General RPG DiscussionDiscussion of all RPGs and non-system-specific topics. DM/GM/player issues, settings, etc. Rules discussion belongs in one the forums below.
Unless you are satisfied with interacting with marine life using games such as flOw , Aquaria , or Endless Ocean , the next step for undersea inspiration is to set up your own saltwater aquarium.
First, begin with an aquarium, preferably 30 gallons or larger, as water parameters (salinity, pH, etc) are easier to manage in larger tanks, Aquariums typically require a stand and possibly a canopy. Set up the proper water pump(s) and plumbing. different types of tanks require different water currents; a species-specific aquarium like a seahorse tank requires a low flow, while a fish-only tank may require a high flow. Over time, you may require additional equipment such as protein skimmers, calcium reactors, or wave makers with additional pumps known as power heads. Next turn to lighting; a fish-only tank may only require standard high-output fluorescents, but a reef tank filled with corals will need metal halide lighting or compact fluorescents, depending on the size and depth of the tank. Some lighting systems incorporate metal halide fixtures, compact fluorescent actinic lighting (a blue hue preferred by corals), and low intensity lunar lighting for night viewing. Some include built-in timers to turn them off at night. Depending in the intensity of your lighting, you may require a chiller to cool the water. Otherwise, you may need a heater, to maintain the proper water temperature.
Second, add a bit of saltwater, either premixed from your local aquarium store or prepared from a salt mix. You’ll need a hydrometer to manage the proper salinity. This is a good time to check your plumbing; hoses, bulkheads, and fitting for leaks.
Next, you may want to add a substrate such as live sand, which is teeming with beneficial bacteria that breaks down nitrogen-based waste made by marine life, or a pre-bagged commercial blend such as Arag-Alive. Reef tanks and some fish-only tanks will benefit from the addition of liverock , chunks of rock covered in sponges that are not only attractive, but beneficial as well. Liverock provides a natural food source for some fish, aid in the breakdown of waste produced by aquarium inhabitants, and create a foundation for live corals or decorations in a fish-only aquarium. Liverock and live sand help to “cycle” the ammonia and pH in an aquarium, a crucial stage before adding livestock. Liverock will experience some die-off during harvesting and shipping. One may purchase “uncured” liverock, which will need to cure in an aquarium for several weeks before fish are added, or “pre-cured” liverock which has already undergone this step. Uncured liverock typically has more diversity in sponges and other marine life. Curing liverock will require the use of a protein skimmer and frequent water changes, typically 20% of the content of the aquarium.
Finish filling the tank with saltwater and fire up the pumps, lighting, power heads, heater/chiller, and other equipment. Enjoy your aquarium for a few weeks just as it is, watching the liverock as it changes. You may notice a bloom of brown algae, as the tank "cycles". Otherwise, take a water sample to your local fish store once a week, so they may determine when the tank has cycled.
To keep a reef tank clean, many aquarists include the addition of "clean-up critters" , marine life which feeds on algae, detritus, and other less desirable aspects within the tank. Tank cleaners can include hermit crabs, snails, certain sea stars, shrimp, abalone, and more. After waiting for the tank to cycle, waiting for the liverock to cure, one also waits a bit, after adding the clean-up crew. Reef tanks require a phenomenal amount of patience.
At long last, it is time to add fish, corals, and whatever else you want to put in your tank, assuming you have checked the compatibility of species and do not overcrowd your aquarium. This is where it gets a bit frustrating. Some fish cannot be put in reef tanks, as they will eat other occupants, corals, or both. Some fish are territorial and cannot be kept with others of their own kind; angelfish, tangs, butterfly fish, and the like are often like this. Some fish require a specialized species tank. Seahorses, for example, are slow eaters and cannot be kept with more aggressive fish.
It may be best to set up several aquariums, just to be safe.
As I posted on #enworld, the other day:
08:07 Aeolius imagine an undersea gargoyle with a stony skin filled with nooks and crevices... http://www.liveaquaria.com/images/ca...-live-rock.jpg
08:09 Aeolius The creature is host to numerous stony and soft corals, as well as invertebrates such as snails, hermit crabs, and sea stars. A fair number of small reef fish will claim a liverock gargoyle as their "home" as well.
08:09 Aeolius In essence a living reef, the liverock gargoyle is neither good nor evil, instead they prefer to live in harmony with the surrounding seas.
08:10 Aeolius THAT is what I see, when I look in a reef tank filled with liverock.
08:11 Aeolius I also see the liverock as mountainous terrain. Swimming races explore each small cave and cranny, while those who prefer the ocean floor dig within the sands below.
I am currently setting up a 72 gallon and 35 gallon saltwater aquarium. Both currently have live sand as a substrate. I'll add uncured liverock to the 72, tomorrow. As things progress, I may let the players in my undersea game help pick out critters for the tanks. I may keep an online photo gallery as the tanks progress.
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My Games
Into the Land of Black Ice (retired) - An arctic PbP adventure in the mysterious frozen lands of Oerth
Penance of the Damned (retired) - A planar chat-based game, set in Hades, where the PCs began as larvae
Beneath the Pinnacles of Azor'alq (retired) - A mid-level PbP campaign set within the Dramidj Ocean Heirs of Turucambi - An entry-level chat-based game set within the waters of Turucambi Reef in the Oljatt Sea Nature of the Beast (in design) - A sylvan adventure where the adventurers are forest animals.
Last edited by Aeolius; 10th June 2009 at 03:03 PM..
