(June 5-7)

June 5.
I stopped at Mission Pets and bought 120 pounds of sand. I came home and washed the sand. To wash it you cut a hole in the bag and put a hose into it and run off the dust. Man,good thing it was in the driveway, it was milky white and messy.
June 6-7.
I added about 100 gallons of water and 50 cups of Instant Ocean Reef Crystal Salt. The tank was extremely cloudy from the sand dust you don't rinse off. Hopefully it will settle out soon!
June 8.
A quick check of salinity was 1.030 so I added about 5 -10 more gallons of water and got it to 1.028. I bought an extra filter on my noon hour in case the water had not cleared up- it had so I can use this filter for the quarantine tank I need to set up.
June 9.
Time to settle in and see if we can maintain this!

Salinity gadget (Mid March)

Sweet! I like trying out new things and this is pretty cool. Here's the blurb about the refractometer.

In use, a sample is sandwiched between a measuring prism and a daylight plate. The reading is taken when a shadow line crosses the scale from the shadow line formed between the illuminated area and the dark area then a shadow line crosses the scale. Because refractive index is very temperature dependent, the ZGRS-10ATC Handheld Refractometer embedded a bi-metallic strip inside the rugged casing to achieve automatic temperature compensation.

Water, water, everywhere... (Mid March)

...not a drop for the aquarium. Why? Water is the main environment for living creatures in the reef tank, so it needs to be ultra clean water. Bonner Springs water is extremely hard, so we have to soften it. That means salt, but unfortunately water softeners don't use the right kind of salt.
After much research I settled on a RO/DI made by Kent Maxxima24. 24 means 24 gallons a day, 24 gallons a day means more than 4.5 continuous days to 'make' water for the aquarium.
I got the system on eBay and then ordered the filters, resin, etc. from http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/ Ryan was extremely helpful answering questions and ensuring me I could modify the unit to an output of 75 gallons a day. Down to a day and a half- woohoo!

The start (March 8)

I've always admired saltwater aquariums with the lush growth and interesting fish, so after months of thinking about it I jumped in March 8, 2008 and purchased a Oceanic Reef Ready Show 110 gallon tank. Show means it is taller, so it shows off the tank and aquatic life. I got the tank from someone in Leavenworth who was going to school in Hollywood and needed to have the money. The tank wasn't a steal but it wasn't a rip off either. I got lights, pumps, parts, tubing, and the most useful, help moving the tank. My friends Diane and Joan helped too.
The tank was coming from a lower floor and once in Bonner it was going to the basement. The stairs were quite a challenge! We got it down there and against the wall I had selected. It seemed pretty level, so the move was complete. Now onto the next steps.