Hi! getting back into the hobby

crazypants

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Hi all! I was in the general aquarium hobby in the 90s. I spent a lot of time collecting and propagating local wetland plants in southeast Texas as I was focused mainly on the freshwater aspects of the hobby at the time. I even had a plant press. I had all kinds of native and non-native stuff back then, but mostly freshwater, at least for what I personally owned.

Fast forward to a few months ago and I decided it was time to get back into the hobby, but this time I wanted to take on reef keeping. I maintained dozens of marine tanks for pet shops back in the 90s, so why not have my own??

Well, apparently the hobby, methods, available livestock and all kinds of stuff have changed in the past 20+ years. Omg! So I read stuff and read some more stuff and got on YouTube and learned all kinds of stuff.

So from all that, now I’m breaking in a fluval 13.5 that I modified to drain into a 10gal sump, and set up a refugium with c. prolifera on live sand. The display tank is bare bottom. The sock section in the sump has additional bio media to assist.

my LFS gave me a nice little discount on some starter corals, so I grabbed a Xenia, a blue sympodium, and a blue dot mushroom. I’m aware of the weedy nature of Xenia… I want it anyway

Anyway, pics!

10F428D4-FB71-4BD2-9E6B-303824780345.jpeg B4EE843E-CEF2-4F3C-9309-CC1B806255C5.jpeg B295A19E-01AD-4EFE-B91E-10D87A98CE3F.jpeg 33B596AC-71E8-4595-9D54-1B63AD1E1BA7.jpeg
 

vetteguy53081

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Fish Think Pink

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Hi all! I was in the general aquarium hobby in the 90s. I spent a lot of time collecting and propagating local wetland plants in southeast Texas as I was focused mainly on the freshwater aspects of the hobby at the time. I even had a plant press. I had all kinds of native and non-native stuff back then, but mostly freshwater, at least for what I personally owned.

Fast forward to a few months ago and I decided it was time to get back into the hobby, but this time I wanted to take on reef keeping. I maintained dozens of marine tanks for pet shops back in the 90s, so why not have my own??

Well, apparently the hobby, methods, available livestock and all kinds of stuff have changed in the past 20+ years. Omg! So I read stuff and read some more stuff and got on YouTube and learned all kinds of stuff.

So from all that, now I’m breaking in a fluval 13.5 that I modified to drain into a 10gal sump, and set up a refugium with c. prolifera on live sand. The display tank is bare bottom. The sock section in the sump has additional bio media to assist.

my LFS gave me a nice little discount on some starter corals, so I grabbed a Xenia, a blue sympodium, and a blue dot mushroom. I’m aware of the weedy nature of Xenia… I want it anyway

Anyway, pics!

10F428D4-FB71-4BD2-9E6B-303824780345.jpeg B4EE843E-CEF2-4F3C-9309-CC1B806255C5.jpeg B295A19E-01AD-4EFE-B91E-10D87A98CE3F.jpeg 33B596AC-71E8-4595-9D54-1B63AD1E1BA7.jpeg

Welcome and Welcome Back! Glad you joined. You'll enjoy having your own little bit of reef dreaming and not just helping/taking care of others saltwater aquariums.

Have you considered starting your build thread? I found its a great place to document my tank's evolution for myself. I started tank first then joined, so I'm still finding myself going back collecting pictures & updating historically as well as current state. Once you create your first post in your thread and link it to your account, they will give you build badge (look left, under my ID)

This might help you find people local to you - Houston has an active FaceBook presence too:

This is a good reference book type online article I still review:
 

Creating a strong bulwark: Did you consider floor support for your reef tank?

  • I put a major focus on floor support.

    Votes: 20 48.8%
  • I put minimal focus on floor support.

    Votes: 8 19.5%
  • I put no focus on floor support.

    Votes: 12 29.3%
  • Other.

    Votes: 1 2.4%
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