Cheers, my friends
Today, we begin what I propose will be another wonderful journey of exploration in the aquarium hobby. As many of you know, or will soon, I am a passionate mentor (and student!) of aquatic science. As aquarium hobbyists, we each have diverse - yet fundamentally similar - interests in the keeping of reef species and other aquatic creatures. For some people, the great attraction is the academic aspect of reef science that we study and teach our friends, children and others. Through our aquariums, we learn biology, chemistry... physics, carpentry, sometimes electrical engineering (Ha!), and much more. We also entertain dreams about travel and diving (virtual and memorial of past trips) in our personal slice of the ocean. Photography and even commerce in animal husbandry via propagation efforts are also of great appeal. Of course, the greatest appeal of reef aquaria to many of us is simply admiring the intrinsic beauty of living jewels of the ocean. Whatever your attraction is to the aquarium hobby, rest assured that there are legions of fellow aquarists passionate about the same specific things that you are interested in.
In that spirit, I wish to share with you my latest journey in the construct of a new greenhouse and laboratory for reef creature culture and study. In addition to coral and fish farming, I will also detail other aspects that amateur and professional aquarists are typically interested such as photography and small business issues. You will see all of my equipment and husbandry choices, and you are invited to ask any questions about these topics or any other aquatic issue! After twenty years and a half million miles flown around the world, I have the experience or at least an informed opinion about most any aspect of our hobby and the industry that supports it. Please don’t be shy to ask me anything at all
For the benefit of our friends and future readers, we will build this thread in multiple parts. The illustrated tutorial on the facility evolution will be a closed thread (no posting) so that it stays tidy and more easily readable in time. This is especially helpful for very large threads which can otherwise become cluttered with off-topic and off-shoot posts.
For active discussions (posting) about the tutorial thread and any components of it, I am kindly asking that forum members make separate posts with descriptive (and specific) titles. If a thread inspires a thought or question about an interesting off-topic matter, please simply make a new thread with that topic title. This will all – again – greatly help our future and fellow aquarists that find the content we are building in the archives. For example, if we turn a thread about anemone propagation into one about lighting, how then will someone looking for lighting info know to look into the anemone thread?
So let us begin our journey!
I have spent another year of great travel around the world… with a very special trip to Greece!
And I have made many pictures with great stories that I look forward to sharing with you. Shortly, I will leave for Africa to make my last big rip of 2007. On my return, later in August, I will retire to the wet lab and greenhouse for many months of final construction and upgrades to share.
Many aspects of the project can be translated to your personal interests. Please have a very open mind and let yourself dream! A lean-to greenhouse could be a seed of inspiration for a simple conversion of a sunny apartment balcony. Or the basement fishroom could be the model for converting the back of a car garage for coral culture. The commercial anemone-farming example could be reduced to a still-profitable “farming” refugium added onto or expanded from your current reef display (even a small space can be very productive). And if the photos or video are a strong appeal to you, do consider if you can convert a single clothing closet into a miniature photography studio with controlled light in a tidy space and a rotating mini-reef (on a spinning food platter) for amazing photo opportunities!
If you have an aquatic dream but don’t quite have the vision yet to make it a reality, let us help you to enjoy your hobby and to inspire others: tell us your goals and we will work together to find a solution.
In shared admiration of the sea,
Anthony Calfo