Setting up a tank in 1996

[JMacedo]

Hahaha this is a great thread. I set up my first SW tank in 1991 when I was Sr in college. I constructed a tank for my senior year engineering project. That summer I bought a 90g and started working Saturdays on the fish platform of one of the 2 stores that sold saltwater fish (that I knew of) around Boston. Man, the misinformation I spread...

Anyway, my tank was pretty high tech with a sump with bio balls (UG were prevalent) , a protein skimmer that was fed with ozone. For some reason I had a diatom filter that I would occasionally use to "polish my water" lol. Never heard of RODI water, it was straight out of the Boston tap that I wouldn't even consider drinking. Measured my salt with my handy swing arm. My temps swung wildly with no way to cool off my tank in the middle of summer with no AC.

Tank was stocked with countless Angels and triggers. My fav was my snowflake Moray eel though. We used to toss live freshwater shrimp and gold fish into the tank to watch the triggers and eel feast.

Decorations were large chunks of dead coral and they were not cheap. $100 for a 12" hunk. Live rock was a rarity.

Had a fluval canister filter that had filter floss that I changed monthly along with the charcoal. Oh, and when in doubt ...stress coat! The miracle additive.

Best of all was my lights. I was told sulphur lights you could buy at ho e depot were just as good as the expensive metal halides people used.

Ok..now some pics. Remember, I just graduated college and lived on a shoestring budget.....

You brought back great memories!... I used one of those Fluval canister filters, I had it filled with charcoal, filter floss and ceramic rings. You were way ahead of me with your skimmer fed with ozone and bioballs! ahaha You´re right dead coral was quite expensive. Water straight from the tap and I don´t remember making regular water changes, mostly only replacing the evaporated amount of water when water was below the water level mark on the glass of the tank.

In 1994 I spent six months away from home in a NATO assignment in the Adriatic Sea and during that time my then wife was doing the maintenance... just replacing the evaporated water and feeding the fish. When I got home six months later everything was as I left, just a tad more of green algae! No casualties!

 

[Fin]

Again, before the OP time frame, but funny now. This was probably around 1988-89. My 200 Oceanic, full of dead coral skeletons. Yes, there were fish in there, but most of them aren't visible in this pic. There was a massive wet/dry filter that I built from scratch out of glass in the stand, but oddly, I apparently never took any pictures of it. I was pretty proud of it back then. Now, not so much.

 

[JMacedo]

Again, before the OP time frame, but funny now. This was probably around 1988-89. My 200 Oceanic, full of dead coral skeletons. Yes, there were fish in there, but most of them aren't visible in this pic. There was a massive wet/dry filter that I built from scratch out of glass in the stand, but oddly, I apparently never took any pictures of it. I was pretty proud of it back then. Now, not so much.

That was state of the art and a beauty back then! A small fortune spent in coral skeletons!
Your wet/dry filter was doing the job... I can´t see any algae on the dead coral skeletons!!

 

[Fin]

That was state of the art and a beauty back then! A small fortune spent in coral skeletons!
Your wet/dry filter was doing the job... I can´t see any algae on the dead coral skeletons!!

Hard to believe now, but all us old guys were really proud of our coral collections back then. Fortunately, my girlfriend at the time (now wife) had grandparents that owned a shell shop and souvenir business in Crystal Beach, TX (by Galveston) and I got quite a bit of the coral skeletons through them. All that stuff is gone now. The hobby was a different world back then.

 

[Untamedrose]

Great thread

 

[JMacedo]

Hard to believe now, but all us old guys were really proud of our coral collections back then. Fortunately, my girlfriend at the time (now wife) had grandparents that owned a shell shop and souvenir business in Crystal Beach, TX (by Galveston) and I got quite a bit of the coral skeletons through them. All that stuff is gone now. The hobby was a different world back then.

We are no "old guys"... We are all kids in a candy store every time we see a saltwater tank! ahaha

 

[Tahoe61]

We are no "old guys"... We are all kids in a candy store every time we see a saltwater tank! ahaha

I concur.

 

[choff]

You brought back great memories!... I used one of those Fluval canister filters, I had it filled with charcoal, filter floss and ceramic rings. You were way ahead of me with your skimmer fed with ozone and bioballs! ahaha You´re right dead coral was quite expensive. Water straight from the tap and I don´t remember making regular water changes, mostly only replacing the evaporated amount of water when water was below the water level mark on the glass of the tank.

In 1994 I spent six months away from home in a NATO assignment in the Adriatic Sea and during that time my then wife was doing the maintenance... just replacing the evaporated water and feeding the fish. When I got home six months later everything was as I left, just a tad more of green algae! No casualties!

