KENthereefnoob
04/24/2015, 04:57 AM
Hi all, im new to the forum but not to aquarium keeping. i have been keeping aquariums since i was a child in the 90's, freshwater, and saltwater FOLWR since 2003. i love lions and puffers but after a break from the hobby from 2011-2014, about a year ago i decided i would start up again but this time i would delve into reef keeping. i thought i would ease into it and gradually learn how to responsibly keep coral and other sessile creatures. here are some pics of my set up:
90 gallon tank with a 5 gallon wet/dry sump
this is what it looked like when i first set it up at the beginning of 2014. i was running a T5HO set up at the time
http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee480/LONO101/aquarium/WP_20140317_20_43_44_Pro_zps6tvd5io2.jpg (http://s1229.photobucket.com/user/LONO101/media/aquarium/WP_20140317_20_43_44_Pro_zps6tvd5io2.jpg.html)
last october i sprung for two aquaillumination hydra LED lights and the director and havent looked back. i noticed my small frags have been growing strong since i switched to the LEDs and i love being able to fine tune their output throughout the day.
(sorry for the less than great pics, these were taken with my camera phone)
http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee480/LONO101/aquarium/WP_20140317_20_43_37_Pro_zpsmmqykzpx.jpg (http://s1229.photobucket.com/user/LONO101/media/aquarium/WP_20140317_20_43_37_Pro_zpsmmqykzpx.jpg.html)
http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee480/LONO101/aquarium/WP_20150420_14_06_38_Pro_zps9ktdrn7z.jpg (http://s1229.photobucket.com/user/LONO101/media/aquarium/WP_20150420_14_06_38_Pro_zps9ktdrn7z.jpg.html)
these are my tenants
http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee480/LONO101/aquarium/WP_20150419_16_38_19_Pro_zpsywmke6xh.jpg (http://s1229.photobucket.com/user/LONO101/media/aquarium/WP_20150419_16_38_19_Pro_zpsywmke6xh.jpg.html)
http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee480/LONO101/aquarium/WP_20150419_16_38_11_Pro_zpsdhlrxkib.jpg (http://s1229.photobucket.com/user/LONO101/media/aquarium/WP_20150419_16_38_11_Pro_zpsdhlrxkib.jpg.html)
http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee480/LONO101/aquarium/WP_20150419_16_38_03_Pro_zpsaz7dreux.jpg (http://s1229.photobucket.com/user/LONO101/media/aquarium/WP_20150419_16_38_03_Pro_zpsaz7dreux.jpg.html)
http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee480/LONO101/aquarium/WP_20150419_16_37_56_Pro_zpsx2plumva.jpg (http://s1229.photobucket.com/user/LONO101/media/aquarium/WP_20150419_16_37_56_Pro_zpsx2plumva.jpg.html)
http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee480/LONO101/aquarium/WP_20150419_16_38_31_Pro_zps2kgvbo03.jpg (http://s1229.photobucket.com/user/LONO101/media/aquarium/WP_20150419_16_38_31_Pro_zps2kgvbo03.jpg.html)
this is my lighting set up, i milled some custom stands for the hydras out of some scrap aluminum stock i wanted to re-purpose. i still need to run a finishing pass on them.
http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee480/LONO101/aquarium/WP_20150419_16_39_02_Pro_zpsm100vgde.jpg (http://s1229.photobucket.com/user/LONO101/media/aquarium/WP_20150419_16_39_02_Pro_zpsm100vgde.jpg.html)
http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee480/LONO101/aquarium/WP_20150419_16_38_55_Pro_zpsgbmlkwsy.jpg (http://s1229.photobucket.com/user/LONO101/media/aquarium/WP_20150419_16_38_55_Pro_zpsgbmlkwsy.jpg.html)
here's what it looks like under the hood. nothing impressive, just a wet/dry sump, my kalk bottle/drip, a fluval 304 and some cleaning gear. i recently took my old protein skimmer out of the sump and dropped some mangroves and an LED light in my sump. so far, my ammonia, nitrites, nitrates and phos are all either at zero or close to, although i do get a lot of algae buld up on my glass and substrate, which is exactly where it was at with the protein skimmer, but with much more agressive algae build up on my glass when the skimmer was in there.
i know its not the latest and greatest set up, but i love it. i plan to add a few more power heads, a new heater, and more live rock. i recently read that im living in the past with my wet/dry and that refugiums are the way to go. with a crack that has developed in my sump, i decided to build my own custom refugium sump out of a 29 gallon tank i got from petco. i hope to set the baffles and get it in the mix by next week. ill post pics when its finished and tested.
any comments, opinions or suggestions on how to improve my set up would be welcomed. i know that i still employ some out of date bear and techniques, please feel free to bring me into 2015 at any time.
