Welcome to Reef2Reef!!!Hi everyone! I'm a longtime fishkeeper—I've kept koi and goldfish in ponds since high school (~20 years)—but only have a couple years of experience with aquaria. I am an architect by trade, but also am a gadget/tech nerd who loves to tinker and build things. I also love to travel and have snorkeled all over the Caribbean.
During the height of COVID in March of 2020, I left NYC to hide out at my parents house outside of Atlanta thinking I'd be back in the city in my apartment in a few months, boy was I wrong. Anyway, I loved working in the pond after almost 10 years, and decided to bring some of that passion, enjoyment, and excitement inside.
I started with a 29g planted community tank, and while there are some really cool freshwater species to keep, I was always wowed by their marine counterparts at the LFS. At he end of last year my parents sold their house and moved to Florida, and I transferred everyone into a 40g breeder that I set up at my brother's townhouse in Atlanta. I'm about to close on a co-op in Jackson Heights, and have been prepping a 75g to become an Amazon/South American biotope tank, which left me wondering what to do with the 40g breeder.
Enter youtube's suggestion algorithm... I stumbled across BRStv's "Five Minute Guide" and rabbit-holed into reading half of this website (it seems) and also watching a bunch of other series and videos by BRS and some other popular channels. They used a 40g breeder as one of their beginner tanks, and I was set on that until I saw the press release about Aqueon's new 60g breeder. I'm still in the planning and education stages right now (I'm still reading forums and watching as many videos as I can), but plan to used the 40g as a sump, and purchase a new 60g once I'm settled in. I will start up a build thread maybe this weekend, but the basic idea is a peninsula style mixed reef (attaching some basic renderings below). I'm going to build the stand myself, and I'm sizing it to fit and support a 48"x24"x24" 120g if I want to upgrade in the future.
Anyways, that's all for now. This quick "hello" turned into a much longer post that I planned! I'm excited to join the r2r community and can't wait to get my tank set up. I'll be attending Aquashella in Orlando at the end of the month, maybe I will see some of you there!
Hi everyone! I'm a longtime fishkeeper—I've kept koi and goldfish in ponds since high school (~20 years)—but only have a couple years of experience with aquaria. I am an architect by trade, but also am a gadget/tech nerd who loves to tinker and build things. I also love to travel and have snorkeled all over the Caribbean.
During the height of COVID in March of 2020, I left NYC to hide out at my parents house outside of Atlanta thinking I'd be back in the city in my apartment in a few months, boy was I wrong. Anyway, I loved working in the pond after almost 10 years, and decided to bring some of that passion, enjoyment, and excitement inside.
I started with a 29g planted community tank, and while there are some really cool freshwater species to keep, I was always wowed by their marine counterparts at the LFS. At he end of last year my parents sold their house and moved to Florida, and I transferred everyone into a 40g breeder that I set up at my brother's townhouse in Atlanta. I'm about to close on a co-op in Jackson Heights, and have been prepping a 75g to become an Amazon/South American biotope tank, which left me wondering what to do with the 40g breeder.
Enter youtube's suggestion algorithm... I stumbled across BRStv's "Five Minute Guide" and rabbit-holed into reading half of this website (it seems) and also watching a bunch of other series and videos by BRS and some other popular channels. They used a 40g breeder as one of their beginner tanks, and I was set on that until I saw the press release about Aqueon's new 60g breeder. I'm still in the planning and education stages right now (I'm still reading forums and watching as many videos as I can), but plan to used the 40g as a sump, and purchase a new 60g once I'm settled in. I will start up a build thread maybe this weekend, but the basic idea is a peninsula style mixed reef (attaching some basic renderings below). I'm going to build the stand myself, and I'm sizing it to fit and support a 48"x24"x24" 120g if I want to upgrade in the future.
Anyways, that's all for now. This quick "hello" turned into a much longer post that I planned! I'm excited to join the r2r community and can't wait to get my tank set up. I'll be attending Aquashella in Orlando at the end of the month, maybe I will see some of you there!
www.reef2reef.com
Hey thanks for your reply! I do plan to start my build thread while still in the planning stage, things have just been super busy with work and life. I have a bunch of deadline Friday but after that I should be in the clear. I am looking forward to all the advice and critiques I will receive from the community, and I already have a running list of questions to pose.Welcome! Glad you joined. You will *LOVE* Aquashella - we go to Dallas event.
Have you considered starting your build thread? I found its a great place to document my tank's evolution for myself. I wish I had started while I was still in planning stages, like you are now. I started tank first then joined, so I'm still finding myself going back collecting pictures & updating historically as well as current state. Once you create your first post in your thread and link it to your account, they will give you build badge (look left, under my ID)
This is a good reference book type online article I still review:
The Supreme Guide To Setting Up A Saltwater Reef Aquarium
This article was sponsored by @MarineDepot at www.marinedepot.com. Introduction The marine environment is one of the most complex systems on the planet. The aquarium you are about to set up is only a tiny sliver of the vast ocean, but it is no...
