I'm back. It's been 11 years and it's time

[cmor1701d]

I lost my 125 during Superstorm Sandy and have finally decided to get back in. This is my old tank.

This is the tank I'm buying this weekend

The fw fish will be gone tomorrow and I hope to bring it home on Sunday.

It's a 210 gallon, reef ready aquarium with custom wood stand. Aquarium is approximately 72" x 24" x 30". The stand is approximately 84.75" at the base, 86" at the top, and 29" deep. The stand includes schedule 80 plumbing from the tank to the approximately 40 gallon sump tank which is also included. A Current USA 3170 GPH pump is also included. The sump is a plain 40 gallon tank so I'll be replacing it with a proper sump and using the 40 for QT

I have 200# of base rock on order from ARC but don't expect that to get here till end of October or early November.

I'll be posting a build thread soon and I'll be looking for lots of advice on current sumps, protein skimmers, etc

Btw, I'm in Somerset near the New Brunswick border.

 

[kevgib67]

Welcome, glad your here! Last year I returned to this great hobby after 10 years. A lot has changed and new info to learn. Good luck, I will be following!

 

[92Miata]

Welcome, glad your here! Last year I returned to this great hobby after 10 years. A lot has changed and new info to learn. Good luck, I will be following!

Yeah - it's tough - a lot has actually changed - but a lot of the new info is marketing nonsense. I got back in a couple years ago after a decade off - and its tough weeding through it all. There's some fantastic new equipment, and some great cheap stuff, but also a lot of expensive unneeded trash. And some old, standby, common corals are now a fortune, and that makes me sad.


Also, Sandy was a decade ago now? Oof. Doesn't feel like it.

 

[kevgib67]

Yeah - it's tough - a lot has actually changed - but a lot of the new info is marketing nonsense. I got back in a couple years ago after a decade off - and its tough weeding through it all. There's some fantastic new equipment, and some great cheap stuff, but also a lot of expensive unneeded trash. And some old, standby, common corals are now a fortune, and that makes me sad.


Also, Sandy was a decade ago now? Oof. Doesn't feel like it.

Ya time flies! Price of corals was one of the most shocking thing for me. I’m still old school running my tank very similar to how I did it for 16 years. Weekly water changes (religiously), live rock, live sand etc.

 

[92Miata]

Ya time flies! Price of corals was one of the most shocking thing for me. I’m still old school running my tank very similar to how I did it for 16 years. Weekly water changes (religiously), live rock, live sand etc.

Yeah, I did like 6 months of struggling with dry rock, realized what was going on - ordered like $200 worth of aquacultured rock and everything fixed itself in a couple weeks.

My tank is basically the same as it was in the 90s/2000s - just equipment is cheaper and easier to find these days. Tons of flow, lots of export, lots of food, wavelengths of light that aren't only blue.

And I put preference on corals that grow well and color up well. None of this preference for "rarity"

 

[cmor1701d]

So, any ideas on a protein skimmer for this 210g tank. I'll be getting a new sump soon. Right now the sump is a 40g tank. I'll be looking for a proper sump shortly too.

Currently I'm looking at Reef Octopus lines e.g. SRO 3000, or the eshopps S-300.

Ideally I'd like to buy something used to save some $$$. Advice on either of these or something else entirely?

 

[Tamberav]

I have liked all my reef octopus skimmers. I had one e-shopps and it wasn't as nice imo but that was quite a few years ago. Right now I use a reef octopus regal but had a classic before that which also worked well.

You should be able to find something used on the marketplace forums here.

 

[cmor1701d]

Thanks for the quick reply. I was looking at an Reef Octopus 200 Int on eBay but decided it was too small for this tank. It sold for $208+25 shipping.

 

[92Miata]

Thanks for the quick reply. I was looking at an Reef Octopus 200 Int on eBay but decided it was too small for this tank. It sold for $208+25 shipping.

Do you have a local club/facebook group/etc? Sometimes a "Anybody got a skimmer they want to sell" post will get you way more for way less than you expect. On my 135 I'm running a big Deltec that I paid $100 for because someone had taken it in trade for corals and it had been sitting in his basement for a year.

 

[cmor1701d]

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll give it a shot.

 

[cmor1701d]

I got an old ps from my lfs, but it doesn't work. Can't find a ps big enough in marketplace or anywhere. I called my lfs and asked about the Simplicity 540D and he found out it's on a black Friday special of 10% off, plus I'm getting another 5% off for my trouble. It should be here this week.
Finally got the tank aquascaped, sand in and water. It's been up for a bit over a week and all parameters point to Time To Stock!

Here's some pics of the tank now. It's not exactly how I envisioned the aquascape, but it's how the rock I had worked out. Several nice swim throughs and caves. Enough sand for some burrowers too.