The Story Begins:
It all began 1 year ago, a birthday present from my family, a small jellyfish tank from Jelly Fish Art, thus began my addiction. I do love jellyfish and I'm very passionate about them however, I needed more of a challenge. I bought a 24 gallon innovative marine tank. The tank looked big at the time and I thought it would satisfy my reef appetite. It wasn't long before I went to a bigger and better 100 gallon cad-lights artisan II tank and let me tell you if my wife or my house would have allowed it I would have gotten an even bigger tank! The 100 gallon is just going to do for now. Believe it or not I'm satisfied... I think. I eventually started replacing equipment after equipment because as you replace one part then you need another part and then as the new equipment came out I would have to have it. I found myself repeating to my loved one "I swear this is it this is the last thing I need, I don't need anything else" but it just never stops. Now I'm looking to upgrade and and go to full SPS. I have finally reached the stage where I can keep fish and grow a forest of coral.
Production:
I am a firm believer that "price is a measure of performance". I can certainly tell with aquarium equipment that it's extremely important for reliability, performance and aesthetics which is something I am extremely passionate about. I'm the kind a guy that likes to admire the exterior of the car and but when you pop open the hood it's jaw dropping.
For that wow factor I went for a clean and modern look; the sump was custom built by a company in Southern California called Advanced Acrylics. They also did the custom dosing system as well. The equipment had to be sleek and hidden, if u look closely I have two Maxspect Gyre circulation pumps that are hidden on the return column and facing 4 different directions. I'm not a fan of seeing the multiple pumps on the side of aquarium tanks. To keep the clutter minimal underneath the tank I built two cabinets on either side of the stand. One cabinet stores the temperature controlled waterproof electrical box and the second cabinet contains the automated dosing system. The cabinets also serve as convenient seating for guests to sit on and view the tank. I know I sound like a bit of a control freak... I am. The whole system is controlled through Neptunes Apex system and GHL for dosing and auto topoff. The entire system is totally capable of running solo for 3 to 5 days and I can control it from my phone, I just need my family to do some feeding. I have installed cameras so I can check on the sump and skimmer to make sure everything is doing what it should being that I travel a lot for work.[1]
The Credits:
I wish I was retired and had a lot of time to do this hobby but I actually work more than I should and am very busy man. I'm a Chef and know nothing about water chemistry, marine biology, or how this hobby works. I could cook fish but had no idea how to keep them alive and without forums and online help I do not know how I could have gotten this far. I didn't want anybody to see how ignorant I was and was amazed at how friendly and helpful everyone has been from my local fish shop to people I have met on forums not to mention the countless hours I have spent on the help line of Marine Depot.... poor guys. It has been really heartwarming and I have to say thank you for all of the encouragement and patience that you all have had. I mean everyone has to start somewhere, everyone was new to this hobby at some point. I also have to give some credit to my loving family who bought me my first tank and who has supported me from the the beginning, putting up with long nights, leaks, dead fish, emergencies, messes and for allowing me to have the dedicated time needed to learn everything from scratch.
The Saga Continues
My plan for the upcoming year is to document my journey as I gear my tank towards an SPS dominated tank with the thought of going into the ZEOvit system (someone please stop me!) I feel like I'm pretty maxed out on the amount of fish being that I have around 30 and I'm pretty happy with the selection. Everything seems to be happy and growing well but... boy it sure takes a long time!! Until then happy reefing and see you soon.
[1]
It all began 1 year ago, a birthday present from my family, a small jellyfish tank from Jelly Fish Art, thus began my addiction. I do love jellyfish and I'm very passionate about them however, I needed more of a challenge. I bought a 24 gallon innovative marine tank. The tank looked big at the time and I thought it would satisfy my reef appetite. It wasn't long before I went to a bigger and better 100 gallon cad-lights artisan II tank and let me tell you if my wife or my house would have allowed it I would have gotten an even bigger tank! The 100 gallon is just going to do for now. Believe it or not I'm satisfied... I think. I eventually started replacing equipment after equipment because as you replace one part then you need another part and then as the new equipment came out I would have to have it. I found myself repeating to my loved one "I swear this is it this is the last thing I need, I don't need anything else" but it just never stops. Now I'm looking to upgrade and and go to full SPS. I have finally reached the stage where I can keep fish and grow a forest of coral.
Production:
I am a firm believer that "price is a measure of performance". I can certainly tell with aquarium equipment that it's extremely important for reliability, performance and aesthetics which is something I am extremely passionate about. I'm the kind a guy that likes to admire the exterior of the car and but when you pop open the hood it's jaw dropping.
For that wow factor I went for a clean and modern look; the sump was custom built by a company in Southern California called Advanced Acrylics. They also did the custom dosing system as well. The equipment had to be sleek and hidden, if u look closely I have two Maxspect Gyre circulation pumps that are hidden on the return column and facing 4 different directions. I'm not a fan of seeing the multiple pumps on the side of aquarium tanks. To keep the clutter minimal underneath the tank I built two cabinets on either side of the stand. One cabinet stores the temperature controlled waterproof electrical box and the second cabinet contains the automated dosing system. The cabinets also serve as convenient seating for guests to sit on and view the tank. I know I sound like a bit of a control freak... I am. The whole system is controlled through Neptunes Apex system and GHL for dosing and auto topoff. The entire system is totally capable of running solo for 3 to 5 days and I can control it from my phone, I just need my family to do some feeding. I have installed cameras so I can check on the sump and skimmer to make sure everything is doing what it should being that I travel a lot for work.[1]
The Credits:
I wish I was retired and had a lot of time to do this hobby but I actually work more than I should and am very busy man. I'm a Chef and know nothing about water chemistry, marine biology, or how this hobby works. I could cook fish but had no idea how to keep them alive and without forums and online help I do not know how I could have gotten this far. I didn't want anybody to see how ignorant I was and was amazed at how friendly and helpful everyone has been from my local fish shop to people I have met on forums not to mention the countless hours I have spent on the help line of Marine Depot.... poor guys. It has been really heartwarming and I have to say thank you for all of the encouragement and patience that you all have had. I mean everyone has to start somewhere, everyone was new to this hobby at some point. I also have to give some credit to my loving family who bought me my first tank and who has supported me from the the beginning, putting up with long nights, leaks, dead fish, emergencies, messes and for allowing me to have the dedicated time needed to learn everything from scratch.
The Saga Continues
My plan for the upcoming year is to document my journey as I gear my tank towards an SPS dominated tank with the thought of going into the ZEOvit system (someone please stop me!) I feel like I'm pretty maxed out on the amount of fish being that I have around 30 and I'm pretty happy with the selection. Everything seems to be happy and growing well but... boy it sure takes a long time!! Until then happy reefing and see you soon.
[1]
