My Hobby ...
 

As I saw another person posted a Hobby thread, I thought I would also add to the hobby side of things.

I keep fish, more specifically Tropical Marine. We have 3 tanks running presently which is soon to be slimmed to 2 (1 is a nursery tank ;) ).

The 2 main tanks are completely different, one is a 'mixed reef' and the other is setup specifically for Seahorses.

Here is a recent pic of the Seahorse tank :-

https://i1123.photobucket.com/albums...psfc30f5be.jpg

and here are some pics of its inhabitants :-

http://i1123.photobucket.com/albums/...K/IMG_4623.jpg

http://i1123.photobucket.com/albums/...-57-25_607.jpg

Luckily we were able to raise some Seahorse fry (we had around 100 survive), here are some pics of the babies :-

http://i1123.photobucket.com/albums/...K/IMG_4315.jpg

http://i1123.photobucket.com/albums/...K/IMG_4321.jpg

And believe it or not, this is how small they were (each being approximately the size of an eye lash) :-

http://i1123.photobucket.com/albums/...K/IMG_4121.jpg

And this was approx 1 week old :-

http://i1123.photobucket.com/albums/...K/IMG_4124.jpg


The other tank is a 'mixed reef' and currently looks like this :-

https://i1123.photobucket.com/albums...ps48a8be59.jpg

https://i1123.photobucket.com/albums...ps0f274cda.jpg

Anyone else keep Tropical Marine in here ?

:thumb:

Huge amount of time and commitment are marine tanks Nate. Never had marine myself, but always been fascinated by them.

Nice job :)

I've always wanted to do a marine tank! Befor w moved we had a few mini koi in a tank which I loved! I will in the future be lookin to start up again so now I know who to turn to :)

Haven't got marine myself but have got a couple of tropical tanks.

Love the look of them sea horses, my granddad used To keep them and it was a lot if work iirc.
Looks like a nice set up that pal :thumb:

Used to keep Tropical's - had three tanks on the go for a while, but since I moved to where I am now, haven't got round to setting anything up again...

Now you've put this thread up, might give it a bit of thought.... :thumb:

I'm absolutely fascinated by marine setups. I've made a vow to get one when I get my own place, getting a small tropical tank in a few weeks for a couple of little fishes and some shrimp.

To be honest, to get you started, you can get an 'all in one' jobby like a 'Kent marine' 98litre system ( This one ), which comes with almost all you need to get started.

As you progress into the hobby, you start to add different things to the system, for example, my reef system is running an Ozone unit (obviously... creates the gas Ozone), phosphate reactor, auto top-up, temperature control (set a value ie 27c and it will keep it at that temperature within 1 degree by either switching on the heater stick or the cooling fans.... or if temp is right, they both remain off).

I will also be adding a Calcium reactor in the very near future .... Which should be fun setting up, as I have never had one before :D .

I also now prepare all my own water, from RO (reverse osmosis, which is pure water), and then by adding the correct salt and mixing in the vat for a few hours, I then have my own synthetic sea water.

As with anything, you can spend as much or as little as you want, and in fact I have been giving away loads of coral recently as it has grown so much.

Anyone wanting any advice, I am always happy to help, and there is also a great Essex Club as well the Essex Reef Club (http://essexreefclub.org.uk/ ), where I spend a lot of internet time :D .

Same thing as anything else Frayz, you get out of it, what you put into it :thumb:

Being completely honest, if the tank is running right, it isn't that hard to keep them, as said above, a few select add-ons (ie auto top-up is a godsend) and the tank almost looks after itself, and is a case of adding food, and a water change every 2 weeks only takes around 15-20 minutes now :)

I love collecting fish too.......especially if there's a load of chips next to them :)

Bit Catfish is where it's at ;)

cracking looking tank nate, i used to have a 400lt marine reef tank but it was an expensive hobby, especially with a yemen chameleon, 2 dogue de bordeaux's and an american bulldog, my house was like a small zoo!!! it was stunning to look at though and i will be getting another soon, probably a small red sea max 130 with just corals and shrimp.

Crikey where did they all go Nathan?
As above got really into tropical, breeding guppies and platties but never had the money for a nice marine set up.
Think I'd be happy with a coral rank to be honest as even that looks relaxing!

Great set up though mate!

Nahhhh .... Xbox is where it's at ;)