing to staring at my sister Mary Helen's 75 gallon fresh water tank ,if I wanted to relax ,the fish where God's gift to all men for food and enjoyment.
I would sit back and dream about having a saltwater set up like my big brother one day,with creatures of the sea you only saw on National Geographic.
Little did I know at the age of seven I would have that same feeling 30 years later.

 I set a sales goal in the middle of 2012 and started to research nano reef tank set ups. I had a plan and put my efforts in motion, then just prayed about saving up the money. 
BAM!
Meet all my goals and then I got a nice fat xmas bonus. Just enough to buy the tank and stand.
I did more hunting on line and visited local fish stores to get the best deal on a 29 gal Coral Life Biocube.
Found a great deal at www.marinedepot.com . Which saved me around $150 overall compared to others.
Saved me enough money to buy 13 lbs of live Fuji rock, 20lb bag of Caribsea Pacific Black Reef Live sand and 25 gallons of R/O saltwater from T & T Fish and Reef.

 I'm a big Godzilla fan..so in her honor I aquascaped it to look like Godzilla back towards you with her       head turned. I was inspired by the purple on the live rock.

                      The sign my daughter made to keep folks from leaning and touching the tank

                                       Finally my dreams of a nano reef tank have become reality.