My old 210g reef tank (pic heavy)

[Joao M]

I´ve kept SW tanks for around 20 years and this was my last reef tank, a 210g "inwall" in my living room.

In 2008, for several reasons, I shut it down and sold everything. After 30 years with fish I needed a break.

Stayed "dry" for a couple of years, but ...I already have 2 smaller (120g and 150g) FH tanks running (with datnoids)

Anyway, yesterday I found these pics of my old tank - taken by a friend of mine back in 2006-07 - and felt a bit nostalgic, so decided to share them with you.

backstage (after setting up)

and the refugium with DSB (a few months later)

Oh, well...

 

[Liquidplants]

Awesome tank design! and great photography skillz! My favorite shot is #6. <3 in wall tanks.

 

[nonstophoops]

That is a nice tank. That is where I am looking to get to and I see a lot of parallels. I have a 210 that I am converting to a reef with a big DSB with Chaeto. I also have a Scribbled. How was your Scribbled with your corals? Any problems? With what corals?

 

[Joao M]

Thanks for your comments.

The Scribbled did fine with the corals. He may have nipped here and there, but nothing that I really noticed. As regards corals IME they act more like Centropyge (dwarf angels) than like Pomacanthus.
So, no major issues - they spread the nipping without focusing in one coral at the time.

But if you want an angle that doesn´t touch any coral at all, go for the Genicanthus species

 

[joemackereth]

beautiful tank! thanks for sharing

 

[BradT85]

That was a gorgeous tank. Thanks for sharing and making me jealous.

 

[prskiller]

That is just awesome. So do you think you'll ever go back to that stage in aquatic keeping again?

 

[Joao M]

Thank again

That is just awesome. So do you think you'll ever go back to that stage in aquatic keeping again?

The million dollar question...
I really don´t know. Not likely in the next few years.
I setup my first SW tank in 1988-89. it was absolutely ridiculous compared to what you see nowadays (undergravel filter and so on), it was a battle, but it worked. In the following 20 years I had fish-only, bred marine horses back in 1992 (Hippocampus hippocampus and H. ramulosus), then went to reefs and ended with the "garden reef" - soft, LPS and SPS corals all mixed - I posted here.
To keep it the way I liked, I was preparing and changing around 60g of water per week. Every 3 weeks I collected directly from the ocean and used that water for the WC.

The time came when I had (much) more work than pleasure, so I felt I shouldn´t go on. IMO the hobby has to be about pleasure and joy you shouldn´t "feel" that there is work involved.

After 2 years break (edit: almost 3 years) - where I dedicated my time and efforts only to the green tree pythons - I felt I needed to come back but with something different, "lighter".

I am now enjoying keeping both the GTP´s and FH fish and not feeling there´s work involved. That´s what it´s all about.

 

[nonstophoops]

Thanks for your comments.

The Scribbled did fine with the corals. He may have nipped here and there, but nothing that I really noticed. As regards corals IME they act more like Centropyge (dwarf angels) than like Pomacanthus.
So, no major issues - they spread the nipping without focusing in one coral at the time.

But if you want an angle that doesn´t touch any coral at all, go for the Genicanthus species

Good to hear. There isn't a lot of information on Scribbleds out there and how good they are in reefs. Happy to hear it went well for you. Any corals my Scribbled chooses to pick at a lot will have to go, she is not. So I guess we will see what happens in time.

 

[Joao M]

I also took a chance when I bought it - it was the first scribbled ever in Portugal - and it went well as regards the corals. Not so well as regards the scribbled itself, because it decide to jump for eternity after a year (or so) in the tank.