Update to my tank - Before and After (56K caution)

[Chin_Lee]

I was asked by several people at the recent Vancouver meet to put up an update to my tank so....... I finally put in my metal halides a couple of days ago and I officially have a reef tank ...... but sadly I've very few corals at this time. This is the "BEFORE" picture of the tank in July


And this is now:


It has three-sided viewing which gives me the viewing pleasure from the kitchen with:


and the view while lying on my couch:


Thanks to Mason (Son of Skyline) for a lot of the live rocks that I have. As you can see, I don't have too many corals so PM me if you have any frags that you would like to sell.

The giant skimmer I built is working just marvelously


and i've added a DJ88 calcium reactor to the sump system in my basement


I don't know how so many of you can all keep all this equipment in a cabinet under the tank..... I have enough problem keeping my sump room clean.
Reminder to PM me if you have some frags that will do well under 250W metal halides.
For those who are currently setting up their tanks, I hope you have as much fun as I had putting mine together. Lessons I learned:
1) do it slow and take your time
2) PLAN, PLAN and PLAN
3) measure once, twice then cut... especially acrylic cuz its so expensive
4) change or remove the price tags from the items you buy for your tank before you bring it home (if know your other half is already home)
5) Pay cash if your other half maintains the credit card bills
6) Remove the outer plastic bag that your livestock is in if you buy it from JL's because they write the price on the bag with a black marker got me in so much trouble when I took out the bags for the two blood shimps at $25 each
7) have fun doing it

Cheers
Chin Lee

[Gujustud]

lol, nice tips.

Tank is lookin' really nice and sharp! Good job. Nice Skimmer too!

[reefhawk]

geez looks alot like the 180 i have. Haha. seiously have skimmer envy tho. You didn't happen to buid two did ya? Looks great. wish i could figure out how to convert my pics into a small enough format to fit on here, you would be happy your tank went to a good home.

[muck]

Excellent Pictures..!!
I really like the way it is aquascaped, and the 3 sided viewing is a nice plus..

[Aquattro]

Great job! That looks really nice.

[AJ_77]

Beautiful setup, and great tips about hiding prices.

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Nice tank.

PS. Forgot to add:

8) Make lots of not-so-subtle hints about what you really want for Christmas, Birthdays (eg. live rock, gift cert. at your favourite lfs)

9) But most importantly - Don't let your other half find out about your posts on CanReef

[ree-fready]

Looks really good, awesome job.

[chrisd]

that's a beautiful setup.

[yifan917]

NICE...................!