I’ve been fascinated by saltwater aquariums since I was a child. Although the few I’ve seen that weren’t in city-run aquariums were usually elaborate installations inside restaurants (like Rainforest Cafe or Todai), I have seen a small number of saltwater aquariums installed in private homes. Saltwater aquariums are a very different experience from what you’d see in a freshwater aquarium, largely because of the wildly diverse and colorful fish and sea-creature species that they can maintain. But there is a further differentiator that can only be found in saltwater: live reef habitats.
In the ocean, a live reef is built up over the millennia by the calcium skeletons of all of the tiny organisms that lived and died previously. The currently living animals (because coral are animals) provide the color and movement that you see. In the ocean, you will find live coral and anemones, sea sponges, sea worms, tube worms, mollusks, and a huge variety of fish and other sea creatures that coexist with the live reef. Seeing this ecosystem, even if only a small part of it represented and thriving in a well-maintained saltwater aquarium, is like having a window into another world; it is a transcending experience.
But back to reality … I had already resigned myself to never being able to own or maintain a personal reef aquarium; these type aquariums, at least the ones I’ve seen, are usually huge, ridiculously expensive, and hard to maintain. Or at least, they can be.
PJ* reefs Miniature Saltwater Aquarium is a Kickstarter project that I am extremely interested in, because its purpose is to create an inexpensive and low-maintenance saltwater aquarium experience for people like me — those who can’t afford or don’t have the expertise to create and maintain a large-scale saltwater reef aquarium. It intrigued me so much that I became a backer.
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