Hi. I'm Dean from Wollongong Australia. About an hour and a half south of Sydney. I have kept a reef tank for about 2-3 years and have learnt heaps. I am listening to ALL of the podcasts and they are a GODSEND! THANKYOU all the way from the bottom of my heart.
I have had many trials and tribulations including three mantis shrimp in my 200 litre ( 50 odd gallon, I think ) tank. I visited the Great Barrier Reef of Cairns a year ago and it was amazing! I am going to go for a scuba diving course at a 5 star rated PADI course in January 2008 then plan to go to a ribbon reef in the Barrier Reef after that. I am looking into a larger tank ( 5 ft, 650 litre ) from a new Australian company called Octopus ( reefoctopus.com ), their tanks are called biolife reef ready aquariums. I have found a little info about them on the masa.asn.au ( reefing the Australian way ) website. Nothing is set in stone but I am excited about the future. I recommend this website ( talkingreef.com ), the related podcasts and the books " The Reef Aquarium Vol 1+2 " by Delbeek and Sprung. Just some background about me, I am a Registered Nurse involved in research. I have had a lifelong interest in biology and the natural environment. I wanted a marine aquarium from age 12 but waited until about 30 until realising my dream. My passions and hobbies are Reef Aquaria, Audio/visual home theatre & Singing/musicals. Was recently in a production of CATS. Am currently listening to 1st round table discussion mentioning favourite " thing " in your tank. Mine is my clownfish and a beautiful large brain coral. Absolutely gorgeous!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks,
Dean Murphy.
( what a great hobby we have!!!!!!!)
