Starting Again After 28 Years

[tbrown3589]

Hello Everyone!
First time joining a forum - they didn't have these back in the days of AOL. LOL. I am starting a new tank soon, once I finish the basement construction. I had purchased a tank from a store that went out of business and it has been sitting. The tank was pretty new back in those days and the silicon seals look like they did they day it was made. So here is the set up of what I have on hand and what I am trying to accomplish......

The tank is an Oceanic tank - Internal dimensions are 70 1/2" Long X 23" Wide X 27 1/2 Tall (to the top, not the return) - I am gathering with those dimensions this is a 194 gallon tank ~ give or take
The sump is an Oceanic Model 3 sump #80325 - 35" Long X 17" Wide X 17 1/2" tall - about 45 gallons
Protein Skimmer - Kent Marine Nautilus TE
Heater - Stealth ETP250-250W - I found out this was a recall so consider this one in the recycling bin
UV - Vecton UV25
Light - Current USA - Model 2046 FT95W Dual Actinic - again to me this is overkill for me and it might be useful for someone else

So I have my old reef rock that I bought in the mid 90's stored away - probably about 150 pounds if not more. I am going to repurpose this knowing that the practices in the 90's were not what is done today and, unfortunately, I was not as aware as I am now. I will clean it with a 10% bleach solution for a week or so to ensure it is sanitized and let it air dry before it goes into the tank. The equipment is dated for sure and I am planning on a more modern update to make this easier to maintain. We didn't have the automation and technology then.

As far as the build out, I want to start with a variety of smaller reef fish and eventually get some anemones. I was never a big coral person and learned a valuable lesson years ago when I didn't change out my bulbs fast enough. I think that led to the demise of a beautiful leather coral which also took out the tank (I can admit that was all on me).

I'd like to get the LED lights, and I have been looking at that Neptune Sky set up and also the Apex controller. I have room in our utility room to put in a RO/DO filter and set up a 55 gallon vertical tank to store water for the changes which I will have a small peristaltic pump to deliver the water to the sump. I will also plumb in the waste dump to go straight into the waste line to eliminate the manual labor of draining water and carrying 5 gallon buckets to fill it up (man did I hate that part). I will be water testing the tank integrity very soon and also creating a custom hood out of Azek so it will last for years. I am open to any advice or suggestions on my tank ideas and equipment suggestions.

Although the equipment here is older, it still does work but I would rather keep this stuff as a backup. It's different now then when I started for sure.
Thanks!

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Welcome to Reef2Reef! You've got a good start to the journey ahead. Consider starting a build thread to help journal the tank! It's a great way to interact with others as well and get their advice.

 

[CoralB]

Welcome !!!

 

[marcinpolak]

 

[shakacuz]

welcome aboard the r2r board!

 

[SPR1968]

Hi and welcome to Reef2Reef!

 

[LordFarquat]

Welcome to Reef2Reef! You've got a good start to the journey ahead. Consider starting a build thread to help journal the tank! It's a great way to interact with others as well and get their advice.

Good idea. I think it would be cool to show the progress and ask for advice on it. I’ll get on there as soon as I’m done framing the walls in the basement

 

[Buckster]

Welcome to R2R!

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!!!

 

[G Santana]

Welcome to the Reef
I can sympathize with you, I too am a 90s reefer come back after a 25 plus yr hiatus.
I reused all my rock from the 90's and my 130 tank that I had sitting in my basement for all that time.
I cleaned the tank, filled it and ran out of the basement, not knowing if the seal would hold.
Several days later I ventured into the basement and low and behold she held.
2 plus yrs in and it's been holding tough.
The biggest challenge is getting the tank to mature with dead rock, it's not like the 90s when we didn't know what the ugly stage was because we had great live rock.
Took me over a year for the tank to mature.
Good luck with your comeback!!!

 

[ShepherdReefer]

Hello, and welcome to the group.

 

[LordFarquat]

Welcome to the Reef
I can sympathize with you, I too am a 90s reefer come back after a 25 plus yr hiatus.
I reused all my rock from the 90's and my 130 tank that I had sitting in my basement for all that time.
I cleaned the tank, filled it and ran out of the basement, not knowing if the seal would hold.
Several days later I ventured into the basement and low and behold she held.
2 plus yrs in and it's been holding tough.
The biggest challenge is getting the tank to mature with dead rock, it's not like the 90s when we didn't know what the ugly stage was because we had great live rock.
Took me over a year for the tank to mature.
Good luck with your comeback!!!
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Good to know that. I know I won’t miss getting a bristle worm stuck in my finger again. Lol

 

[AKLiving]

Been there -> going there, only a different route. Starting everything new instead. My only recommendation is put some of that rock in water for a while then send off the water for testing. I knew people that threw all kinds of stuff in their tank, including stores (I worked at some). Could be copper impregnated or other chemicals.
You can start with dry rock, it just takes longer. We did it all the time and didn't go through the uglies but also had patience. I have dry rock dark curing right now (seeded with chunk of raw shrimp) and almost ready to get my tank going. There's much easier and faster ways now but I wanted to bring back a bit of old school to my new fangled gizmo widget filled system.

Happy Reefing!