Background:
I have been reefing off and on since I was 14 years old, almost 16 years now. I dabbled in it when I was a teenager and had a 29 gallon tank. I quit for a while when I was in the Marines and picked it back up as soon as I got out and haven't put it down since.
I started doing all sps tank when I was in college about 7-8 years ago and fell in love with "nano" size tanks. I found that the larger I went the more time it took and the less excited I was about keeping a reef tank. Thus, the largest display I will probably keep is between 50-75 gallons. I feel a 36" x 24" x 18" is probably the largest I will go.
A little over a year ago my wife and I moved away from home when I took a job out of town and my tank went with me. When I left that job at the end of my contract I tore down my tank, which upset me a lot, and since then I haven't felt like I wanted to be a reefer anymore until a little over a month ago. I was talking it over with my wife and she said you have everything why don't you start your tank up again for our son, 1 year old now. I agreed and was happy to have her blessing.
Now that the story is out of the way, here comes the equipment and some pictures of the build. There will be more to follow in the coming weeks, I am trying to take things as slow as possible, I do not want to overlook anything.
Equipment:
Display Cadlights 50g (36x18x18) 3 sided starphire
Lights 2 AI SOL Blue controlled with Apex
Flow 2 Tunze 6055s (modded shrouds) controlled with Apex
Overflow/Return Herbie Method / Ehiem 1260
Stand / Floating Canopy Both Custom built by my father-in-law and I over a summer.
Filtration Zeovit (KZ 2.0L Zeovit Reactor)
Skimmer Vertex Omega 150 (not here yet)
Controller Apex
Sump 40g Breeder
Frag Tank 40g Breeder (will connect it later)
ATO Gravity fed from 10g tank
Salt Mixing 10g tank also gravity fed
Now pictures! If you have any suggestions let me know. I am only leak testing now, have not bought rock or sand yet, was going to wait a month and make sure everything is just right on my tank before I start it up for good.
Custom red oak stand built by my father-in-law and I.
Pictures of the drywall I had to rip out due to black mold. The closet that I am installing the sump/frag tank had water damage a few years back. I also ran a dedicated 20amp circuit to my fish tank as well as cat5e ethernet to connect my Apex controller.
A picture of how the sump/frag/salt mixing station stand looked in the middle of construction. The stand is roughly 37" x 26" x 80"tall when completed.
A VERY VERY tight fit! 1" to spare total on the sides. 1/2" on each side lol! Good luck getting them out, I hope nothing cracks!
I will post some more updated pictures in a few minutes, need to clean up the sump room and take some photos.
I have been reefing off and on since I was 14 years old, almost 16 years now. I dabbled in it when I was a teenager and had a 29 gallon tank. I quit for a while when I was in the Marines and picked it back up as soon as I got out and haven't put it down since.
I started doing all sps tank when I was in college about 7-8 years ago and fell in love with "nano" size tanks. I found that the larger I went the more time it took and the less excited I was about keeping a reef tank. Thus, the largest display I will probably keep is between 50-75 gallons. I feel a 36" x 24" x 18" is probably the largest I will go.
A little over a year ago my wife and I moved away from home when I took a job out of town and my tank went with me. When I left that job at the end of my contract I tore down my tank, which upset me a lot, and since then I haven't felt like I wanted to be a reefer anymore until a little over a month ago. I was talking it over with my wife and she said you have everything why don't you start your tank up again for our son, 1 year old now. I agreed and was happy to have her blessing.
Now that the story is out of the way, here comes the equipment and some pictures of the build. There will be more to follow in the coming weeks, I am trying to take things as slow as possible, I do not want to overlook anything.
Equipment:
Display Cadlights 50g (36x18x18) 3 sided starphire
Lights 2 AI SOL Blue controlled with Apex
Flow 2 Tunze 6055s (modded shrouds) controlled with Apex
Overflow/Return Herbie Method / Ehiem 1260
Stand / Floating Canopy Both Custom built by my father-in-law and I over a summer.
Filtration Zeovit (KZ 2.0L Zeovit Reactor)
Skimmer Vertex Omega 150 (not here yet)
Controller Apex
Sump 40g Breeder
Frag Tank 40g Breeder (will connect it later)
ATO Gravity fed from 10g tank
Salt Mixing 10g tank also gravity fed
Now pictures! If you have any suggestions let me know. I am only leak testing now, have not bought rock or sand yet, was going to wait a month and make sure everything is just right on my tank before I start it up for good.
Custom red oak stand built by my father-in-law and I.
Pictures of the drywall I had to rip out due to black mold. The closet that I am installing the sump/frag tank had water damage a few years back. I also ran a dedicated 20amp circuit to my fish tank as well as cat5e ethernet to connect my Apex controller.
A picture of how the sump/frag/salt mixing station stand looked in the middle of construction. The stand is roughly 37" x 26" x 80"tall when completed.
A VERY VERY tight fit! 1" to spare total on the sides. 1/2" on each side lol! Good luck getting them out, I hope nothing cracks!
I will post some more updated pictures in a few minutes, need to clean up the sump room and take some photos.
