Hi from Niagara Falls, NY.

I have been debating for years on creating my own Hawaiian get away in a tank at home in New York. Everytime I I've visited Hawaii I spend most of my time snorkeling in the shallow to mid depth tidepools there. So much life thrives in such small and untended spaces. While I love the pristine looks of so many of your tanks, I believe my setup will be considered ugly in everyone's eyes. Hopefully I can recreate the wild and untamed appearances that I enjoyed swimming and exploring. I actually got tapped on the shoulder one day, a passing police officer saw me laying facedown in about two feet of water, he had stopped and watched for a while and when I wasn't moving he decided to inspect. Scared the heck out of me when someone taps you while you're facedown exploring a tidepool! I love small creatures and the animals that inhabited those tiny spaces. The last vacation I had there last year was for two months. I stayed at a hostel right on the beach. I bought a small round glass bowl and would bring home things that I saw washed up on shore. I rehabilitated many of the organisms that I found, when I was packing up, I was taking the bowl back to the ocean and the hostel owner saw me. They kept it! It's still living, they go and bring fresh seawater everyday. Some of the travelers tend to it as well. Of course it's mostly just bunches of algae, small crabs, and creatures of the sort. I'd spend hours looking at the things crawling all around. So... I finally decided to start one of my own here in downtown Niagara Falls. I'm starting slowly as I've been recommended, however, I do question about the addition of live rock. Am I able to add all that at once at the start or should I also only put a piece in at a time. The tank is for only me; it's only a small 10 gallon size, right now I have only two live rocks and a few frags. I was also wondering about the addition of local rock from my area. I put one in, but am now questioning that decision. The rock is a sedimentary mud that cracked in the sun in ancient times. Sometime thereafter, some other liquid settled in the cracks. Over the centuries and being in a river, it's been smoothed by water and time. The cracks are now white quartz crystals against a black stone background. So, because I don't know the actual composition of it, and considering its not lava as it is in Hawaii,i don't know that it's entirely safe. Well, I'm at work, I work across the street from my penthouse apartment. I'm an internal Auditor for the Seneca Gaming Authority. We regulate the casinos and poker rooms for the entire Seneca Nation. I just wanted to introduce myself, tell you all that I really have been enjoying your photos and discussions on here. I installed the taptalk app just for this group. I have initial photos from my phone, but will of course use my good camera to take better photos if anyone ever wants to see anything. Until next time everyone..........

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