- Joined
- Apr 9, 2019
- Messages
- 92
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- 222
So, I'm in the carwash and they've got this nice hexagon tank in the middle of the place and I start thinkin' I'd like to have somethin' like that! I'm googling for days about salt water tanks and figure, yeah, I can do that! I find this local guy, Kevin, who comes over and we talk, figure out a spot for the tank, he gives me an approximate price range and time frame, I give him the deposit, and... the journey begins, my first salt water tank. This is back in the summer of 2018 and all summer long I'm watching YouTube videos, I join several groups on FaceBook and I'm reading endless threads on forums like this Reef2Reef. I'm planning what equipment I want to get, what fish can go with the what fish, corals I want, and man, the excitement level builds to a boil. I'm texting Kevin daily asking him about this and that and when is the tank gonna get here!! Early August, 2018 the tank is on my patio. Now, Kevin is an "old school" kinda dude, he's a big guy, physically, and is the "bull in a china shop" sort, so he fills the tank with about 200 lbs of live rock from the ocean off the coast of FLA. It's important to know that it came from FLA he tells me, cuz it's gonna cost more than what we budgeted for. Not the first time we're over budget. Takes an hour or so to get the rocks all balanced against the back wall, throws in a few bags of aragonite sand and hooks up a hose to my kitchen faucet. Once it's full, he dumps a few bags of Instant Ocean in the sump, which is a DIY plexi box that Kevin made and we're off and running! A few days later he shows up with 5 little Talbots Damsels and we're cycling. Chinese black box for lights above, a little tiny pump for flow, what looks like a slightly used ASM G3 skimmer, an Eheim Jaeger 300w heater and a mag pump 9.5 for return. Over the next couple of months Kevin keeps stopping by with more fish, a few tangs, a few clowns, and because I asked, a CBB (I'm already seeing aiptasia) and a Moorish Idol. Well at 3 months I had 32 fish in this tank!
Now, it's a custom built, starfire glass, 180g, corner tank that's 36" deep and on a 36" high steel stand, so yes, it's really hard to work in.
This is the first tank I've owned and I decided to do a build thread because now, a year and a half later, I'm having to start the whole process again. More to come...
Now, it's a custom built, starfire glass, 180g, corner tank that's 36" deep and on a 36" high steel stand, so yes, it's really hard to work in.
This is the first tank I've owned and I decided to do a build thread because now, a year and a half later, I'm having to start the whole process again. More to come...