About the Fish Cam
The actual camera taking the picture is an Indy-Cam connected to an SGI Indy workstation.
Once a minute a picture is taken in SGI RGB image format and transformed into a GIF and
a JPEG image. The three formats are then stored on our main web server for fast access
by you the viewer.
About the tank in front of the Fish Cam
The tank is a 90 Gal acrylic model with built in overflow and extra sturdy top.
It is currently lit with two flourescent tubes that I removed from a desktop
lighting unit in a fellow employee's office while he were out. Someday I'll
get a real light, but these seem to be working pretty well for now.
About the fish in the tank in front of the Fish Cam
This is a somewhat current list of the fish in the tank:
- (1) Lion Fish
(Pterois volitans) A very cool looking fish indeed. He/she mostly sits or floats
around looking very bored, but when
it gets hungry it can really jump at its food very quickly.
- (1) Sailfin tang
(Zebrasoma desjardinii). He really looks good when his fins are fully vertically
extended.
- (2) Yellow tail damsel fish
(Dascyllus trimaculatus) I got these to help condition the tank and they have
been around ever since. Hopefully the
big fish won't eat them (maybe one of you will see it happen if it does?).
- (2) Three strip damsel
(Dascyllus aruanus). Same story as the Yellow tail damsels.
About the filtration system below the fish in the fish tank in front of the Fish Cam
Water flows over the overflow in the fish tank down to a "trickle" (or wet/dry) filter.
The water trickles over bio-media in the trickle filter and collects in a sump (ten gallon tank)
below it. In the sump is a series of chemical and bioligal filtration agents. One of them
is a protein skimmer which pumps water into a reaction chamber and mixes alot of very small air
bubbles with it. The air bubbles cause foam to be produced which is pulled off the surface of
the water by the skimmer. The foam contains disolved organic material which is removed from
the tank and thrown away. The removal of the organic material helps to keep the water quality
in an optimum state for the fish. After filtration the water is pumped from the sump back
up into the tank where the cycle begins again.
If you are interested you can
see the filtration system below the tank. (12 Kb JPeg Image)
About the person behind the fish tank
Usually you can see someone working on the other side of the fish tank. (since you can
see right through the tank) He is there because that's his office. His name is Mark Lanett and
I think he is destined to become famous as "the man behind the fishtank". Be sure to talk about
him at your next party, but if you see him performing some disgusting bodily function please keep it
to yourself.
What to do if the Fish Cam is messed up
If the Fish Cam messes up in some way, (I've been known to bump the camera or otherwise obstruct
its general usefulness), fill out the Fish Cam error reporting form or send me a mail message
at fishcam@mcom.com.
I'm also interested in places on the net with interesting fish info. If you mail me with
the URL of these places I'll add pointers to them on the Fish Cam page. I could also start
an archive of stuff here if there is sufficient demand.
About the Fish Cam creator
You may see me in the reflection from the tank.
My name is Lou.
