I've always wanted to have a saltwater aquarium. But, as an active duty military member, I would move every few years and didn't want to attempt to move something this fragile as a reef system. So, I would setup smaller 20g freshwater aquariums...and typically give them away to people whenever I would move. A little over a year ago, I finally retired from the military and settled down in Clarksville, TN. Well, now is finally my time to set up a reef aquarium!
This past year, I began looking into all the aspects of having a healthy reef system. I ended up purchasing a used complete 75g tank system and sump that was left in a basement half full of water! It was in rough shape, but I could see the potential...
It took quite a bit of elbow grease, but now this baby shines! Gotta love the miracles of vinegar and water. I resealed the front corner seams (previous guy got a little crazy with the scraper in the corners)...leak tested for a week, good as new!
I started looking over tons of R2R articles, forum posts, etc... Learned from many people's errors in what not to do... Basically, take it slow and steady! I am in no hurry...I prefer to take my time, do it correctly, and reap the benefits in the future! 9 months of research, gathering equipment, and more research...and I think I'm finally ready to get this show on the road!
The system came with live rock that was heavily encrusted with dense, green algae (or something)... I performed 2 muriatic acid washes on the rock before it finally looked clean and white again! The fear of introducing something bad into the system resulted in me purchasing 50lb Pukani dry rock from BRS. In order to clear out some of the organics in the Pukani rock, I soaked it in freshwater in a rubbermaid tub with a heater (80-82 degrees) and a couple of powerbeads for 6 weeks! I used freshwater since I wanted to cure the rock rather than actually cycle the rock...I knew I was going to remove the rock to dry again in order to work on different aquascape ideas. The phosphate levels rose drastically so I used a bag of Phosguard in the tub during the cure. This worked very well...after 6 weeks, I removed the rocks to dry.
Initial Aquascape Idea:
Still working on this...it's a work in progress!!! More later on this...
This past year, I began looking into all the aspects of having a healthy reef system. I ended up purchasing a used complete 75g tank system and sump that was left in a basement half full of water! It was in rough shape, but I could see the potential...
It took quite a bit of elbow grease, but now this baby shines! Gotta love the miracles of vinegar and water. I resealed the front corner seams (previous guy got a little crazy with the scraper in the corners)...leak tested for a week, good as new!
I started looking over tons of R2R articles, forum posts, etc... Learned from many people's errors in what not to do... Basically, take it slow and steady! I am in no hurry...I prefer to take my time, do it correctly, and reap the benefits in the future! 9 months of research, gathering equipment, and more research...and I think I'm finally ready to get this show on the road!
The system came with live rock that was heavily encrusted with dense, green algae (or something)... I performed 2 muriatic acid washes on the rock before it finally looked clean and white again! The fear of introducing something bad into the system resulted in me purchasing 50lb Pukani dry rock from BRS. In order to clear out some of the organics in the Pukani rock, I soaked it in freshwater in a rubbermaid tub with a heater (80-82 degrees) and a couple of powerbeads for 6 weeks! I used freshwater since I wanted to cure the rock rather than actually cycle the rock...I knew I was going to remove the rock to dry again in order to work on different aquascape ideas. The phosphate levels rose drastically so I used a bag of Phosguard in the tub during the cure. This worked very well...after 6 weeks, I removed the rocks to dry.
Initial Aquascape Idea:
Still working on this...it's a work in progress!!! More later on this...