brettz16
Member
Well i needed to take a break from work and decided to go through all my old picture on my computer. I came across all my old tanks which brought up some horrible and embarrassing memories. I think most of us can jump on the "What the hell were you thinking" boat, when it comes to out first tanks. Even though il probably get a couple laughs here, Il post my previous tanks anyways. Maybe it will make some new reefers look really good. Well make mistakes and thats why we have the powerful tools like CR. So Here are some of my previous tanks and thought it would be cool to see some of yours.
Up first: March 2010 - September 2010
equipment:
Nano Cube CF
CPR Skimmer
40# Fiji
20# Car. sand
The good:
This was my first aquarium ever(salt or fresh). Thanks to Mlreef, i decided to try out the world of saltwater aquaria. I have always been interested in the ocean and thought it would be nice to have a small piece of it. Set up was nice since the nano cube comes with basically all the basics. Cycle went though without a hitch and i slowly added livestock. This is where it went bad
the bad
Just after i added my first livestock, i learned about the mantis shrimp that came with my rock. My Cleaner shrimp didnt even get to reach the SB before he was eaten. This was a horrible start considering i had to rearrange my rock work 3 times to get 4 mantis. then the newbie that i was, didnt realize that only freshwater evaporates, not the salt. So eveytime i added top off, I was adding saltwater, obviously raising the salinity. Eventually learned the correct way. Then i was adding all kinds of additives like Mag, iodine, etc when i didnt realize my WC's were taking care of it. I basically stressed the tank to its max and decided to sell the Cube.
View attachment 12851
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Second tank: NOV 2010 - JAN 2011
100G all-glass
JBJ canister Filter
2x 150W Odysea fixtures
80#fiji
120# sand
ebay skimmer
The good:
.........
The Bad
Well i know most of you cringed when you read my eqiupment, which is why theres nothing in the good section. I alwasy thought a reef headboard would be awesome..so i tried and failed. Still inexperienced, I had to buy a canister filter considering there was no room for a sump. It worked great for polishing the water and catching depris, but thats about it. although nothing in the hobby comes quick, with little flow,light, and biolical filtration, it was an instant failure. So i decided to move the tank and add a sump.
Long story short, one of the houses leaked under the carpet and into the electronics room. Nothing was damaged, except my dignity and tore the tank down.
View attachment 12855
After the move, before the leak
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Tank #3
Small frag/nano tank
Not much to say just tried to keep a couple corals
View attachment 12857
Tank#4
65g custom RR acrylic
20G sump
cpr skimmer with macro
6x39x t5 retro kit
70lbs rock
50lbs sand
The Good:
Most of you might be thinking, "How did this guy not give up?"
well i keep looking on Reefkeeping TOTM threads and told myself i was going to have a tank like that some day. So this tank was the start to what i call "Reefing Right"
I bought quality equipment and read hundreds of threads before starting. Took everything slow and was successful at keeping SPS in the tank. although i didnt have the tank for very long, i never had any causalities and had great growth. Other than slight algae blooms the tank stayed reality clean and all was good. I learned a lot while keeping this tank and when i knew i was going to buy my first house, it would be a perfect time to start a new tank thats even better.
The Bad:
.....
View attachment 12858View attachment 12859
This brings us to my current tank.
75 DB Rimless
After a some corrected issues with ALK, the tank is recovering nicely. I will work on getting updated pictures shortly.
View attachment 12860
Up first: March 2010 - September 2010
equipment:
Nano Cube CF
CPR Skimmer
40# Fiji
20# Car. sand
The good:
This was my first aquarium ever(salt or fresh). Thanks to Mlreef, i decided to try out the world of saltwater aquaria. I have always been interested in the ocean and thought it would be nice to have a small piece of it. Set up was nice since the nano cube comes with basically all the basics. Cycle went though without a hitch and i slowly added livestock. This is where it went bad
the bad
Just after i added my first livestock, i learned about the mantis shrimp that came with my rock. My Cleaner shrimp didnt even get to reach the SB before he was eaten. This was a horrible start considering i had to rearrange my rock work 3 times to get 4 mantis. then the newbie that i was, didnt realize that only freshwater evaporates, not the salt. So eveytime i added top off, I was adding saltwater, obviously raising the salinity. Eventually learned the correct way. Then i was adding all kinds of additives like Mag, iodine, etc when i didnt realize my WC's were taking care of it. I basically stressed the tank to its max and decided to sell the Cube.
View attachment 12851
View attachment 12852
View attachment 12853
View attachment 12854
Second tank: NOV 2010 - JAN 2011
100G all-glass
JBJ canister Filter
2x 150W Odysea fixtures
80#fiji
120# sand
ebay skimmer
The good:
.........
The Bad
Well i know most of you cringed when you read my eqiupment, which is why theres nothing in the good section. I alwasy thought a reef headboard would be awesome..so i tried and failed. Still inexperienced, I had to buy a canister filter considering there was no room for a sump. It worked great for polishing the water and catching depris, but thats about it. although nothing in the hobby comes quick, with little flow,light, and biolical filtration, it was an instant failure. So i decided to move the tank and add a sump.
Long story short, one of the houses leaked under the carpet and into the electronics room. Nothing was damaged, except my dignity and tore the tank down.
View attachment 12855
After the move, before the leak
View attachment 12856
Tank #3
Small frag/nano tank
Not much to say just tried to keep a couple corals
View attachment 12857
Tank#4
65g custom RR acrylic
20G sump
cpr skimmer with macro
6x39x t5 retro kit
70lbs rock
50lbs sand
The Good:
Most of you might be thinking, "How did this guy not give up?"
well i keep looking on Reefkeeping TOTM threads and told myself i was going to have a tank like that some day. So this tank was the start to what i call "Reefing Right"
I bought quality equipment and read hundreds of threads before starting. Took everything slow and was successful at keeping SPS in the tank. although i didnt have the tank for very long, i never had any causalities and had great growth. Other than slight algae blooms the tank stayed reality clean and all was good. I learned a lot while keeping this tank and when i knew i was going to buy my first house, it would be a perfect time to start a new tank thats even better.
The Bad:
.....
View attachment 12858View attachment 12859
This brings us to my current tank.
75 DB Rimless
After a some corrected issues with ALK, the tank is recovering nicely. I will work on getting updated pictures shortly.
View attachment 12860
