My 10 year old 72 bow

[Junkie]

Hi all! My tank is 10 years old this year and and I wanted to document where it stands as of currently. All corals in the tank we’re grown from small frags. Some of which are older than some of my children. A little background: I set up my very first reef tank in the fall of 2005 which was a 10g glass box with a HOB penguin filter running poly filter and carbon. At the time the lighting I ran was some good ol’ power compacts. No skimmer, and did weekly 50% water changes and had good results. Around 2007 I upgraded to a 32g tall tank and ran a HOB prizim skimmer and had a Current sunpod (I think) 150w HQI metal halide I had great results with that tank as well then in 2009 I set up my current tank. In the beginning I struggled with this tank. Originally I had two 150w MHs over it and a mag 12 return pump so I was constantly battling high temps. I was also working way too much and was neglecting my water changes and not monitoring chemistry like I should have so as a result the tanks inhabitants success fluctuated up and down for a few years. Around 2011 I bought some black box LEDs to try and fix my heat issue and that helped considerably. But it was a double edged sword bucause they couldn’t be adjusted and were way too powerful and fried the top half of my tank. I have since added diffusers and shortened my photo period to accommodate for their power. Funny enough I’m still using the same lights today, I guess something can be said for their longevity. The tank is humming along happily, some ups and some downs over the years but my love has stayed the same since day one. I still find myself watching my fish swim for hours on end and still regularly irritate the tank’s inhabitants with a flashlight in the middle of the night. Even after all these years my wife still thinks I’m nuts for as much I geek out over little surprises in my stupid box of water. Anyways, I figured I’d share some of my journey in hopes someone can find a little inspiration to keep at it or start something new.

My first tank the 10g

my second tank 32g

my current 72g bow

 

[Junkie]

Oh, and all my corals were grown from small frags. For instance my Miami Hurricane that I grew from this 3 eyed booger to the size of a dinner plate with some fragging along the way. And that Favia is now larger than my fist. I unfortunately lost the Oregon mummy eye a few years back when my 2 part jugs ran dry for a few weeks unnoticed and had some wild PH swings. It was about the size of an open hand at the time.

 

[NY_Caveman]

Tanks look great! Love that Midas Blenny! Do you know, African or Maldives? How long you think he is?

 

[Junkie]

@NY_Caveman Thank you, it’s seen better days but i have found that there are always ups and downs in this hobby. As for the blenny it’s around the 5” mark and I can’t honsetly say what part of the world he came from. I’ll have to take some better pictures of the tank in the future to share.

 

[Jvesche20]

I wish I started my tank 10 years ago! Looks great!!!

 

[Hemmdog]

Looks good !

 

[SPR1968]

Great looking tank!

Very nice indeed and officially ‘mature’

 

[Kev The Fish Keeper]

Thanks for the inspiration. I'm starting my 72g Bow. Waiting for DIY sump to dry right now.

Build Thread - Strating my 72g Ready Reef Project

Its been a week, and no leaks. I'm going to drain and clean the tank. Going to Lowes to pick up some Black paint, and paint the back black. Will post pics when done

www.reef2reef.com