I have had some kind of saltwater aquarium for the past 30+ years. It all started for me when my college roommate, who had a tank with snowflake and zebra eels, handed me "The Marine Aquarium Reference: Systems and Invertebrates" by Martin Moe. I was a chemistry major at the time and I finished that book in no time at all. It was just days later that I was starting my first nitrogen cycle on a 10 gallon tank with an undergravel filter.
Fast forward to 3 years ago and I was at the peak of my reef keeping career. I had a nice system going for about 10 years. The main display tank was 5 feet wide and about 110 gallons. It was plumbed into my garage where I had a large sump and a 20 gallon frag tank. Total volume was probably 150 gallons. Everything was automated. Corals were thriving.
Then we sold our house. We could not find anything we liked at the time, so we got an apartment and kept looking. The apartment had all kinds of crazy rules in their lease regarding the number, size, and total gallons of fish tanks they would allow. I ended up getting a red sea 300XL, a second red sea 300XL stand only, and a Fiji Cube 57 shallow. The Fiji Cube fit perfectly on the 2nd stand, and I plumbed it into the Red Sea 300XL sump. I kept what I could in the move, but had to get rid of so much stuff. Then, seven months later, I found my current home and moved again. Still keeping the 2 tanks and what I could. Between the 2 moves many many many of my corals died
.
For the past 3 years I have just been keeping the tanks alive and not really giving them the attention needed. At this point I have some coral, a bunch of fish, and a purple reef lobster that has to be 15+ years old. About 6 months ago I finally decided it was time and I have been planning ever since. I'm never moving again and this will be my dream tank.
I have an 8 foot wall to work with. The garage is too far to plumb to, but there is a 30"x30" closet behind the wall that until the other day had a hot water heater in it. The hot water heater has successfully been moved to the garage and I feel the official start of this build has finally begun.
TLDR;
I'm getting a new tank. It's going to be big.
Fast forward to 3 years ago and I was at the peak of my reef keeping career. I had a nice system going for about 10 years. The main display tank was 5 feet wide and about 110 gallons. It was plumbed into my garage where I had a large sump and a 20 gallon frag tank. Total volume was probably 150 gallons. Everything was automated. Corals were thriving.
Then we sold our house. We could not find anything we liked at the time, so we got an apartment and kept looking. The apartment had all kinds of crazy rules in their lease regarding the number, size, and total gallons of fish tanks they would allow. I ended up getting a red sea 300XL, a second red sea 300XL stand only, and a Fiji Cube 57 shallow. The Fiji Cube fit perfectly on the 2nd stand, and I plumbed it into the Red Sea 300XL sump. I kept what I could in the move, but had to get rid of so much stuff. Then, seven months later, I found my current home and moved again. Still keeping the 2 tanks and what I could. Between the 2 moves many many many of my corals died
.For the past 3 years I have just been keeping the tanks alive and not really giving them the attention needed. At this point I have some coral, a bunch of fish, and a purple reef lobster that has to be 15+ years old. About 6 months ago I finally decided it was time and I have been planning ever since. I'm never moving again and this will be my dream tank.
I have an 8 foot wall to work with. The garage is too far to plumb to, but there is a 30"x30" closet behind the wall that until the other day had a hot water heater in it. The hot water heater has successfully been moved to the garage and I feel the official start of this build has finally begun.
TLDR;
I'm getting a new tank. It's going to be big.
