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Aquarius Marinus

Hello Again, Reef Addicts!

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I joined Reef Addicts when I was setting up my first "big" tank almost exactly four years ago. I just re-read my previous blog entries around the time I was setting up that tank. A lot has happened since then, I moved to a different state and got married! I have moved three times since 2010, and just bought my first house.

Unfortunately, my 180 reef is no more

During one of our moves (probably the most stressful one ever, our landlord changed our move-out date to a month sooner, leaving us a week to pack and get out) I set up my old 55 gallon tank in the garage and put all my livestock in it to give myself some time to set my 180 back up properly. As I mentioned, it was a very stressful move, and I didn't pay as much attention to some things as I should have. The heater that I put in the 55 gallon tank hadn't been used in a while, and failed ON sometime during the night. The next morning when I woke up to check on the tank, the water was around 100 degrees and most of the inhabitants were dead or dying. I rushed to set up a 10 gallon tank, and moved the remaining living inhabitants to it, but everything was gone by the end of the day.

I was completely heart broken, and since I had lost everything, decided not to set my tank back up. I didn't really know if or when I would get back into the hobby, but every time I thought about starting the tank back up my stomach turned a little. I didn't have much help when I moved the 180, just some people who helped physically move the tank. No one really felt comfortable helping with the fish, coral and rock. So I was pretty burnt out after the move, anyway. I had/have been pretty busy since we moved to Ohio and haven't gotten into a club or met any reefing friends yet.

I love the hobby, and I loved my tank. If even one of my fish or corals had survived, I would have found a way to push ahead. But with loosing everything, I felt like taking a break from the hobby was the logical choice.

A couple years went by and I ended up selling the tank, my skimmer and Apex controller. I still have my lighting system and Vortechs.

While I stopped posting on reef central and here (actually RA was new around that time so I hadn't posted much at all here!) I never stopped reading, and I continued to follow the hobby somewhat. I remember reading about melev's 280g leak, then planning of the new 400g, then the leaking 400, and finally the running 400! (yay!) Reading about eveyone else's reef still made me feel a bit empty. Plenty of times I wondered if it was a bad choice to sell my tank, or if I shouldn't have even "taken a break".

A couple weeks ago, my wife asked if I was going to start a tank back up. She mentioned how much she enjoyed watching all the fish and coral and all the little critters doing their things. This came as somewhat of a surprise to me because I never really thought she enjoyed the tank, I guess I incorrectly assumed that she didn't like it because of how much money I spent on it!

I thought about it for a while (actually it wasn't really that long...) and I ordered a Deep Blue Rimless Reef Ready 60g cube and stand (24x24x24) the same week! As much as I want a big tank again, part of me still doesn't feel comfortable with setting up a 6 foot tank and the amount of work that goes with it...at least not yet.

This time around, I'm going to try to be more active in the RA community. I've read an INNUMERABLE number of blogs and threads over the years but haven't written back or shared very many of my experiences. I find that when I do that, I feel more involved, not only in the community but in my own projects. Hopefully we can all help keep each other focused!

I'm looking forward once again to this fast paced, exciting hobby!

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  1. melev's Avatar
    I'm really glad you chose to share your thoughts with us. We are a great group, quietly doing what we do best and sharing our experiences. I'm sure a few fellow bloggers are well-overdue to provide some updates about their tanks, but to think that you were following along all this time quietly - what we call lurking - is EXACTLY why this site is always available. Not everyone feels comfortable sharing, or feel that their 'bad luck' makes them look bad. We all struggle in various ways, including myself as you listed above. I'm finally getting on track after what feels like 3 years of wasted time. It's not really wasted, but what I took down in July 2010 was incredible and when I look back at those pictures, I have a hard time believing that I grew that full reef.

    So here we go. I'm enjoying my twin tanks and you are running a cube that matches my anemone tank in size. Be sure to post up some pictures, and update us with new livestock purchases, equipment stuff, lighting stuff, water test results, etc. We all learn from each other.
  2. Aquarius Marinus's Avatar
    Thanks for the great response. The reef that you had in 2010 was incredibly impressive, but I have no doubt that this one will be even more incredible in a few short years, perhaps even sooner.

    I'm not running my cube yet, I actually just placed the order last week! I couldn't wait to confess my return to the hobby. As you stated, I did go out quietly. I didn't want to post about my tank failure when it happened because I already felt enough guilt and I didn't want to make myself feel worse by talking about it. Looking back, I'm sure sharing probably would have made me feel a little better.

    The LFS couldn't give me an exact date on my new tank's arrival, but said it should arrive within two weeks. I plan to post a blog about every choice I need to make during set up to get ideas from the group. I am going to try very hard to not let my habits screw things up, lol. I am usually incredibly impulsive and impatient, and I like to see results now. As we know, only bad things happen quickly in this hobby! I want to be sure I let my tank fully cycle, to avoid some of the algae issues I had last time, I am going to run a QT tank and be diligent about QTing and dipping new arrivals. Most of all I want my setup to be neat and detail oriented. I usually go BIG when I do anything, and I tend to loose attention to detail and instead put more effort into "just getting things running". I felt (am hoping) that the 60g would help me be a little more focused on the little things.
  3. melev's Avatar
    If my example helps you avoid rushing, then I've done a good job. Waiting a few more days for it to be right is pretty much what I have been doing for a long time.