Marine Aquarium Fever

Marine Aquarium Fever is truly one of the most expensive fevers to get.

Yes happie gupsters, as most of you already know, way before I even started scuba diving in 2005, I had always wanted my very own marine aquarium! A spanking nice big one right in my very own home so I can enjoy a tiny piece of the magnificent ocean world every single day.

Somehow over the years, It had just been a dream I toyed with, I'd just pop into aquarium shops spend some time perving at the fish or surf the net to look for information about the beautiful ocean life but I never did take the plunge to set up my own aquarium.

Since I started Scuba diving, I was able to be up close and personal with the beauty under the sea, I thought the urge to have my own tank of marine fishies would die down and go away, but no , the urge just got stronger with each scuba trip I complete.

As luck would have it, this guppy would cross paths with someone who was not only just a fan of beautiful colourful fishies, he also had the expertise and experience of having run a commercial marine fishy business a while ago- what are the odds?

Would 2008 be THE YEAR that this guppy can finally get a salt water aquarium in her own home? * rubs her greedy little fins in glee!* stay tuned true believers!

Anyway, we didnt get to do it yesterday but we finally made good on our plans to go marine aquarium and fishie perving this rainy afternoon. We went to a fish shop nearby to check up on equipment prices like - pumps, chillers, skimmers, filters, crushed coral, tester kits, sea salt......the list goes on and damn! everything's so darn expensive! :( * way past my pathetic fish budget*

I learnt sexy new words like De-Nitrification, PH Balance and that starfishes are hard to keep, they breathe throught their skin and if the skin is ruptured through rough handling it will die very quickly :P , how to select healthy fishes, and that you can't just simply put lotsa marine fishes into any tank, there is like an "optimum" population size to fit each sized tank. I learnt about the nitrogen cycle and how fish shit everywhere, plants die, fish die and for a short period of time, a new aquarium does become a toxic cesspool unless you constantly test the waters and make corrections religiously.

Then the gravity of owning a marine aquarium hit me - whoah its not all just about looking at pretty fishies. Its also an exact science, about measured controlled environments and how to maintain a sort of "BIOsphere" like ecosystem of sorts - so your fishy friends can live a long healthy life.

How exciting! Im also even more excited at the prospect that someone might be "sponsoring" my very first marine aquarium! with a tank designed and built with his own hands ! JOY!

I can't wait! :D And I know exactly what fishies I want in my very first aquarium - 2 happie little orange clown fish!

I took this pic while scuba diving off Tioman 2 years ago , yeah they were cute little angry looking nemos because I was "invading" their space heh heh so adorable!

Since next week is the lunar new year, its unlikely that project : "Guppy's First Marine Aquarium" can begin. It looks like I might be getting a little tank sometime at the end of the month!

Will this guppy eventually get her own marine aquarium? Stay tuned happie gupsters!