Ento-Reefer
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I decided to go ahead and get this thread started mainly because 80 lbs of the 130# of rock that I ordered from Reef Cleaners showed up today. I don't even have my tank yet, but I could not resist playing around with the rock a little just to see what I am going to have to work with.
I should probably back up and talk a little bit about my background in the hobby. I have been keeping aquariums for about as long as I can remember, but had my first saltwater tank and reef in the early nineties. I have kept everything from discus, S.A. Cichlids, African Cichlids, tetras, you name it I probably had it. I worked for a LFS for many years as a part-time gig to help finance my hobby and I learned a lot about the business side of things from that experience. I'll throw in a few photos of some of the freshwater fish that I have kept over the years....
I am an entomologist and I have always been kind of a nerdy geek..lol.. I love taking photos of insects and I am much better at that then getting good photos of my reef.
I sometimes travel a lot with my work and this has been the biggest obstacle for me to overcome in the hobby. The past five years or so I have been splitting my time between research sites in MA, and then back home at the lab here in Delaware. I used to be a fairly active member of the Delaware Reef Club until I started all the travel for work. I had to take down my reef tank back in 2011 as I just could not maintain it being away from home so much. Selling off all of my fish and coral was hard. This purple sebae and the clowns were probably my favorite..
So I kept my 95 gallon wave tank and got the bug to set it back up sometime in 2014. I have had it operating mainly as a FOWLR with a few corals thrown in here and there. I acquired a few fish that have now been in this tank for close to 4 years. I will be transferring them into the 180 once it is stable and ready for fish. My melanurus wrasse is probably 6" and he is fat!! I think he is beautiful..
My tang is not one you see in the LFS everyday. I still am not 100% sure on its correct ID, but I believe it is Ctenochaetus cyanocheilus
I also have a small Rock Beauty angel that has been with me for almost a year.
Both the melanurus and the rock beauty could use the space that the larger tank will provide.
I wanted to stick to a rough budget of around $6,000 for the tank and equipment, but I want to make sure that I have everything that I need. I settled on a 180 because I knew I could fit it nicely in my home office and that was where my husband agreed I could set the tank. The tank is being built by Cadlights and it will have a 36" tall white mirror finish stand. The tank will have 1 center overflow and a 50g sump.
This photo of their 165 is close to what mine will be except for the depth.
My equipment list:
Apex Controller
Aquamaxx ConeS Q-3 skimmer
AI Hydra 26 HD x 4
Ice Cap ATO
Jaebo RW-15 x 3
Ozotech Poseidon 220
Jabeo 36W UV
I will have 130 lbs of Reef Cleaners Florida base rock to aquascape with. I chose this rock because they say it is free of organics and won't leach a ton of phosphates like other types of dry rock can. I will find out. It is definitely nice rock based on the 80 lbs I got today. My plans are to start this reef off as a LPS softy dominate tank and later on I may add some SPS. My hubby will be installing two 20 amp dedicated circuits so the tank will have its own electrical. He will also be installing a drain line and a separate PVC line running from my water station in the garage to my office where the tank will be. He will run the PVC under the house in the crawl space. No more bucket hauling!! We still have to work out the details on how this is going to work, but the idea is when I want to do a water change I can drain straight into the line and then just hook a pump up to the other line and pump the salt water back into the tank.
Ok here are the photos of the rock I got today. I am planning 2 islands with lots of open swimming space for the fish. I have 50 more lbs of rock coming which should be plenty to get the look I am going for.
The blanket is folded to roughly the foot print of the tank. I was just playing around with the rock a little just to see how it would fit together. I am planning a nice recliner and reading lamp opposite the tank once my hubby moves his weight bench..lol..
I should also have an awesome view from my desk..
Ok, I think this is plenty long enough to get this started. I will have more photos and an update once my tank arrives.
I should probably back up and talk a little bit about my background in the hobby. I have been keeping aquariums for about as long as I can remember, but had my first saltwater tank and reef in the early nineties. I have kept everything from discus, S.A. Cichlids, African Cichlids, tetras, you name it I probably had it. I worked for a LFS for many years as a part-time gig to help finance my hobby and I learned a lot about the business side of things from that experience. I'll throw in a few photos of some of the freshwater fish that I have kept over the years....
I am an entomologist and I have always been kind of a nerdy geek..lol.. I love taking photos of insects and I am much better at that then getting good photos of my reef.
I sometimes travel a lot with my work and this has been the biggest obstacle for me to overcome in the hobby. The past five years or so I have been splitting my time between research sites in MA, and then back home at the lab here in Delaware. I used to be a fairly active member of the Delaware Reef Club until I started all the travel for work. I had to take down my reef tank back in 2011 as I just could not maintain it being away from home so much. Selling off all of my fish and coral was hard. This purple sebae and the clowns were probably my favorite..
So I kept my 95 gallon wave tank and got the bug to set it back up sometime in 2014. I have had it operating mainly as a FOWLR with a few corals thrown in here and there. I acquired a few fish that have now been in this tank for close to 4 years. I will be transferring them into the 180 once it is stable and ready for fish. My melanurus wrasse is probably 6" and he is fat!! I think he is beautiful..
My tang is not one you see in the LFS everyday. I still am not 100% sure on its correct ID, but I believe it is Ctenochaetus cyanocheilus
I also have a small Rock Beauty angel that has been with me for almost a year.
Both the melanurus and the rock beauty could use the space that the larger tank will provide.
I wanted to stick to a rough budget of around $6,000 for the tank and equipment, but I want to make sure that I have everything that I need. I settled on a 180 because I knew I could fit it nicely in my home office and that was where my husband agreed I could set the tank. The tank is being built by Cadlights and it will have a 36" tall white mirror finish stand. The tank will have 1 center overflow and a 50g sump.
This photo of their 165 is close to what mine will be except for the depth.
My equipment list:
Apex Controller
Aquamaxx ConeS Q-3 skimmer
AI Hydra 26 HD x 4
Ice Cap ATO
Jaebo RW-15 x 3
Ozotech Poseidon 220
Jabeo 36W UV
I will have 130 lbs of Reef Cleaners Florida base rock to aquascape with. I chose this rock because they say it is free of organics and won't leach a ton of phosphates like other types of dry rock can. I will find out. It is definitely nice rock based on the 80 lbs I got today. My plans are to start this reef off as a LPS softy dominate tank and later on I may add some SPS. My hubby will be installing two 20 amp dedicated circuits so the tank will have its own electrical. He will also be installing a drain line and a separate PVC line running from my water station in the garage to my office where the tank will be. He will run the PVC under the house in the crawl space. No more bucket hauling!! We still have to work out the details on how this is going to work, but the idea is when I want to do a water change I can drain straight into the line and then just hook a pump up to the other line and pump the salt water back into the tank.
Ok here are the photos of the rock I got today. I am planning 2 islands with lots of open swimming space for the fish. I have 50 more lbs of rock coming which should be plenty to get the look I am going for.
The blanket is folded to roughly the foot print of the tank. I was just playing around with the rock a little just to see how it would fit together. I am planning a nice recliner and reading lamp opposite the tank once my hubby moves his weight bench..lol..
I should also have an awesome view from my desk..
Ok, I think this is plenty long enough to get this started. I will have more photos and an update once my tank arrives.
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