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- Jun 8, 2018
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hello to you all. I have been in this hobby for approximately 2.5 years. I would like to share my journey on how I went from a 10g to owning a 150 and a 220 in during this time. In mid to late 2017 I started out with a 10-gallon tank and I had no idea where to go but jumped in headfirst.
during my research (which never ends) I learned that a small tank was not what we wanted. I wanted something larger, so within months I upgraded to a 90 gallon.
Things were going well until one day i learned about any old tabletop with not do when supporting water, so I went back to the research book and learned about stands and how to build them, there is a lot of information about stand building here in reef 2 reef and I finally settled down an pick a simple yet standard design which was to include a sump, I had no idea about a sump and its functions at this point.
despite my lack of knowledge about this hobby I proceeded to move forward in learning, in an effort to learn more. I avoided just running out and buying a sump or any other item that could be built, soooo back toooooo the research book for sumps and their functions.
I'm an engineer by trade and I have the ability to draw out most things prior to building it. and that just what I did.
the build went well no major curve balls and I liked what I had made, as a nebbie, I was proud. Looking back today; I am shocked and embarrassed, but I did learn a lot about a sump and all its parts. .i have killed a few fish and corals along the way, I'm not happy about it but I'm not overly hard on myself neither. you see I once (about three months into this hobby ) I put a dragon-net (mandarin) in my 10g with copper. I know! I know!, but I was new and did not know in the beginning. so when people tell you to research, do just that; pick a topic of livestock (coral or fish) and read the bio about care, feeding and placement, then read it again and most importantly; do not impulse buy. if you must then go to your car, pull out that cellphone, and read up on what you're wanting to buy first. Anyway back to my story. So I installed my first sump build, made many tweaks and mods to the sump and the stand, wasted a ton of money (par for this hobby) Then a few months later we made another BIGG choice. Due to an injury my wife had.
Jump to mid-2018, One day my wife came home and got poked by the corner of the tank carrying groceries in. THAT'S IT, she said, MOVE IT OR ELSE. so we struck a deal; if I made her a pantry room; I could covert the laundry room to a fish room. I said deal. the construction began on my new 150 inwall DTa nd 55g DIY sump.
the project on this build came to an end in December 2018, and this tank has remained in place, my fish room has grown in many ways, I expanded by added a frag tank, a six-stage Rodi, a 60g water mixing station ( in the garage) mini fridge, Qt Tank, APEX, trident 2 DOS, etc. i can say its pretty self supportive and is growing lps,sps and softies like crazy.
So take a break if you must because my story does not end here even though this would be a pretty sweet ending.
one of our first fish was an Emporer angel, we were warned REEF SAFE WITH CATION, but we went forward anyway and purchased the fish, my wife named him mezzmo, shortly after that she wanted a porcupine puffer, something to do with her first fish in college. we knew that somewhere down the road that a bigger tank would be needed. a few months ago a bad fight broke out between the two and we decided to get a bigger tank now, "don't let my fish die" she said. i responded with "we need a bigger tank " she said "buy one" i said "ok" so I purchased a used 220 with a 90g sump from a private seller.
One the thing we learned from our 150 was we did not like the stack rock look, you know you buy a few rocks and just stack them one on top of another. well; after more research, we determined that negative aquascape is what we wanted, it was a bit scary, because we have never done this before, but that did not keep us away, so 180 lb of macro rocks, glue, and motar were in order and a hammer and chisel were purchased and a lot of research was done. several weeks went by until we had something that looked ok and was easily movable to create multiple looks.
many tweaks were done to this 220 once the rock work was finished to ensure it has a long life. additional floor supports were installed for the weight. piece of mind is priceless.
replumbed with colored pipes and Installed spears gate values for easy tuning, the old plumbing used ball values from lowes. I'm still not sure what I'm going to do about those 4 sock holders, I have removed them and replaced them with a basket to hold things like carbon if needed, the plan is to place filter floss on top of the egg-crate and keep the waste from soaking in the water, my wife has offered to sew me some filter socks to fit in the basket out of 100-micron material, but like I said this chamber is still under debate. I have run a rodi line for the ATO and extended an aqua bus cable for connection to my apex.
so as of today, the new 220 is cycling and I am awaiting some pm modules to finalize this tank build.
so there you have it the summary of how I went from a 10, to owning a 150 reef and a 220 fowler tank all in less than three years, We are presently researching fish for this 220 but this tank's journey was to ensure that my wife's puffer and Emporer live long happy lives. but I must say thanks to my wife cause all these changes were due to her being feed up with something HAHAHAHA.
I'm sure I have said this many times research research research. I have a lot of threads here if you wish to see some of the crazy and logical posts I've made. during this journey. I'm thankful to Reef 2 Reef for helping me. I have to say I have learned so much by diving in and researching things to the point. there is a lot to be learned from DIY'ing your tanks and gear, I feel like a burden at times to my groups because I post so much and ask things that just pop in my head, but if your new to this hobby DO NOT STOP ASKING QUESTIONS, yes some will make you feel stupid, some will tick you off, but many will support you. you will kill fish and coral, you will make mistakes, just be proud and own them and learn from them. happy reefing.
during my research (which never ends) I learned that a small tank was not what we wanted. I wanted something larger, so within months I upgraded to a 90 gallon.
