Starting over...again

Murdock5150

Member
So it's been 8yrs since I've been on RC. :eek1:

Since there is no "Returning to the Hobby" forum, I figured I would post here.

To make a short story long, we had a beautiful 72 gal bowfront reef that crashed (twice) after moving. Once when we had orders from Montana to California, and a 2nd time shortly thereafter. That ordeal can be found here:

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=949264

We had orders to move again to San Diego in 2009, so decided to put everything in storage. We donated the livestock to a local LFS and moved on. It was rough, but we knew it was best to take a break until we didn't have to move anymore.

Fast forward to now. I retired from the Air force last June after 21yrs. We own a house in Surprise, AZ and have decided to give it another go. :)

It's great to be back and see a lot of familiar faces along with so many new ones as well!

So onto business.

We have decided to go bigger than the previous 72 gal setup for a few reasons. First off, I think that a bigger volume of water is much more forgiving in terms of small mistakes. Secondly, it isn't feasible for us to setup a separate fish room this time, so I need the extra space that a larger stand provides.

Our stand is currently being built and should be here in about 2 weeks. I made sure to have a door installed on the left side that will allow me to add or remove ANYTHING that I can fit under the DT. I do not want to have to drain the tank to remove equipment.

This is what we have on hand so far to get started:

210 gal tank
220 lbs rock (Fiji, Pukani, and Tonga branch mix)
240 lbs sand
2x Maxspect XF250 Gyre pumps
3x Kessil A360 LEDs
Eshopps 3rd Gen ADV-300 Sump/refugium
ETS 800 Downdraft Skimmer w/Mag 12 pump
Syncra 5.0 pump for return
Tunze Osmolator 3155 ATO
Korallin C1502 Calcium Reactor
Precision Reef Kalkreactor
Two Little Fishies GFO Phosban Reactor 150
APEX Controller System

Of course we also have several other misc items, but this list is the bulk of the setup.

I'd love to hear any thoughts, comments, concerns...etc.

Thanks in advance. It's great to be back in the hobby!
 
Welcome back. Looks like you have some nice equipment.

Any stocking plans?

We have several things planned. Most of which require a fairly mature tank. Our main focus right now is bullet proofing our setup as best we can.

Luckily I saved all of our rock, so it's been in some brute cans curing in the garage.

We also are building a foam background that I will post pics of later.
 
I remember your avatar from old post you participated in. Welcome back! I was born and raised in the Valley, and the one things I miss aside from the restaurants are the great fish stores. A 210 is one enormous tank, some tank envy here. I wish you nothing but success.
 
If you don't mind me asking, where'd you get the tank? I'll be looking for one in that size range within the next year or two.
 
Welcome back,
I am in the Phoenix area West Side as well. You have a real nice new store right up there in your area.
Are we allowed to name favorite stores on this site?

Either way welcome back and if I can ever get my tank on track maybe we can swap some frags one day.
 
Welcome back,
I am in the Phoenix area West Side as well. You have a real nice new store right up there in your area.
Are we allowed to name favorite stores on this site?

Either way welcome back and if I can ever get my tank on track maybe we can swap some frags one day.

As far as I know there are no rules against naming stores. Unless maybe you are bad mouthing them or something. Maybe just PM me the name?
 
I live in avondale.that is going to be a nice setup you got.are your guys talking about the junkies shop?

They have some great stuff too. He was telling me about Studio Blue. I went by there today. Probably one of the cleanest shops I've ever been to. Great selection of corals and fish too.
 
Welcome back bro.. we are all soldiers when it comes to serious reefers, maybe not quite as dedicated as a Military man such as your self, but we never surrender and always find ourselves coming back to the fight of a living reef in our living rooms lol... Read your postings from back in 06 and wow very disheartening (and comical in some sick ways) but glad your back and good luck on the next endeavor..
 
It's definitely been an adventure. Hopefully this time around I can learn from my past mistakes and have an even better looking reef than before.
 
It's definitely been an adventure. Hopefully this time around I can learn from my past mistakes and have an even better looking reef than before.
:fish1: Hi, and glad to see you back here, I noticed you have an 800 ETSS protein skimmer, the Mag 12 will work, but in order to get the maximum performance out of that skimmer, you should use one of the Iwaki pressure rated pumps. I started with the 55 RLT, and then upped it to the 70 RLT, made a huge difference over the Mag pumps. That was the best skimmer I ever used, before I upgraded the ETSS skimmer to a 1500 model for my current system. To bad Gary shut down the business, as these skimmers are still the best on the market, you just need a big pressure rated pump to drive them, which also uses a lot of electricity. Good luck with your new system. :fish1:
 
:fish1: Hi, and glad to see you back here, I noticed you have an 800 ETSS protein skimmer, the Mag 12 will work, but in order to get the maximum performance out of that skimmer, you should use one of the Iwaki pressure rated pumps. I started with the 55 RLT, and then upped it to the 70 RLT, made a huge difference over the Mag pumps. That was the best skimmer I ever used, before I upgraded the ETSS skimmer to a 1500 model for my current system. To bad Gary shut down the business, as these skimmers are still the best on the market, you just need a big pressure rated pump to drive them, which also uses a lot of electricity. Good luck with your new system. :fish1:

Thanks for the info on the pump!
 
just got back from vacation. Yes Junkies has some good stuff but studio blue is the cleanest store I have ever been in. Both will try to match prices when they can. I have often gone in and said I can get this online for this much but want to keep my money local how far can you match without losing money and I but from them. Good people at both stores for us west siders.
 
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