Jgents
Community Member
Hi All,
I've mostly been out of the hobby for about 15 years, way back when it seemed like we pulled any fish, rock, or clam out of the ocean we wanted, not worrying about how it affected the marine ecosystem. My last tank was a 180 gallon reef with near 400 lbs of live rock and dual overflows, 750 watts of metal halide, and a beautiful array of actinics for that deeply relaxing blueish color. Alot about me has changed over the years - lots of world travel, changes in worldview, and better introspection, but so to has this hobby. In the last couple of years I've maintained a 300 gallon outdoor fish pond with goldfish and rosy red minnows all of which have reproduced insanely, and a ten gallon with neocaridina shrimp, which are now also multiplying. I've been lurking on the threads for a bit and bingeing alot of the BRStv videos, which I stumbled upon trying to go to marinedept.com. I'm really excited to be back, but enough about the past and lets look at the present:
My current tank is a 40 gallon breeder. I opted for a 10 gallon sump mostly so I could get the heater, skimmer, and return pump out of the display, and a little extra water volume wouldn't hurt, of course. I'm making an effort to take a slower, methodical approach to this, and not rush anything. The last time I cycled a tank, the option seems to have been the live fish method or chunk of shrimp, which no longer jives with me. I'm amped there are alot more options for doing so - but it through me for a loop when I learned that live rock pulled from the ocean is less of a thing than it was back then.
Current setup:
40 gallon breeder w/ 10 gallon sump
Nicrew 150 watt w/ controller (extraordinarilly excited LED's took over for a multidude of reasons)
300w aqueon heater - probably will upgrade to a titanium heater at some point, but the room the tank is in is generally much cooler than the tank will ever be.
Return pump is a magdrive 12 - because I had one - but I'm very excited about the DC pumps that seem to have taken over.
Auto Top Off system is on the way, updates to follow.
Ambitions:
I'd like to start with a pair of clowns (hence the name) - they've long been among my favorite - besides my Blue Hippo Tang (RIP) who's long passed, maybe my next tank will be large enough.
From there, I'm not sure, but what I do know is that I want to do as much aquacultured inhabitants as I possibly can, and I'm very excited by the number of options that there are, what a positive change for the hobby. Given my lighting pick, I do want to get into some corals starting with the likes of GSP and similar to start. Feel free to drop your recommendations below. I have some pictures along the way. The pictures below show cloudy water - I mixed the salt in the tank so I can get a really good read on the dry rock and sand displacement.
TLDR: Holy crud everything has changed so much since my last fish tank 15 years ago, and I can't believe someone else paid the utlities for my 180 gallon tank way back then. So many great things have changed in the hobby too!
J
I've mostly been out of the hobby for about 15 years, way back when it seemed like we pulled any fish, rock, or clam out of the ocean we wanted, not worrying about how it affected the marine ecosystem. My last tank was a 180 gallon reef with near 400 lbs of live rock and dual overflows, 750 watts of metal halide, and a beautiful array of actinics for that deeply relaxing blueish color. Alot about me has changed over the years - lots of world travel, changes in worldview, and better introspection, but so to has this hobby. In the last couple of years I've maintained a 300 gallon outdoor fish pond with goldfish and rosy red minnows all of which have reproduced insanely, and a ten gallon with neocaridina shrimp, which are now also multiplying. I've been lurking on the threads for a bit and bingeing alot of the BRStv videos, which I stumbled upon trying to go to marinedept.com. I'm really excited to be back, but enough about the past and lets look at the present:
My current tank is a 40 gallon breeder. I opted for a 10 gallon sump mostly so I could get the heater, skimmer, and return pump out of the display, and a little extra water volume wouldn't hurt, of course. I'm making an effort to take a slower, methodical approach to this, and not rush anything. The last time I cycled a tank, the option seems to have been the live fish method or chunk of shrimp, which no longer jives with me. I'm amped there are alot more options for doing so - but it through me for a loop when I learned that live rock pulled from the ocean is less of a thing than it was back then.
Current setup:
40 gallon breeder w/ 10 gallon sump
Nicrew 150 watt w/ controller (extraordinarilly excited LED's took over for a multidude of reasons)
300w aqueon heater - probably will upgrade to a titanium heater at some point, but the room the tank is in is generally much cooler than the tank will ever be.
Return pump is a magdrive 12 - because I had one - but I'm very excited about the DC pumps that seem to have taken over.
Auto Top Off system is on the way, updates to follow.
Ambitions:
I'd like to start with a pair of clowns (hence the name) - they've long been among my favorite - besides my Blue Hippo Tang (RIP) who's long passed, maybe my next tank will be large enough.
From there, I'm not sure, but what I do know is that I want to do as much aquacultured inhabitants as I possibly can, and I'm very excited by the number of options that there are, what a positive change for the hobby. Given my lighting pick, I do want to get into some corals starting with the likes of GSP and similar to start. Feel free to drop your recommendations below. I have some pictures along the way. The pictures below show cloudy water - I mixed the salt in the tank so I can get a really good read on the dry rock and sand displacement.
TLDR: Holy crud everything has changed so much since my last fish tank 15 years ago, and I can't believe someone else paid the utlities for my 180 gallon tank way back then. So many great things have changed in the hobby too!
J
