Reef Tank Update

OK, so I said I would do an update on whether my DIY protein skimmer worked or not. Well, it DID! :) It took a while to break in (2 days) but it is now collecting very light colored skimmate (dirty stuff from the water) and should hopefully start to collect more as the tank and skimmer mature. The tank has had a LOT of diatom and other algae growing in it because it is so young but the pod (amphipod and copepod) populations are up and, at times, I can see over ten of them on one side of the aquarium. The corals seem very happy and are open (most of the time). I now have one of the new lights (20 watt Coralife 50/50 bulbs but I only have one) and am considering getting a Finnex 26 watt bulb for the other side instead of the Coralife. I also re-aquascaped the tank and added some more rock. It looks nice now (there is a little "island" now) and I am happy with the scape. I'm ready to add corals and inverts but our local pet store is redoing their saltwater systems so I have to wait a bit. :( Well, pictures coming soon!
Oh and please pray for Socks from "Alasandra, The Cats and a Dog"
http://www.alasandra2003.blogspot.com/

A New Gerbil Buddy for Clark!

Well, today I got a new male gerbil buddy for Clark! Right now I am split-caging them (a process which gets them used to each other) and will introduce them directly once everything looks good with them. So far, they are getting along pretty well (no fighting through the cage bars) and are curious about each other. Will post pictures as soon as I can!

My New 10-Gallon Nano-Reef!

Well, my new 10-gallon nano-reef is set up and has corals in it now (my 5-gallon is no longer set up). The equipment consists of a standard 10-gallon glass aquarium, an unknown brand hang-on-back power filter, a Whisper filter (mainly for flow), a 50 watt Jr Heater, and (right now) a Coralife 50/50 10 watt PC screw in bulb plus a house PC screw in bulb (the coil type) which will both be replaced in a few weeks with two 20 watt Coralife 50/50 PC screw in bulbs (to provide a total of 40 watts of light, or 4 watts per gallon). I am working on a DIY protein skimmer and will be testing it hopefully tomorrow! I'll post results on that and instructions on how to make one if it works! Here are some pictures of the tank.

End of November Update

I have some good news and some bad. The bad news is, on November the 18th, my gerbil Lewis died. I don't know the cause. Gerbils are supposed to live a fair amount longer than a year (most live 3-5 years) so there must have been something wrong with him. Now Clark is by himself and is very lonely. I am strongly considering getting another gerbil to keep him company (and soon) because gerbils don't like to be alone.
On a brighter note though, I finally got my under-tank heater for Gex and I also am setting up a 10 gallon reef tank, which is currently cycling. The contents of the 5 gallon (live-rock, polyps, mushroom coral, and all the equipment and sand) will go into the 10 once it is stable. I'll post pictures once there is something to post pictures of (right now it is pretty boring looking because all that is in the tank is sand, water, equipment, and 4 rocks) which will hopefully be soon. I am going to use (I have to order them) 2 Finnex 26watt power-compact screw in (regular socket) bulbs for the lighting.
For my saltwater tanks, I don't use protein skimmers at all because I think the natural method works better: you don't have to dose lots of elements back to the water daily (skimming removes them so you have to add them back), you don't remove the food that the corals eat, and there is less expense. My method involves doing monthly water changes of about 50% (to keep nitrates down), feeding Kent Marine Micro-Vert every day, feeding whatever fish are in the tank a very small amount of good quality food (usually frozen) doing filter maintenance every couple of weeks, and finally, realizing the limits of whatever tank it is (I don't even try to keep SPS corals because I know they are demanding in their water quality needs).
Smokey and Sunny have been extremely cuddly lately and have been (for the most part) sweet. Smokey has learned how to UNZIP stuff lately and has managed to do this twice! I had her in her carrier the other day and I turned around and there she was so I went upstairs (expecting a torn up carrier) and found out that she had unzipped it and gotten out! If I have to take her to the vet or anywhere else for whatever reason, I'll have to make sure she can't do that!

