Sunday, October 4, 2009

Tanks a Lot

I'm telling you, for sheer entertainment value, the nano-reef is hard to beat. I know you might find it hard to believe, since there's not even any fish in there, but there's always something going on.

It's a little stressful, too, of course. After having to float ice every few hours to keep the temperature down low enough not to kill the coral and snails, I finally bought a chiller. But before I could even figure out how to install it (which, sounds like it should be easy, but isn't), suddenly it became winter and I had to install the heater to keep the water warm enough not to kill the coral and snails. The only reason that I don't have the central heating on in the house right now is because less than a week ago I had the A/C on, and I'm too stubborn to switch from one to the other without at least a month in between.

Then there was the night that I realized there were hundreds of tiny little bugs crawling all over the rocks. I've learned to love these copepods because they're a sign of a healthy tank, but for the first few minutes my skin was crawling.

And then yesterday, after what, two or three months of the rocks being in the tank, I saw long tentacles coming from a hole in the rock, going around the corner and grabbing at things. Holy crap. The tentacles have to be at least four inches long. They're really skinny and translucent, but still, how did I miss seeing this for months? True, they all sucked back into the rock when I changed the lighting, but still.

I think the aliens have arrived...

5 comments:

  1. very cool. more pics!

    seems like you would like scuba diving.

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  2. Yeah, I would like to see photos as well.

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  3. Alright, fine, I will attempt to get photos tonight when I get home. Maybe even video...

    I was going to try last night, but when I thought of it I had just used a turkey baster to blow crud off the rocks, so it looked like a sandstorm was blowing.

    If the photos don't turn out, I'll do a stick figure drawing. It will look like Cthulhu. You have been warned.

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  4. why is it every six months or so I have to wiki cthulhu?

    Ah, well. It's that or worry about my sister and the things growing in her, um, nano reef.

    BTW, the wiki on 'Emperor Norton' mentions the dogs Bummer and Lazarus. I assume they both had eyes -- i.e. they could see at all!

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  5. Okay, no pics tonight. In trying to get the glass clean I accidentally re-aquascaped and I think Cthulhu ended up on the side of the rock that's now in the sand. I have faith it will eventually show up though.

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