Greetings fellow reefers. I was doing some upgrades on my tank this weekend and realized I didn't have any place to to talk about them so I figured it was about time that I start a build thread. However I am going to have to play a bit of catch up since my tank has been running to a while.
Before I dive into details on my current tank built I think it might be nice to give a bit of background information on myself and my tanks (both successful and unsuccessful) that I have had in the past.
My name is Andrew, I am from the suburbs of Philadelphia, and I have been keeping fish for as long as I can remember.
The first tank that I can remember in my house as a fresh water tank that had bass and sunfish in it that my parent and I caught. That was probably when I was around 4 or 5 years old. The most distinct memory I have of that tank was me sticking my finger in the tank and getting bitten by one of the fish. Flashing forward a couple years I got the first tank of my own that was a 10 gallon hex that was filled with neon tetras, mollies, and all your other favorite fresh water tropical species. I maintained a variety of fresh was tanks through most of my childhood up until I left of college. Following college I had a small 10 gallon tank with 3 Figure 8 puffers in it. You know what was fun about that tank.... when you don't feed your puffer enough hard shelled food to keep their teeth from over growing and you have to catch them, anesthetize them (with clove oil), and then cut their teeth with a pair of bone clippers, and then wait for them to wake up before putting them back in the tank.... that is what was fun about that tank.
Somewhere around 2001 or 2002 I purchased one of the original JBJ nano cubes and thus started my foray into reef keeping. As a lot of folks were doing back that I ripped out the stock lighting and retrofitted it with a whopping 54 watts of power compact lighting. It was a real beast to be sure (LOL). Unfortunately I can't seem to find any photos of that tank hanging around. If I ever come across some I will be sure to update this post.
My next tank was a SPS dominant 15 gallon nano (without a sump) that I would say that I over engineered a bit. The tank was lit with a 250 watt metal halide. Water movement was provided a mag drive 5 attached to a Oceans motions squirt (who remembers those?) operated in a closed loop. At some point I also added some additional flow with 2 maxi jets with prop mods. Filtration was provided by a HoB CPR BakPak skimmer.
Now one thing that may jump out at some people about this tank is the rather large T. giga, that needless to say was the centerpiece of that tank. I picked that clam up for $20 when it was just a couple inches across and some how i managed to grow it up to a pretty decent size in just a 15 gallon tank, with zero dosing, and not what I would call regular water changes. I don't know how it was done but something was working.
Eventually, for some reason I decided to take everything that was working and then upgrade to a 55 gallon reef ready tank. (To be continued)
Before I dive into details on my current tank built I think it might be nice to give a bit of background information on myself and my tanks (both successful and unsuccessful) that I have had in the past.
My name is Andrew, I am from the suburbs of Philadelphia, and I have been keeping fish for as long as I can remember.
The first tank that I can remember in my house as a fresh water tank that had bass and sunfish in it that my parent and I caught. That was probably when I was around 4 or 5 years old. The most distinct memory I have of that tank was me sticking my finger in the tank and getting bitten by one of the fish. Flashing forward a couple years I got the first tank of my own that was a 10 gallon hex that was filled with neon tetras, mollies, and all your other favorite fresh water tropical species. I maintained a variety of fresh was tanks through most of my childhood up until I left of college. Following college I had a small 10 gallon tank with 3 Figure 8 puffers in it. You know what was fun about that tank.... when you don't feed your puffer enough hard shelled food to keep their teeth from over growing and you have to catch them, anesthetize them (with clove oil), and then cut their teeth with a pair of bone clippers, and then wait for them to wake up before putting them back in the tank.... that is what was fun about that tank.
Somewhere around 2001 or 2002 I purchased one of the original JBJ nano cubes and thus started my foray into reef keeping. As a lot of folks were doing back that I ripped out the stock lighting and retrofitted it with a whopping 54 watts of power compact lighting. It was a real beast to be sure (LOL). Unfortunately I can't seem to find any photos of that tank hanging around. If I ever come across some I will be sure to update this post.
My next tank was a SPS dominant 15 gallon nano (without a sump) that I would say that I over engineered a bit. The tank was lit with a 250 watt metal halide. Water movement was provided a mag drive 5 attached to a Oceans motions squirt (who remembers those?) operated in a closed loop. At some point I also added some additional flow with 2 maxi jets with prop mods. Filtration was provided by a HoB CPR BakPak skimmer.
Now one thing that may jump out at some people about this tank is the rather large T. giga, that needless to say was the centerpiece of that tank. I picked that clam up for $20 when it was just a couple inches across and some how i managed to grow it up to a pretty decent size in just a 15 gallon tank, with zero dosing, and not what I would call regular water changes. I don't know how it was done but something was working.
Eventually, for some reason I decided to take everything that was working and then upgrade to a 55 gallon reef ready tank. (To be continued)
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