cfc1016 Posted October 13, 2017 Author Posted October 13, 2017 @toofargone That's rough. I'm sorry to hear it, man. I've been on and off in the hobby for ~20 years. I definitely go 'off' for extended periods, lol. I've currently got a ~6'x2'x2' acrylic. I've probably put a little over $2k into it, all told. Tank was free. I designed and built the stand (still haven't designed/built a pretty facade though. Planning doors is HARD!). Built the fuge/sump out of a second hand 40 breeder. That lobo is ~1' across. Got it while bulk buying my friend's coral when he broke down his tank. HE got it while bulk buying someone else's coral during a tank breakdown. We estimate it's about 30 years old. Would probably sell for a couple thousand bucks at a shop. I definitely didn't pay that much.
MasterShake72 Posted October 13, 2017 Posted October 13, 2017 I used to be into reefkeeping and it was a lot of fun. I had a 6 x 1.5 x 2 acyrllic bowfront and just ran some T5s which kept the heat down and allowed me to grow softies, zoos and LPS just fine. I tried SPS once at the top and it browned out pretty quickly. I miss the clams more than anything though, had a couple neat Maximas that would be hard to find something similar to without paying an arm and a leg now. I stopped basically when I couldn't trust anyone to watch it while I was gone. Finding someone to handle feeding the fish is one thing, but finding someone who would be capable of dosing the tank or God forbid replacing faulty equipment would be an impossibility for me these days. That is a beautiful lobo though!
SloppyJ Posted October 13, 2017 Posted October 13, 2017 I have a 93g cube w/ a 30g sump. I use ecotech LEDs and power heads. It's been severely neglected for about 5 months now. I need to do some serious water changes. But yes, I love my reef tank. I used to be much more into it than I currently am. I have everything from SPS to zoas and a few fish to top it off.
SignalJoe Posted October 13, 2017 Posted October 13, 2017 Reefing was always the dark side to me. I have two tanks, a 7x2x2 210G RR and a 6x2x2 180G sitting empty at the moment. They used to house Tanginyikan cichlids. I should probably sell them but with all the money I put in to the tanks, stands, filtration, media and powerheads (4x Ecotech MP-40s) I keep sitting on them thinking the urge to get back in to the hobby will strike me again.
cfc1016 Posted October 14, 2017 Author Posted October 14, 2017 On 10/13/2017 at 2:31 PM, MasterShake72 said: I used to be into reefkeeping and it was a lot of fun. I had a 6 x 1.5 x 2 acyrllic bowfront and just ran some T5s which kept the heat down and allowed me to grow softies, zoos and LPS just fine. I tried SPS once at the top and it browned out pretty quickly. I miss the clams more than anything though, had a couple neat Maximas that would be hard to find something similar to without paying an arm and a leg now. I stopped basically when I couldn't trust anyone to watch it while I was gone. Finding someone to handle feeding the fish is one thing, but finding someone who would be capable of dosing the tank or God forbid replacing faulty equipment would be an impossibility for me these days. That is a beautiful lobo though! I'm focused on LPS/softies. I've got one SPS - a bulletproof birdsnest colony. The big lobo is my prized piece. I've got a big mother colony of toadstool that's dropped a whole bunch of clones all over the tank too. There's one big fluffy variant kf xenia I'm working on getting to natirally frag. It's about the size of a volleyball. I've got a few colonies (~20 heads total) of toxic frogspawn. Those things are incredible. I've got a couple lf rainbow BTAs too. ~15-20 years lf trial and error in the hobby has culminated in this dream tabk for me. Just added 3 new lyretail anthias the other day. One is transitioning to male currently. I'm very excited to finally have a male lyretail. Other fish are: pair of ocellaris; pair of purple firefish; majestic melanurus wrasse; solorensis wrasse; court jester goby and lawnmower blenny. It's my own personal zen garden. I run AI led lights (one prime and one hydra26). Display drains into a ~25 gallon fuge that is bustling with bristleworms, pods of all sorts, stars, mysid shrimp who breed regularly, chaeto and a few species of sponge. That flows into the return chamber where I've got a reef octopus INT125 skimmer and a couple of clarkii clowns who eat whatever ends up making it last the fuge, lol.