Into the Land of Black Ice (retired) - An arctic PbP adventure in the mysterious frozen lands of Oerth
Penance of the Damned (retired) - A planar chat-based game, set in Hades, where the PCs began as larvae
Beneath the Pinnacles of Azor'alq (retired) - A mid-level PbP campaign set within the Dramidj Ocean Heirs of Turucambi - An entry-level chat-based game set within the waters of Turucambi Reef in the Oljatt Sea Nature of the Beast (in design) - A sylvan adventure where the adventurers are forest animals.
Into the Land of Black Ice (retired) - An arctic PbP adventure in the mysterious frozen lands of Oerth
Penance of the Damned (retired) - A planar chat-based game, set in Hades, where the PCs began as larvae
Beneath the Pinnacles of Azor'alq (retired) - A mid-level PbP campaign set within the Dramidj Ocean Heirs of Turucambi - An entry-level chat-based game set within the waters of Turucambi Reef in the Oljatt Sea Nature of the Beast (in design) - A sylvan adventure where the adventurers are forest animals.
As I posted on #enworld, the other day:
08:07 Aeolius imagine an undersea gargoyle with a stony skin filled with nooks and crevices... http://www.liveaquaria.com/images/ca...-live-rock.jpg
08:09 Aeolius The creature is host to numerous stony and soft corals, as well as invertebrates such as snails, hermit crabs, and sea stars. A fair number of small reef fish will claim a liverock gargoyle as their "home" as well.
08:09 Aeolius In essence a living reef, the liverock gargoyle is neither good nor evil, instead they prefer to live in harmony with the surrounding seas.
08:10 Aeolius THAT is what I see, when I look in a reef tank filled with liverock.
08:11 Aeolius I also see the liverock as mountainous terrain. Swimming races explore each small cave and cranny, while those who prefer the ocean floor dig within the sands below.
I am currently setting up a 72 gallon and 35 gallon saltwater aquarium. Both currently have live sand as a substrate. I'll add uncured liverock to the 72, tomorrow. As things progress, I may let the players in my undersea game help pick out critters for the tanks. I may keep an online photo gallery as the tanks progress.
At my peak, I had 90, 30 and 10 gallon freshwater tropical tanks. The 90 is in my Dad's medical office, and when I was in charge of it, I used live plants, and had successfully raised a pair of Pearl Gouramis up to hand size, and had some Striped Raphaels that eventually reached about 6" in length. We had a bunch of other catfish as well- including some Banjo cats who, as it turns out, grunted audibly.
The 30 gallon was our home tank, and the 10 was a nursery for livebearers- mostly swordtails and mollies.
A doctor in my Dad's building moved out and left behind a 200+ gallon tank installation that I lust over...
Which reminds me of the Carrier Shells/Carrier Snails (Xenophora)
I am reminded of decorator crabs that ad bits of seaweed, shells, anemones and the like to decorate their exoskeletons for camouflage. There are also staghorn hermits that add staghorn coral to their shells. The pom pom crab holds on to small anemones in its pincers, using them for defense.
Quote:
including some Banjo cats who, as it turns out, grunted audibly.
Into the Land of Black Ice (retired) - An arctic PbP adventure in the mysterious frozen lands of Oerth
Penance of the Damned (retired) - A planar chat-based game, set in Hades, where the PCs began as larvae
Beneath the Pinnacles of Azor'alq (retired) - A mid-level PbP campaign set within the Dramidj Ocean Heirs of Turucambi - An entry-level chat-based game set within the waters of Turucambi Reef in the Oljatt Sea Nature of the Beast (in design) - A sylvan adventure where the adventurers are forest animals.
I read the first two pages and quit; unless you're going to click on all the Wikipedia links, I found just two things for this thread:
* A black fleet with red sails
* the battle of Salamis (but that all by itself was worth the skimming for me)
Somebody else can take it up on page 3.
Beyond the first post in this thread coming from it (on page 7), there is a lot of stuff to sift through, but its generally worth it (even if its not for an aquatic campaign).
Here's one (from page 8):
Quote:
Originally Posted by Galloglaich
Speaking of maritime campaigns, there is a really cool historical resource available for gamers interested in including any kind ship travel, trading, or exploration called a Periplus.
A periplus was a type of navigational document the ancients used in lieux of a map, analagous to the instructions you may have written down on a piece of paper to get to somebodies house in the days before the internet, except with a few more interesting details ... and the fact that these are a couple of thousand years old. <snip good stuff>
Have fun navigating the demon haunted seas!
G.
followed by:
Quote:
Another interesting character who apparently wrote a Periplus which we know of from other writers references to it but no longer have, is this guy:
Pytheas - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
...who apparently sailed from Massallia (Marseilles) to England and back in or around the 4th Century BC. He also made it up to the Baltic and back. He is a hero in Marseilles they have a statue of him there.
Somewhere in the thread is a massive post on Vikings as well.
Another RW nasty from the Deep- an isopod that eats tongues! (Potentially a problem for aquatic spellcasters...and a punishment an aquatic society might impose upon one who was too unruly!)
Into the Land of Black Ice (retired) - An arctic PbP adventure in the mysterious frozen lands of Oerth
Penance of the Damned (retired) - A planar chat-based game, set in Hades, where the PCs began as larvae
Beneath the Pinnacles of Azor'alq (retired) - A mid-level PbP campaign set within the Dramidj Ocean Heirs of Turucambi - An entry-level chat-based game set within the waters of Turucambi Reef in the Oljatt Sea Nature of the Beast (in design) - A sylvan adventure where the adventurers are forest animals.
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