Hello,
After a long absence (15 years) from the hobie, I'm jumping back in with both feet. My kids (3 and 5) have been asking for an aquarium for a few months. A few weeks ago someone gave me a 55-gallon tank and I started thinking about what I'd want to put in it. I initially thought about an african chiclid tank, but after a few days of poking around on the internet the reef bug got me again. The 55 gallon tank was looking small so I started looking at craigslist for something a little bigger. By the following weekend I had found a 120 gallon (48x24x24) Oceanic reef ready tank in very good shape along with a 2X250 watt MH and 2X96 PC light fixture. A few days later I ordered a RO/DI system, a Bubble Magus NAC7 skimmer, and a Eheim 1260 return pump. This weekend I put in an order for 80 pounds of Pukani dry rock and found a used Vortech MP40 here. I'm going to keep my eye open for another one and maybe get another powerhead or two to hold me over. Boy this 55 gallon gift got expensive real quick. :bigsmile:
The tank is going to be setup in our finished basement which will hopefully help control the temperature. Its pretty chilly in the summer and stays right around 72 all winter. I have a small utility room right behind where it will be situated and I'm planning on plumbing everything back into there for ease of access. I have a 29 gallon high tank that I'm building a sump out of. The skimmer will sit in that. I'm also planning on another tank to act as a refuge. My furnace and hotwater heater are in this room and are getting replaced this week. Once that's done I'm going to get rolling on setting everything up this weekend. My rock should be here in a day or two and right now I'm trying to figure out if I should bleach it, cook it in a dilute muriatic acid bath, or both. Hopefully I can start cycling in the next week and then start figuring out what I plan to keep in there.
After a long absence (15 years) from the hobie, I'm jumping back in with both feet. My kids (3 and 5) have been asking for an aquarium for a few months. A few weeks ago someone gave me a 55-gallon tank and I started thinking about what I'd want to put in it. I initially thought about an african chiclid tank, but after a few days of poking around on the internet the reef bug got me again. The 55 gallon tank was looking small so I started looking at craigslist for something a little bigger. By the following weekend I had found a 120 gallon (48x24x24) Oceanic reef ready tank in very good shape along with a 2X250 watt MH and 2X96 PC light fixture. A few days later I ordered a RO/DI system, a Bubble Magus NAC7 skimmer, and a Eheim 1260 return pump. This weekend I put in an order for 80 pounds of Pukani dry rock and found a used Vortech MP40 here. I'm going to keep my eye open for another one and maybe get another powerhead or two to hold me over. Boy this 55 gallon gift got expensive real quick. :bigsmile:
The tank is going to be setup in our finished basement which will hopefully help control the temperature. Its pretty chilly in the summer and stays right around 72 all winter. I have a small utility room right behind where it will be situated and I'm planning on plumbing everything back into there for ease of access. I have a 29 gallon high tank that I'm building a sump out of. The skimmer will sit in that. I'm also planning on another tank to act as a refuge. My furnace and hotwater heater are in this room and are getting replaced this week. Once that's done I'm going to get rolling on setting everything up this weekend. My rock should be here in a day or two and right now I'm trying to figure out if I should bleach it, cook it in a dilute muriatic acid bath, or both. Hopefully I can start cycling in the next week and then start figuring out what I plan to keep in there.