kablamo90
New Member
I've been meaning to make a thread like this for over a year - how time flies!
A long long time ago...actually, a year and a half ago, I didn't have any idea about or interest in owning a saltwater aquarium. I didn't grow up with aquariums and wasn't particularly interested in the hobby, and thought that while fish were neat, aquarium keeping basically meant keeping a jar with a goldfish or betta on your desk and changing it out when it eventually died.
I didn't have any idea what it took to keep a slice of the ocean in your living room. But what I did have was a couple new friends (including @GSM_OFS) who collectively had been keeping saltwater aquariums for 20+ years. Taking that ingredient, and adding in the circumstance of me having recently reshuffled my living room, and my personality trait of "how hard could it be? I could do that.", a perfect storm was created. Here's my recollection of how the conversation went:
Me: "Hey guys! I overheard you talking about keeping aquariums. Can you tell me more? I just moved the furniture around in my living room and was thinking about what I could put in an empty spot that is now there."
Friends: "ANOTHER ONE FOR LORD POSEIDON!!"
And then out of the goodness of their hearts, or maybe because misery loves company, they proceed to give me a 90G cube display + stand that one of them has had sitting in their garage for a while. And then left over rock, sand, light, a skimmer, and more from other builds. Over the past year and a half, they have also given countless hours of help, along with camaraderie and sharing in the agony and celebrations of making this tank what it is today. It hasn't been all so one-sided however, as I always make sure I have beer in my fridge.
On to the build. I've made some upgrades since I started, so here's what I'm currently running:
As for livestock, I honestly should know each and every coral that's in my system, but I don't. I'd estimate about half of my coral is from one of my friends (thanks again guys!). I do have an anenome that started at only two heads and is now at six, and the growth of everything has really started to pick up now that I have been dosing two part over the past couple months.
For fish, when I first started the tank I had 4 chromis that were given to me, and after adding a flame angel from an LFS that died within 2 days of receiving it, 3 of those 4 chromis succumbed to uronema, one by one, within a month of that event.
I also had a six line wrasse that jumped, and a black tang that got consumed by one of the anenomes. So for now, I have 1 chromis, 2 black ocellaris and 1 magnificent fox face. Losing all these fish is really tragic! But as far as I know, I haven't lost any coral. Maybe that's debateable as I've noticed that some of them get covered in algae and some don't, and the algae might only grow on dead ones?
Here in Denver, the sun is fairly intense, and this particular spot I chose for the tank gets practically full sun every day. This comes with its pros and cons I've come to learn, with one of the cons being that algae is likely going to always be a thing I have to deal with. All I'm really doing is just manually removing it every time I do a water change, which is about 20 gallons every 2 weeks. Also I have a fair bit of aiptasia and while that's annoying, it's not the end of the world. I've toyed with an idea of getting some berghia, but I have three peppermint shrimp and I know they are predators to the berghia.
From here, I'd like to fill it out with more livestock, eventually get a clam (TBD what type), and the light definitely needs an upgrade. I really want to get some more macroalgae and inverts. Shoutout to the book Natural Reef Aquariums by John Tullock - I love coral but I also love sponges and other macroalgae, and this book really makes you appreciate the whole ecosystem. I was also thinking of picking up a Marine Pure Plate for my refugium as I currently am not really utilizing that space.
Attached are some pictures that take me on a walk down memory lane which should show up in chronological order. I didn't get water flowing in the tank until sometime in September of last year I think. Early on, the rock was absolutely covered with ulva as you can see. For about 3-4 months, I had to take it out by hand and it kept gunking my protein skimmer up as I was running an older AC skimmer and a sponge instead of filter socks like I am now.
Anyway, I'd like to thank again of course my friends as well as the countless people who I've learned from either online or in person. I didn't fully know what I was getting into and while my pocketbook is (significantly) lighter than before entering this hobby, I've really enjoyed the journey so far.
Cheers to my fellow Cubers! Or is it Cubists? Keepers of the Cube? Anyway, thanks for reading!
A long long time ago...actually, a year and a half ago, I didn't have any idea about or interest in owning a saltwater aquarium. I didn't grow up with aquariums and wasn't particularly interested in the hobby, and thought that while fish were neat, aquarium keeping basically meant keeping a jar with a goldfish or betta on your desk and changing it out when it eventually died.
