Please introduce yourself - Share your saltwater experience

melev

melev

Club President
Staff member
Board of Directors
Sponsor
[Hi DFWMAS members,

I've been caring for my saltwater tank for the past 4 years, and recently acquired another tank that has been running for about 2 months.

When I was 11 years old, I had my own 20 gallon long tank, and loved all the invertibrates I was able to cram in there. One night, the entire tank crashed and everything was dead the following morning. I have no idea what caused that, but about 22 years later, I decided it was time to get back in the hobby.

Much has changed since those days, but look at the gorgeous tanks that hobbyists can have now. Seeing other tanks posted on Reef Central, as well as from locals is just inspiring.

I only recently joined the club, just before Macna, so I look forward to meeting more of you in the near future.

Here are links to my two tanks.

My 29 gal reef
My 55 gal reef in progress.

Tell me about your tank!]
 
[My name is Brad Ward, and I am a tank-a-holic. :D

Really scary to say, but I have been caring for marine tanks since 1966 when I won my first 10 gallon metal framed slate bottom aquarium. Joined the Marine Aquarium Society of the Palm Beaches(now defunct) in 1968. My main interests are promoting the hobby and raising corals.

If you haven't seen my set up yet, give it time, there will be another meeting at the house this year I am sure. :laugh:

Let's hear about some more members stuff!

Brad Ward
President for life :p]
 
[Hi All,

In 2000, I joined DFWMAS shortly after I acquired a 250 gallon reef tank. I started out with a 33 gallon (convert from fresh to salt water tank). And being this hobby is so addictive, I took the plunge and got 250 gallon. I was told by previous owner that all I have to do is 10% water change monthly, and add some tablet once a week - that's it. Well, not exactly. I bought many fish and corals quickly - and tank continues to decline.

Earlier in 2002, my 250 gallon broke and flooded my house with 40 gallon of saltwater. I replaced 250 gallon with 211 gallon - so that I can use existing stand and equipment. Having to rebuild this tank has renewed my interest in reef keeping.

I added a 150 gallon tank from recent MACNA - so that I can keep clams. This tank is not as tall so that I can look down at the clams. I currently have about 30 clams, 2 T. gigas, 1 Hippo, 3 Squamosa, 1 Deresa, rest are maxima and crocea. They are very beautiful and start out very healthy in appearance but they can die quickly for no good reason.
Anyway, clams are my favorite. Because I use halide for clams - I did add a few SPS, corals so my tank does not look like a holding tank for clams.

Peter]
 
[@peterlin wrote:
Hi All said:
Hi Peter,

It sounds like you are raising clams to sell at some point. Or are you just keeping them for your own pleasure? That is a lot of clams. :D

The advice you were given on that first tank sounds a little 'fishy' to me. lol.

Whom did you buy that MACNA tank from? Joy, or that other vendor next to the PFO stand? Those were really nice, and I was thinking about buying one myself, but I couldn't figure out a way to make it useful in my house. I thought it would make a great coffee table, or even a super dining table, but I would have had to get really creative to make an acrylic surface that I could lift off to service the tank. I just loved the idea of a few fish meandering under my dinner plate. :D]
Click to expand...
 
[Hi Marc -
I think the tank is 3' x 5' (150 gallon) and it is from Joy (Harbor Aquatic). I love the Aquaspace light fixture. I did not have room for it, so I got rid of the dinning table. I usually eat in front of TV (in the living room) anyway.

I did not see a way to attach a picture. So here is a thread I posted on reefland if you want to see the setup

http://www.reefland.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=8579

No - I'm not selling clams. They are addictive. I always find a pattern/color that I want. I lost 10 clams earlier last year. They die quick form some disease. I'm doing better this time - but found out that tear drop clam and wild clams are harder to keep alive. It would be nice if these clams can reproduce - but that will be another setup - and I heard it is not easy. I bought 6 clams from harbor Aquatics - and they are still alive.]
 
[The only way to link images on this board is for you to upload them to a hosting service. I upload all my pictures to my domain, and then post the link here.

I loved those display/propagation tanks Joy had. I really really really thought about buying on, as insane as that sounded in my head. I'm glad I didn't now, since you are a very happy owner. :)

I bought my Maxima from Joy. Here's a picture of it after two months in my tank:

maxima_1127.jpg
alt="">

I did hear about reproductions with clams, but I didn't pay close enough attention to give you any tips. One of the things that they did was remove them from the water and leave them in the sun for a few hours, then put them back in the tank..... but that sounds insane. Look at all the trouble you've had, and that was with keeping them in the tank! ???

Btw, I did try to go to the link you posted, but it told me I had to be a member, and I'm already signed up on a number of boards and would prefer not to join yet another. LOL]
 
[I have a 75 gal tank that I got used many years ago. I had it setup as a fresh water tank before I moved here 2 years ago. I've had it setup for about 1-1/2 yrs now. I'm amazed at how fast you can spend $ in this hobbie. Seems there is always something to upgrade to! My lighting went from PC, to VHO, and now MH/VHO combo.

