As a teenager I maintained a small freshwater aquarium which was home for guppies and mollies. I was always interested in having a saltwater aquarium but heard they were so much more difficult to maintain. That was 30 years ago so I decided to start researching and see what it would take to setup a saltwater aquarium. After reading several books and looking at the internet every spare minute I decided to take the plunge. Early 2014 I bought a 75 gallon I found craigslist for $75. The tank had been drilled, which I had read would be preferable. It came with a stand that needed a little TLC but I didn't mind, I enjoy working with wood. So began my adventure into the saltwater aquarium.
I started accumulating equipment as I could. I bought 2 MP10's, Reef Octopus XP1000, Trigger Systems Crystal 30 Elite Refugium, Coralife Lunar Aqualight T5, Mag 7 return pump, cheap heater I picked up from petsmart(can't recall the brand atm).
I put my sand in the tank added live rock (which I aquired from a dfwmas member that had mushrooms and zoa) and water and sat back and watched for months. Over the next year I added a few fish and tried my hand with different coral. I placed several different color montipora cap and and some other sps frags and killed them all. I then decided to concentrate on just trying to maintain constant parameters for everything. I bought an Apex controller and started testing my water parameters. Until one day while reading this forum I saw someone post a 120 gal for a really low price with a similar footprint to my 75 gal and I felt it was a deal I could not pass up.
That brings us to the present. I bought the 120 gal and began preparing to set it up. I first had to figure out how I was going to transfer everything over because I really wasn't interested in keeping the 75 gal up and running at the same time. So again I went back to the internet to research how to transfer. I came to the conclusion that it was going to be to difficult to setup in the same location as my 75 gal so I moved some things in the living room and created a space for it to go. I planned to use the sump and skimmer that I had on the 75 gal but most other equipment was going to be replaced. At the time of this write up the tank has been up and running for a month and a half. I decided to do document this to help me keep track of the growth of my tank as well as getting some possible input on how to make things better. Also to provide others with ideas because I know I have enjoyed looking at other builds and incorporating those into mine. Now that I've got some of the background down, I will start showing off my progress because I know pictures are always better than words.
I started accumulating equipment as I could. I bought 2 MP10's, Reef Octopus XP1000, Trigger Systems Crystal 30 Elite Refugium, Coralife Lunar Aqualight T5, Mag 7 return pump, cheap heater I picked up from petsmart(can't recall the brand atm).
I put my sand in the tank added live rock (which I aquired from a dfwmas member that had mushrooms and zoa) and water and sat back and watched for months. Over the next year I added a few fish and tried my hand with different coral. I placed several different color montipora cap and and some other sps frags and killed them all. I then decided to concentrate on just trying to maintain constant parameters for everything. I bought an Apex controller and started testing my water parameters. Until one day while reading this forum I saw someone post a 120 gal for a really low price with a similar footprint to my 75 gal and I felt it was a deal I could not pass up.
That brings us to the present. I bought the 120 gal and began preparing to set it up. I first had to figure out how I was going to transfer everything over because I really wasn't interested in keeping the 75 gal up and running at the same time. So again I went back to the internet to research how to transfer. I came to the conclusion that it was going to be to difficult to setup in the same location as my 75 gal so I moved some things in the living room and created a space for it to go. I planned to use the sump and skimmer that I had on the 75 gal but most other equipment was going to be replaced. At the time of this write up the tank has been up and running for a month and a half. I decided to do document this to help me keep track of the growth of my tank as well as getting some possible input on how to make things better. Also to provide others with ideas because I know I have enjoyed looking at other builds and incorporating those into mine. Now that I've got some of the background down, I will start showing off my progress because I know pictures are always better than words.