Aschwartz
New Member
I had a reef tank about 25 years ago. Sold it when I moved to a new house and missed having one so I finally decided to get another one. The only place that it would like right was on a wall with a built-in entertainment center. So first, the built-in had to go. Drywall had to repaired and repainted ant I got an electrician to run a dedicated line and circuit for the tank. Got a 180 Aqueon and custom stand built by an old friend in the reef tank business. Same guy that set up my tank 25 years ago. For lights I used two Kessil ALEX'S and two 48" Orphek OR3's. May be overkill, but I can always run lower intensity. 40 gallon sump with Reef Octo 202 skimmer, Fluval 6 series return pump and refugium. For powerheads I used two Icecap 4K gyres. Had to have a way to make water changes easy and a peristaltic pump was the only way because I want to pump new water in from the garage and waste water out through my water heater overflow pan in the attic. So I decided on a Neptune Apex and DOS pump. Got a BRS 5-stage RODI and two 50-gallon tanks from Northern Tool. Plumbed it with an Iwaki pump that'll transfer RODI water into the saltwater tank, recirculate the saltwater tank to mix salt and pump new water through the attic to the tank if I ever need to do a big water change fast. About 10 weeks (and I don't even want know how much money) later, I'm up and running. Got the "seeded" sand, rock and water from my buddy. Hauled 175 gallons of his water in a 200 gallon tote tank and pumped it in with a sump pump. It's been a real undertaking but looking forward to the challenge.
