I want to use this thread to document some of my time in the hobby. Feel free to ask questions or comment. Thanks for stopping by - Mathew
Back in 1999 my fish keeping took a giant step forward. I'd kept freshwater and had success there for years. Ran saltwater with a 90gal FOWLR for a while but this would change everything.
My 180gal reef would be something I was going to have for years and did. With the only a major hiccup coming in August of 2003 when the Northeast Blackout happened and I lost power for 4 days. My naso which I truly loved watching cruise the reef and feeding perished
I went with the best I could find and afford at the time. LifeReef custom built sump, overflow boxes, skimmer, media reactors, and calcium reactor. Even being pretty patient I remember thinking about calling Jeff over at Lifereef and telling him to hurry every day! I remember agonizing over what type of sand to put in it Ha-Ha. Bought an RO, digital PH and Salinity probes and lighting that would rival the sun! A 250w metal halide on each end and a 400w big boy in the middle. Accented by 4 55w actinic power compacts. All housed in a custom oak fixture made by a friend. One thing I clearly remember is getting all the live rock via UPS and it was wet and full of life. Teeming with critters. Some good and some just plain scary to me at the time. It's not like what people call live rock now that's for sure. This reef ran until 2010 when after it had been somewhat neglected for a few months I decided to break it down. I donated the equipment to the struggling LFS who'd been really cool to me throughout the years.
After multiple computer crashes and such here are all the photos that I have left. They were taken around 2002. Please understand though digital camera tech was pretty crappy then.
Back in 1999 my fish keeping took a giant step forward. I'd kept freshwater and had success there for years. Ran saltwater with a 90gal FOWLR for a while but this would change everything.
My 180gal reef would be something I was going to have for years and did. With the only a major hiccup coming in August of 2003 when the Northeast Blackout happened and I lost power for 4 days. My naso which I truly loved watching cruise the reef and feeding perished
I went with the best I could find and afford at the time. LifeReef custom built sump, overflow boxes, skimmer, media reactors, and calcium reactor. Even being pretty patient I remember thinking about calling Jeff over at Lifereef and telling him to hurry every day! I remember agonizing over what type of sand to put in it Ha-Ha. Bought an RO, digital PH and Salinity probes and lighting that would rival the sun! A 250w metal halide on each end and a 400w big boy in the middle. Accented by 4 55w actinic power compacts. All housed in a custom oak fixture made by a friend. One thing I clearly remember is getting all the live rock via UPS and it was wet and full of life. Teeming with critters. Some good and some just plain scary to me at the time. It's not like what people call live rock now that's for sure. This reef ran until 2010 when after it had been somewhat neglected for a few months I decided to break it down. I donated the equipment to the struggling LFS who'd been really cool to me throughout the years.
After multiple computer crashes and such here are all the photos that I have left. They were taken around 2002. Please understand though digital camera tech was pretty crappy then.
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These are obviously on a much smaller scale but awesome nonetheless. In fact she's into it as much or more than I am. She can't wait to go to a frag show in Lansing Michigan in February.
