JimmyReefer
New Member
17 years ago, after a succession of disasters and a change in living arrangements, I took my 135g mixed reef down and called it a day.
Back then we struggled with so many things... I truly had this hobby in the rear view mirror without much thought when I thought about maybe getting one of those cute little nano tanks and putting a clownfish in it for my and my wife's entertainment, so I poked my nose in and started reading. WHOA!
17 years in this hobby is like comparing 1903 to 2003 in aviation! When I quit, I had a "controller" that used X-10 and single twisted pair telephone wire, my skimmer was a Precision Marine Bullet 2, lights were 400w metal halides, I had to have a chiller, calcium was thought to be the MOST IMPORTANT single major element to promote coral growth, a LOT of fish were thought to be basically "temporary" additions to your aquarium, and you weren't supposed to keep very many fish in attempt to keep nutrient levels at ZERO... My my my how times have changed!
My "nano" grew into a used Red Sea XL 425, and I'm back with a vengeance!
While we will always "struggle" in this hobby to a point, I really took a lot of time to research and learn from not only the mistakes I previously made, but from as many as I could learn from from all of you and more on here - thank you all for sharing! One of my challenges is that I personally have to leave the tank unattended for a week at a time while I'm out of town working. (I know right?) The only reason I am even able to consider this is because of my wonderful wife and the crazy amount of automation/monitoring solutions we now have.
Here is a shot of my current setup - I'll be sure to do a build post in the upcoming weeks.
![IMG_5253[1].JPG](https://www.reef2reef.com/data/attachments/3836/3836621-debe3f769a0c090c26bcee77725dbf73.jpg "IMG_5253[1].JPG")
Back then we struggled with so many things... I truly had this hobby in the rear view mirror without much thought when I thought about maybe getting one of those cute little nano tanks and putting a clownfish in it for my and my wife's entertainment, so I poked my nose in and started reading. WHOA!
17 years in this hobby is like comparing 1903 to 2003 in aviation! When I quit, I had a "controller" that used X-10 and single twisted pair telephone wire, my skimmer was a Precision Marine Bullet 2, lights were 400w metal halides, I had to have a chiller, calcium was thought to be the MOST IMPORTANT single major element to promote coral growth, a LOT of fish were thought to be basically "temporary" additions to your aquarium, and you weren't supposed to keep very many fish in attempt to keep nutrient levels at ZERO... My my my how times have changed!
My "nano" grew into a used Red Sea XL 425, and I'm back with a vengeance!
While we will always "struggle" in this hobby to a point, I really took a lot of time to research and learn from not only the mistakes I previously made, but from as many as I could learn from from all of you and more on here - thank you all for sharing! One of my challenges is that I personally have to leave the tank unattended for a week at a time while I'm out of town working. (I know right?) The only reason I am even able to consider this is because of my wonderful wife and the crazy amount of automation/monitoring solutions we now have.
Here is a shot of my current setup - I'll be sure to do a build post in the upcoming weeks.