I didn't have any idea what it took to keep a slice of the ocean in your living room. But what I did have was a couple new friends (including @GSM_OFS) who collectively had been keeping saltwater aquariums for 20+ years. Taking that ingredient, and adding in the circumstance of me having recently reshuffled my living room, and my personality trait of "how hard could it be? I could do that.", a perfect storm was created. Here's my recollection of how the conversation went:
Me: "Hey guys! I overheard you talking about keeping aquariums. Can you tell me more? I just moved the furniture around in my living room and was thinking about what I could put in an empty spot that is now there."
Friends: "ANOTHER ONE FOR LORD POSEIDON!!"
And then out of the goodness of their hearts, or maybe because misery loves company, they proceed to give me a 90G cube display + stand that one of them has had sitting in their garage for a while. And then left over rock, sand, light, a skimmer, and more from other builds. Over the past year and a half, they have also given countless hours of help, along with camaraderie and sharing in the agony and celebrations of making this tank what it is today. It hasn't been all so one-sided however, as I always make sure I have beer in my fridge.
On to the build. I've made some upgrades since I started, so here's what I'm currently running:
- Sapphire20 Cube Trigger systems sump
- Simplicity 240DC skimmer
- 350w Helio smart heater running at 78F
- Sicce Syncra SDC 6.0 return
- VorTech MP40
- MaxSpect Gyre XF330
- Simplicity dosing pump for BRS 2 part
- AquaForest reef salt
- Pentair 25W smart UV sterilizer
- BRS 5 stage RO filter
- Radion XR30 G? - manufactured 2014
- Just added last ~2 weeks:
- CoralVue Hydros Launch with additional ATO kit & protein skimmer level probe
- Plank Autofeeder
- Custom lid from Octo Aquatics
As for livestock, I honestly should know each and every coral that's in my system, but I don't. I'd estimate about half of my coral is from one of my friends (thanks again guys!). I do have an anenome that started at only two heads and is now at six, and the growth of everything has really started to pick up now that I have been dosing two part over the past couple months.
For fish, when I first started the tank I had 4 chromis that were given to me, and after adding a flame angel from an LFS that died within 2 days of receiving it, 3 of those 4 chromis succumbed to uronema, one by one, within a month of that event.
I also had a six line wrasse that jumped, and a black tang that got consumed by one of the anenomes. So for now, I have 1 chromis, 2 black ocellaris and 1 magnificent fox face. Losing all these fish is really tragic! But as far as I know, I haven't lost any coral. Maybe that's debateable as I've noticed that some of them get covered in algae and some don't, and the algae might only grow on dead ones?
Here in Denver, the sun is fairly intense, and this particular spot I chose for the tank gets practically full sun every day. This comes with its pros and cons I've come to learn, with one of the cons being that algae is likely going to always be a thing I have to deal with. All I'm really doing is just manually removing it every time I do a water change, which is about 20 gallons every 2 weeks. Also I have a fair bit of aiptasia and while that's annoying, it's not the end of the world. I've toyed with an idea of getting some berghia, but I have three peppermint shrimp and I know they are predators to the berghia.
From here, I'd like to fill it out with more livestock, eventually get a clam (TBD what type), and the light definitely needs an upgrade. I really want to get some more macroalgae and inverts. Shoutout to the book Natural Reef Aquariums by John Tullock - I love coral but I also love sponges and other macroalgae, and this book really makes you appreciate the whole ecosystem. I was also thinking of picking up a Marine Pure Plate for my refugium as I currently am not really utilizing that space.
Attached are some pictures that take me on a walk down memory lane which should show up in chronological order. I didn't get water flowing in the tank until sometime in September of last year I think. Early on, the rock was absolutely covered with ulva as you can see. For about 3-4 months, I had to take it out by hand and it kept gunking my protein skimmer up as I was running an older AC skimmer and a sponge instead of filter socks like I am now.
Anyway, I'd like to thank again of course my friends as well as the countless people who I've learned from either online or in person. I didn't fully know what I was getting into and while my pocketbook is (significantly) lighter than before entering this hobby, I've really enjoyed the journey so far.
Cheers to my fellow Cubers! Or is it Cubists? Keepers of the Cube? Anyway, thanks for reading!
