History : Well Ive been into reef keeping for a little over three years. My buddy former owner of Lucid Corals got me into the hobby with our constant discussions of coral and inverts and things that just really got me interested in the hobby. The whole idea and process of maintaining a reef in an aquarium really interested me and got me hooked. I wanted a tank! My buddy and I set up a 30 gallon tank on our kitchen counter. We bought a HOB skimmer and a few power heads and we both worked on it and added stuff to it frequently including this beautiful coral which Ive now had for over three years and originally got this as a small frag!
This photo was taken in my current tank and was set-up about a year and a half ago. It is a 65 gallon custom tank with the former 30 gallon as a sump. Here is a full tank shot of it when I first set it up,
Since then the tank has evolved in something that has really become quite a site. I got really into SPS I think the branching coral and the many expert tanks had me hooked. I started collecting coral from all over. Using my local reef club trading events and swaps and a few locals one in particular JimC who is a great guy with amazing coral. Here is a photo of the 65 about 4 months ago,
As you can see the tank got a little full and a little packed with SPS. I began fragging to keep corals from stinging one another and selling the frags at swaps and online.
So the tank began getting packed and packed and well I just had to get more room. I set up a 40B for a frag tank and began clipping coral to keep them from stinging one another. Everything was going great I was doing weekly water changes on both the tanks and all my parameters were ideal and then one day I came home and noticed something wrong with my 65 gallon display tank stand. I had purchased the stand offline from a reportable source and it was beautiful when it arrived claiming to be water resistant and excellent for aquarium stands. The center brace of wood over time had begun to warp and water leached through the board and caused it to split. I came home one evening and was admiring my tank when I noticed the board and began to freak. I could have easily removed the board with my bare hands because it was so fragile and water damaged. I placed some 2*4's behind the center brace to support the tank incase the water damaged wood burst under the weight. I immediately started trying to find solutions. I had considered replacing the stand and building my own and I had looked through all of my options when I realized this is the perfect opportunity to upgrade my system. I looked around on the local forums and found the tank from a local michigander. I picked up the tank with my buddy and immediately I began planning on set-ups.
The tank is a 4*2*2 120 gallon starphire glass on the front and end panels. It has a glass holes 1500gph overflow which believe it or not is the exact same size overflow I was running on my 65gallon!!!! The tank is rimless and Eurobraced and was magnificent. I began working on the tank and setting it all up for the switch. My plan was to tear down the 65 gallon and move all the coral into my 40B I had to think of something to do with the fish because in the 65 I had a yellow tang a flame angel and potters angel a mandarin and a yellow watchmen goby and pistol shrimp. The flame angels have been brought back to the fish store because they were nipping at my sps. I have continued working on the 120 and getting it all set up.
I painted the back of the 120 Black and began moving some coral over to the 40B.
I ordered a piece of rock from Aqua-Tecture. I have always used live rock from my LFS but I was curious in this ceramic rock that is pre shaped. I really like it I think a few more pieces will create a nice aquascape for my spa tank.
Here it is in the tank! Quite small I think I'll be need more than a few to aquascape this tank.
I started working on a few ideas for a sump tank and I picked up a 40B that was actually my buddies who formally was part owner on the original 30gallon tank. His 40B became my new sump for the 120.
I was thinking of a few new ways to cut down on micro-bubbles. I have always ran into an issue with micro-bubbles and absolutely hated the horrible look it gave you when you had micro-bubbles in your DT. My buddy and I started talking designs and ideas and this is what we came up with.
The egg crate is for some floss-filter. The full picture of the sump the drain pipes will enter there and flow from right to left. Here it is under the tank.
Thats about it for now, I have been busy on the computer ordering new equipment and reading up on new systems.
I have a BashSea Twisted Skimmer rated for 250 gallons that has been running on my 65gallon and will now be used on this new tank. Thats the skimmer in the sump photos above She is a Beast. I will be adding my Dual BRS Reactor's to this tank. I am running Carbon in both of the reactors. The main return pump is a MAG 18. As for flow in the display tank I have two Jebao 40's and an MP10 for the back glass if necessary. I am really considering switching to ZeoVit I have been dosing Kalk via my ATO to keep my levels stable and will continue to run this system on my new tank but I am really interested in switching to ZeoVit once the tank is set-up along with the Kalk. I ordered my ReefBreeders Photon 48 today and hopefully it will be here by early next week. Hopefully the corals like the switch to LED.
Enjoy the updates.
Dan
