Nearly one and a half years ago, we were driving somewhere and my wife mentioned how much she really wanted a salt water tank. Her family had one growing up and she really missed it. We went to a local store, got sold some things and we were off the races! Fast forward to today, I maintain the whole system and I've really learned to love it.
The local fish store we went to turned out to be not really as hobby grade as we thought and oh boy do I wish I knew about this forum then, to save me thousands of dollars and time.
This was the tank and equipment they sold us to grow any coral we wanted.
This included an orbit marine pro led light, at least it was 72" long .
Since then we have been through a lot of things, such as moving the tank to a tank with overflows and a sump, then moving the sump the basement area. The lessons we learned through all this have been pricey, but as a hobbyist I was learning so much as I went. After about 2 months of having this setup, I was able to find more hobby grade shops nearby and around Ohio, along with this forum to help me learn and make more educated decisions.
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This is my setup today
210 gallon display, knowing what I know today, I would have gotten a high end glass and possibly bigger overflow drains, but this works for now.
My water making and quarantine section.
About 3 months ago I moved my sump from under the tank to the basement, and I love it!
About 6 month ago, my wife and I had a baby...so I have been focusing on automated as much as I can...for those weeks where I do not feel like doing a water change, I can have the peace of mind that I have a AWC system in place for example. I have also increased my dosing container storage, etc - quality of life changes. I enjoy working no the tank and seeing the rewards it brings as I am sure we all do, but I like having these safety nets in place.
My current equipment:
Alk 9, Ca 450
210 gallon display, with dual drains 1" and returns 3/4"
Red Sea - Blue Bucket...I have used both blue and black
3 x radion g4 pros
40 gallon trigger sump
Super octo 10" skimmer
carbon and gfo reactors
brs dosers (calcium and alk)
Apex ATK
various apex FMM modules and sensors doing things such as refilling my ATO container when it gets low.
I am a pretty big fanboy of Apex, it is expensive, but I have loved having the ability to program everything to the extent I have. For example reducing what is running during a power outage to save battery backup usage.
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I would love to post some pictures of my corals and fish, but I am terrible at photographing. I hope to research cameras next to get some good macro shots.
Thank you for reading and happy reefing!
Will
The local fish store we went to turned out to be not really as hobby grade as we thought and oh boy do I wish I knew about this forum then, to save me thousands of dollars and time.
This was the tank and equipment they sold us to grow any coral we wanted.
This included an orbit marine pro led light, at least it was 72" long .
Since then we have been through a lot of things, such as moving the tank to a tank with overflows and a sump, then moving the sump the basement area. The lessons we learned through all this have been pricey, but as a hobbyist I was learning so much as I went. After about 2 months of having this setup, I was able to find more hobby grade shops nearby and around Ohio, along with this forum to help me learn and make more educated decisions.
---
This is my setup today
210 gallon display, knowing what I know today, I would have gotten a high end glass and possibly bigger overflow drains, but this works for now.
My water making and quarantine section.
About 3 months ago I moved my sump from under the tank to the basement, and I love it!
About 6 month ago, my wife and I had a baby...so I have been focusing on automated as much as I can...for those weeks where I do not feel like doing a water change, I can have the peace of mind that I have a AWC system in place for example. I have also increased my dosing container storage, etc - quality of life changes. I enjoy working no the tank and seeing the rewards it brings as I am sure we all do, but I like having these safety nets in place.
My current equipment:
Alk 9, Ca 450
210 gallon display, with dual drains 1" and returns 3/4"
Red Sea - Blue Bucket...I have used both blue and black
3 x radion g4 pros
40 gallon trigger sump
Super octo 10" skimmer
carbon and gfo reactors
brs dosers (calcium and alk)
Apex ATK
various apex FMM modules and sensors doing things such as refilling my ATO container when it gets low.
I am a pretty big fanboy of Apex, it is expensive, but I have loved having the ability to program everything to the extent I have. For example reducing what is running during a power outage to save battery backup usage.
----
I would love to post some pictures of my corals and fish, but I am terrible at photographing. I hope to research cameras next to get some good macro shots.
Thank you for reading and happy reefing!
Will
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