So this tank was originally Seth's before he deserted all of us for an amazing job in DC. He didn't really desert us, it was a great opportunity for him, that was a joke! It is a 120 Gallon Tall (48"x24"x24") with a 40 Breeder sump. I am running 2-2 bulb and 1-4 bulb T5 fixtures. I am running new ATI bulbs - 2 Aqua Blue Specials, 2 Coral Plus, 2 True Actinic, and 2 random bulbs that were in fixtures when I got them from Seth. I think one is a blue and the other might be a 10k. I picked those bulbs to find a happy medium between growth and color, but we will see how it goes. I just got water in it last week and am just starting to cycle the beast!
I baked all of the rock in the sun for about 3-4 weeks before setting it up. We had an area in the basement the contained a "dry" bar that I removed and then I put vinyl flooring down. The space for the tank is almost perfect. There are ~5"s between the tank and the wall on both sides. I am currently running an extremely small protein skimmer due to budget (Turboflotor Blue 1000 by Aqua Medic). The skimmer is rated for 125 gallons, and with the sump I am probably closer to 150 gallons total in the system. The second pictures shows the lights before I changed out the bulbs, and the third picture reflects the new bulbs.
I am going to be slowly adding to the tank with only a $100/month budget ... it will be slow going. I think that I have an ok start, and have 50lbs of rock coming to me from reefcleaners/org. I will update some photos with the new rock once I get it. After the tank is cycled I will start moving everything over from my 29 gallon biocube. I have a scooter blenny, blue and yellow damsel, two regular clowns, and a coris wrasse that will be moved over. I have an acan, favia, 4 or 5 varieties of zoa/palys, hollywood stunner chalice, bubble gum chalice, 4 or 5 varieties of SPS, green star polyp, a purple hammer, an orange mushroom, and a toadstool that will get moved over too. With the Corals I have whatever rock that is in there now, and I also have some rock in my quarantine tank.
If you want to know anything else, or want to see pictures of anything specific please let me know. I am hoping that I can share with others what I learn as I go along.
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I baked all of the rock in the sun for about 3-4 weeks before setting it up. We had an area in the basement the contained a "dry" bar that I removed and then I put vinyl flooring down. The space for the tank is almost perfect. There are ~5"s between the tank and the wall on both sides. I am currently running an extremely small protein skimmer due to budget (Turboflotor Blue 1000 by Aqua Medic). The skimmer is rated for 125 gallons, and with the sump I am probably closer to 150 gallons total in the system. The second pictures shows the lights before I changed out the bulbs, and the third picture reflects the new bulbs.
I am going to be slowly adding to the tank with only a $100/month budget ... it will be slow going. I think that I have an ok start, and have 50lbs of rock coming to me from reefcleaners/org. I will update some photos with the new rock once I get it. After the tank is cycled I will start moving everything over from my 29 gallon biocube. I have a scooter blenny, blue and yellow damsel, two regular clowns, and a coris wrasse that will be moved over. I have an acan, favia, 4 or 5 varieties of zoa/palys, hollywood stunner chalice, bubble gum chalice, 4 or 5 varieties of SPS, green star polyp, a purple hammer, an orange mushroom, and a toadstool that will get moved over too. With the Corals I have whatever rock that is in there now, and I also have some rock in my quarantine tank.
If you want to know anything else, or want to see pictures of anything specific please let me know. I am hoping that I can share with others what I learn as I go along.
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