Back in the hobby after 10 years

LiveWire · Mar 9, 2021

Welcome to the REEF!!

Ippyroy · Mar 9, 2021

Welcome to R2R!

NeonRabbit221B · Mar 9, 2021

Welcome to R2R! Welcome back to the hobby!

PBnJOnWheat · Mar 9, 2021

dkeller22 said:
I lost my entire system to a 7 day power outage during an ice storm 10 years ago. In the end we were more concerned with keeping the people and dogs from freezing, but lost the tanks, which were at the 5 year point. It was devastating. That being said the kids are out of school and out of the hose so I can direct money to putting my system back together.

I have two 220 gallon tanks built into the wall of what used to be the living room. One is FOWLR to house things that chomp on coral and the other is the reef tank. The fish room is in the basement on the other end of the house.

I have the fish room redone and the QT tanks running with a few fish while I finish the rest of the rebuild. The overflow plumbing is almost done, the new LED lights are hung, the new protein skimmer is sitting in the rebuilt sump with it's new return pump. I also replaced my RO/DI system and used some of the old one to upgrade it to a 7 stage. I'm still thinking about the powerhead situation along with how to aqua scape the tanks. I have all of my old "live" rock which isn't anymore, but I have 300 pounds of it and its old enough that it was real live rock at one point.

The LFS should have my sand later this week and I should be ready to start making water and filling the tanks in a week or two.

A lot has changed over the last decade. The equipment is definitely different and hopefully improved. The biggest thing that seems to have changed is that more is known about the biology of a reef tank so hopefully I can skip some of the really ugly problems and the problems I can't skip will be easier to deal with.

What hasn't changed is that this is still REALLY expensive. Oh well it's only money and this is my opportunity to change all of the things I would have done differently.

BRSTV is on most of the time along with a few of the others. I have a lot to re-learn.

-Dave

Welcome to Reef 2 Reef, and back into this awesome hobby and community! Glad to have a reef vet!!

fuelman · Mar 9, 2021

Welcome to R2R!!!

GillMeister · Mar 9, 2021

Your journey is similar to mine. I tore my old system down so I could complete a multi-year basement project. My single tank is just slightly larger than yours.

When I finally got to the point of restarting my system I took it as an opportunity to improve on what I had. Gone were the halides. Gone were the old AC pumps. Hello to a real refugium and dosing and Neptune automation and ATO and a good size skimmer. Even though engineering a new system had its challenges I am so happy with the changes I've made. This forum has helped me make the best decisions and I'm sure you'll get the same benefits.

Welcome to the reef.
Hey. We need pictures or your stories about two large tanks are just that.