90 gallon tank with a 5 gallon wet/dry sump
this is what it looked like when i first set it up at the beginning of 2014. i was running a T5HO set up at the time
http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee480/LONO101/aquarium/WP_20140317_20_43_44_Pro_zps6tvd5io2.jpg (http://s1229.photobucket.com/user/LONO101/media/aquarium/WP_20140317_20_43_44_Pro_zps6tvd5io2.jpg.html)
last october i sprung for two aquaillumination hydra LED lights and the director and havent looked back. i noticed my small frags have been growing strong since i switched to the LEDs and i love being able to fine tune their output throughout the day.
(sorry for the less than great pics, these were taken with my camera phone)
http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee480/LONO101/aquarium/WP_20140317_20_43_37_Pro_zpsmmqykzpx.jpg (http://s1229.photobucket.com/user/LONO101/media/aquarium/WP_20140317_20_43_37_Pro_zpsmmqykzpx.jpg.html)
http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee480/LONO101/aquarium/WP_20150420_14_06_38_Pro_zps9ktdrn7z.jpg (http://s1229.photobucket.com/user/LONO101/media/aquarium/WP_20150420_14_06_38_Pro_zps9ktdrn7z.jpg.html)
these are my tenants
http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee480/LONO101/aquarium/WP_20150419_16_38_19_Pro_zpsywmke6xh.jpg (http://s1229.photobucket.com/user/LONO101/media/aquarium/WP_20150419_16_38_19_Pro_zpsywmke6xh.jpg.html)
http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee480/LONO101/aquarium/WP_20150419_16_38_11_Pro_zpsdhlrxkib.jpg (http://s1229.photobucket.com/user/LONO101/media/aquarium/WP_20150419_16_38_11_Pro_zpsdhlrxkib.jpg.html)
http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee480/LONO101/aquarium/WP_20150419_16_38_03_Pro_zpsaz7dreux.jpg (http://s1229.photobucket.com/user/LONO101/media/aquarium/WP_20150419_16_38_03_Pro_zpsaz7dreux.jpg.html)
http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee480/LONO101/aquarium/WP_20150419_16_37_56_Pro_zpsx2plumva.jpg (http://s1229.photobucket.com/user/LONO101/media/aquarium/WP_20150419_16_37_56_Pro_zpsx2plumva.jpg.html)
http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee480/LONO101/aquarium/WP_20150419_16_38_31_Pro_zps2kgvbo03.jpg (http://s1229.photobucket.com/user/LONO101/media/aquarium/WP_20150419_16_38_31_Pro_zps2kgvbo03.jpg.html)
this is my lighting set up, i milled some custom stands for the hydras out of some scrap aluminum stock i wanted to re-purpose. i still need to run a finishing pass on them.
http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee480/LONO101/aquarium/WP_20150419_16_39_02_Pro_zpsm100vgde.jpg (http://s1229.photobucket.com/user/LONO101/media/aquarium/WP_20150419_16_39_02_Pro_zpsm100vgde.jpg.html)
http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee480/LONO101/aquarium/WP_20150419_16_38_55_Pro_zpsgbmlkwsy.jpg (http://s1229.photobucket.com/user/LONO101/media/aquarium/WP_20150419_16_38_55_Pro_zpsgbmlkwsy.jpg.html)
here's what it looks like under the hood. nothing impressive, just a wet/dry sump, my kalk bottle/drip, a fluval 304 and some cleaning gear. i recently took my old protein skimmer out of the sump and dropped some mangroves and an LED light in my sump. so far, my ammonia, nitrites, nitrates and phos are all either at zero or close to, although i do get a lot of algae buld up on my glass and substrate, which is exactly where it was at with the protein skimmer, but with much more agressive algae build up on my glass when the skimmer was in there.
i know its not the latest and greatest set up, but i love it. i plan to add a few more power heads, a new heater, and more live rock. i recently read that im living in the past with my wet/dry and that refugiums are the way to go. with a crack that has developed in my sump, i decided to build my own custom refugium sump out of a 29 gallon tank i got from petco. i hope to set the baffles and get it in the mix by next week. ill post pics when its finished and tested.
any comments, opinions or suggestions on how to improve my set up would be welcomed. i know that i still employ some out of date bear and techniques, please feel free to bring me into 2015 at any time.