cfc1016 Posted October 14, 2017 Author Posted October 14, 2017 On 10/13/2017 at 2:38 PM, SloppyJ said: I have a 93g cube w/ a 30g sump. I use ecotech LEDs and power heads. It's been severely neglected for about 5 months now. I need to do some serious water changes. But yes, I love my reef tank. I used to be much more into it than I currently am. I have everything from SPS to zoas and a few fish to top it off. Every time i do a WC and clean the glass, and hop in my hammock to space out and watch the tank, I'm reminded of why I spent all that time and money, lol 1
cfc1016 Posted October 14, 2017 Author Posted October 14, 2017 22 hours ago, SignalJoe said: Reefing was always the dark side to me. I have two tanks, a 7x2x2 210G RR and a 6x2x2 180G sitting empty at the moment. They used to house Tanginyikan cichlids. I should probably sell them but with all the money I put in to the tanks, stands, filtration, media and powerheads (4x Ecotech MP-40s) I keep sitting on them thinking the urge to get back in to the hobby will strike me again. Tangyinikans are cool. I used to have a south and central american mixed species cichlid tank. I had a male red devil who grew to 14" and was completely white. they develop white spots as the males grow more aggressive. He didn't have any red left... reselling aquarium equipment is always a losing venture. The resale value of used equipment is shit. You might as well just start a FOWLR tank and a reef.
Gargano Posted October 14, 2017 Posted October 14, 2017 Great looking tank. Your corals look healthy. I used to have an 85 gallon reef tank & after a move never set it back up. The amount of time required to keep it looking like you do & $$$ is significant. Being a gadget guy I thought it was fun to research & set up all the gear in an attempt to reproduce the ocean environment. Well done.
cfc1016 Posted October 14, 2017 Author Posted October 14, 2017 22 minutes ago, Gargano said: Great looking tank. Your corals look healthy. I used to have an 85 gallon reef tank & after a move never set it back up. The amount of time required to keep it looking like you do & $$$ is significant. Being a gadget guy I thought it was fun to research & set up all the gear in an attempt to reproduce the ocean environment. Well done. Thanks! Patience is everything. I had this tank running with nothing but the clowns and fuge stock for ~3 months before I even put in any xenia or GSP. I'm totally focused on the BOTTOM of the food chain. Healthy populations of bacteria and pods is what keeps the water stable. Now that the tank is in equilibrium over a year in, all i do is feed reguland do 5% WCs every few weeks. I've found the thing coral likes most is being left alone, lol
SignalJoe Posted October 16, 2017 Posted October 16, 2017 On 10/14/2017 at 3:45 PM, cfc1016 said: Tangyinikans are cool. I used to have a south and central american mixed species cichlid tank. I had a male red devil who grew to 14" and was completely white. they develop white spots as the males grow more aggressive. He didn't have any red left... reselling aquarium equipment is always a losing venture. The resale value of used equipment is shit. You might as well just start a FOWLR tank and a reef. Tell me about it. Part of the reason I never sold was dealing with all of the tire kickers and low ballers who waste your time when you try to resell. I think ultimately I will sell the 210 and keep the 180. I have a 3D background in it that spent over $700 on. I thought about a fowler and even reefing (though I sold the metal halide fixure that came with it) but my large acrylic sump (30x20x20) sprung a leak. To fix it I have to completely break down the tank and pull the tank and stand away from the wall (same way I got it in there). Though If I'm being completely honest I enjoy not doing the weekly 50% water changes and cleaning filters anymore.
cfc1016 Posted October 17, 2017 Author Posted October 17, 2017 I am bereft. After nearly a year of being a happy member of my reef community, my solorensis wrasse somehow found a gap in the tank lid and went carpet surfing. By the time I found him, it was beyond too late. He was such a wonderful fish. RIP little viking.
SignalJoe Posted October 18, 2017 Posted October 18, 2017 Sorry to hear that bud. Unfortunately it is part of fish keeping. I have found dried out fish in spots I couldn't believe.
cfc1016 Posted October 18, 2017 Author Posted October 18, 2017 Thanks. I've still got rainbow BTAs to look at, atleast
Gargano Posted October 18, 2017 Posted October 18, 2017 Every eel I ever had ended up eel jerky on the floor.
cfc1016 Posted October 18, 2017 Author Posted October 18, 2017 4 minutes ago, Gargano said: Every eel I ever had ended up eel jerky on the floor. Yeah you definitely need tight fitting lids for eels
BJRPorter Posted October 18, 2017 Posted October 18, 2017 Great pics. I did a custom in wall at my previous house. 240g. Housing market doubled in SoCal, and it stayed with the house. One day I’ll do another.
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