135 gallon reef tank

[gm333]

I am a newbie to Gecko's, but not to aquaria.
Here are some pics of my current 135 gallon reef setup.

Left side

Middle

right side

 

[Lena]

Wow.. I always marvel at these tanks. How do you people do it??

 

[gm333]

Thanks for the comment.
If you are familiar with keeping freshwater aquariums then keeping saltwater is not much harder.
I think the hardest thing for me in the beginning was finding a way to balance all the paramaters in the tank. Once you get a good maintenance program going it is very easy. It's is definitly not a cheap hobby. All on all I have over 4 grand invested in this tank.
I could also add a couple grand more if I could afford it.
The corals and fish have a similar price range like gecko's.
The harder to find and more colorful the species the more you are going to pay.

 

[cwazy]

man o man... i have a 40 gallon tank with some live rocks and couple clowns... i dunno how in the world you can keep that thing clean... i cant seem to keep up with mine for the life of me... but i assume thats cuz im using tap water

 

[spykerherps]

Gorgeous. extremely awesome, great job. I love reef tanks and hope to have one one day. Is that a platform in the center for the coral to grow on will they stay on that platform? when larger if they did that would be cool for them to grow over the platform so you can't see it. and create a cave like structure.

 

[gm333]

man o man... i have a 40 gallon tank with some live rocks and couple clowns... i dunno how in the world you can keep that thing clean... i cant seem to keep up with mine for the life of me... but i assume thats cuz im using tap water

Yes, tap water is the number one contributor to algae. Tap water contains phosphates and nitrates which are the 2 main fueling substances for Algae. Trust me my system is far from being algae free, but it is under control. I have many crabs and snails as well as urchins to help control algae as well. Also regular waterchanges and running phosphate media helps as well.
Look into purchasing an RO/DI unit, they have come down in price quite a bit over the years and you can get a good four stage one for under 100. If that is not a possibility look into purchasing your top-off water from your LFS as well as saltwater. If your LFS does not carry R/O then you can get R/O water the drinking water station from Walmart. The TDS is usually within reason and much better than tap.

 

[gm333]

Gorgeous. extremely awesome, great job. I love reef tanks and hope to have one one day. Is that a platform in the center for the coral to grow on will they stay on that platform? when larger if they did that would be cool for them to grow over the platform so you can't see it. and create a cave like structure.

Yes the platform holds the smaller pieces I prune off the bigger pieces. Its kind of like growing plants under water, although I cannot get a plant that lives out of water to live. I usually trade in my frag pieces to my LFS for credit toward more coral or maintenance supplies.

 

[Foreverandever]

I just drooled a bit on my keyboard. I've always wanted to have one of those...but dont have the time or money right now haha

 

[LIZARDLOVER]

I have a 55 gallon, a thirty gallon, a ten gallon, an eight gallon, and not to mention five Leos, all in my room! Whenever my friends or relitatives come over, they wonder how I can even find room to put a bed!

 

[elnott]

that is a sweet reef tank. how long did it take to get it like that? was that an anenome (spelling) on the left? if so how do you keep it from moving around and terrorizing your corals?

 

[gm333]

that is a sweet reef tank. how long did it take to get it like that? was that an anenome (spelling) on the left? if so how do you keep it from moving around and terrorizing your corals?

This tank is three years old, but it has gone through several big changes. The oldest of the current corals are around 2 yrs old. Most of the corals are only a year old. I have a slight addiction to buying newer corals so I end up getting rid of ones before they actually get big. I have had several diseases run through some of the corals that killed alot of them off. I am now so cautious about what goes in my tank most new corals go through a rigorous quarantine period with alot of treating.

Yes that is a Rose bubble-tip anemone. It is a beautiful species and has split twice in the last year. The last split happened after I took that pic. One of the splits moved to the back corner of the tank and I sold the other split. If the anemone is happy with lighting and flow it will not move. I did have a problem when I first added it to the tank. I placed it on the right hand side and it moved about five foot to the left hand side where you see it in the pic.
It currently has not come out of the corner so it seems happy where it lies now. I have more of a problem with my mushrooms moving and stinging corals.

 

[vctkiller]

Is that tank suitable for Nemo and that blue fish

 

[gm333]

Is that tank suitable for Nemo and that blue fish

I currently have Nemo and "Dory" which is a blue hippo tang can reach 12" in an aquarium. I could house one, but I prefer to keep smaller fish that won't accidentally knock or break off corals.

 

[elnott]

i need to get around to converting my tank to salt. i have kept freshwater for about 20 years and have had atleast one of everything or its cousin that you find in most pet stores.

 

[gm333]

I you need help feel free to ask. Its not that difficult to switch over.

 

[cwazy]

Look into purchasing an RO/DI unit, they have come down in price quite a bit over the years and you can get a good four stage one for under 100.

got a link... ?

 

[Halley]

Great looking tank!

 

[ctgecko]

i'm also into reefs and fish in general and i have to say that is a very nice tank !!!! the big difference from fresh to salt is money ! a 135 gal fresh you could get started for like 500 bucks but salt your talking thousands like you said !!

 

[ctgecko]

and time people think they could a tank like that over night not gonna happen espaecially starting from frag pieces !!

 

[gm333]

Thanks, SO far I have 2 years invested in this current setup. I also have several pieces of coral that have grown very little in the past 2 years. Then the opposite of that is, I have alot of them that need to be propagated each month.