luisgo
Member
One of the challenges in this hobby is to keep a tank long term. Some people have great tanks and after two or three years they are gone. There are many reasons for this. Sometimes are economical problems, moving from one place to another, health problems, just I don't like it anymore, or too much work to keep the tank.
For me this hobby is passion, like a long term experiment, like a balancing act. After 20 years I am not sure what to do if my tank was not there to put my hands in the water. I started when I was 33 and today I am 53 year old.
This year my tank will be 20 years old and I want to share some photos. One of my favorite hobbies is photography and I am presenting photos of my tank during those 20 years.
The original tank was setup in December 1990. As you can see from the photos I have lost many corals but the live rock I have today is the same from 1990!. In the last four years I have been successful in keeping corals for several years. We have to remember that information during the 90's was not available as it is today with the internet. There was no Reef Central to ask for help.
During those years I had several incidents.
On June 1994 a canister filter leak emptied 50% of the water in the tank. Many corals were exposed to the air and died.
On September 1996 a hurricane hit the island of Puerto Rico where I live and there was no power for seven days. 12 volts bilge pumps used in boats connected to my car battery maintained the tank.
On 1998 I changed my 100 to a 125 gallon because of scratches in the glass.
On 2004 during a two weeks vacation out of my house. A decrease in salinity resulted from an overflow of the skimmer. The reverse osmosis float was connected to the sump and added a lot of freshwater to the tank. Now I have only a 5 gallon top-off system to avoid this.
During the move of the tank from the garage to a terrace in the back of my house on February 2006, there was a mayor construction in my house and the tank was on the floor with only two power heads for four months. This also affected some of the corals.
There were some ups and downs but with every situation I came with more determination to improve my tank and that is why it's still running today.
One of the best experiences during all these years was the nomination of tank of the month in Reefkeeping Magazine on November 2008.
1990 "“ 12
1991 "“ 04
1992 "“ 05
1993 - 10
1994 "“ 10
1996 "“ 03
1997 "“ 01
1998 "“ 02
1999 "“ 03
1999 "“ 10
For me this hobby is passion, like a long term experiment, like a balancing act. After 20 years I am not sure what to do if my tank was not there to put my hands in the water. I started when I was 33 and today I am 53 year old.
This year my tank will be 20 years old and I want to share some photos. One of my favorite hobbies is photography and I am presenting photos of my tank during those 20 years.
The original tank was setup in December 1990. As you can see from the photos I have lost many corals but the live rock I have today is the same from 1990!. In the last four years I have been successful in keeping corals for several years. We have to remember that information during the 90's was not available as it is today with the internet. There was no Reef Central to ask for help.
During those years I had several incidents.
On June 1994 a canister filter leak emptied 50% of the water in the tank. Many corals were exposed to the air and died.
On September 1996 a hurricane hit the island of Puerto Rico where I live and there was no power for seven days. 12 volts bilge pumps used in boats connected to my car battery maintained the tank.
On 1998 I changed my 100 to a 125 gallon because of scratches in the glass.
On 2004 during a two weeks vacation out of my house. A decrease in salinity resulted from an overflow of the skimmer. The reverse osmosis float was connected to the sump and added a lot of freshwater to the tank. Now I have only a 5 gallon top-off system to avoid this.
During the move of the tank from the garage to a terrace in the back of my house on February 2006, there was a mayor construction in my house and the tank was on the floor with only two power heads for four months. This also affected some of the corals.
There were some ups and downs but with every situation I came with more determination to improve my tank and that is why it's still running today.
One of the best experiences during all these years was the nomination of tank of the month in Reefkeeping Magazine on November 2008.
1990 "“ 12
1991 "“ 04
1992 "“ 05
1993 - 10
1994 "“ 10
1996 "“ 03
1997 "“ 01
1998 "“ 02
1999 "“ 03
1999 "“ 10
