I had aquariums from age 10, all through college. Last tank I had was a 45 gallon FOWLR salt tank in a crappy college apartment in Lawrence KS. The floor literally dipped where the tank was. I loved that tank. Things were so different then. I remember driving to Kansas City to pick up the live rock that was flown direct in from Fiji, covered in life. Deep sand beds and T5s were all the rage in 2001. I remember driving to different Home Depot’s throughout Kansas and Missouri trying to find that one store that would have the Caribbean play sand.
I lived on the saltwater forums every night learning all I could. I had the saltwater tank for two years but never added much coral, just a few small softies. We sold the whole setup in 2003 before moving back home to South Dakota after college.
Well, here I am, 21 years later. Much of that aquarium life has been forgotten. I’ve got a new wife, new house, kids are off to college themselves. My wife says to me: “you know anything about aquariums? I think we should get some saltwater fish.”
I instantly felt like a smoker who had quit smoking 20 years ago, but stashed that last pack of cigarettes under the mattress. I went back to the mattress to get that pack by coming back to these forums. I love how the science has changed.
Alright now for the build. I’m trying to buy as much used as possible since it’s likely I’ll upgrade this bad boy in 18 months. I picked up a Waterbox 110 setup and all of the gear, apex controller, skimmer, pumps, etc from Facebook marketplace.
I drove 3.5 hours towards Minneapolis to pick up the used setup. I hadn’t considered the fact that an 80 gallon aquarium, stand and sump may not actually fit into a VW Atlas. Thankfully it barely fit but was much closer to not fitting than I anticipated. As long as I was in West Minneapolis I stopped at BRS to grab some rock, sand, salt etc.
They don’t do walkins but were accommodating to my sudden stop. Lol.
I’ll keep updating this week on my progress.
I lived on the saltwater forums every night learning all I could. I had the saltwater tank for two years but never added much coral, just a few small softies. We sold the whole setup in 2003 before moving back home to South Dakota after college.
Well, here I am, 21 years later. Much of that aquarium life has been forgotten. I’ve got a new wife, new house, kids are off to college themselves. My wife says to me: “you know anything about aquariums? I think we should get some saltwater fish.”
I instantly felt like a smoker who had quit smoking 20 years ago, but stashed that last pack of cigarettes under the mattress. I went back to the mattress to get that pack by coming back to these forums. I love how the science has changed.
Alright now for the build. I’m trying to buy as much used as possible since it’s likely I’ll upgrade this bad boy in 18 months. I picked up a Waterbox 110 setup and all of the gear, apex controller, skimmer, pumps, etc from Facebook marketplace.
I drove 3.5 hours towards Minneapolis to pick up the used setup. I hadn’t considered the fact that an 80 gallon aquarium, stand and sump may not actually fit into a VW Atlas. Thankfully it barely fit but was much closer to not fitting than I anticipated. As long as I was in West Minneapolis I stopped at BRS to grab some rock, sand, salt etc.
They don’t do walkins but were accommodating to my sudden stop. Lol.
I’ll keep updating this week on my progress.
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