Backwoods Reefer
Community Member
- Joined
- May 12, 2020
- Messages
- 28
- Reaction score
- 97
Greetings RSR,
Hello, John here introducing myself from Nashville Indiana. I am returning to the hobby after a 20 year hiatus. Back in the 90's I successfully kept a 120gal long with sps and clams under MH and VHO lighting. I was very proud of that tank but had to let it go for grad school. My wife (Donna) has been reluctant over the following years to let me have another reef tank remembering the work it requires to do it right. Tragedy intervened when a very good friend of ours passed away suddenly. His widow didn't know what to do with his reef tank in Marathon Florida and called me. She explained "I know it's crazy to think of coming to Florida to get this, but I know Mark would have wanted you to have it. I'll understand if you don't want it but thought of you first." You might say not everyone would be willing to drive from Southern Indiana to Marathon Florida, tear down a 120g tank with livestock, load it in a 1/2ton pickup, drive 24 hours straight and set it all back up. I wasn't sure I was, but it was more about honoring my friend that got me into reefing in the first place and introduced me to the Florida Keys over 20 years ago. This led to my passion for scuba diving as well. I was ready to come back to reefing and I couldn't think of a more poetic way of doing than to take my friends tank he had recently setup. His wife was very pleased we decided to take it. While the DIY Canopy/Stand really grew on me, I couldn't fit it in the truck unfortunately and while it fit perfectly into Florida Keys motif, it wouldn't have worked as well in our home. This led me to my journey of setting up a new tank for which I could trust for some years to come. I choose the Red Sea Reefer P500 (132gal total volume) peninsula tank. Marks equipment and livestock gave me a very good head start back into the hobby. We have dedicated the build in his honor and it is coming along nicely. As we all know, patients in the name of the game. I'm very happy with the aquascaping and have added 23 fish after a prolonged QT period. The first batch of corals went in at 5 months from start and doing well. I look forward to posting picks after some growth hits pleasing levels. Below are a few pictures from the move of "Coral Reefer" from Marathon to Nashville Indiana.
Cheers,
John
Mark's "Coral Reefer" build. Mark was a man of limited financial means toward the end of his life and thus did a lot of DYI to which he was very proficient. He didn't have the tank up very long and it ran for another 2 months with minimal husbandry. I was surprised it looked as good as it did. Mark hadn't started adding corals yet and thus looking like a baron 200 lbs pile of Florida live lock with a couple rock anemones and 5 fish including a pair of Ocellaris clownfish we affectionately named Bonnie and Clyde after the trip home (that's another story). All the livestock made the journey given we kept heaters and power heads running during the trip.
A little bit of Mark's handy work on the DIY canopy.
My lovely wife being a real trooper on the tear-down.
Hello, John here introducing myself from Nashville Indiana. I am returning to the hobby after a 20 year hiatus. Back in the 90's I successfully kept a 120gal long with sps and clams under MH and VHO lighting. I was very proud of that tank but had to let it go for grad school. My wife (Donna) has been reluctant over the following years to let me have another reef tank remembering the work it requires to do it right. Tragedy intervened when a very good friend of ours passed away suddenly. His widow didn't know what to do with his reef tank in Marathon Florida and called me. She explained "I know it's crazy to think of coming to Florida to get this, but I know Mark would have wanted you to have it. I'll understand if you don't want it but thought of you first." You might say not everyone would be willing to drive from Southern Indiana to Marathon Florida, tear down a 120g tank with livestock, load it in a 1/2ton pickup, drive 24 hours straight and set it all back up. I wasn't sure I was, but it was more about honoring my friend that got me into reefing in the first place and introduced me to the Florida Keys over 20 years ago. This led to my passion for scuba diving as well. I was ready to come back to reefing and I couldn't think of a more poetic way of doing than to take my friends tank he had recently setup. His wife was very pleased we decided to take it. While the DIY Canopy/Stand really grew on me, I couldn't fit it in the truck unfortunately and while it fit perfectly into Florida Keys motif, it wouldn't have worked as well in our home. This led me to my journey of setting up a new tank for which I could trust for some years to come. I choose the Red Sea Reefer P500 (132gal total volume) peninsula tank. Marks equipment and livestock gave me a very good head start back into the hobby. We have dedicated the build in his honor and it is coming along nicely. As we all know, patients in the name of the game. I'm very happy with the aquascaping and have added 23 fish after a prolonged QT period. The first batch of corals went in at 5 months from start and doing well. I look forward to posting picks after some growth hits pleasing levels. Below are a few pictures from the move of "Coral Reefer" from Marathon to Nashville Indiana.
Cheers,
John
Mark's "Coral Reefer" build. Mark was a man of limited financial means toward the end of his life and thus did a lot of DYI to which he was very proficient. He didn't have the tank up very long and it ran for another 2 months with minimal husbandry. I was surprised it looked as good as it did. Mark hadn't started adding corals yet and thus looking like a baron 200 lbs pile of Florida live lock with a couple rock anemones and 5 fish including a pair of Ocellaris clownfish we affectionately named Bonnie and Clyde after the trip home (that's another story). All the livestock made the journey given we kept heaters and power heads running during the trip.
A little bit of Mark's handy work on the DIY canopy.
My lovely wife being a real trooper on the tear-down.
