This will be a record of the progress and questions I have while slowly working toward setting up my dream reef. Any and all feedback will be welcome and appreciated!
First a little background about me.
My name is Todd. I'm a husband, proud father of three and struck driver for a local lumber company. I have been keeping fish for pretty much my entire life focusing mainly on rare African cichlids up until I received a JBJ Picotope for Christmas last year. I decided to dip my toes into reefkeeping. Long story short, it didn't take long before I wanted to dive in! Within a few months I upgraded to a custom 40gallon setup. It didn't take long before I wanted to go bigger. Already having a 7ft 265 setup in my dining room full of Tanganyikan cichlids, the path was pretty clear. Within about 2 months of making the decision to switch the tank over I had all the cichlids sold and the tank broken down and the reef build began.
First thing to do was clean up, reseal, and go rimless. I was sick of both the ugly top trim and the way that the two black acrylic braces created shadows in the tank. So after removing the top trim to aid in the reseal I realized that the braces were completely independent of the rim and were the only structural part. I cut out the center actions of theses and replaced it with 1/4" clear acrylic. Shadows gone!! Being on a budget I couldn't afford to just go out and purchase all the equipment and rock to complete the entire tank. What I have done is place the 90lbs of live rock from the old tank and sump into the center if the big tank and place the two lights that I can afford right now directly over it. As funds become available I will be picking up more live or dry rock and filling up the back of the tank as well as grabbing 4 more lights to cover the whole tank.
Here are a few shots of the old setups as well as my progress so far:
The 265 in its former glory
The Pico
The 40
The 265 awaiting a new start
p
First a little background about me.
My name is Todd. I'm a husband, proud father of three and struck driver for a local lumber company. I have been keeping fish for pretty much my entire life focusing mainly on rare African cichlids up until I received a JBJ Picotope for Christmas last year. I decided to dip my toes into reefkeeping. Long story short, it didn't take long before I wanted to dive in! Within a few months I upgraded to a custom 40gallon setup. It didn't take long before I wanted to go bigger. Already having a 7ft 265 setup in my dining room full of Tanganyikan cichlids, the path was pretty clear. Within about 2 months of making the decision to switch the tank over I had all the cichlids sold and the tank broken down and the reef build began.
First thing to do was clean up, reseal, and go rimless. I was sick of both the ugly top trim and the way that the two black acrylic braces created shadows in the tank. So after removing the top trim to aid in the reseal I realized that the braces were completely independent of the rim and were the only structural part. I cut out the center actions of theses and replaced it with 1/4" clear acrylic. Shadows gone!! Being on a budget I couldn't afford to just go out and purchase all the equipment and rock to complete the entire tank. What I have done is place the 90lbs of live rock from the old tank and sump into the center if the big tank and place the two lights that I can afford right now directly over it. As funds become available I will be picking up more live or dry rock and filling up the back of the tank as well as grabbing 4 more lights to cover the whole tank.
Here are a few shots of the old setups as well as my progress so far:
The 265 in its former glory
The Pico
The 40
The 265 awaiting a new start
p
