Amanda and Todd's 150gal

Intricateart · Jan 12, 2014

Our 150g over a 55g refugium.

We started our 75g about 3 years ago.It was basically a nice brackish tank with locally collected inhabitants.

Then we got the itch for a full on reef. We got a used 150g (was a snake cage) and resealed it. Then we built a tall stand that would house our 55g refugium. We framed the stand so you can see the whole fuge like a display tank.

We collected about 300lbs of live rock here in Florida,and enough live sand to make a deep sand bed in each tank. The fuge is filled with local turtle grass that helps with water quality.

Equipment: Mag-7 powering a DIY skimmer, Mag-9 return pump, 14,000k metal halide, 40w actinic, 5 20w bulbs over fuge.

Livestock: Six line wrass, Pygmy Angel, Pair Clowns, Yellow watchman goby, clown goby
Mixed Zoas and Palys, Pulsing Xenia, 8 tentacle polyps, Condy anemone

Intricateart · Jan 12, 2014

Amanda and Todd's 150g

Some pics of the stars:

6 line wrass inspecting coral

8 tentacle polyps

Purple ricordia

Our pair of clowns

Blue buttons

rock_lobster · Jan 12, 2014

Very nice setup!

Intricateart · Jan 21, 2014

All DIY. All natural. And built on a budget. Gets better everyday.

revhtree · Jan 21, 2014

Looking good!

DaveMorris · Jan 21, 2014

Do you run into any issues collecting locally? Here in San Diego everything is protected. Of course it is colder water here too, but still we can not just go out and collect specimens. I love the display of the refugium like that. So many of them just get tucked away in the stand.

Flameback Pair · Jan 21, 2014

Subscribed.

Intricateart · Jan 22, 2014

We haven't run into any problems that we could identify. I've spoken to rangers while collecting, to cops, and I've even run into the owners of one of the LFS out there doing the very same thing LOL.

Intricateart · Feb 1, 2014

Intricateart · Feb 1, 2014

Flameback Pair · Feb 25, 2014

Looks like your clowns are hosted by your condy. I didn't know they would do that.

Intricateart · Feb 25, 2014

Don't count on it happening. We got it after our sebae mysteriously died. They had a strong bond with it and seemed so lost, and there was nothing available locally, so we figured it wouldn't hurt to try. They definitely decided they were going to host it consciously, not instinctively- at first they would only touch the foot and then they stated suckling on the tips of the tentacles. Now they treat it like their natural home, but it took time. I think they fact that they had already developed a strong affinity to nems with long tentacles was the motivation.