SirReal63

Yes, in an old subdivision in Marble Falls called Meadowlakes that was originally an old pecan orchard. Every house has pecan trees, and they line up on both sides of the street and in the backyards.

We are fortunate, we have 5 pecan trees on our third of an acre,. two up front and 3 in the back yard.

Plus a nice screened in porch that echoes the shape of the house.

It is a great area to live, close to Austin and San Antonio, I can get to the house in Windcrest in about an hour and 20 minutes if I keep my foot out of it.

Thanks, it is still very much a work in progress. So much to do and so little time. We are still moving, it is a PITA to consolidate 3000 sq ft into 1800 sq ft. I don't recommend trying it. In the next few weeks I will be frag shopping, adding sand, finishing the canopy and playing with the aquascape, all while cleaning and moving the last of our crap from San Antonio. It looks like there are some new LFS's in the area that I did not know of in 2007. I may have to check the budget and take Toni on a day trip to shop. Having a woman who appreciates the reef and does not interfere with it is a blessing, I think everyone should have one just like her.

I have used ozone since 2004. The thing to remember is not to try and use too much. I run a 25 mg/hr unit on my tank, and most of the time it is only being run half throttle. Ozone can be a powerful thing, and a dangerous one. Read Randy's articles on Ozone and you will see what I mean. Sanders recommended a mg/hr as do the other mfgs but it is too much. By using a smaller dose you don't have to worry about carbonic acid or creating a high orp tank and breathing ozone is really not recommended. A small dose will keep your water clear and even with my small dosage my orp stays in the mid to high 300's. I do not have to worry about running my ozone effluent through carbon, (I have my reactor hooked to the venturi on my skimmer, which outgasses it just fine) and I never smell ozone. There are also a few different technologies for creating ozone. I like the corona discharge, it is easy to use and the unit is painless to clean and I have never needed a drier.

Part three as promised...I will work through the tired fingers with the dedication that any good reefer should have.

Again...forgive the quality of the pics, the camera is old and setting the white balance on it just plain sucks. :-)

I still have sand to add but as of yet am undecided on what to use. I have used just about everything over the years but as I add flow, keeping sand where I want it has become more of an issue. I am thinking of trying the new Tropic Eden sand that is out, the grain size looks heavy enough to not blow all over the place as the CaribSea Special Reeffloor sand did. Oh well, onto the current pics.

Sump is a 40 gallon plastic bin from Ikea, This thing is thick and heavy, currently holds about 20 gallons of water bringing the water volume to about 130 gallons. No compartments, I don't need them, the skimmer is recirculating and any stray microbubbles must pass through the chaeto to get to the return. Though that is not an issue. :-)

Basic equipment list...

Lighting was a 250 watt Phoenix 14K in an LAIII Mini but was changed to a 150 watt Radium in a LAIII Mini and now a pair of 150 watt Radiums in the Mini's in a home made suspended canopy. (It is nice to have lighting options)

MRC Calcium Reactor re-designed by me and powered by an Aquarium Plants Electronic Regulator.

ASM G3 Recirculating skimmer.

Sanders Ozone Generator

Magnum HOT cannister for carbon and Phosban when needed.

Tunze 6060, a cut shroud MJ1200 on timer for random flow, and a pair of Tunze 6100's with a 6200 series shroud for a much broader flow.

Mag3 for a return. (This may be temporary, with the 1" plumbing it is providing a decent flow through sump, have a Sicce in the box should I decide to up the flow.)

300 watt titanium heater

Milwaukee PH and ORP controllers

LED fuge light to keep the chaeto happy.

More to come in the next few months as we start to fill this tank back up with corals and fish. I am glad to be back in the Austin Reef Community. Austin has always been home, even though I have lived all over the country. I don't plan on leaving, we bought this house as a place to retire, though neither of us plan on doing that any time soon. We are one street away from the lake in a quiet sedate little community of old raisons just like us.

Thanks Bimmerzs...a BMW fan? My main toy is an 01 E38

Part three in a few minutes, my fingers are getting arthritic.

Let's move on to the new house and the current set up. The new house is as unique as the tank is, all exterior angles are obtuse, and you thought that term was just used to describe people with issues.

The tank will reside just to the left of the fireplace, it is like the architect knew I was going to put a strange tank in just that spot, but how could he, the house was built in 1973?

Enough of an old house...let's see some tank pics!

The vaulted ceiling was an obstacle to hanging the light, I didn't really want to run wires that far and then have to worry about where to route the wires for the Halides. The walls were the only option, but one is brick and backed up to the fireplace and the other is another obtuse angle of about 120 degrees, making a wall hanging solution possible, but a challange. I decided to hang off the 120 degree wall with an arm that would hold the halides suspended canopy, and allow the canopy to swing both directions. This worked out well as I did not like the half circle of rocks that I had previously.

