a little bite before bed.

Gulp baits

Those Amazing Gulp by Ed Snyder

Fish tank shot 1/16

Getting tired of this aquascape. Also wanting better placement of corals.

So redesigning it tonight,wish me luck.

Labor Day

Just a lazy Monday, the kind you don't curse with your first step out of bed.

So I wanted to point o something interesting in my aquarscape.

I have a crustation creature in my rock work. By dumb luck and the right placement of some Candy cane corals as eyes you can see him.
Do you see it? If so comment ,thanks! :)

Gulf coast salty blues ..Hamilton Loomis

 It's taken me 3 years to finally enjoy a live performance by Texas Blues Artist ,Hamilton Loomis.
He lived up to the hype!
                         

                       The Kehmah Boardwalk was grooving and I had a grand time with my wife.

With Harmonica humming, geeetar strumming ,and vocals to make the women yurn for more,he is a great blues talent to our Gulf Coast.

Way back when he was on KPFT he sang a song that took me back to my surf fishing and camping days out at San Luis Pass. 

Hamilton Loomis's song Castle describes our passion for Galveston and all things beach related.

 From driving down I-45, to building castles with our hands. 
This song best sums up most of my life. Driving down to the Sea Wall and making a right towards the Pass with a cooler full a beer, late at night to catch the morning tide. 

As you can tell we had a blast and it made me want to take another trip down to Blue Water Hwy.

Update on Project 48 Nani Reef Build

So we got some bulbs for an old 48 inch VHO T12 shop light and I'm using it until I figure out which style I want to go with.
Hope you enjoy this little video of the three new damsels I got to help cycle the tank.

Since we're going with a Star Wars theme on this build I went with some black and white Damsels to represent some Storm Troopers and Tie Fighters.

Thanks 3rd Coast Corals!

I recently had a bout with Ich in my biocube and it cost me two fish, our Green warpaint Goby and our Royal Gamma. I was upset and started to research all I could on the internet on how to stop this plague on my nano reef.
I did water changes, started to add garlic extract to the food and prayed.

I learned that Ich is common ,but the #1 cause is stress ,the second is big changes in the temperature.

So I started to ask around to see what is an safe option for a reef tank with corals.
The #1 solution is to quarantine the sick fish and use copper based meds. That is a big no no when it comes to invertebrates such as shrimp,snails and corals,it will kill them.

So on a recent window shopping excursion with my kids ,we stopped at 3rd Coast Corals . Behind the Tinsletown 290 movie theater off of West Tidwell.

We walked in and I was amazed at the selection of exotic corals. What really blew me away were the quarantine tanks he had set up. Brain then explain to me his process, he holds all the new arrivals for 2 weeks before selling them.

Which is unique ,because most of these fish stores will only QT them for one to three days.

This is a big deal IMO.

Brian then asked me if I've heard of Kick Ich, a over the counter ICH fighter. He then filled up a bottle of Kich ich and just gave it to me. WOW... first time I've gotten anything free from a fish store. Let alone something that would cost me more than $5.

I then started the dosing for two weeks. Had to make sure we had all that crude out before I added another fish,and on top of that I wasn't going to buy fish any longer if the fish store didn't QT the stock before selling them on the floor.

So here we are 1 month later and I finally made a purchase that I'm happy with. First fish I purchased from Brain at 3rd Coast Corals.

                                                               Carpenter Fairy Wrasse

                                      

Goober's Hollywood Shuffle ..it's movie time!

Here is my first video with sound.
I'm new to all this and will be uploading and adding music more often once I get the hang of this.

So with out any more waiting here is the debut of The Blue Reef! Enjoy!

Love is for the fishes!

                                                       Love first.. flop around later! 
                                              Happy Valentine's Day from the Salty Life! 

The Sky is Crying

A rainy day along the Texas Gulf Coast goes together with some Texas blues ,like salsa on a break fest taco..just ain't the same without it!

Here's one of the most famous Texas sons the world loves. HE could make his guitar talk and cry with the best of all time.

                                                                    RIP SRV!

Hamilton Loomis... The Gulf Coast Native son.

Something about Galveston that makes my insides get all excited like a kid at Toy's R Us. I don't know if it's that Gulf breeze on my skin or the sunshine on my neck, I'm at home on the beach with a surf rod in one hand ,and a cold beer in the other.                                                                        


                                                  Hamilton Loomis : Build Me a Castle

Hearing this jam reminds me of my many nights and days crusin down I-45 South with my fishing buddy Joe,a ice chest full of beer, four fishing poles ,bait bucket and my trusty cast net.

I'm looking forward to seeing Hamilton Loomis live one of these days, one of the great Blues artist from the Gulf Coast.

I come from the water...

Woke up this morning pheening for some sun,sand, and a Gulf Coast breeze.
The season is changing outside, the weeds are growing,the bugs are roaming, the trees and flowers are starting to bud,that only means one thing,It's almost fishing time.

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