Dogfish

Got the walls painted a shiny white. Made a board for the tank to sit on. It sits on a piece of shower pan rubber to take out any small imperfections in the plywood platform. Also trying to position the media reactors for the cleanest look that's easy to manage. I ran a GEO's calcium reactor in my 125 and liked it. I had him make the smaller ones with an inlet at the bottom instead of the top to eliminate the tube down the center like on the Two Little FIshes reactors. One less thing to clean. I will prob put the CO2 tank on the floor. The cardboard you see on the floor is the location of the sump. Wanted to be sure it would fit around that support before i built it.

About 40 years ago I had a large fresh water tank and some smaller breeder tanks. I would breed fish and sell or trade them to the LFS's around town. I lived in San Francisco so they were lots of stores. (did I just date myself?) I guess that was before all this fancy eeelectronic stuff … Life goes on and i gave that up. Many years later………. I decided that it was time to settle down and think about a retirement home. Wimberley seemed like a nice place and who could forget that Twilight Zone episode "A Stop at Willoughby". I always want to try a salt water tank and I thought it might look good in my new home. While the house was being built I decided some research was in order. I found a 125 gal acrylic tank cheap. It was a mess. The kid had drilled holes in the bottom, siliconed in 2 over flow boxes and had very short drain pipes. Well he managed to flood his bedroom and half the house. His parents were pissed. With lot of plugging of holes and polishing out scratches, I had a good tank to play with. Built a external overflow to try the bean animal thing. Did a closed loop for fun. The tank did come with an extra 55 gal glass tank I used to build a 3 chamber sump. Got to try cheato, deep sand beds and all that fun stuff. Found out what worked and what did not. Cheap LED lights will not grow corals, expensive ones will. Cheap pumps break, expensive ones last longer. Live rock and free corals come with a lot of unwanted things that are hard to get rid of. I even ended up with a spiny urchin that came with some live rock. I knew my tang was not that diligent at keeping the rock clean. I break out in stinging welts if I handle those cabbage leathers with my bare hands. After about 3 years the house was done. Gave the tank and livestock away to the needy. So like the Douglases on Green Acres, we packed up and moved from the big city to the country. Now its the chores not the stores. : )))

I will do a mixed reef. I'm kinda partial to the softies as they have more movement. Pulsating Xenias, Hammers, Mushrooms and the Pipe Organs. The hope is to have a few different pairs of Clownfish and their matching host Anemones. Maybe even a Carpet Anemone. I also like Gobies and Firefish. On the bigger fish and LPS corals, I will have to decide later how many and what kind. I always thought clams were cool too. Im already beginning to think the tank might too small for all those goodies :))). I have 3ea MP60's and 3ea 1-1/2" Sea Swirls powered by a Reef Flo Hammerhead/ Barracuda pump. Should be enough flow for most corals.

A little about the room. It's 8 x 11. We have polished concrete floors and I had them drop the aquarium room floor 4" with a floor drain. An exhaust fan is mounted in the 10 foot ceiling. The room has A/C. I have 3ea 20 amp circuits going to 4 sets of 4 gang plugs. Three of which are higher than the tank will be. They are wired to a separate 100 amp service box with connections to a generator for back up power. I'm out on a gravel road, across a low water crossing and if a tree takes out a power line during a storm, I dont know how fast they can come fix it. I plan on epoxying the floor and putting 4 coats of high gloss water proof paint on the walls and ceiling.

Epic yes . ⬆or ⬇ Lets see if the salt water gods have blessed me or cursed me.

Decided to start on the tank. 2 years of putting the house and yard together is enough. Plus it's hot outside. First step is to get the room ready. Here are a few pictures of the room and platform the tank will sit on. The platform was engineered to hold 18,000 lbs. I was not sure if the tank would be glass or acrylic. I had to do a little leveling of the platform. The framers that built the house were close, but i dont want to be off a 1/16th with all that water. The fish will have a great view.

Looking at the drawing i see what the previous owner did. I can come over and explain how it goes together and what i would change. Call me. You have 1 long Internal overflow box with 2 drains (Herbie), we can make those pretty silent. Both drains need to go into the first sump. The skimmer should go in the first sump (its internal yes?). The second sump can be your refugium, with the return to the tank coming out of it.The return pump you have can be internal or external so it will be your choice. Kinda depends on any holes that are all ready there. They can be plugged if needed.

Hey Marvollo, I live in Wimberley and could come over and help you get started. Its not all that hard once you figure out what creatures you want inside your tank. I had a 125 for 2 years. Made my own stand and turned a 55 into a sump. I also had a closed loop for added circulation. Kessels for lights, all computer controlled. Give me a call if you are interested. 415 Two Four Four 198 Seven