The canopy was built to blend in the different angles and holds two LumenArc III Mini's. I still have some work to do with wire management and disguising them, but there is a plan that is taking shape that will still allow the light to be raised and lowered and angled as needed.

Under the tank is still evolving but let's take a look under the hood.

We may be able to squeeze in a part three. :-)

My name is Jack and I have been a memeber of ARC for a few years now. I have lived in many places since 2007 but just moved from San Antonio to Marble Falls. (actually Meadowlakes, but close enough) I am not usually much of a fan of build threads so I will keep it as simple as possible. No megabuck equipment, no anal retentive needs to perfectly hide and route each individual wire, no custom made sump with tons of un-needed equipment, just a simple basic reef set up the way I have been doing it for almost 9 years now. No offense to anyone who is anal or a compulsive reef shopper, just a warning that you will not find that stuff here. I am old and change very slowly. :-) This thread is a compilation of the past few years, if you are members of MAAST then you have seen some of this before. This tank has been moved three times while in my possession, this is the last time unless we decide to add onto the house, which I do not see happening, we just moved out of our 3000 sq ft house to a much smaller 1800 sq ft house because we did not need that much house, it is just the two of us and our 5 animals and one small aquarium.

Let's do a little ground work...

The 110 gallon DSA Pentagon (with 20 gallons in the sump), 40x40x25x19x25, 17" tall and 1/2" glass.

I am still playing with the white balance on camera, so don't beat me up on the photography. You would be amazed at how much different my Fuji S6000 reads the Phoenix as opposed to the Radium as opposed to natural sunlight.

Step one...drill a hole for the Glass-Holes overflow. It took a while, but I did it with no surprises.

A stand is needed, and since this tank did not come with one, I had to make one. Armed with nothing more than a miter box saw, jigsaw and drills.

That wasn't so hard, the top isn't covered as the tank has a rim on the bottom.

The tank is resting on the stand now....time for some plumbing and leveling.

All of our furniture is a dark mahogony color so this presented a challange as the skinning was done with Yellow Pine beabed plywood. It took a lot of trial and error to get it this close. (old house in S/A) It is darker without the flash and a lot of people have thought the stand was custom made, I guess it is...by me. :-)

This thing needs some water, rock and inhabitants...let's do that.

Light is sold. Thanks

I would probably take the anemone back anyway...they are not easy to care for and not in a beginners list of livestock. Here is a pic showing the color of the lights, you won't need to add a colored bulb as these are a close approximation of a 14K bulb.

I'll send a pm with contact info.

It would be marginal at best. If it healthy and not white it may be ok. PC's are bright but lack the punch that halides and proper T5's have. If the condy stays up from the middle of the tank and higher it will be ok. Remember white is not a good color for anemone's, it means they are lacking the symbiotic algae that they derive most of their nutrition from. If it is white...take it back and gripe.

We are leaving for Lubbock about 2:00 today but will be back Monday...if that will work.

The only issue is the reflector is a single reflector and is 36" so the ends of the tank will be dim and you cannot offset them because of the single reflector. :-(

They are 36"

That is interesting but I have no need for another tank. :-)

Anytime...that is what we are here for, to help each other out. It was nice meeting you and your wife. Have a great and brighter day. :-)

Marineland TidePool sump, with all trays and bio-wheel. 26"x12"x19" at the highest point.

$75.00 OBO or trade for interesting corals.

I have a 2x96 watt Coralife Retrofit for sale or trade. It comes with 2 month old bulbs which came from Hello Lights. These bulbs are not 10K or Actintic...the color would best be described as a Phoenix 14K look. It is plenty bright and in great condition.

$50.00 or best offer. I would be interested in trades...tell me what you have and I'll consider it. :-)

Perfect...actually I just need to borrow it until my new one arrives next week...pm pending. :-)

Thanks for the lifesaving...Jack

Does anyone have a spare r/o membrane housing they are not using? Mine has a nice hairline crack all down the side. It isn't a dire emergency but I do need to make some water asap. Let me know what you have and what you want for it.

I have one you can have for free. PM me for details.

Meet Chico...about to turn 3.

Great article and a super nice tank and setup. Congrats on a well deserved honor.

Live off of william cannon and 35. Have a 5 gallon bucket about full with sand....black and white speckled sand. Moved it from my FOWLR last week to the sump and just moved what I am keeping to a smaller sump today. The rest has to go or will be thrown away....figured I'd offer it up. Just need to bring me a 5 gallon bucket with lid in return...we're moving soon.

Dena

698-7192

This is nice sand btw...thanks Dena for the goodies and hospitality.

pm sent. :-)

Not surprising...but I am used to the high par of XDE 10k's so the Hammy's are kind of low compared to the XDE's. I never tried the Reeflux bulbs or looked at them on Sanjay's charts. I do still prefer the color of the Hammy 14K...it is just a gorgeous color. Run them on an hqi ballast and the par is better.