Featured Tank, Second Quarter, 2010

Michael Davis' 92 Gallon Reef Tank

How did you get started in the hobby?
My wife wanted a beta fish. I decided that if I bought one at a dedicated fish store I would have a much larger selection than WalMart or Petsmart or some other generic place. I Googled "fish store austin,tx" and Aquatek was the first result. I went there to buy the beta fish. When I walked in the door and saw their show tank, I was hooked.



System Profile (what gear/makes/models/photo period/etc.?)
» 92 Gallon Oceanic Corner Tank
» Oceanic Sump
» Mag 9.5 Return Pump
» Deltec TS1250 Protein Skimmer
» Two Little Fishies Reactor for Carbon
» Two Little Fishies Reactor for GFO
» Koralin C1502 Calcium Reactor
» Lumenarc Mini Stealth Pendant
» 250 Watt DE 14K Phoenix Bulb
» 150-200 lbs Live Rock
» Thin Sand Bed
» Tunze Osmolator
» Profilux Plus II Controller



     

     

Walk us through livestock (corals/fish/inverts).
Fish:
» Small Regal Tang
» Small Purple Tang
» False Percula
» Manderin
» Yellow Tail Gray Damsel

Coral:
The tank is SPS dominant with a few LPS and Softies. There are about 50 different SPS corals.
» Assorted Zoanthids and Palythoas
» A Variety of Mushrooms
» Purple Pom Pom Xenia
» Kryptonite Candycane
» Hammer Coral


     



What does your spouse think of the tank?
She thinks my tank is beautiful and she enjoys watching me enjoy my hobby. That is a direct quote, lol. I asked her to answer since she was sitting here.



     

     

Dumbest thing you've done around the tank?
I was carrying a clear 5 gallon water jug full of water. It had a crack in the top. The whole top ripped apart right as I made it to the middle of the living room floor. I dumped the whole five gallons of water in the middle of the light gray carpet. It took me several times of shampooing to get the dark brown circle out of the floor. Luckily, my wife is very patient and was not angry.

     

If you had to do it all over again, what would you do differently?
NOT BE IN SUCH A HURRY!

Instead of cleaning, setting up, and transferring from my 55g in one evening, I would have:
1. Re-plumb the tank. The overflow is noisy and I think the return has a very slight leak.
2. Build a new stand instead of using the factory particle board stand.
3. Put in different rock and weed out some corals that I now cannot control.




What's next for the tank?
My plans are to either build a new rectangle tank or build a new stand for this one and redo my aquascape, possibly with new rock, in order to weed out the things I get tired of dealing with.



How did you find ARC?
When I first started in the hobby, I would uncontrollably stop at all stores that had anything to do with fish. When I was at work it was usually only Petsmart and Petco's that had enough parking for me to pull the truck into. I stopped one day at the Pestmart in San Marcos. It was very new and the salesman asked if he could help me. I told him I was new in the saltwater hobby and was just looking at anything "saltwater" they had. He told me about his tank and about ARC. He was very helpful and gave me lots of good advice. His handle is ReeferKris.