sticky polyps
New member
Hi, my name is Jake and I have been working on this tank for about 2-3 months. I used to have a 10 gal nano and a 39 gallon both reefs, about ten years ago while I was in high school. since then I have known I was going to set up another reef when I had a stable place of residence, and no doubt I will build my dream tank once I am home owner... until then, this is my baby.
the tank dimentions are 36 in wide, 23 in tall and 18 in deep. I found it on craig's list came with tank, stand, wet dry/sump, glass tops, a 2 39 watt t5 fixture, one hydor 1150 powerhead, about half the live sand that's in there and about one third of the live rock. This original purchase set me back $120 which as we all know was a steal. I had to buy a return pump to get it flowing. I removed the bioballs and modified the sump to hold a 200 micron filter sock, a large skimmer section, a small refugiem and return chamber. I am currently running 2 skimmers because I was able to get them for close to nothing, I am undoubtably going to purchase an appropriate skimmer but for now I can deal with the maintenance inconvenance.
<a href="http://s76.photobucket.com/user/Jake_Ackerman/media/20150129_161332_zpsfcm0wft2.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j34/Jake_Ackerman/20150129_161332_zpsfcm0wft2.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 20150129_161332_zpsfcm0wft2.jpg"/></a>
<a href="http://s76.photobucket.com/user/Jake_Ackerman/media/20150129_161310_zpspjrovqgi.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j34/Jake_Ackerman/20150129_161310_zpspjrovqgi.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 20150129_161310_zpspjrovqgi.jpg"/></a>
<a href="http://s76.photobucket.com/user/Jake_Ackerman/media/20150129_161527_zpselafnukh.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j34/Jake_Ackerman/20150129_161527_zpselafnukh.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 20150129_161527_zpselafnukh.jpg"/></a>
<a href="http://s76.photobucket.com/user/Jake_Ackerman/media/20150129_161609_zpsoekcs2py.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j34/Jake_Ackerman/20150129_161609_zpsoekcs2py.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 20150129_161609_zpsoekcs2py.jpg"/></a>
<a href="http://s76.photobucket.com/user/Jake_Ackerman/media/20150129_161447_zpskoua5oj9.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j34/Jake_Ackerman/20150129_161447_zpskoua5oj9.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 20150129_161447_zpskoua5oj9.jpg"/></a>
<a href="http://s76.photobucket.com/user/Jake_Ackerman/media/20150129_161430_zps21liggde.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j34/Jake_Ackerman/20150129_161430_zps21liggde.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 20150129_161430_zps21liggde.jpg"/></a>
obviously if money was not a limiting factor I would have gotten a brand new tank, with that said, I am enjoying this hobby on a budget. I do plan to upgrade the lighting. I am considering two options, a 6x 39watt retrofit, or 2x Arctic-S026 LED fixtures. I would like to lean twards the leds because these two setups are almost the exact same wattage and I feel not only would I get more par from them, they transmit less heat, wont have to replace bulbs, and are more tidy and modular, plus I would not have to build a canopy.
I do plan to make this a mixed reef with sps dominating the upper third of the tank, lps in the middle, and softies zoas and rics occupying the lower region.
Here are some livestock pics
<a href="http://s76.photobucket.com/user/Jake_Ackerman/media/20150128_195523_zpsdel2orri.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j34/Jake_Ackerman/20150128_195523_zpsdel2orri.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 20150128_195523_zpsdel2orri.jpg"/></a>
<a href="http://s76.photobucket.com/user/Jake_Ackerman/media/20150129_161054_zpslygcqtax.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j34/Jake_Ackerman/20150129_161054_zpslygcqtax.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 20150129_161054_zpslygcqtax.jpg"/></a>
All pitures were taken with a galaxy 5s so... and also I tried to upload them from my computer but it wouldn't work so I had to use photobucket and copy HTML code to get it to work. this is my first post with pics so I hope that works and are not jumbo sized. if they are I apologize, might need some tips on posting pics.
Constructive critics are welcome to reply...
the tank dimentions are 36 in wide, 23 in tall and 18 in deep. I found it on craig's list came with tank, stand, wet dry/sump, glass tops, a 2 39 watt t5 fixture, one hydor 1150 powerhead, about half the live sand that's in there and about one third of the live rock. This original purchase set me back $120 which as we all know was a steal. I had to buy a return pump to get it flowing. I removed the bioballs and modified the sump to hold a 200 micron filter sock, a large skimmer section, a small refugiem and return chamber. I am currently running 2 skimmers because I was able to get them for close to nothing, I am undoubtably going to purchase an appropriate skimmer but for now I can deal with the maintenance inconvenance.
<a href="http://s76.photobucket.com/user/Jake_Ackerman/media/20150129_161332_zpsfcm0wft2.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j34/Jake_Ackerman/20150129_161332_zpsfcm0wft2.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 20150129_161332_zpsfcm0wft2.jpg"/></a>
<a href="http://s76.photobucket.com/user/Jake_Ackerman/media/20150129_161310_zpspjrovqgi.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j34/Jake_Ackerman/20150129_161310_zpspjrovqgi.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 20150129_161310_zpspjrovqgi.jpg"/></a>
<a href="http://s76.photobucket.com/user/Jake_Ackerman/media/20150129_161527_zpselafnukh.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j34/Jake_Ackerman/20150129_161527_zpselafnukh.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 20150129_161527_zpselafnukh.jpg"/></a>
<a href="http://s76.photobucket.com/user/Jake_Ackerman/media/20150129_161609_zpsoekcs2py.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j34/Jake_Ackerman/20150129_161609_zpsoekcs2py.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 20150129_161609_zpsoekcs2py.jpg"/></a>
<a href="http://s76.photobucket.com/user/Jake_Ackerman/media/20150129_161447_zpskoua5oj9.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j34/Jake_Ackerman/20150129_161447_zpskoua5oj9.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 20150129_161447_zpskoua5oj9.jpg"/></a>
<a href="http://s76.photobucket.com/user/Jake_Ackerman/media/20150129_161430_zps21liggde.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j34/Jake_Ackerman/20150129_161430_zps21liggde.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 20150129_161430_zps21liggde.jpg"/></a>
obviously if money was not a limiting factor I would have gotten a brand new tank, with that said, I am enjoying this hobby on a budget. I do plan to upgrade the lighting. I am considering two options, a 6x 39watt retrofit, or 2x Arctic-S026 LED fixtures. I would like to lean twards the leds because these two setups are almost the exact same wattage and I feel not only would I get more par from them, they transmit less heat, wont have to replace bulbs, and are more tidy and modular, plus I would not have to build a canopy.
I do plan to make this a mixed reef with sps dominating the upper third of the tank, lps in the middle, and softies zoas and rics occupying the lower region.
Here are some livestock pics
<a href="http://s76.photobucket.com/user/Jake_Ackerman/media/20150128_195523_zpsdel2orri.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j34/Jake_Ackerman/20150128_195523_zpsdel2orri.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 20150128_195523_zpsdel2orri.jpg"/></a>
<a href="http://s76.photobucket.com/user/Jake_Ackerman/media/20150129_161054_zpslygcqtax.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j34/Jake_Ackerman/20150129_161054_zpslygcqtax.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 20150129_161054_zpslygcqtax.jpg"/></a>
All pitures were taken with a galaxy 5s so... and also I tried to upload them from my computer but it wouldn't work so I had to use photobucket and copy HTML code to get it to work. this is my first post with pics so I hope that works and are not jumbo sized. if they are I apologize, might need some tips on posting pics.
Constructive critics are welcome to reply...
