Reef Central Online Community - View Single Post - Jeff's Past Present and Future Reef Journey

jb61264 · 04/14/2009, 11:04 AM

I've been lurking and asking lots of questions on RC so I thought I would finally post some pictures of my past, present, and future reef journey.

My journey actually started about 12 years ago with my first reef which was a 30 gallon breeder...I think I have one print picture of that tank sitting in a shoebox somewhere...need to get it scanned and will post it. I had that tank for almost 3 years until I got married, bought a house, and had a child. I didn't get into the hobby again until a couple years ago (after divorce and moving into an apartment). This tank was a 40 gallon breeder with a 20 gallon sump/refugium that I built, ran a 36" Nova Extreme Pro for lighting.

Here is the refugium I built:

Here is the LifeReef overflow and you can see my first experience ever working with PCV/plumbing:

Here is everything set up, sand added and ready to add water:

Here is the tank after about two months, bought about 60lbs of live rock from TampaBay Saltwater which I have in my 29 gallon BioCube today (well...not all 60lbs)

I was so proud of this tank, it was gorgeous and everybody who came to my apartment absolutely loved it.

So, you say, you don't have that tank anymore?...no, I met someone and moved in to her house...she didn't not have enough space required to put my 40 breeder up so I consolidated everything into a 29 gallon BioCube which she like because of the "designer" look which matched her decor. I will post pictures of the current 29 gallon BioCube later.

Since about two months ago, I had to move out of her house (long story...but I may once again move in in the future) and am now in an apartment with my 29 gallon BioCube reef, a 30 gallon freshwater tank, and a modified 10 gallon tank that I have built up for a hitchhiker mantis that came with my original live rock from my TampaBay Saltwater live rock and has been in my reef ever since I trapped it two months ago.

So that is the present...

The future...I just bought someone else's 75 gallon AGA and stand (they included a Red Sea Berlin skimmer) and a 20 gallon sump as well as some crappy lights that I will not be using for $150. I am in the process of scrapping the blue paint off of the back of the tank and will paint it black, I will be slightly ripping apart the stand so I can re-skin it and then beginning the process of planning for the plumbing (have decided to go with the silent, failsafe overflow as posted in the BeanAnimal thread) and turning my current 30 gallon freshwater aquarium into a new sump...there are pictures of the stand and tank in this thread

04/14/2009, 11:04 AM	#1
jb61264 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Planet Earth Posts: 1,112	Jeff's Past Present and Future Reef Journey I've been lurking and asking lots of questions on RC so I thought I would finally post some pictures of my past, present, and future reef journey. My journey actually started about 12 years ago with my first reef which was a 30 gallon breeder...I think I have one print picture of that tank sitting in a shoebox somewhere...need to get it scanned and will post it. I had that tank for almost 3 years until I got married, bought a house, and had a child. I didn't get into the hobby again until a couple years ago (after divorce and moving into an apartment). This tank was a 40 gallon breeder with a 20 gallon sump/refugium that I built, ran a 36" Nova Extreme Pro for lighting. Here is the refugium I built: Here is the LifeReef overflow and you can see my first experience ever working with PCV/plumbing: Here is everything set up, sand added and ready to add water: Here is the tank after about two months, bought about 60lbs of live rock from TampaBay Saltwater which I have in my 29 gallon BioCube today (well...not all 60lbs) I was so proud of this tank, it was gorgeous and everybody who came to my apartment absolutely loved it. So, you say, you don't have that tank anymore?...no, I met someone and moved in to her house...she didn't not have enough space required to put my 40 breeder up so I consolidated everything into a 29 gallon BioCube which she like because of the "designer" look which matched her decor. I will post pictures of the current 29 gallon BioCube later. Since about two months ago, I had to move out of her house (long story...but I may once again move in in the future) and am now in an apartment with my 29 gallon BioCube reef, a 30 gallon freshwater tank, and a modified 10 gallon tank that I have built up for a hitchhiker mantis that came with my original live rock from my TampaBay Saltwater live rock and has been in my reef ever since I trapped it two months ago. So that is the present... The future...I just bought someone else's 75 gallon AGA and stand (they included a Red Sea Berlin skimmer) and a 20 gallon sump as well as some crappy lights that I will not be using for $150. I am in the process of scrapping the blue paint off of the back of the tank and will paint it black, I will be slightly ripping apart the stand so I can re-skin it and then beginning the process of planning for the plumbing (have decided to go with the silent, failsafe overflow as posted in the BeanAnimal thread) and turning my current 30 gallon freshwater aquarium into a new sump...there are pictures of the stand and tank in this thread