I like to read. One day while reading a magazine I exhausted all the freshwater content and decided to read back through it and hit the saltwater content. First thing I read was about pistol/goby pairs. I had to learn more. Enter Reef Central. I'll have you know that the massive backlog of old threads are a wonderful place for someone like me. I search something interesting and can click through pages and pages of opinions and facts on a particular subject. I began planning how too turn my then discus tank into a saltwater tank.
It's a terrible picture, but you get the idea of their colors. They were gorgeous!
Anyway I read a thread there on local fish stores. Enter Jason's Tropical Reef Fish Store! I basically went there to check it out. Look at livestock in person and such. I wasn't disappointed. Jason was super helpful and full of advice, including Socalireefs.
My husband helped me build a stand. We used plans developed by an engineer here on RC. Neither of us are particularly adept at building things with wood, so we probably wasted a little more materials and did things a little harder than another with experience would have.
The doors are mounted with drawer slides. I'm sure it's not that big of a leap for most of you to make, but for Johnny and me it was a break through. We wracked our little brains trying to think of a way to mount doors that would slide smoothly across the front. The 'aha!' moment was satisfying.
Johnny says we could park my car on it. I feel pretty good about it.
With the stand built I hit a snag. We had a chance to buy a house so we jumped on it. Reef tank on hold. Bought house. Renovated house extensively. New paint all over, new carpet, tear down nasty popcorn ceiling, install 2 new toilets, new water heater, run plumbing for washing machine to be inside instead of outside under house (seriously?). We sort of sat for a week or two in a kind of catatonic state after that. And then my husband that I love dearly said to me, "so what do you need to finish that tank?" So I ordered a glass hole saw, he bought me plumbing parts and glass for baffles and overflow and I started poking holes in my tank.
The first hole plug.
The water corraling contraption.
And the first hole! I was very proud. It only took me 1 hour and 45 minutes. Ya. I have since discovered that going as fast as my little drill will go is ok after I get the initial groove and that still only got me down to about 30 minutes. I also had a hole that took me 2 hours. I suspect that my drill bit is of inferior quality.
Sump baffles were easy, and the first thing I've ever done with silicone. I got some little bubbles but I'm not terribly upset about them.
And the finished sump!
It's a terrible picture, but you get the idea of their colors. They were gorgeous!
Anyway I read a thread there on local fish stores. Enter Jason's Tropical Reef Fish Store! I basically went there to check it out. Look at livestock in person and such. I wasn't disappointed. Jason was super helpful and full of advice, including Socalireefs.
My husband helped me build a stand. We used plans developed by an engineer here on RC. Neither of us are particularly adept at building things with wood, so we probably wasted a little more materials and did things a little harder than another with experience would have.
The doors are mounted with drawer slides. I'm sure it's not that big of a leap for most of you to make, but for Johnny and me it was a break through. We wracked our little brains trying to think of a way to mount doors that would slide smoothly across the front. The 'aha!' moment was satisfying.
Johnny says we could park my car on it. I feel pretty good about it.
With the stand built I hit a snag. We had a chance to buy a house so we jumped on it. Reef tank on hold. Bought house. Renovated house extensively. New paint all over, new carpet, tear down nasty popcorn ceiling, install 2 new toilets, new water heater, run plumbing for washing machine to be inside instead of outside under house (seriously?). We sort of sat for a week or two in a kind of catatonic state after that. And then my husband that I love dearly said to me, "so what do you need to finish that tank?" So I ordered a glass hole saw, he bought me plumbing parts and glass for baffles and overflow and I started poking holes in my tank.
The first hole plug.
The water corraling contraption.
And the first hole! I was very proud. It only took me 1 hour and 45 minutes. Ya. I have since discovered that going as fast as my little drill will go is ok after I get the initial groove and that still only got me down to about 30 minutes. I also had a hole that took me 2 hours. I suspect that my drill bit is of inferior quality.
Sump baffles were easy, and the first thing I've ever done with silicone. I got some little bubbles but I'm not terribly upset about them.
And the finished sump!
He didn't let me empty the water from the one with water in it. I was going to, went and got the lil airline hose and was on the way back down the stairs... SMASH SMASH SMASH. Hmm, guess I don't need the hose anymore. 
The only issue I've run into so far with the sliding doors is space consideration. Nothing can sit next to the tank unless it's narrower and the tank has to be a certain distant from the wall to be able to make full use of the door.
The skimmer I got is a berlin x2. Since I got it I've read that they aren't that great, but I suppose it will do until I can get another one. I allowed room in the skimmer section of the sump for a larger one later. 