I'm looking forward to joining DFWMAS. I'd like to start trading or buying frags from members. I'm going to wait until you have a meeting closer to McKinney. I went to Planet Pet for the first time yesterday and it was an hour drive. Drove all that way and they didn't have a RedSea Sailfin Tang and the coral tanks all had aiptasia. But I did get some razor caulerpa for free.

I'm glad you started this forum. Hope to meet all of you soon.

Steve]
 
[Hi Steve and welcome!

I am sure you will meet many hobbyists in the club that will be glad to share frags with you.
Once you get you system set up for what you want to keep, it is a lot cheaper. Getting there isn't always easy on the pocketbook though. We all have done the same thing. :)

I have a Desjardini (sp?) tang that I have had since it was the size of a quarter. They are really cool tangs. Good luck finding one!

Brad]
 
[Hi Steve,

I know what you mean about upgrades. It takes will power to not buy into that. :D While I don't know who you are, I was the guy that was talking for a minute about the cheaper Tunze powerhead I installed in my 55 gal.]
 
[hello, just joined dfwmas.org tonight and just reading through all the posts.
well, i started with a 29g FO saltwater tank while at ATM (knew the guy at the LFS) said all i needed was an undergravel filter and some water changes...of course did not go well, but got a lot of discounts on fish, etc., then discovered the Emporer 280? for filtration, fared a little better, but not much, then SeaClone protein skimmer, alot of tweaking!!
finally upgraded to a 70g Oceanic still FO, tried the fluidized bed filter and really started researching and reading and learned so much more about the hobby

got to dallas, attending dental school, met this guy in med school(roni) and he interested me in reef keeping and have not looked back since then. He helped me tremendously and i still look to him for advice.....now have a 110g reef and just started SPS in october and they are doing great. have softies and lps on the left side of my tank and a cliff with sps on the right side.

i have not had the opportunity to attend any meetings due to school obligations and just being too #### busy. i do hope to attend some and meet other reefers around. i have already met some through reefs.org and reefcentral.com

that's my story, sorry so long]
 
[Welcome to the club, ck! Will your mentor be joining as well? The more experienced minds we can get together, the more beer we can share. :D

We should be having a meeting in Dallas, maybe as soon as February. Perhaps you can make that one.]
 
[i believe my mentor was already a member a while back, but he is so busy with med school, he tore down his 165g, then tore down his 70g and just quit the hobby for now...no time for maintenance, etc. i will really try to make the feb meeting...i will keep an eye on the calender of events.

thanks for the welcome]
 
[Hi everyone,

Some of you may know me, my name is Bob Coco, I was the founder of the DFWMAS (originally called the DFWMAA) back in 1992, or was it 91. Anyway, that's a whole story in itself that I'll reserve for another topic. While I don't live in the DFW areas anymore, I do like to stay in touch with my "baby". I'm always glad to see it's still going strong. It does take a lot of hard work and you should thank your officers for their efforts.

My experience: I have been keeping aquariums since I was a kid, saltwater aquariums since 1989, and mainly reefs since 1991. When I was in Dallas, I had an awesome 200g reef, some of the older members like Chris Curtis and Sam Weaver, and Tim Stewart will remember.
Back then, I was into gadgets and instrumentation and had excellent success, (better than I can say than with the LR/DSB method I currently use). My old set up included wet/dry filter, 300 lbs live rock, no substrate, two skimmers, ozonizer w/redox controller, ph controller, denitrator, chiller, mechanical and chemical filtration, oxygen reactor, dosing systems, and additives of all sorts. For lighting the 200g I had only 3, 175W 5500k metal halides and 2 9W PC actinics. With the above set up, all my animals thrived and grew. Soft corals, mushrooms, polyups and hard corals alike. Coraline algae grew like crazy. Today, some would say that this lighting is not enough and 5500k would be certainly be laughed at. I disagree. Back in the early 90's, 5500k was considered "top of the line" in regards to color.

For the past 5 years I have used the LR/DSB method. While successful, my tanks have looked NOTHING like my 200g of past. Water quality is not as good, and green algae seems like it's never fully under control. While I humbly :) consider myself an advanced hobbyist, I've followed all the "advice" from the DSB "experts" but never achieved the quality I've had in the past.

Currently, I live in Boston. I have two tanks, a 42g bowfront reef, and perhaps the longest continuous running micro-reef (yes, it's "micro" NOT NANO!) in the country. I set up this 5 G micro back in Dallas in 1992, and while I have moved three times, I was able to keep it set up and functioning, despite some natural disasters (like when my alzhiemer mother unplugged it while it was in my father's basement, or the time my cat killed a lot of the animals (which is another interesting story.) Now it is mainly a mushroom, snail and crustation tank. I had to take the zenia out, they were overtaking everything. It is an acrylic 5g tank made by Seaclear, in a wood enclosure. It was sold in the Dallas Area pet stores as the "Executive" aquarium. Desktop model, viewable on three sides. I've modified it with a Coralife uplift skimmer, and use DSB/LR with 1 9W daylight and 1 9W actinic.

