New Member

[mmcdade]

Hi,

I'm Mark. I bought a house for retirement several years ago at 8650' outside Boulder, CO and it came with a built-in 120 gallon tank. I'm just now getting around to setting it up and I'm glad to have the help of this forum! I have some experience from childhood with fresh water tanks and I had a nano marine tank for a short time so I'm basically a novice at this. I've been following the BRS Ultra Low Maintenance video series and I'm planning to set up a softie tank using their guidelines. For several reasons I don't plan to drill the tank so I'll be using a HOB syphon. My background is in technology with some experience in designing and implementing industrial control hardware and software. I watched my neighbor set up a 100 gallon tank this summer and relatively quickly experience two floods. One of them was salt water and pretty serious, the other was fresh ATO water and less serious. In the spirit of ULM and keeping industrial redundancy in mind, I'm designing a hardwired relay and float-switch based supervisory system to sit on top of an Apex controller with the intention of minimizing both flood risk and maintenance. I'm just now beginning to read about marine biology with an eye to picking low maintenance and compatible fish and soft corals. The long term goal is a ULM tank which is beautiful and sustainable but can still allow me to travel for a few days at a time without worry.

I'm just getting started. I'll post and update a build thread as things move forward.

Mark M.

 

[Peace River]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!!!

 

[Sean Clark]

Welcome to the party.

 

[Gtinnel]

Welcome to R2R

 

[Reef and Dive]

Welcome to the best reefing forum in the world!

 

[dstockwell]

Welcome to the Reef

 

[LeannaBanana]

Welcome to R2R! Can't wait to follow along with your tank! Sounds exciting!

 

[Kristopher Conlin]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!!

 

[Slocke]

Hi,

I'm Mark. I bought a house for retirement several years ago at 8650' outside Boulder, CO and it came with a built-in 120 gallon tank. I'm just now getting around to setting it up and I'm glad to have the help of this forum! I have some experience from childhood with fresh water tanks and I had a nano marine tank for a short time so I'm basically a novice at this. I've been following the BRS Ultra Low Maintenance video series and I'm planning to set up a softie tank using their guidelines. For several reasons I don't plan to drill the tank so I'll be using a HOB syphon. My background is in technology with some experience in designing and implementing industrial control hardware and software. I watched my neighbor set up a 100 gallon tank this summer and relatively quickly experience two floods. One of them was salt water and pretty serious, the other was fresh ATO water and less serious. In the spirit of ULM and keeping industrial redundancy in mind, I'm designing a hardwired relay and float-switch based supervisory system to sit on top of an Apex controller with the intention of minimizing both flood risk and maintenance. I'm just now beginning to read about marine biology with an eye to picking low maintenance and compatible fish and soft corals. The long term goal is a ULM tank which is beautiful and sustainable but can still allow me to travel for a few days at a time without worry.

I'm just getting started. I'll post and update a build thread as things move forward.

Mark M.

Welcome!
I find the HOB siphon works pretty well so long as it's designed well. At least I haven't found a way to flood my house with it nor do I see any possible fail points with mine. As for low maintenance fish and corals there is plenty of people willing to give recommendations.

 

[ScubaShane]

Welcome to Reef2Reef Mark. You have a good plan. Nice to see people still reading books these days! Best way to do research.

 

[mehaffydr]

Welcome to R2R

 

[Fish Think Pink]

Hi,

I'm Mark. I bought a house for retirement several years ago at 8650' outside Boulder, CO and it came with a built-in 120 gallon tank. I'm just now getting around to setting it up and I'm glad to have the help of this forum! I have some experience from childhood with fresh water tanks and I had a nano marine tank for a short time so I'm basically a novice at this. I've been following the BRS Ultra Low Maintenance video series and I'm planning to set up a softie tank using their guidelines. For several reasons I don't plan to drill the tank so I'll be using a HOB syphon. My background is in technology with some experience in designing and implementing industrial control hardware and software. I watched my neighbor set up a 100 gallon tank this summer and relatively quickly experience two floods. One of them was salt water and pretty serious, the other was fresh ATO water and less serious. In the spirit of ULM and keeping industrial redundancy in mind, I'm designing a hardwired relay and float-switch based supervisory system to sit on top of an Apex controller with the intention of minimizing both flood risk and maintenance. I'm just now beginning to read about marine biology with an eye to picking low maintenance and compatible fish and soft corals. The long term goal is a ULM tank which is beautiful and sustainable but can still allow me to travel for a few days at a time without worry.

I'm just getting started. I'll post and update a build thread as things move forward.

Mark M.

Hi Mark and Welcome! Glad you joined. HOW AWESOME your home came with an aquarium built in!!

Have you considered starting your build thread? I found its a great place to document my tank's evolution for myself. I started tank first then joined, so I'm still finding myself going back collecting pictures & updating historically as well as current state. Once you create your first post in your thread and link it to your account, they will give you build badge (look left, under my ID)

This might help you find people local to you:

Local Reef Club Discussion

Looking for some locals to share frags and info with? This is the place! Find a local club that meets in your area! If you want to add your club just contact us.

www.reef2reef.com

This is a good reference book type online article I still review:

The Supreme Guide To Setting Up A Saltwater Reef Aquarium

Introduction The marine environment is one of the most complex systems on the planet. The aquarium you are about to set up is only a tiny sliver of the vast ocean, but it is no where near simple. This task is going to take patience, a ton of...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[G Santana]

Welcome to the Reef

 

[blaxsun]

 

[KQuillan]

 

[SPR1968]

Welcome to Reef2Reef Mark

 

[pshootr]

Hello, and welcome to r2r! I love the idea of built-in tanks. Looking forward to your build thread. :)

 

[JZ199]

Welcome!! Looking forward to seeing the tank being set up! Sounds like you have a great plan so far

 

[ShepherdReefer]

Hello, and welcome to the channel. Glad to have you.

 

[Reefer1978]

Welcome to R2R!!!