What do you do to spice up bland food? Add salt, of course! So, what do you do to spice up a bland fish tank? Add salt! And that's exactly what I did one-and-a-half months ago.
On October 16, I became the proud owner of a saltwater fish tank. Lisa came across the tank when someone from her work was selling it off. It was ideal for us because we could get the whole works (the tank, the live rock, fish, snails, etc) for a good price. I've had plenty of experience with freshwater tanks, but I was pretty nervous about running a saltwater tank.
Turns out running the tank isn't too complicated. After the first couple of weeks, I got to the point where I understood all the major facets of a saltwater system (salinity, biological filtration, protein skimmer, water polisher, etc.) I monitored all the stats every day at the beginning to make sure the system was stabilized. I love it! It's been fun, interesting, and a nice diversion from the stresses of life without consuming too much time. And of course, Emily is thrilled to have her own real life "Nemo" swimming around in the fish tank.
You can see me as the proud owner of the fish tank in our photo gallery. Also, check out my Saltwater Fish Tank wiki page for all the details.
On related note, I looked in the tank and saw the hermit crab's shell sitting at a really odd angle. When I looked closer the shell was belly up. I thought, "Oh no! The hermit crab died!" But then, I saw a shell moving around in the back. Turns out the hermit crab changed shells sometime since yesterday evening. Unfortunately, I liked the old shell better. :-P
There's nothing particularly fantastic or monumental about eating peas, unless, of course, you're an 8 month-old baby. In that case, eating peas can separate the babies that eat the ewey, gooey, slimey paste food from the babies that eat soft little squishable chunks of food. And today, Katrina has graduated to the latter class with more than a hearty grunt of approval.
I cooked up some peas to eat with dinner, and due to my less-than-keen cooking skills, they came out on the mushy side. After eating one or two I thought Katrina should be more than able to smash these around in her mouth, so why not give it a try? During the first bite, she had a strange expression on her face that then turned into a huge smile which morphed into a gaping-wide open mouth. After she snorted and wiggled around like a crazed monkey for a second or two, I got the idea that she might actually like these squishy green things. So, I kept loading them in until she was full--and it took a while. She just loved peas!
I'm excited to see Katrina progressing to more interesting forms of food. I'm also glad I'm not the one changing her diaper in the morning. (I love you honey!)