Ha, I replaced evap with SW mix. I was losing salt right? It was all over my lights and everything else..

I changed apartments every year back then. I actually moved this thing 3 times until I finally just left it all in the basement when I moved out of Charlestown.

Cleaning day involved bleaching the corals white again when they were loaded with algae.

As for the skimmer, I'm certain I never had it tuned right. I don't ever recall cleaning any collections cups or doing any maintenance on it.

One other thing I noticed/recalled in the pics was I had various air stones and bubble walls set up in the tank. [emoji12]

One summer my tank hit almost 90 degrees and lost almost all my fish. I used our fraternity cold plate as a make shift chiller to get the temp down.

 

[Lowell Lemon]

It was fun to ride the wave of new ideas and technology in aquarium systems. I remember working all night wiring my own light systems or building filtration or aquariums to be delivered somewhere across the Northwest. Most of all I remember all the store owners who became friends...what fun! Then one day I had to wake up and pay the bills and balance the check book. I realized I had a business instead of a hobby. At some point the need to be home with the wife and kids became more important. Things change, needs change, hobbies change and I got left behind. Now I have no idea what is the latest method or even have a clue what method would be the best for my success. I still dabble and plan the next build. It is still a fun idea...doing something with the hobby / business again.

I always wanted to own a store...who knows?

 

[JMacedo]

I hated those power heads with suction cups! One day I bought a tiny batfish, a "Platax Teira". In less than a year he grew so big that I was feeding him about 25 raw clams per day.
One night one of the power heads got loose and scared the batfish making him hit a dead coral branch and losing his right eye. There was so much splash going on that I woke up that night, I thought the fish would die but he lived many years despite the loss of the eye.

 

[Lowell Lemon]

I remember meeting with an attorney who had multiple tanks in the basement of his house all run with U.G. filters and VHO shop lights. He called to check out the new wet/dry filters I was selling. Each tank had a different pair of mated clown fish with the correct type of nem and macro algea. He was successfully breading each species and selling them to the pet stores to support his hobby. I was so in awe I never sold him a thing. I needed to learn from him not sell to him! That was a great meeting and I learned that the equipment is less important than the aquarist who knows how to care for his particular system. There are many paths to success if you are willing to learn from the animals we keep.

 

[Peanut]

Wow....loved seeing the books....don't know what happened to all of mine, but I still have "The Marine Aquarium Reference" ..that was my "bible" My 160 gallon was crammed with live rock, and about 4 to 6 inches of pure white beach sand. The sump had two rotating spray bars, spraying over these 8" high rolls of floss, then down to the wet/dry mass of a thousand bio-balls lol. A balsa wood skimmer (Ehiem I think) was my high tech bit of equipment. 6 big fat (T8?) Florecent tubes laying across the Euro-style bracing for lighting, and 5 mirrored (tank side) glass panels fit on top as a lid and reflected light down.
Good memories,
Thanks!

imo this is THE bible....I still have my copy from the late 80s when I was a chemistry major at UF. its a must read.

 

[Fin]

Anyone remember these?

 

[Naiad]

Haha this reminds me of what my dad said not long ago when most of my hard corals died. "This was so much easier when everyone WANTED their corals to look like that"! I was of course very upset but he made me smile.

 

[srad750c]

Anyone remember these?

Yes I do, remember Osram powerstars

 

[Fin]

Yes I do, remember Osram powerstars

You mean these? I have two of them in my old DuplaSun light fixture. Pulled one out for pics.

 

[Lowstorm]

I'm almost glad I started reefing in 2003. We had some forums, and could order things online.. Not that we were always that great at keeping what we had! I used to have pics of the flasher wrasses I had. And eggcrate (which was cheaper then too) did NOT keep those little SoB's in the tank.

The corals we were buying back then too... omg. So much bigger and more impressive. I bought a football sized galaxea for $60, shipped to my door. If I can find a frag of it that's decent sized for $60 I'd be happy nowadays.

 

[srad750c]

I'm lucky, this is at one of my LFS. They usually have great prices. There are other shops that sell expensive frags. I buy some from both shops.




Found in my shed last night

 

[Tahoe61]

Same tank in 97. Back then I did not have the insight to keep NPS, huge beautiful sea fans were readily available. As you can see the sea fan was struggling. I am thankful that sea fans are not as readily available today. I absolutely loved the Blue Sponge in the center, it really thrived in a more nutrient enriched system (had no idea ULNS were even a concept). Tried the sponge a second time in a lower nutrient system and failed. Euphyllia also did really well under the Power Compacts and higher nutrient system. There were definitely benefits to not running low nutrient systems, but alas my sps coloration and growth at the time was not optimal.

 

[nitro]

I am starting to feel old now...