i started my addiction to fish when a friend of mine had a 5 gal Trapizoid freshwater tank. i started in freshwater quickly filling my 5 gal with nice freshwater fish.
I then decided to go to a 29 gal freshwater tank. i started liking different kinds of fish that could all me housed in one tank.and add multiple 10 gal tanks one that housed a blue lobster.
i Then added a 40 gal that i got for a decent price on craigslist.so the tank count was up to like 4 fish tanks all running at same time all freshwater.
after all the times i was at my local fish store picking up freshwater fish i would constantly look at the saltwater selection they had. it got me thinking. so i starded lots of research on keeping saltwater tanks countless hours on water quality and equipment. i searched Craigslist and found a 55 gal tank with stand and a few saltwater fish included. so i picked up the tank and fish and set it up at my house i used the gravel and decorations that the previous owner used. i had gotten a old bucket of salt from my uncle who had been out of the hobby for a numerous number of years and so the saltwater addiction began.
at this point all i had was a hang on the back filter with a cheap hang on the back eshopps skimmer. i hated this skimmer but more on that later.i added a pair of clown fish and alittle later a zebra eel
but after a month or so i started to hate the tank i didnt like the crushed coral that i had gotten with the tank when i purchased it and i started liking the idea of a sump. so i tour down the tank and bought a new 55 gal tank that was on sale for $1 a gal had it drilled for a overflow and made a custom 10 gal glass sump with refugium.
i added about 60 pounds of live sand and bought some live rock from my local fish store i also put live sand in refugium. along with some cheato my return was a simple marineland maxi-jet utility pump.
i made the mistake of going to fast and started having bad algea problems due to not enough liverock filtration and to big of bioload on such a new tank
and then the skimmer started to leak. so here was my excuse to get a new skimmer and get rid of the headache of a skimmer i had. so i picked up a aquamaxx hang on back skimmer and i loved this thing it foamed 10 times as much as the eshopps and quickly started seeing improvement on my tank.
i then started adding other equipment including a auto top off system and a gfo reactor. i also made the mistake of starting the tank with my well water so that made the algea a ongoing issue.
at this point everything was run off multiple timers and power strips. so i broke down and bought a controller. i bought the best apex model i could buy that included all the lab grade probes and added salitnity module and orp probe i started with one 8 outlet power bar.i then upgraded to 1 more 8 power bar and then a 4 outlet power bar that i will get into more about later. at this time i also upgraded my return pump to a Lifegard Aquatics Quiet One Pro Model 3000 and have been running this return ever since.i also upgraded to dual reactor from brs.
i talked with my uncle about my lack of live rock and found out he had some from when his tank was set up years earlier so i set up a tank and cycled the rock again. i also started think about corals and new the single light i had on the tank wasn't going to do it so after lots of research i upgraded to leds i ordered them off ebay. they were Chinese knock offs. and they worked good for the beginner corals i was keeping. this is what the tank looked like at that time
after awhile the 10 gal sump just wasnt cutting it anymore with all the equipment i was adding it was egtting really cramp so i tried a design where 2 10 gal tanks would be bulkheaded together since this was the only size tank that would fit in my stand. well lets just say it didnt work out the way i wanted it to and after like 4 failed 10 gal tank drills i gave up and decided to go with a 20 gal long sump outside of the stand so i picked up a 20 gal long tank and custom baffled it based on a design i liked on the internet. it included a filter sock and a refugium.i then decided to upgrade to a insump skimmer which i finally had room for and ended up going with the aquamaxx cone s-1 skimmer. i searched everywhere for this skimmer it was constantly sold out everywhere. i finally got my hands on it when it came back instock and ordered it right away.
i then decided to change to full spectrum leds. since i liked the Chinese ones so well that have been growing my corals for over a year now with no issues i ordered the exact same fixtures just with full spectrum leds in them.i also built a custom hood for the aquarium because the one i had on it before was a pain in the *** trying to get into tank to do anything. i basically build the original so my leds wouldn't blind people near the tank. so i built this one and hung the new fixtures.
i then hated the look of all the power head sin my tank and decided to buy new power heads.i liked the jebao and the price and wanted a wave action so i decided to buy one . i bought the jebao wp-25 and this thing is awesome it provides a lot of flow.
after adding many different types of coral including sps,lps,zoos,and mushrooms i started getting bored and wanted another project. so i added a frag tank from advanced acrylics. the frag racks i bought from The Blue Glow. both of these have amazing build quality. and since i added the frag tank i had to add another pump to feed it. and i added a dual jebao wp10 setup for more flow in the display and some flow for frag tank. i had ordered another full spectrum led light that i was going to put over main tak but decided to use it on the frag tank fso the corals comeing from my tank or from frag to my tank had the same lighting. and this is where the 4 outlet power bar comes in that powers the frag tank separate .
along the way i forgot to mention that i added a dual dosing pump set up from brs and a uv sterilizer.
after setting up the frag tank i started hating the multiple pumps in the sump for the uv sterilizer and frag tank pump. so i decided to do a manifold setup that powers the uv and frag tank off the main pump.
here are some photos of the frag tank and of my current setup. i have way to many different corals to list but my current fish are dwarf fuzzy lionfish,2 barred rabbitfish,a pair of mated clowns. fish in frag tank are a trouble making sixline wrasse,and a blacker ice snowflake clownfish.
i also have a 5 stage ro/di machine. when i first stared my tank i used well water and couldn't stand the algae so i finally bought my own unit that i use for water changes and ato water. so far i have loved this hobby and wish i could go bigger including and automatic water change system and ro/di storage and saltwater mixing station. i have many plans for future things but have to wait till i have more room to do it.hope everyone enjoys my build thread i will update it as more things change.
