Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, April 22, 1993 TAG: 9304220321
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KAREN L. DAVIS SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
When he toured the Peakwood Drive home of Dr. Julien and Lynn Meyer and saw their 125-gallon saltwater fish tank, "I knew right then that I had to have one," Watts said.
He immediately began checking area pet stores for saltwater tank supplies, but soon learned how difficult it is to get set up in the hobby.
"It's tough trying to find out how to have a saltwater tank. You have to do a lot of research. Some of our mistakes have cost us a lot of money," said Lynn Meyer, who has had her tank about four years.
Meyer shared her knowledge with Watts, but it still took about a year for Watts to set up his aquarium.
Limited space was a major problem. Watts wanted to install his tank over the bar between the living room and kitchen. To do so, he first had to reinforce the bar and the floor below it to carry the weight.
Saltwater is heavier and more dense than fresh water, weighing about nine pounds per gallon, Watts said.
His 55-gallon tank weighs about 500 pounds and measures 60 inches long, 10.5 inches wide and 16 inches deep, small compared to the usual saltwater setup.
"Because of limited space, I had to go with a very narrow tank. I was told that it was going to be too small to succeed," Watts said.
But Watts refused to give up. He had the acrylic tank custom-designed and built for the bar space by a San Diego company. His wet-dry filtration system with add-on protein skimmer was designed by a Colorado-based company to hide away neatly in a kitchen closet.
Watts chose acrylic over glass because it's lightweight and is less susceptible to stress breakage.
"Acrylic is easier to scratch," Watts said. But he learned how to cope with that problem, too.
"I went to the airline industry and asked how they polish scratches off airplane windows," Watts said. Airplane windows are also made of acrylic because the material is less likely than glass to break under pressure.
He uses a special fine-grade sandpaper or a mildly abrasive cream to buff out scratches.
"I'm very particular about the way things look," Watts said. And because the tank is the focal point of his living room, "I wanted it to be a show piece."
And a showpiece it is.
"I almost think of it as a painting," Watts said.
In operation for about a year now, Watts' tank is a colorful, thriving miniature reef system stocked with live corals, mushroom anemones, star polyps, live rock, a giant clam and 11 brightly hued saltwater fish. Coralline algae give the live rock a purplish glow.
A miniature reef system is more than merely a saltwater fish tank, Watts said. The typical saltwater tank has fish but no other living creatures in it. A reef system has fish plus living invertebrate animals, such as his soft and stony corals, which came mostly from the Red Sea.
Specimens are collected live from tropical oceans, although some countries, such as the United States, prohibit the harvesting of living corals and some other reef inhabitants.
"There is proposed legislation now in Congress that would prohibit the collection of live rock" in U.S. waters, Watts said.
Live rock is porous, calcium rock that has tiny worms and other creatures burrowed into holes, living and growing deep within. Most of the organisms are bacteria and are essential to the reef ecosystem because they help break down harmful wastes such as nitrates, nitrites and ammonia.
If the proposed legislation passes, Watts said suppliers may begin farming porous volcanic rock in the ocean, allowing organisms to get rooted within and grow before harvesting.
All of his fish were collected in the Philippines, Watts said. And he buys his fish, invertebrates and other items from The Sunken Gardens in Lynchburg.
The most expensive fish in his tank is an orange Flame Angel that cost about $60, Watts said. Most of his fish and corals cost from $12 to $25, but some, like his Green Chromis fish, were as inexpensive as $3 apiece.
Watts estimates that his total system cost more than $2,000 to set up.
"You can set up a 20-gallon system for about $800 to $1,000," Watts said. He said those starting out need to invest in a good fluorescent lighting system and a powerful protein skimmer, which filters waste chemicals from the water.
Watts has timers set to turn on the aquarium lights daily from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., mimicking the 12-hour intense light exposure reef creatures receive in their natural tropical habitats. Like many flowers, the corals close up when the lights are off. When the lights are on, they open and expand by filling up with water.
Water temperature must be maintained at a steady 75 degrees. He adds calcium daily and tops off the tank with water. Once a week, he checks the salt content and does a 5 percent partial water change. He also monitors the level of phosphates and some other chemicals, keeping meticulous records on a chart on his refrigerator door.
Although time-consuming, the hobby's reward is in watching things grow and thrive in the delicately balanced, mini reef. Watts said he enjoys watching polyps, corals and anemones grow, break away and reattach themselves to different sites on the rocks. Growth is a sure sign of a healthy tank, he said.
"I can tell if they're not happy. If something is wrong with the water, they won't fill up with the nasty water. They will purge themselves and close up," Watts said.
He also has noted significant growth in the mantle on his still-small giant clam.
"Some have grown to 14 pounds in saltwater tanks. If this little guy gets that big, of course I will have to find him a new home," Watts said.
Now, two years after the initial garden tour inspiration, Watts, director of property management for Valley Metro, said he feels he has become knowledgeable enough about the hobby to help others get started in it.
He also said he plans to attend the garden tour again this year. The tour takes place Saturday in South Roanoke from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
"But this time I hope I don't see anything else that I just have to have," he joked.
by CNB