Fish Think Pink
5000 Club Member
Hi Bryan and Welcome (Back to Hobby!)Hello all,
Just jumping back into the hobby after a 10+ year break. It's surprising how much has changed since. I started with a 55gal back in 2003 which was upgraded to a 90gal around 2005. It was a mess, just jammed to the brim and looking back just wow... I had that tank in my finished basement and a flood took it out. It was a back flow of sewage and well... nothing made it. So, here is a picture of it that's been in my Google photos, I always looked back and thought of all that I would do better....
The tank was gone... the house was literally full of.... well, total loss..... bought a new house, on a hill.
Fast forward to now... my wife adopted a few a betta from a friend of hers who's grandmother was a breeder that passed away. She asked if I could help her with setting up 2 tanks for these betta. Needless to say, these 2 betta now live in absolute luxury. But, she kept catching me over with the saltwater and finally said "why don't you do another reef tank" to which I replied "I'd love too, I've wanted to for years" and then she said the magic words "I loved the old tank, I'd love another, watching it was amazing. Except for those butt#0le damsels that killed my goby" pretty sure thar was the blessing.... for the past few weeks we have been all over checking out new tanks and I've been overwhelmed with all the new gear, im a gear junkie. But I wanted this to be a neat and clean set up, not a cluttered mess like the last one. I jumped on a Cade 1200. 144 gallon AIO. It's beautiful. Jumping in full cannon ball I also grabbed an Apex system, WAV powerhead kit, Vectra M2 return pump, NYOS quantum 160 skimmer, Helio smart 350x2 watt heater and a 5 stage RO/DI system. Just to start... .. I'll definitely be starting a build thread. But here's a shot of the new new... its not going on this wall, I've got to paint the wall that it will call home, and the rest of the room a light grey to compliment the new centerpiece. Right in the middle of the house so it sits across the floor joists and along the center brace of the floor, where it's easy to drill some holes and run tubing down to the basement for auto water changes.
Yup.... here goes nothing, mixed reef coming up.
~Bryan
Glad you joined. Everything you knew before will just help you be that much more successful this time around.
Amazing how construction flaws can bite us, but we learn and get better. This home in flat Texas has grading to prevent any flooding like I'd experienced back East.
Keep us posted! Seems like you have enough info to start your build thread. I find its a great way to track my tank's evolution for myself, but I didn't start my thread until I joined, so I'm still going back and collecting photos/info and adding in that history. Plus, once you link your build thread to your account, you get a spiffy badge (look left, under my ID).
