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As 2014 comes to an end, I reflected back on my current tank and it dawns on me that I never started a build thread. This is my humble attempt at sharing the 150 gallon reef tank that I love so much!
A little history… we moved into our new house in 2007 at the time I was all gun-ho about a Koi pound so bought the supplies at a local Lowes and ended up with a modest 200 gallon Koi pound. Time passed and the fish and pond came into its own, I was happy with what I have achieved. Some time in the middle of 2009 got a call from my son that the sprinkler head malfunction and tossed almost all the pond water over the edge, if that wasn't bad enough the crows had started to pick off the Koi left in the 3 inches of water. Took the remaining Koi in and added them to a 75 gallon tall that was in the living room, had issues almost right from the get-go, at the time didn't understand why but things went south and lost all the Koi.
This was my turning point... told myself I was going to go into saltwater because it had to be easier boy was I wrong… LOL
This is when I decided to do a little (and I mean “little”) homework and turn the 75 gallon into a saltwater tank not going to bash the local fish store that gave me the setup instructions but man I wish I would've done a heck of a lot more research before I got into saltwater.
I used tap water, yeah I know big mistake, long story short broke it down and started making a list of things to buy for the 150 gallon tank…
I got on every forum I could find, read and read, lurking around for over a year trying to get a better handle on saltwater reef tanks, also got a few how to videos from Amazon and a book on setting up a saltwater tank.
Moving along, so now it’s late 2011 and the build starts…
Marineland 150 gallon tall.
Trigger System Ruby 36E sump
Reef octopus 3000sss Skimmer
Aqua UV 25 watt Sterilizer w/wiper
Digital Aquatics Reef Keeper Elite controller
Ecotech Radion LEDs
T5 Retrofit Kits
The plan, and yes things changed... lol
My try at a DIY stand.
A little history… we moved into our new house in 2007 at the time I was all gun-ho about a Koi pound so bought the supplies at a local Lowes and ended up with a modest 200 gallon Koi pound. Time passed and the fish and pond came into its own, I was happy with what I have achieved. Some time in the middle of 2009 got a call from my son that the sprinkler head malfunction and tossed almost all the pond water over the edge, if that wasn't bad enough the crows had started to pick off the Koi left in the 3 inches of water. Took the remaining Koi in and added them to a 75 gallon tall that was in the living room, had issues almost right from the get-go, at the time didn't understand why but things went south and lost all the Koi.
This was my turning point... told myself I was going to go into saltwater because it had to be easier boy was I wrong… LOL
This is when I decided to do a little (and I mean “little”) homework and turn the 75 gallon into a saltwater tank not going to bash the local fish store that gave me the setup instructions but man I wish I would've done a heck of a lot more research before I got into saltwater.
I used tap water, yeah I know big mistake, long story short broke it down and started making a list of things to buy for the 150 gallon tank…
I got on every forum I could find, read and read, lurking around for over a year trying to get a better handle on saltwater reef tanks, also got a few how to videos from Amazon and a book on setting up a saltwater tank.
Moving along, so now it’s late 2011 and the build starts…
Marineland 150 gallon tall.
Trigger System Ruby 36E sump
Reef octopus 3000sss Skimmer
Aqua UV 25 watt Sterilizer w/wiper
Digital Aquatics Reef Keeper Elite controller
Ecotech Radion LEDs
T5 Retrofit Kits
The plan, and yes things changed... lol
My try at a DIY stand.
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