Cold Weather Comes (And Issues Arise)

Well, the cold weather is here now (we've had a freeze for three nights in a row now) and with that comes the need for heaters (for us, and the animals) and for most of my animals, the heaters are fine, HOWEVER, for my African fat-tailed gecko, the under-tank heater that I have had for several years quit working! I don't know what is wrong with it but it is so thin (paper thin) that there is not much you can do, so I went to our local pet store to get one (they are pretty common) and they had every heater but the one I needed. They had the Exo-Terra Rain forest heaters in every size, the Exo-Terra Desert heaters (the type I needed because the rain forest ones are half the wattage of the desert ones) in the larger sizes (medium, large, and X-large) but not the smaller ones (Small and X-small) so they said they would order it for me. Well, I went back a week later and asked about it and they said that it had been back ordered and should be there by Friday the 12th. So right now, I am waiting on the heater to come in, having to heat up a reusable hot/cold pack (you microwave it) every few hours and also using a heat lamp (only when I am here because it gets REALLY hot) on my fat-tailed gecko. Smokey and Sunny have taken to sleeping with me more because of the cold weather and I must say that having a kitty (or two kitties) to cuddle with at night and keep you warm is very nice! Fiona likes the cold weather (compared to summer anyway) but still gets cold at night sometimes. My gerbils (Lewis and Clark) get cold and cuddle together at night which is really cute but I give them bedding to stay warm with. The fish tanks are for the most part doing well. The reef tank is not doing as well as I would like (the only thing that is growing and thriving is the mushroom, the polyps are surviving but not growing) because the lighting is NOT strong enough (it is only two watts of PC where as I SHOULD have between four and eight) so I have to start working on that. My leopard gecko (Seze) is doing very well and has a HUGE appetite for crickets (doesn't like meal worms though)! I am trying to keep warm because I am NOT a cold weather person... Brrrr.

Fall is Finally Getting Here!

Well, the temps are FINALLY starting to drop a little bit (it is NOT cold by any means) and the leaves are starting to turn (still pretty green though). Now that the house is cooler all the time without the air conditioner going, the cats are more playful and also more likely to "snuggle" with you. I actually see the fish tank heaters turn on sometimes now (instead of me having to use ice and a fan!) and I actually have to use the under-tank heaters for the geckos all the time and use the heat lamp for my leopard gecko Seze! Fiona has enjoyed out of cage time even more now and gets out several times a day usually. Lewis and Clark (my two gerbils) are very frisky and playful too and love getting out daily in their "Run-About-Ball's". All my new fish are doing well (a few weeks ago I got 2 guppies and 3 black-skirt tetras, and then last Saturday I got a royal gramma)! Hopefully this weather will stay for a while because it is so pretty now!

Trip to Arkansas: Coming home with a new critter and nursing it back to health

On August 15th through the 18th I was in Arkansas and had a great time exploring a state that I had never seen before (the Ozarks are really beautiful!). On the 17th, I went to a Petco store and got a baby leopard gecko. The next day I had to travel back to MS and (of course) the gecko had to go also. She did really well with the trip and once I got home, I immediately got her setup in a nice terrarium with a heater, water dish, hideout, and food. She ate several crickets a day (she is only 4 inches long!) for about 4 or so days and then stopped eating completely. I tried mealworms and dead crickets (my other gecko will eat both of the latter plus live crickets too) with no luck. Finally I called a vet in town who referred me to another vet (exotic animal vet). I called the exotic animal vet and talked to her. She told me to bring the gecko in that day so I did. I was really afraid that she was going to find out that the gecko had Cryptosporidium (a deadly, non-curable disease that affects reptiles and many other animals) but she came back and told me that it just had a bacterial infection and POSSIBLY some internal parasites so she gave me some Baytril and Panacur to give the little girl for 7 days (for the Baytril) and 3 days (for the Panacur). She also gave me a can of Hills A/D Canine/Feline food to give her. I did this as well as I could (the gecko did NOT like it at ALL) and after about 4 days, she was eating again! After completing the medication she is still eating (2 crickets a night) and is gaining weight! The vet told me that the infection was likely due to Petco not keeping the cages sanitary. I won't be buying any more reptiles (or any other animal for that matter) from Petco, Petsmart or any other chain pet store. I have not named the new gecko but I am considering these names: Neyteri (Avatar), Seze (the name of Neyteri's Ikran in Avatar), Nala (The Lion King) and Sabor (the leopard in Tarzan and also means lioness or tiger in Mangani).