A Box of [Salt]water

Hi.  My name is Pat Canella and I’ve been “reefing” for about 6 years now.  I have made tons of mistakes, a lot of DIY mishaps and have probably spilled more gallons of water in my room, on the floor than I have actually put in my tank.  This is my passion.  A lot of you know me for my love for tea, but lately, it feels forced, and not something I enjoy.  Tea was never something I willingly looked up and went to communities for.  Tea is not something I could see beauty in.  Tea is not something I could be creative with and have a “vision” for.  Tea is an amazing drink, but it is not the niche I love.  

Keeping beautiful creatures is what I love to do.

 It sounds cliche’ but the possibilities are endless; I have always had an aquarium since Sophomore year of high school.  I love talking about fish, coral and invertebrates.  Nothing makes me happier than when my lights come on and I see my clownfish slowly waking up and my corals opening, all the while my hermits are hard at work and I hear the slow hum of my lights igniting.  So, here’s my current tank, which I will be taking pictures and video of, and showing them off here.  I’ll tell you daily happenings, and what is going on in the drama of the Reef.  It’s like having a window into a reef!  How cool!

This is “Cher.”  She is a Yellow Striped Maroon clownfish, a Premnas biaculeatus.  Her yellow is just BARELY coming in.  Sorry about the flash. 

   Cher swimming gracefully.  She likes to hang out on the (our) left side of the tank.  See the heater there?  She loves sleeping next to it :).

This is “Sonny.”  He’s a small little guy, that I have a feeling is either WILD caught or he is a plain ole whitestripe maroon.  He’s a lot darker than Cher is, but like her, has a misbarred/not completed endstripe on his tail.   Also seen here are some Orange Zoanthids and some brown Palythoas.  Also are some closed Green Star Polyps (who I have since moved because they prefer higher turbulent areas).  

This is a recent acquisition; a 5 headed Hammer Coral.  It’s a Large Stony Polyp coral, and is quite sticky and “light.”  It requires a decent amount of light, so it’s at the top.  Open and doing quite well, better than at the LFS (Local Fish Store).  It prefers indirect flow.  When I first bought it I put it right in direct flow, which didn’t fly with this guy. 

These are some new Zoanthids I purchased for around $15.00 at the LFS.  They are pink and green beauties!  I had to have them, as I have little pink in the tank right now.  They are a wonderful addition.  Also shown are some Orange/Purple Zoas and some open GSPs.

Better picture of the Orange Zoanthids and a Green and Red striped Mushroom coral :)

More of the previous stuff here, except this Leather Coral we have here.  It’s not too big, but is growing daily since it is out of my 2.5 Gallon.  They have stalks they grow out of, and it’s also pretty cool that when you slice a piece off, or “frag” it, the sliced off piece grows a whole new coral.  PRETTY NEAT.

Excuse the bit of algae on the glass there, but take a look at my favorite Deepwater Japanese Zoanthids!  They are orange/green and a bit of bluish purple!  GORGEOUS zoas who started out with around 3-4 heads and were about the size of a small bread crumb.  Oh how they have grown :).  These guys fell off of their rock from shipping and I managed to get them to stick on this rock.  They’re looking amazing now though, let’s hope they spread!

Side view of the tank.  I dislike this picture, although Cher is in it :).  You can see my Candy Cane coral in the far back on the right of the image.  Beaut!  Also seen is a standard 100Watt heater and a Minijet 404

Full Tank Shot :).  Kind of a bad/washed out picture, so I apologize.

Better image of the Candy Canes.  Also, GSPs, Zoas, and Palys!

Cher :).  Sorry, I’m getting gradually better at taking pictures.

The happy pair :).  They are about 1.4-1.5 years old right now!  I bought them when they were both very small and young (I am almost positive they are both aquacultured!), but the female has definitely grown in size.  I hope they breed soon :).

These were taken on August 1st, so a bit has changed, but not too much.  Please let me know what you think!!

-Pat