Reef2Sanity
Formerly Known as Beauregm
Hello everyone,
I’ve been here for a while (about 5 years I believe) watching and reading but never really introduced myself. I’m a nurse in worcester ma. father of 4 and have always loved the ocean for as long as I can remember. I always wanted a reef tank but I was intimidated and never really took a shot. 6 years ago a friend of mine gave me his old 30 gallon with a hob filter so I gave it a go and really haven’t looked back since. I ran a FOWLR system for a little over 4 years and made just about every mistake I possibly could along the way. I had Dino’s for a while, then put my lights on way to high to early with high phosphates and had a massive GHA outbreak. Eventually I made the mistake of store to tank and developed ick. Tried to qt them in copper but slowly I lost them all. The silver lining (if you can find one for a crash) is while my tank was fallow I got my water right, and decided to try corals. Similar to the initial tank I made mistakes primarily with alk swings and high phosphates. All my corals came from mofo corals, acro gardens, and Franks Frag…..let me just say these guys are all awesome and their corals are TOUGH. I did loose some but they really hung in there and finally I’m getting to a stable place and seeing nice growth and color. I currently run a 90 gallon tank bought from a fellow reefer on here. I’m frugal but like to get it as good as I reasonably can at the time so for equipment I have the original 30 gal now made into a 3 chamber sump. I’m still using the same USA current return pump I’ve been using for about 5 years now. Bubble magus protein skimmer, and aqua max Ca reactor. I do have apex EL for automation (much easier to vaca and I sometimes do 16 hour shifts). I am by no means an expert on apex coding but it really wasnt that difficult and there are lots of videos and articles out there. For mechanical filter just a filter sock hung of the return valve (saw on billypipes ((very good diy reefer)) ) and some floss between a bubble trap between sump chambers. I test twice a week when I’m good once a week when I’m bad. I do water changes but am not truly consistent (sucks hauling buckets, will be my next improvement) but try for 15 gal weekly and tank has done well with that. I’m currently run a mixed reef kind of (starting to have success with entry sps). My livestock has been healthy and stable for well over a year and my fingers remain crossed (I admittedly am more careful now). My next project will be a 160-180 gallon with sump in basement for easier water changes, sound etc. etc. hopefully in next couple years. Have been scaling up equipment for anticipated switching over. Here are some pics of the start and some of today
I’ve been here for a while (about 5 years I believe) watching and reading but never really introduced myself. I’m a nurse in worcester ma. father of 4 and have always loved the ocean for as long as I can remember. I always wanted a reef tank but I was intimidated and never really took a shot. 6 years ago a friend of mine gave me his old 30 gallon with a hob filter so I gave it a go and really haven’t looked back since. I ran a FOWLR system for a little over 4 years and made just about every mistake I possibly could along the way. I had Dino’s for a while, then put my lights on way to high to early with high phosphates and had a massive GHA outbreak. Eventually I made the mistake of store to tank and developed ick. Tried to qt them in copper but slowly I lost them all. The silver lining (if you can find one for a crash) is while my tank was fallow I got my water right, and decided to try corals. Similar to the initial tank I made mistakes primarily with alk swings and high phosphates. All my corals came from mofo corals, acro gardens, and Franks Frag…..let me just say these guys are all awesome and their corals are TOUGH. I did loose some but they really hung in there and finally I’m getting to a stable place and seeing nice growth and color. I currently run a 90 gallon tank bought from a fellow reefer on here. I’m frugal but like to get it as good as I reasonably can at the time so for equipment I have the original 30 gal now made into a 3 chamber sump. I’m still using the same USA current return pump I’ve been using for about 5 years now. Bubble magus protein skimmer, and aqua max Ca reactor. I do have apex EL for automation (much easier to vaca and I sometimes do 16 hour shifts). I am by no means an expert on apex coding but it really wasnt that difficult and there are lots of videos and articles out there. For mechanical filter just a filter sock hung of the return valve (saw on billypipes ((very good diy reefer)) ) and some floss between a bubble trap between sump chambers. I test twice a week when I’m good once a week when I’m bad. I do water changes but am not truly consistent (sucks hauling buckets, will be my next improvement) but try for 15 gal weekly and tank has done well with that. I’m currently run a mixed reef kind of (starting to have success with entry sps). My livestock has been healthy and stable for well over a year and my fingers remain crossed (I admittedly am more careful now). My next project will be a 160-180 gallon with sump in basement for easier water changes, sound etc. etc. hopefully in next couple years. Have been scaling up equipment for anticipated switching over. Here are some pics of the start and some of today
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