vanmo92
New member
Its been a while since I've been active here on Reef Central, since I havent been active in the hobby. But recently I have been an active lurker on many forums here. Refreshing myself on as much info as possible, and getting answers to my questions via previous threads. I have had my 72gallon bowfront setup for about 7-8 years, I don't remember exactly when it was setup, and metadata on all my old pictures has been reset to show a date which I know isnt accurate. It all started with a 10 gallon, then a 20 gallon, and I made the usual lot of n00b mistakes. Not to mention that was all while I was still living with my parents, and was unemployed so I was forced to cut a lot of corners, and did a lot of sketchy DIY and rigged many potential death traps.
The Original 20 Gallon that started it all:
Sometime in 2006 or 2007 if I remember correctly I upgraded that box of hair algae to a 72 gallon bow front. Got an RO/DI unit, ASM G3 Skimmer and a few other essentials, but still set it up more or less on the cheap. Rubbermaid sump, Normal Output lighting, etc. It actually did quite well, it didn't take me to long to figure out what I was doing for the most part and fine tune things to make them run smoothly. Aside from a kenya tree (which did fantastic under the Power compact lights I ultimately got from a fellow reefer) I never attempted any coral, I was already running my parents energy bill high enough with what I had (also had like 7 freshwater tanks) and the option of Metal halides was off the table, let alone affording everything else I would need for coral (frags themselves, more powerheads, lights, supplements, test kits etc) I just stuck with FOWLR.
I graduated high school in 2010 and after that my attention in life shifted to other things. And aside from feeding once every day or so the tank didn't even cross my mind. My mom was familiar (for the most part) with how everything on the tank operated and how to carry out the regular maintenance task that needed to get done, and when I wasnt around she took care of it (which was usually). Then in 2012 I moved out and got my own place. All my freshwater tanks were taken down and consolidated into a 60g cube (which was recently shut down). And I left my mom to take care of that and my saltwater tank, since I really didn't see how I would fit it into my new place or my new life. Not to mention I didn't have any motivation to work on it, or spend money on it. Every time I visited my parents and saw the tank yes it looked rather neglected and Coraline algae covered 80% of the front glass, but the fish appeared healthy, so I really wanst concerned about it. Until recently that is.
A year or so ago I set up one of my old freshwater tanks, since I figured that wouldnt be to much risk to the rental house, but I'm already getting bored with that. My mom called my saying that the yellow tang wasnt eating and appeared sick. Im still not sure where the random enthusiasm came from but at that moment I knew I had to take the care of my animals back into my own hands. I started doing all sorts of calculations like could the floor in my house indeed hold the weight of the tank (one of my main concerns before), which assuming my house is up to code it can. I had been in a bit of a rut and was looking for something to take my time and attention. Not to mention I wanted to relive my mom of her duties and obligation to pay the bill, which included hauling water from the grocery store since my RO unit went out years ago. I decided there is no time like the present, I got a new roommate at the beginning of April and I wanted to have it in by then. So I made plans with my mom, and with my current roommate to help me move it on our day off. Moving day was March 4th of this year.
The tank at my parents house before moving it
Drained out the water
Kept the live rock wet in rubbermaid bins. Some of these were quite heavy.
Kept as much of the water as possible in 5g water jugs and in rubbermaid bins
The Original 20 Gallon that started it all:
Sometime in 2006 or 2007 if I remember correctly I upgraded that box of hair algae to a 72 gallon bow front. Got an RO/DI unit, ASM G3 Skimmer and a few other essentials, but still set it up more or less on the cheap. Rubbermaid sump, Normal Output lighting, etc. It actually did quite well, it didn't take me to long to figure out what I was doing for the most part and fine tune things to make them run smoothly. Aside from a kenya tree (which did fantastic under the Power compact lights I ultimately got from a fellow reefer) I never attempted any coral, I was already running my parents energy bill high enough with what I had (also had like 7 freshwater tanks) and the option of Metal halides was off the table, let alone affording everything else I would need for coral (frags themselves, more powerheads, lights, supplements, test kits etc) I just stuck with FOWLR.
I graduated high school in 2010 and after that my attention in life shifted to other things. And aside from feeding once every day or so the tank didn't even cross my mind. My mom was familiar (for the most part) with how everything on the tank operated and how to carry out the regular maintenance task that needed to get done, and when I wasnt around she took care of it (which was usually). Then in 2012 I moved out and got my own place. All my freshwater tanks were taken down and consolidated into a 60g cube (which was recently shut down). And I left my mom to take care of that and my saltwater tank, since I really didn't see how I would fit it into my new place or my new life. Not to mention I didn't have any motivation to work on it, or spend money on it. Every time I visited my parents and saw the tank yes it looked rather neglected and Coraline algae covered 80% of the front glass, but the fish appeared healthy, so I really wanst concerned about it. Until recently that is.
A year or so ago I set up one of my old freshwater tanks, since I figured that wouldnt be to much risk to the rental house, but I'm already getting bored with that. My mom called my saying that the yellow tang wasnt eating and appeared sick. Im still not sure where the random enthusiasm came from but at that moment I knew I had to take the care of my animals back into my own hands. I started doing all sorts of calculations like could the floor in my house indeed hold the weight of the tank (one of my main concerns before), which assuming my house is up to code it can. I had been in a bit of a rut and was looking for something to take my time and attention. Not to mention I wanted to relive my mom of her duties and obligation to pay the bill, which included hauling water from the grocery store since my RO unit went out years ago. I decided there is no time like the present, I got a new roommate at the beginning of April and I wanted to have it in by then. So I made plans with my mom, and with my current roommate to help me move it on our day off. Moving day was March 4th of this year.
The tank at my parents house before moving it
Drained out the water
Kept the live rock wet in rubbermaid bins. Some of these were quite heavy.
Kept as much of the water as possible in 5g water jugs and in rubbermaid bins
