LisaMarie
Addicted to Reefing
I am brand new to the forum and excited about starting a "not so new" journey. I've been reefing since the late 90's but this will be my first build since losing most of my vision (not totally blind, but legally blind). It might sound crazy to build a reef that you can barely see, but there's more to reefing than what meets the eye! I miss the smell of an ocean in my living room, light dancing on the walls, and flashes of moving, living color in my life (I can still see light and make out shapes fairly well).
I'm starting with an old 90g acrylic uniquarium that I picked up on Craigslist for next to nothing. She was in pretty bad shape....scratched beyond belief and top cracked badly. I figured we would both go back into reefing together. I spent two weeks wet sanding and buffing her free of scratches. A little acrylic glue did wonders for the top. She's not perfect, but neither am I. We're a good team.
The stand was included, but the canopy was built from scratch. I had no detailed plan for the canopy, so it's a hodge-podge of ideas picked up from the internet. I know canopy's aren't currently in vogue, but I'm an old school kind of gal. It took a few evenings of hard work (and one finishing nail through my finger before I figured out how to use the nail gun competently....ouch!) but I think it turned out great.
I'm a retired school teacher (Chimistry and Biology), and I run a small business on the side. I left teaching after losing my eyesight, so I figured I'd have the time to focus on trying a new reef build. Two of my three children are grown and married (only the 16 year-old still at home) and I have two grandchildren and one expected to arrive any day. My husband isn't into reef building, but loves the look of a tank in the house (I started a 75 gallon cichlid tank about a year ago just to see if I could still manage an aquarium). His passion is motorcycles. Mine is reefing. It works for us.
I call this my "rehab build" because I'm rehabilitating a tank and maybe myself along the way. I've been away from reefing for several years so it's going to be an adventure.
I'm starting with an old 90g acrylic uniquarium that I picked up on Craigslist for next to nothing. She was in pretty bad shape....scratched beyond belief and top cracked badly. I figured we would both go back into reefing together. I spent two weeks wet sanding and buffing her free of scratches. A little acrylic glue did wonders for the top. She's not perfect, but neither am I. We're a good team.
The stand was included, but the canopy was built from scratch. I had no detailed plan for the canopy, so it's a hodge-podge of ideas picked up from the internet. I know canopy's aren't currently in vogue, but I'm an old school kind of gal. It took a few evenings of hard work (and one finishing nail through my finger before I figured out how to use the nail gun competently....ouch!) but I think it turned out great.
I'm a retired school teacher (Chimistry and Biology), and I run a small business on the side. I left teaching after losing my eyesight, so I figured I'd have the time to focus on trying a new reef build. Two of my three children are grown and married (only the 16 year-old still at home) and I have two grandchildren and one expected to arrive any day. My husband isn't into reef building, but loves the look of a tank in the house (I started a 75 gallon cichlid tank about a year ago just to see if I could still manage an aquarium). His passion is motorcycles. Mine is reefing. It works for us.
I call this my "rehab build" because I'm rehabilitating a tank and maybe myself along the way. I've been away from reefing for several years so it's going to be an adventure.
