Mike and Terry's 300g Reef

Mike&Terry · Mar 5, 2012

KLR said:
Amazing looking system! What is the red and green montipora in the center of this picture?
6922122403_ebe776099a_b.jpg

Thank you KLR! To answer your question, it is a Montipora danae - we bought it as a Jason Fox Chili Pepper frag.

-Mike

underwaterfirefighter · Mar 5, 2012

Wow! Absolutely gorgeous work! Did you build it yourself? Thanks for the quick response.

KLR · Mar 5, 2012

Mike&Terry said:
Thank you KLR! To answer your question, it is a Montipora danae - we bought it as a Jason Fox Chili Pepper frag.

-Mike

Oh, looks like I need to get that one. The colors you are getting out of it are really nice!

Mike&Terry · Mar 5, 2012

underwaterfirefighter said:
Wow! Absolutely gorgeous work! Did you build it yourself? Thanks for the quick response.

Thanks Dave and your welcome! The cabinetry was built by a local craftsman thru our LFS. The first iteration of the sliding rail system inside the canopy wasn't very functional and was very heavy, so we modified it ourselves. The tank stand itself was rebuilt by us after our 2010 tank disaster, but thankfully, we were able to re-use the skin. We love the inset doors and drawers, but they do add a considerable amount to the cost as they are more labor-intense to produce. The quartz counter tops were installed separately by a local granite installation company.

KLR said:
Oh, looks like I need to get that one. The colors you are getting out of it are really nice!

Terry has a thing for encrusting and plating montipora colonies. Love 'em, but they can take over, so you'll want to make sure you account for that when you decide where to place them in your tank.

-Mike

bwoodward0012 · Mar 13, 2012

Wow, what an amazing tank. Reminds me of a very nice 300dd I had the fortune of seeing in person here in Chesapeake. Come to think of it, the guy's name was Mike as well, and the stand was extremely similar, same shape and similar top, but dark stained wood instead of white. Looks like those bad 7 months really paid off for you. Oh, and congrats on tank of the month.

Molli · Mar 13, 2012

Thank you for sharing the downs as well as the ups of your tank, it really helps new hobbyist like me keep things realistic :) Of course, your tank is a dream and feels more like a fantasy, lol.

Mike&Terry · Mar 15, 2012

bwoodward0012 said:
Wow, what an amazing tank. Reminds me of a very nice 300dd I had the fortune of seeing in person here in Chesapeake. Come to think of it, the guy's name was Mike as well, and the stand was extremely similar, same shape and similar top, but dark stained wood instead of white. Looks like those bad 7 months really paid off for you. Oh, and congrats on tank of the month.

Thank you for the compliment and for taking the time to post in our thread! It is nice to see another fellow Virginian here on R2R! That's interesting that you've seen a stand similar to ours as not many folks opt for inset doors or additional cabinetry. Chesapeake isn't that far away, it may have been the same cabinet maker. We can't say enough good stuff about the quartz counter tops as they saved the skin of our cabinetry from water damage when the seal on our original tank ruptured.

Molli said:
Thank you for sharing the downs as well as the ups of your tank, it really helps new hobbyist like me keep things realistic :) Of course, your tank is a dream and feels more like a fantasy, lol.

Thank you Molli for the compliments (here and in the reef spotlight) and for participating in our build thread! We have tried to share our experiences both good and bad in the hope that others may benefit from them. I had to laugh when i read your fantasy comment as it certainly doesn't feel like much of one when I'm cleaning out the skimmers or vacuuming the sump, LOL! :wink:

-Terry

Aquaph8 · Mar 19, 2012

Just wanted to say I love the new avatar.

REEFKEEPER10 · Mar 19, 2012

Awesome tank

Wy Renegade · Mar 19, 2012

Well, it took me a bit to get caught up! Love the cabinetry, the corals, the fish, and the tank! Great how you shared both the ups and the downs, rather than just the ups. Reefing is a great activity, but it sure has its moments. Really enjoyed those pictures I could check out at work. Unfortunately Flickr is blocked, so I'll have to check out the rest of the pictures from home. Thank you both for sharing.

Wow! Amazing pictures - glad I went back and finished looking through the thread from home.

underwaterfirefighter · Mar 19, 2012

Once again I must say great thread guys! As others have mentioned hearing your experiences both good and bad are inspirational! The fact that you have been through what you have and remain in the hobby shows your level of dedication. I really hope that one day I can make a trip up to Richmond and see your set up in person. Again thanks for sharing!

Mike&Terry · Mar 21, 2012

Aquaph8 said:
Just wanted to say I love the new avatar.

Thanks Brett - lets hope you get one or two!

REEFKEEPER10 said:
Awesome tank

Thanks! And appreciate you posting in our thread!

Wy Renegade said:
Well, it took me a bit to get caught up! Love the cabinetry, the corals, the fish, and the tank! Great how you shared both the ups and the downs, rather than just the ups. Reefing is a great activity, but it sure has its moments. Really enjoyed those pictures I could check out at work. Unfortunately Flickr is blocked, so I'll have to check out the rest of the pictures from home. Thank you both for sharing.

Wow! Amazing pictures - glad I went back and finished looking through the thread from home.

Appreciate it, Renegade! Terry has really become quite good with the new camera...and we do think it's important to show the successes and the challenges, because reefkeeping certainly brings the full spectrum. Thanks for your support.

underwaterfirefighter said:
Once again I must say great thread guys! As others have mentioned hearing your experiences both good and bad are inspirational! The fact that you have been through what you have and remain in the hobby shows your level of dedication. I really hope that one day I can make a trip up to Richmond and see your set up in person. Again thanks for sharing!

Dave, we'd love to have you visit. Our door is always open for fellow reefers to come by and share stories! It may sound cliche, but the journey really does define the destination. Not to say that anyone should have to go through what we've suffered, but we do think that we were able to build on the problems we have had, and we're better for it. Thanks for keeping up with our work!

REEFKEEPER10 · Mar 21, 2012

Love the regal angel. Is it a redsea I can tell. Either was love it

Mike&Terry · Mar 21, 2012

Thanks Jeremy! She is not from the Red Sea and doesn't have the yellow belly. :smile:

REEFKEEPER10 · Mar 21, 2012

She still beautiful. One day I will have one or two. Lol

rhibear · Mar 26, 2012

Just wow. What a beauty. So humbling and inspiring at the same time. Such a lovely collection of wrasses. My jealousy abounds. We are eagerly anticipating the chance to see it all in person one day.
Thank you for sharing.

Mike&Terry · Mar 27, 2012

REEFKEEPER10 said:
She still beautiful. One day I will have one or two. Lol

Thanks Jeremy!

rhibear said:
Just wow. What a beauty. So humbling and inspiring at the same time. Such a lovely collection of wrasses. My jealousy abounds. We are eagerly anticipating the chance to see it all in person one day.
Thank you for sharing.

Thank you for that awesome compliment and thanks for participating in our thread. I did not realize you were from Richmond when I answered your skimmer thread yesterday. Our door is always open to fellow reefers. We also host an annual reef party in October for the local reef club.

Have you started a build thread here? If you haven't, you should. Would love to see some pics of your tank. You've gotta love the extra space moving from a 40b to the 125. :bigsmile:

Sorry we haven't made many updates to our thread in the past 3 weeks. March has flown by, lol. We just added some new pics to our spotlight thread though... https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/reef-aquarium-spotlight/80254-reef-spotlight-march-2012-a-7.html.

We've been playing with the underwater camera again and are hoping to share some new video soon. So stay tuned! :wink:

-Terry