SATXBrian
Community Member
Well, it’s been a couple weeks since I registered, so I figured it was time to actually get brave enough to post. This seems to be a very friendly place!
I am currently in the cycle stage of what I hope to be a new 120-gallon mixed reef tank. This is my second saltwater tank, but this will be my first attempt at keeping “more complex” corals.
I started with freshwater, but fell in love with the colors of a saltwater tank. So, with the blessing of my wife, I bought and set up a 90-gallon FOWLR set up. Very simple, a few powerheads, an AquaC Remora HOB skimmer and simple power compact lights. And who knew, it worked! The tank was happy and healthy for 3 years. We were renting our house and decided it was time to buy our own home. Again, my awesome wife opened the flood gates and we agreed we would take the opportunity to upgrade the tank, too. Plans started for our new 215-gallon reef tank! Yay! Big Tank! Things were moving along well, we found our house, moved and transferred the tank. Then the crash….after about a month in the new house, everything in the 90-gallon died in about 48-hours. My small purple tang, my small powder blue…yes, I had those tangs in a 90. They were fat and happy at the old house for almost a year waiting for the 215. Needless to say, I was crushed and lost all drive for the new 215. I gave the 90 away, and sold the 215 and all the equipment I had bought for it. I was done.
Fast forward 9 years. My wife, after a trip to Moody Gardens in Galveston, fell in love with Poison Dart Frogs. So we decided to set up a fully planted terrarium. During my research on lighting, web searches kept sending me back to the old reef forums I used to read. The seed was planted. We got the terrarium set up and my wife (gosh I love her) kept telling me to set up another tank. She missed the movement and color of the tank. So I started reading. WOW! So much changed in 9 years. I bought a 90-gallon reef ready tank. I wanted to go full mixed reef this time. So I saved and bought throughout 2014. In March of 2015 I was ready. Then, on a trip to the LFS for some final supplies, I found the 120. I’ve always loved the footprint of the 90, and the 120 was all that, plus the extra front to back depth. I was sold! We bought it and I had to rework a few plans and buy/replace a couple extra pieces but as of 2 weeks ago, the tank was filled with saltwater, rock and sand (after a week long freshwater test…hey, it was my first time plumbing a tank) and it is cycling!
The system is a work in progress. I am still using some equipment originally purchased for the 90, but over the next year, as the bioload increases, I will upgrade the pieces that need it.
As it stands:
120-gallon Aqueon Reef Ready
Trigger Systems 34” Emerald Sump
Reef Octopus SSS150 (will be upgraded in 2016 as the bioload increases)
EcoTech MP-40wQD (mounted on back wall of tank, I will be adding a Neptune WAV system soon for more flow)
2 Kessil A360WE (love them! – more light in 2016, maybe the new AP700)
Apex Controller
Jebao DC6000 return pump
BRS Carbon/GFO reactor (not yet running)
Walt Smith ReefRocks 2.1
Arag-Alive Indo-Pacfic sand
Future Upgrades
Tunze ATO
Trigger systems ATO container (10-Gallon)
Neptune LDS
Neptune WAV
Neptune DOS (I’m very brand loyal, and I really like the Apex controller)
New skimmer
I’m going to make mistakes, probably already have. But I’ve enjoyed the journey to this point and I am looking forward to the next steps. I’ll get some photos up once I pull out the Nikon.
Looking forward to reading, learning and getting to know the members here.
Take Care, everyone!
Brian
I am currently in the cycle stage of what I hope to be a new 120-gallon mixed reef tank. This is my second saltwater tank, but this will be my first attempt at keeping “more complex” corals.
I started with freshwater, but fell in love with the colors of a saltwater tank. So, with the blessing of my wife, I bought and set up a 90-gallon FOWLR set up. Very simple, a few powerheads, an AquaC Remora HOB skimmer and simple power compact lights. And who knew, it worked! The tank was happy and healthy for 3 years. We were renting our house and decided it was time to buy our own home. Again, my awesome wife opened the flood gates and we agreed we would take the opportunity to upgrade the tank, too. Plans started for our new 215-gallon reef tank! Yay! Big Tank! Things were moving along well, we found our house, moved and transferred the tank. Then the crash….after about a month in the new house, everything in the 90-gallon died in about 48-hours. My small purple tang, my small powder blue…yes, I had those tangs in a 90. They were fat and happy at the old house for almost a year waiting for the 215. Needless to say, I was crushed and lost all drive for the new 215. I gave the 90 away, and sold the 215 and all the equipment I had bought for it. I was done.
Fast forward 9 years. My wife, after a trip to Moody Gardens in Galveston, fell in love with Poison Dart Frogs. So we decided to set up a fully planted terrarium. During my research on lighting, web searches kept sending me back to the old reef forums I used to read. The seed was planted. We got the terrarium set up and my wife (gosh I love her) kept telling me to set up another tank. She missed the movement and color of the tank. So I started reading. WOW! So much changed in 9 years. I bought a 90-gallon reef ready tank. I wanted to go full mixed reef this time. So I saved and bought throughout 2014. In March of 2015 I was ready. Then, on a trip to the LFS for some final supplies, I found the 120. I’ve always loved the footprint of the 90, and the 120 was all that, plus the extra front to back depth. I was sold! We bought it and I had to rework a few plans and buy/replace a couple extra pieces but as of 2 weeks ago, the tank was filled with saltwater, rock and sand (after a week long freshwater test…hey, it was my first time plumbing a tank) and it is cycling!
The system is a work in progress. I am still using some equipment originally purchased for the 90, but over the next year, as the bioload increases, I will upgrade the pieces that need it.
As it stands:
120-gallon Aqueon Reef Ready
Trigger Systems 34” Emerald Sump
Reef Octopus SSS150 (will be upgraded in 2016 as the bioload increases)
EcoTech MP-40wQD (mounted on back wall of tank, I will be adding a Neptune WAV system soon for more flow)
2 Kessil A360WE (love them! – more light in 2016, maybe the new AP700)
Apex Controller
Jebao DC6000 return pump
BRS Carbon/GFO reactor (not yet running)
Walt Smith ReefRocks 2.1
Arag-Alive Indo-Pacfic sand
Future Upgrades
Tunze ATO
Trigger systems ATO container (10-Gallon)
Neptune LDS
Neptune WAV
Neptune DOS (I’m very brand loyal, and I really like the Apex controller)
New skimmer
I’m going to make mistakes, probably already have. But I’ve enjoyed the journey to this point and I am looking forward to the next steps. I’ll get some photos up once I pull out the Nikon.
Looking forward to reading, learning and getting to know the members here.
Take Care, everyone!
Brian
