Personal Posts

The Start to a Saltwater Aquarium 3/22/13

So my boyfriend decided to start a new hobby. He decided he wanted to start up a saltwater aquarium, buy some frags (small pieces of coral), grow them and then sell them for a profit, as well as add in a few cool fish. I was excited because I get to just sit back and enjoy the aquarium!

I swear to you it's like having an interactive television because I find myself sitting in front of the aquarium watching everything living interact with one another... Check it out.

 First we just added the live rock, sand, some sea shells from the beach and a week later some damsel fish.

Then we went to the store right after the Crystal Cove field trip and went on a shopping spree! We got a Candycane Anemone, lots of frags, a cleanup crew (snails), and a maroon and orange Clownfish.

They say maroon clownfish will kill orange clownfish but we made sure the maroon was smaller and haven't had any problems. One thing I really wanted was for one of these fish to pair with the anemone... and finally a couple nights later it happened!!!

Here's the video I took of their first interaction! It's now a full-blown romance...

 

Another small white anemone was added not too long ago as well as a plant. The anemones seem to stick together. If you didn't know, anemones move around the tank to wherever they feel comfortable.

Since then we've added a Purple Fire Goby, a Yellow Watchman, a Niger Trigger fish and a Blue Hippo Tang (also known as Dory from Nemo). As for the big ones their names are Bonnie (Dory) and Clyde. Clyde actually blew the sand out from under a live rock and made a cave and both Bonnie and Clyde sleep in their at night.

Did you know fish sleep on their sides on the floorbed?! Weird right?

More updates to come :)

Think About This! 3/11/13

So as I'm reading through my Environmental Science textbook, preparing for my first test on Wednesday I came across two things that really stood out to me... One was a quote, and the other an analogy. 

"The environment is everything that isn't me." - Albert Einstien
Yes, it is a very simple quote yet it's so genius! A very simple definition of the word environment.

As for the analogy I'll try my best to sum it up.

As the textbook says, say you were to win a $1 million  lottery. You invest this money and it becomes your capital, and you earn 10% per year in interest. This is $100,000 per year in interest that you can spend however you'd like without reaching into your capital.

Say you would rather have $200,000 a year to spend and so you take $100,000 from your capital each year in addition to your earned interest. While still earning interest, all of your money would be gone early in the seventh year. Horrible right?! Say you just want a little extra money a year and only take an extra $10,000 from your capital so that you have $110,000 a year to spend. At this rate, all of your money would be gone by the eighteenth year. 

The lesson here is to protect your capital and live off of the income it provides. Same goes for the environment which is the earth's natural capital. We need to not use more than is given to us because in time it will all be gone. Do not live for today, but live for tomorrow and protect our future!

Source: Environmental Science : Fourteenth Edition by G. Tyler Miller and Scott E. Spoolman  

Forever Wild Exotics in Phelan, CA 2/17/13

Today I went to Forever Wild Exotics in Phelan, California. I HIGHLY recommend going here because not only were there all sorts of animals to look at up close and personal, but also there were 20+ big cats in cages no more than 5 feet away! Tigers, panthers, lions, bobcats, mountain lions, and more! As for the other animals they had a fox, a variety of snakes and birds, sugar gliders (too cute!), lamas, a donky, some sort of pig, a wild dog, an alligator, and a deer. I was able to pet a lot of the animals also because you're literally in front of the cages!

This place is a non-profit animal rescue sanctuary for exotic animals. It's only $8 a person to get in (right now there's a buy one get one free coupon on their website), and $10 per person to feed a big cat of your choice. I thought I would share some pictures with you all so enjoy! Here is the link to their website: http://www.foreverwildexotics.org/ 

What a Beautiful Tree! 2/14/13

Last summer the tree in my front yard was full of bright, green leaves, and as normal in fall the leaves turned different shades of yellow, orange, and brown. Then, as winter came all of the leaves fell from the tree and only branches were left. To my surprise, just two weeks ago, I walked out front and found that my tree was covered in small white flowers! It's seriously beautiful... so I was interested in what kind of tree I had and so I got on my phone, got onto google and typed in "tree white flowers green leaves in summer", and I got my answer! So the tree in my front yard is a White "Spring Snow" Flowering Crabapple Tree. The tree even has a beautiful name! 

Turns out in early spring these trees become covered in petite pure white flowers that bloom in later spring. maybe because the weather here in California feels more spring that winter now the trees think its spring? Also, the name is deceiving because it does not produce apples, it is a completely fruitless tree.