Screwgunner
Valuable Member
It started 20 years ago I had a 65 gallon tall with 100 pounds of live rock. Hob overflow . I wanted a in tank overflow so I set out to drill this tank. Nope, never again will i try to drill a tank. So the bottom of the tank is shattered all I had was a 29 gallon .yes a 29 gallon will hold 100 pounds of live rock my fish had no room to swim. Let alone move. Me and the wife went to the lfs they had a 125 set up in the fish room cabinet pump overflows skimmer sump 5 gallons of bio balls. 1k out the door. My wife seen me drooling over it . She said get it. So, she put it on her credit card. She was a non smoker and I had smoked all my life. Well, i quit for her for buying that tank and all the money I would have spent on cigarettes went to live rock fish coral. where I am now.
So, I have a 125 gallon overflows in each corner. 72x18x22 the same wood stand that came with it. 30 gallon sump that has been transformed from 5 gallons of bio ball and a filterpad in a drip tray to a algea turf scubber with a large spunge for filter. It has a 500 watt finnex element heater in it a 40 watt led grow lightbulb 2 10 x 12 plastic mesh screens ruffed up all sides with a 2 inch hole saw. The bulb is in-between the two screens so each screen is only lit on one side.
I have upgraded to DC pumps still have the blueline that came with it. 4000 liter for skimmer and 8000 liter for return pump both jaboa pumps yes they are cheap but I have not had a problem out of either of them . I just took the 4000 liter out with the skimmer. So just the ats and I run activated carbon in a reactor about a cup every other week. And a finnex 800 watt controler for my heater . I do have a 300 watt glass heater in it to in case 500 watts is not anoph. I ordered some 1 quarter inch screen from Amazon and some window frames for screens had to get two I have one divider on top of my aquarium . That is what I use to keep my fish in.
As for the lights I went with phlizon black boxes . 3 of them . I run blues at 60% whites at 15% some of my corals are reaching so I might turn them up slowly. But it has been up for 1 year. My rock had bryed out so it was dead dry rock . I bleached it in a 32 gallon rubber maid trash can. With 110 pounds of rock i could only get 20 gallons of water in it . City water and a gallon of bleach. Let it set for a month. Took rock out let it dry. New 20 gallons of city water for a week took it out let it dry. 20 gallons rodi and instant ocean put in heater and power head with rock. Did not smell bleach any more. Got a fine mesh bag and put a whole cocktail shrimp in it and let it rot away for 8 weeks, rocks cycled. Ready for tank. I went bare bottom so I got some plastic light diffuser from lowes to put on the bottom of my tank. Filled it with rodi water 5 gallon bucket at a time . Took ro buddy 2.5 hours for 5 gallons of water. 20 X,s I had 100 gallons mixed and ready put rock in did not use water in trash can. Still needed 20 gallons to start pump. Let it fun for 2 days put a bottle of Dr. Tims one and only bacteria and a bottle of bio spera . Added 13 fish. 8 green chromis 2 clarkii clowns 1 neon goby 1 wrasse 1 nasso tang. The next morning I had one green chromis caught in the wavemaker. Everyone said he must have been sick . 10 days latter my nasso died. Day 8 he stopped eating. I added a yellow tang . Because of covid he cost me $300 but I always wanted one so it was a toss up between a yellow and a purple. So I asked the wife she said yellow. 9 months latter my wrasse died. So I replaced him with a flame angle. So at one year I have 1 flame angle 1 yellow tang, a one spot fox face , two clarkii clowns, 7 green chromis, 1 neon goby. So I still have 13 fish. Only 3 deaths in a year. So I keep my alkalinity at 7 salinity at 1.025 I have hanna test kits for everything but it is always the same 0 phosphates 0 nitrates. Algea turf scrubber you go. I do add calcium now and then. And my alkalinity drops slowly . I use seachem products like trace reef builder and calcium . So thats it in a nut shell. Happy reefing.
So, I have a 125 gallon overflows in each corner. 72x18x22 the same wood stand that came with it. 30 gallon sump that has been transformed from 5 gallons of bio ball and a filterpad in a drip tray to a algea turf scubber with a large spunge for filter. It has a 500 watt finnex element heater in it a 40 watt led grow lightbulb 2 10 x 12 plastic mesh screens ruffed up all sides with a 2 inch hole saw. The bulb is in-between the two screens so each screen is only lit on one side.
I have upgraded to DC pumps still have the blueline that came with it. 4000 liter for skimmer and 8000 liter for return pump both jaboa pumps yes they are cheap but I have not had a problem out of either of them . I just took the 4000 liter out with the skimmer. So just the ats and I run activated carbon in a reactor about a cup every other week. And a finnex 800 watt controler for my heater . I do have a 300 watt glass heater in it to in case 500 watts is not anoph. I ordered some 1 quarter inch screen from Amazon and some window frames for screens had to get two I have one divider on top of my aquarium . That is what I use to keep my fish in.
As for the lights I went with phlizon black boxes . 3 of them . I run blues at 60% whites at 15% some of my corals are reaching so I might turn them up slowly. But it has been up for 1 year. My rock had bryed out so it was dead dry rock . I bleached it in a 32 gallon rubber maid trash can. With 110 pounds of rock i could only get 20 gallons of water in it . City water and a gallon of bleach. Let it set for a month. Took rock out let it dry. New 20 gallons of city water for a week took it out let it dry. 20 gallons rodi and instant ocean put in heater and power head with rock. Did not smell bleach any more. Got a fine mesh bag and put a whole cocktail shrimp in it and let it rot away for 8 weeks, rocks cycled. Ready for tank. I went bare bottom so I got some plastic light diffuser from lowes to put on the bottom of my tank. Filled it with rodi water 5 gallon bucket at a time . Took ro buddy 2.5 hours for 5 gallons of water. 20 X,s I had 100 gallons mixed and ready put rock in did not use water in trash can. Still needed 20 gallons to start pump. Let it fun for 2 days put a bottle of Dr. Tims one and only bacteria and a bottle of bio spera . Added 13 fish. 8 green chromis 2 clarkii clowns 1 neon goby 1 wrasse 1 nasso tang. The next morning I had one green chromis caught in the wavemaker. Everyone said he must have been sick . 10 days latter my nasso died. Day 8 he stopped eating. I added a yellow tang . Because of covid he cost me $300 but I always wanted one so it was a toss up between a yellow and a purple. So I asked the wife she said yellow. 9 months latter my wrasse died. So I replaced him with a flame angle. So at one year I have 1 flame angle 1 yellow tang, a one spot fox face , two clarkii clowns, 7 green chromis, 1 neon goby. So I still have 13 fish. Only 3 deaths in a year. So I keep my alkalinity at 7 salinity at 1.025 I have hanna test kits for everything but it is always the same 0 phosphates 0 nitrates. Algea turf scrubber you go. I do add calcium now and then. And my alkalinity drops slowly . I use seachem products like trace reef builder and calcium . So thats it in a nut shell. Happy reefing.