My 42g has a 4" DSB and 90 lbs of LR. Filtered only by a Remora Skimmer. Lighting is 1 96W 10k PC and 1 96W actinic PC.

Well, I've gone on too long. Man, do I miss Dallas. You people don't know how lucky you are with the quality and numbers of your LFS's. Here in Boston area, they are rare, poorly stocked, and overpriced!

Regards,
Bob]
 
[Hi Bob Coco,

Since I'm relatively new as a member of this club, I think it is only fitting that I reply to a long-timer like you. :D And as a kid, I had a beautiful golden-brown cocker spaniel named "Coco" that we had for 12 years.

Thanks for sharing your experiences. I've had a 29 gal set up for over 4 years now, and recently acquired my first big tank - 55 gals - a couple of months ago. (Btw, I find the 55 gal to be entirely too small to do anything!)]
 
[Hi Marc,

Why bother, just go out and get a 300g, after all, that's BIG enough for what you want.

Seriously, good luck with the 55. With the smaller tanks you just have to be more picky, and cultivate. I had a 38 cube that I built into a wall. At 24 wide it was hard to keep some of the bigger expanding corals but I mainly used frags and enjoyed watching them grow.

R/Bob]
 
[Hey Bob!

Good to hear from you. I thought I'd see you at MACNA this last year and finally meet you face to face. I think you should be proud to have founded the club here. It is a great group of people that comprise the membership. Chris Curtis and Gary White are still coming to meetings from the old group as far as I know, and there are some that come to the meetings once in a while. Are you still in the service? I remember calling you back in 93 just before I came here so I would have a connection when I arrived and ended up working for the Dallas World Aquarium for a while. I joined the club in 98.

Let us know if you ever get down this way and we'll get together and talk reef's. :D

Brad]
 
[Hey Brad, nice talking with you. How are you doing?

Are you sure you didn't join till 1998? I have your name in my old contact book and remember talking with you. I left DFW in 1995. Yes, I'm still in the military, but I finally retire on 10 June this year. I would have loved to go to MACNA in DFW but just couldn't make it.

I'm assuming you took over as Pres from Tim Stewart, he was my successor. Thanks for keeping the society going. You know, the internet is great for info, but there is nothing better than making friends, and having a local society to depend on. I use to love going to members houses for meetings, seeing all the different tanks and set ups. Loved hosting them at my house too.

I can recall we had a few members that never made any meetings but still renewed every year. Some can make it to the meetings and some try whenever they can. I have to say, Chris Curtis was the most dedicated member, always made it. Others too like Dale Kuhns, and Gary White. If you notice, they are still in the hobby. I think the DFWMAS and all it's help and info has something to do with it, knowledge really guarantees success in the hobby. This tends to encourage people to stay in it for the long haul. Folks that have continuous failures will soon leave the hobby as they get tired of spending money on animals that keep on dying.

If I ever make it through Dallas, I'll be certain to plan it around one of your meetings. Great job on the web site and this BB. Very nice.

R/Bob]
 
[Doing great and I hope you are as well. I didn't join till 97 or 98 I am pretty sure. Mike Mackey was the President for almost three years before I took over, so he must have taken over from Tim. I don't think I ever met Tim, but I might be mistaken. Dale is still a member and attends when his schedule allows. You probably had my name from our contact before I moved here.

I moved from West Palm Beach which had a strong MAS that I had been a member of since 68. It seems to have folded a few years ago. Keeping this club going was something I felt was important, and I have met many friends beause of it. I wouldn't know anybody in this town if I hadn't. It has been a great experience for me personally.

Our BOD is comprised of very talented people and we wouldn't be as successful as we are without their help. This BB is a testament to our Webmaster Barry Fronczak who continues to amaze me with all his knowledge and hard work.

Keep on visiting on line with us!

Brad]
 
[Hi

Im Travis and im 15! I am planning on Joining DFWMAS soon! I started with a 20 gal high Invert tank. Wait wait... Ive kept freshwater since i was about 4, got into Salt when i was 10 and maintained my own tank by myself. I soon upgraded to a 29 and kept various simple corals for about 2 years (had VHO lighting). Now i have a 58 gal custom aquarium with 150 watts Vho for actinic suppliment and Dual 150 watt Mh's with a 65k bulbs. i have a 10 gallon refugium. In the main tank is 80 lbs LR and about 50 lbs Aragamax sand, i have a mated pair of clowns in it and they LOVE their upgrade from the 29 gal haha. He is always showning off for her and they havent been in sigh for a day now :;): Been showing signs of mating sooooo! ILL leave them alone =)... Will be trying to keep acroporas. But i need help building me a canopy :D Well thats it for now!

Travis]
 
[Welcome Travis! :laugh:

Sounds like you have it going on. Nice setup you have there and I bet you get a bigger tank before too long. :p

Cheers!

Brad]
 
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