36G Mixed Reef, bow front, 1st tank!

Reef_dachs · Sep 12, 2021

Hello all!
i’m going to take a stab at building a thread after being a part of this community for almost a year. This has been intimidating to say the least LOL.

I have wanted a saltwater tank for almost a decade now and during Covid I decided to take advantage and begin this amazing hobby. Boy oh boy - what have I learned in the last 18 months?!
There has been a lot of ups and downs and when everyone told me in the beginning to be PATIENT they weren’t lying!!

I currently have a 36 gallon bowfront mixed reef. I started my journey with a canister filter because the stand for the bowfront would not hold a sump system and truth be told I was such a newbie when I started I had no idea to even consider a stand that would hold a sump…

fast forward 18 months and I am currently using a HOB filter. While I know many of you are probably cringing right now
I will have to say that it’s worked better than the canister filter Which was a total nitrate factory in the beginning.

I will also say that I am most definitely well on my way to upgrading within the next six months or so. I really want to target a 60 or 75 gallon rectangular build, I don’t like how tall the boat front is. It’s a little difficult for me to work with the bottom of the tank.

I will post a few beginner and current pics below.

This community has been amazing and I welcome any and all advice and feedback.

dank reefer · Sep 13, 2021

Looks great!
When I started back into the hobby 3 years ago, this was the tank that I got back in with. Started with a canister filter as well as I had one that was 13-15 years old that still worked (Rena) but then was able to add a sump in the stand. Great starter tank!

Reef_dachs · Sep 13, 2021

I’d love your advice - did you have the original bow front stand with the odd triangular cabinets or something else? I can’t find a sump system to fit in those weird cabinets but it also gives me an excuse to upgrade

dank reefer · Sep 13, 2021

I had the original Bow Front Stand, but mine did not have any shelves or center brace. The sump I was able to install in the stand was an old e-shopps r100 sump. I used a CPR Overflow box that worked great since it had a Tom's Aqualifter pump to keep a siphon going.

Reef_dachs · Sep 13, 2021

dank reefer said:
I had the original Bow Front Stand, but mine did not have any shelves or center brace. The sump I was able to install in the stand was an old e-shopps r100 sump. I used a CPR Overflow box that worked great since it had a Tom's Aqualifter pump to keep a siphon going.

Reef_dachs · Sep 13, 2021

Oh gotcha. Yeah mine had those weird shelves but I took them out. It still has that center consul piece which I don’t want to move because of support.
I want to get a larger tank now anyway though so I’ve got that as a fall winter
/time project hopefully.
Your build thread is phenomenal talking about switching tanks so I definitely will be creeping on your posts and checking those out. LOL. Thanks again.

dank reefer · Sep 13, 2021

Here is the build thread where the 36g started.

Build Thread - Build Thread 1 Year later.

It’s taken me a little over 1 year to get the spirit on writing up my build thread. So, I am going to take a stab at it. About March of 2018, my son and I started talking about saltwater tanks, and how much he wanted one. I had a saltwater tank when I lived in Big Pine Key about 20 years ago...

www.reef2reef.com

dank reefer · Sep 13, 2021

And you can follow my new build thread here

Waterbox - Dream Build - Waterbox Reef LX 270.6

Why not start my 1st thread on this forum with a New Tank Build. Bit of background My previous tank was a 90g+50g (R2R Thread) tied together to same sump that ran for almost 2 1/2 years before tearing it down and selling it as we bought our first home in the beginning of 2021. Also reason we...

humble.fish

Reef_dachs · Sep 14, 2021

dank reefer said:
Here is the build thread where the 36g started.

Build Thread - Build Thread 1 Year later.

It’s taken me a little over 1 year to get the spirit on writing up my build thread. So, I am going to take a stab at it. About March of 2018, my son and I started talking about saltwater tanks, and how much he wanted one. I had a saltwater tank when I lived in Big Pine Key about 20 years ago...

www.reef2reef.com

This was a perfect read! Thank you. Glad I made the plunge to finally do a build thread too.