Bob and Judy's Aquarium

RICH'S REEF · Sep 29, 2018

Spectacular!

Bob Lauson · Oct 21, 2018

My first video attempt:

Bob Lauson · Oct 21, 2018

This aquarium was designed for our previous house which would have enabled viewing from four sides so the overflow was in the middle. In the picture below there one tube for the durso return, one for the feedwater, and one as a conduit for the light support and wiring.

Dr. Dendrostein · Oct 21, 2018

Bob Lauson said:
Here is our 180 gallon aqaurium that we are in the process of populating with corals (also trying to de-populate of diatoms.

WOW, that's my tank, I want that tank

Bob Lauson · Oct 23, 2018

Bob Lauson · Sep 18, 2019

I have posted in other areas but thought I would update our original build thread here as well. The aquarium in the video was awesome....coralline algae all over, no algae issue, survived Dino’s. Then a power outage while out of town in Feb 2019. By the time we got home the aquarium temp was down to 60 deg F or so. I was able to get a generator and get the aquarium back online but it took 24 hours. Lost some beautiful corals which was really sad since they were awesome. It’s now Sep 2019 and we’ve gone through some ugly phases again - some algae, loss of a lot of coraline algae, a minor Dino outbreak, some red cyno but we are recovering. To be honest it is sooooooooo frustrating to have a nice established and thriving aquarium and go back to the uglies. But I love the living art aspect of the aquarium as well as the science involved in keeping it going. The picture below is where it is at today and looks decent. I made some mistakes originally like buying mushrooms again ( which I promised myself I would not do). I also bought an anemone which the clown fish love but it has split 5 times and I have had to remove three of them and give to my LFS. I have also added a few more acros and am looking forward to the reboot.

We actually lost power again last week and after 1-1/2 hours I connected the generator because I didn’t believe the power company would actually get the power fixed as their web site said . 10 hours later power was restored.

Daniel@R2R · Sep 18, 2019

Bob Lauson said:
I have posted in other areas but thought I would update our original build thread here as well. The aquarium in the video was awesome....coralline algae all over, no algae issue, survived Dino’s. Then a power outage while out of town in Feb 2019. By the time we got home the aquarium temp was down to 60 deg F or so. I was able to get a generator and get the aquarium back online but it took 24 hours. Lost some beautiful corals which was really sad since they were awesome. It’s now Sep 2019 and we’ve gone through some ugly phases again - some algae, loss of a lot of coraline algae, a minor Dino outbreak, some red cyno but we are recovering. To be honest it is sooooooooo frustrating to have a nice established and thriving aquarium and go back to the uglies. But I love the living art aspect of the aquarium as well as the science involved in keeping it going. The picture below is where it is at today and looks decent. I made some mistakes originally like buying mushrooms again ( which I promised myself I would not do). I also bought an anemone which the clown fish love but it has split 5 times and I have had to remove three of them and give to my LFS. I have also added a few more acros and am looking forward to the reboot.

We actually lost power again last week and after 1-1/2 hours I connected the generator because I didn’t believe the power company would actually get the power fixed as their web site said . 10 hours later power was restored.

Man, sounds like you guys have been through it, but the tank looks great!

Bob Lauson · Sep 18, 2019

Never a dull moment in this hobby.

NY_Caveman · Dec 26, 2019

Beautiful! Love shallow tanks.

Lorenzo Angotti · Dec 26, 2019

Lovely aqua scape for the size, got the height and levels Just right and tank looks health, good job.

Bob Lauson · Mar 8, 2020

I have added a screen top to the build and an automatic door to allow my auto feeder to work without having to dump through the screen.

Bob Lauson · Mar 8, 2020

Here are some specs on the auto door

Bob Lauson · Mar 10, 2020

My latest aquarium room picture. We have tried to theme the room around the tank from the sea gulls looking down from above, the stained glass in the window, the pillows, table and a few other things.

NY_Caveman · Mar 10, 2020

Beautiful room Bob! Loving those dimensions in that spot.

Bob Lauson · Mar 10, 2020

NY_Caveman said:
Beautiful room Bob! Loving those dimensions in that spot.

There is nothing like a reef tank oasis to sit in and talk or just be quiet.

Bob Lauson · Mar 21, 2020

15 years of reefing and just added our first clam!

Bob Lauson · Mar 22, 2020

15 years of reefing and one day, my clam bit the dust overnight. Not sure what happened but am reaching out to my LFS to get his thoughts.

Bob Lauson · Mar 22, 2020

First time buying from this LFS but he seemed reputable. Mostly does home and business aquarium services and retail is by appointment only. I will say he has been very responsive and we have been going back and forth about water parameters and possible reasons for the issue. Our latest theory is an air bubble that was ingested that the clam could not deal with .