The Journey
Almost ten years ago a 55 gallon tank was given to me, as payment for helping someone move. I was an 18 year old high school senior working for minimum wage. Knowing absolutely zero about saltwater tanks (or the freshwater for that matter) I quickly decided I wanted a tank like the one at the doctors office. With that said, I made every possible mistake you could.
- I cleaned the tank with what ever was under my mothers sink!
- I mixed the salt with whatever came out of the garden hose.
- I only had a the hang on filter that came with the tank.
- I had exactly zero pound of live rock in the tank.
- Had no clue what a cycle was, or water change.
Their were more but you get the point. Needless to say several “Nemo Fish” died along with an anemone and some damsels.
College came, and the tank went. I didn’t get another tank until I married and my wife wanted a saltwater tank for her classroom. So we jumped on Craigslist and found a small nano with a lion fish and sea urchin, only $60! This all happen about 5 years ago. We set up the tank in her classroom, which has a portable (trailer) classroom. The kids loved it! She planned lesson around it, and was the talk of the school for a couple of days. Perhaps this is a good time to tell you that we live in Florida, where it isn’t unusual for temperature to reach the high 90’s. The sea urchin didn’t survive the first weekend! The Monday my wife found the tank the temperature of the small tank had reached 90+. (No kids were subjected to the crime scene.) We brought the tank home. This is where the true journey began!
I should note that the Lion fish survive a few month after his trip to the boiler, however it wasn’t without damage. The poor guy became a member of the short bus club. He swam around banging into the glass, couldn’t decide to eat or not, and simply looked dumb!
I decided that I wasn’t going to just give up this time. I researched a bit, talked to the guys at the local fish store, and decided to give it a go. We started out cycling the tank, added a couple Clown Fish (perhaps early) and way we went. This was to be a learning curve for us, but worth the challenge. We made some mistakes along the way, but not like before. There were some fish, shrimp, and at least one anemone lost along the way but we were learning. The clown fish survived our torment throughout the inexperience behaviors. The last year of this tank was fairly stable, and we decided to upgrade.
We picked up a 54 gallon corner tank a year ago from a local guy get of of the hobby. It came only with tank and stand. We bought T5 lights, a small 10 gallon “Walmart” tank for the sump, live rock, and began the cycle. We cycled the tank and added fish (perhaps to early). We lost all but the clown! This is the point I joined Reef Central, and stopped listening to the LFS guys! (Thats not to say the are all full of it). We have again had some challenges with this tank, but overall successful. I learned that the design of the corner tank requires the one be a engineer to fit equipment underneath. That also the point I learned the wife does like me putting hole in the wall for pipes. I learned the in order to get even flow in a corner tank requires one not to own a corner tank. I learned the anemone grow to be very large a sting every thing within range. However, we have had good coral growth, good fish health, and plenty of anemone splitting. The clowns finally took the RBT, and even mocked a spawning session. I have learned a ton on the forums of the website, and through meeting other members. I am by no means an expert or even seasoned veteran, but a student of the craft I am!
That bring me to the purpose of this Tread. I am upgrading again. This time from a 54g corner to a 150 gallon display, 55 gallon sump, 40 gallon frag, and 55 gallon quarantine. This make this a 300+ system, and my biggest challenge yet. I have met many of you through this process of purchasing tanks, rock, substrate, pump, ect and I thank you for your help! I plan on keeping this as up to date as possible with as many pictures as possible. I want all the input your time allows.
I will end this now, and quickly post a current status of my project. I look forward to interacting with everyone, and “perhaps” this time I will add my fish at the right time.
Current Tank