Don't give up on me.

It's been a while since I added to my blog. I think my last post was 3-14-10? On March 18th my husband, Dan, had a heart attack and I guess my priorities were redirected. He is going to by fine. I kept saying we dodged a bullet and it was funny that his doctor used the same phrase at the last visit. He also said we won the lottery, referring to the fact that bipass surgery was not going to be needed. Dan does have 3 new stents in his heart though. Add these to the 4 he has in each leg and we could almost make a slinky out of him!

Sadly the aquarium has taken a back seat to everything else. Now we will be leaving for vacation, driving to Utah from Chicago. I can't set up a new tank and then leave it for 12 days. Hopefully when we return my schedule will be back on track. I found some great live rock to add but it has to be mail ordered to arrive at just the right time. My mentor and I have to synchronize our schedules so we can get the time we need to set this tank up. She is a very busy single Mom! I think we should both just call in sick to work one day and spend the entire time at my house playing in salt water. The trouble with this plan is that she is our Office Manager at work so she would have to report us to the boss as slacker employees!

My plan is to have the tank up and running by the end of June. This has really been a long process. Besides the live rock I only have one more purchase to make. I will be ordering on-line, a GFCI circut breaker power strip.

Watch for my update in a couple of weeks.

I received a few more items this week. Still several on back order.

My filter is here! Its a Magnum 350 by Marineland. It filters 350 gallons of water an hour and is for use in up to 100 gallon tanks. I wanted one big enough to do a good job. I am just a novice but I think the filter is the most important part of my tank. I don't want to be constantly battling a dirty tank. This filter is a bit difficult to assemble so my mentor will come by and give me a hand.

This is the tank and the stand together. You can see that Twinkie feels completely displaced! The stand matches nicely with the walls. I didn't plan on this. When I ordered the tank it was only a number and a description that said "Pine". I'm quite happy with the look. Unfortunately it can't stay in place until it is full of water. It is very unstable and with Dillon wanting to climb everything, for his saftey it is in the gated community of the living room.

I'm posting a picture of my 40 gallon tank. I ordered and got the tank and versa top last week. I have ordered the power head and filter and they should be here Thurs. I also expect the stand to come soon. It has been on back order. After the stand comes we will set up what we have in the current Twinkie spot. Don't worry, poor old Twinkie (17 yr old) will get a new spot guaranteed to please.

I need to make a decision as to where to put the aquarium. The pictures I have posted are my choices. One is in the living room where the blanket chest is, next to the fireplace. The trouble with this choice is the floors are hardwood and I would hate to have water stains on them. The living room is a gated community, meant to keep the pets out, and so viewing the tank would be on a limited basis

The second choice is in a corner in the dining area. As you can see this would mean our cat Twinkie would need to find a new place for her heated sleeping pad. The dining area would give the tank more visibility for us. It is opposite the back door so can be seen when entering the house. There could be water damage to the wood walls but none to the floor.

We polled the household and it is unanimous - The dining area wins the election!

choices

First Attempt - Aquarium

This is my first attempt at blogging. Since I have decided to document the set up of my new Salt Water Aquarium I thought this would be a good way to do it. The process is going to take a few months. I have to budget the cost into finances. The estimated cost just to set up is $500 - $700. Ssshhhh! Don't let my husband know. I hope to have some photos soon. I will post updates on Facebook so you will know when to check it out.