Things were going well until one day i learned about any old tabletop with not do when supporting water, so I went back to the research book and learned about stands and how to build them, there is a lot of information about stand building here in reef 2 reef and I finally settled down an pick a simple yet standard design which was to include a sump, I had no idea about a sump and its functions at this point.
despite my lack of knowledge about this hobby I proceeded to move forward in learning, in an effort to learn more. I avoided just running out and buying a sump or any other item that could be built, soooo back toooooo the research book for sumps and their functions.
I'm an engineer by trade and I have the ability to draw out most things prior to building it. and that just what I did.
the build went well no major curve balls and I liked what I had made, as a nebbie, I was proud. Looking back today; I am shocked and embarrassed, but I did learn a lot about a sump and all its parts. .i have killed a few fish and corals along the way, I'm not happy about it but I'm not overly hard on myself neither. you see I once (about three months into this hobby ) I put a dragon-net (mandarin) in my 10g with copper. I know! I know!, but I was new and did not know in the beginning. so when people tell you to research, do just that; pick a topic of livestock (coral or fish) and read the bio about care, feeding and placement, then read it again and most importantly; do not impulse buy. if you must then go to your car, pull out that cellphone, and read up on what you're wanting to buy first. Anyway back to my story. So I installed my first sump build, made many tweaks and mods to the sump and the stand, wasted a ton of money (par for this hobby) Then a few months later we made another BIGG choice. Due to an injury my wife had.
Jump to mid-2018, One day my wife came home and got poked by the corner of the tank carrying groceries in. THAT'S IT, she said, MOVE IT OR ELSE. so we struck a deal; if I made her a pantry room; I could covert the laundry room to a fish room. I said deal. the construction began on my new 150 inwall DTa nd 55g DIY sump.
the project on this build came to an end in December 2018, and this tank has remained in place, my fish room has grown in many ways, I expanded by added a frag tank, a six-stage Rodi, a 60g water mixing station ( in the garage) mini fridge, Qt Tank, APEX, trident 2 DOS, etc. i can say its pretty self supportive and is growing lps,sps and softies like crazy.
So take a break if you must because my story does not end here even though this would be a pretty sweet ending.
one of our first fish was an Emporer angel, we were warned REEF SAFE WITH CATION, but we went forward anyway and purchased the fish, my wife named him mezzmo, shortly after that she wanted a porcupine puffer, something to do with her first fish in college. we knew that somewhere down the road that a bigger tank would be needed. a few months ago a bad fight broke out between the two and we decided to get a bigger tank now, "don't let my fish die" she said. i responded with "we need a bigger tank " she said "buy one" i said "ok" so I purchased a used 220 with a 90g sump from a private seller.
One the thing we learned from our 150 was we did not like the stack rock look, you know you buy a few rocks and just stack them one on top of another. well; after more research, we determined that negative aquascape is what we wanted, it was a bit scary, because we have never done this before, but that did not keep us away, so 180 lb of macro rocks, glue, and motar were in order and a hammer and chisel were purchased and a lot of research was done. several weeks went by until we had something that looked ok and was easily movable to create multiple looks.
many tweaks were done to this 220 once the rock work was finished to ensure it has a long life. additional floor supports were installed for the weight. piece of mind is priceless.
replumbed with colored pipes and Installed spears gate values for easy tuning, the old plumbing used ball values from lowes. I'm still not sure what I'm going to do about those 4 sock holders, I have removed them and replaced them with a basket to hold things like carbon if needed, the plan is to place filter floss on top of the egg-crate and keep the waste from soaking in the water, my wife has offered to sew me some filter socks to fit in the basket out of 100-micron material, but like I said this chamber is still under debate. I have run a rodi line for the ATO and extended an aqua bus cable for connection to my apex.
so as of today, the new 220 is cycling and I am awaiting some pm modules to finalize this tank build.
so there you have it the summary of how I went from a 10, to owning a 150 reef and a 220 fowler tank all in less than three years, We are presently researching fish for this 220 but this tank's journey was to ensure that my wife's puffer and Emporer live long happy lives. but I must say thanks to my wife cause all these changes were due to her being feed up with something HAHAHAHA.
I'm sure I have said this many times research research research. I have a lot of threads here if you wish to see some of the crazy and logical posts I've made. during this journey. I'm thankful to Reef 2 Reef for helping me. I have to say I have learned so much by diving in and researching things to the point. there is a lot to be learned from DIY'ing your tanks and gear, I feel like a burden at times to my groups because I post so much and ask things that just pop in my head, but if your new to this hobby DO NOT STOP ASKING QUESTIONS, yes some will make you feel stupid, some will tick you off, but many will support you. you will kill fish and coral, you will make mistakes, just be proud and own them and learn from them. happy reefing.
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