KaCee Bunn-Smith
Member
This thread may start out a little slow, as I have only just placed the order for my new tank and have been given a timescale of us to 4 weeks before it arrives.
Since I am a first time reef tank owner though, I thought that I might journal why and how I have gotten to where I am.
A bit of background. I am a 34 year old married male. I have 1 stepson who is 20 (from my wife's first marriage, and 1 grand-daughter who is just over a year old.
I was born in Louisiana in the USA, but moved to the UK to live in Wakefield 9 years ago as this is where my wife was raised. I have kept freshwater fish for about the last 4 years, although only in a very small (65 litre) tank.
I work in IT for a Global finance company, and recently annual bonus time hit. I told my wife that I wanted to get a larger fish tank, and after a couple weeks of coaxing, I got permission to have a larger tank in the living room, in addition to the freshwater tank in our bedroom. Convinced that things would go better if I could get my wife involved, I managed to talk her down to the Local Fish Store with me, as it is located on the same site as a garden centre she loves to visit.
We walked into the shop (which I frequent a lot for Fresh Water, but which my wife had not been into before.) While I was looking at the 150-200 litre tanks, thinking of which one I could convince my wife to allow me the space for, my wife came to a stop in front of a beautiful tank, much larger than anything I could have dreamed of considering. The tank was stocked with a miriad of stunning corals, and had a group of mandrinfish flitting from rock to rock. There was also a firefish glowing away near the glass at the front of the tank. My wife was speechless. I let her stare at the tank for about 10 minutes before coming back over to her. She asked "Could you do something like this in your new tank then?" At this point, I knew I had her hooked. I spent the next 20 minutes explaining the differences between fresh and salt water, and of course I was obliged to mention higher costs as well.... although I didn't mention any specifics. I also explained that the tank I had been looking at was definitely not big enough for something like what she was seeing.
The moment of truth, my wife looked at the tank, then looked around, then asked the magic question. "So which one of these WOULD be big enough then?" I knew I had her hooked, and better, yet, it was HER IDEA!
We settled on a beautiful 340 litre cabinet by a company called Aqua Oak. It comes "Systemised" as they call it, meaning that the sump and all of the plumbing are already built on delivery.
Also on the shopping list, after a long talk with a friend of mine who works in the shop...
2x 300 Watt Heaters (which I believe can be placed in the sump
https://fishkeeper.co.uk/product/aquatropic-aqua-therm-300w-aquarium-heater
TMC Lumenair 900 Lighting
http://ultramarinemagazine.co.uk/products-services/tmc-v2-ilumenair-900-great-par-at-a-great-price/
Hydor Smartwave 5600 Kit
https://fishkeeper.co.uk/product/hydor-koralia-5600-smart-wave-kit
Fluval Sea Cp 2 (return pump)
https://fishkeeper.co.uk/product/fluval-sea-aquarium-circulation-pump-cp2-1600-lph
TMC V2 Skim Pro 450 Protein Skimmer
https://fishkeeper.co.uk/product/tmc-v-skim-pro-450-protein-skimmer
Bluemarine Reactor 120 with bio pearls
https://fishkeeper.co.uk/product/blue-marine-reactor-120
https://fishkeeper.co.uk/product/aqua-marin-bio-pearls-500ml
I will also be receiving prepared salt water, live rock and live sand from the LFS, which will be arriving later than the equipment.
Since I am a first time reef tank owner though, I thought that I might journal why and how I have gotten to where I am.
A bit of background. I am a 34 year old married male. I have 1 stepson who is 20 (from my wife's first marriage, and 1 grand-daughter who is just over a year old.
I was born in Louisiana in the USA, but moved to the UK to live in Wakefield 9 years ago as this is where my wife was raised. I have kept freshwater fish for about the last 4 years, although only in a very small (65 litre) tank.
I work in IT for a Global finance company, and recently annual bonus time hit. I told my wife that I wanted to get a larger fish tank, and after a couple weeks of coaxing, I got permission to have a larger tank in the living room, in addition to the freshwater tank in our bedroom. Convinced that things would go better if I could get my wife involved, I managed to talk her down to the Local Fish Store with me, as it is located on the same site as a garden centre she loves to visit.
We walked into the shop (which I frequent a lot for Fresh Water, but which my wife had not been into before.) While I was looking at the 150-200 litre tanks, thinking of which one I could convince my wife to allow me the space for, my wife came to a stop in front of a beautiful tank, much larger than anything I could have dreamed of considering. The tank was stocked with a miriad of stunning corals, and had a group of mandrinfish flitting from rock to rock. There was also a firefish glowing away near the glass at the front of the tank. My wife was speechless. I let her stare at the tank for about 10 minutes before coming back over to her. She asked "Could you do something like this in your new tank then?" At this point, I knew I had her hooked. I spent the next 20 minutes explaining the differences between fresh and salt water, and of course I was obliged to mention higher costs as well.... although I didn't mention any specifics. I also explained that the tank I had been looking at was definitely not big enough for something like what she was seeing.
The moment of truth, my wife looked at the tank, then looked around, then asked the magic question. "So which one of these WOULD be big enough then?" I knew I had her hooked, and better, yet, it was HER IDEA!
We settled on a beautiful 340 litre cabinet by a company called Aqua Oak. It comes "Systemised" as they call it, meaning that the sump and all of the plumbing are already built on delivery.
Also on the shopping list, after a long talk with a friend of mine who works in the shop...
2x 300 Watt Heaters (which I believe can be placed in the sump
https://fishkeeper.co.uk/product/aquatropic-aqua-therm-300w-aquarium-heater
TMC Lumenair 900 Lighting
http://ultramarinemagazine.co.uk/products-services/tmc-v2-ilumenair-900-great-par-at-a-great-price/
Hydor Smartwave 5600 Kit
https://fishkeeper.co.uk/product/hydor-koralia-5600-smart-wave-kit
Fluval Sea Cp 2 (return pump)
https://fishkeeper.co.uk/product/fluval-sea-aquarium-circulation-pump-cp2-1600-lph
TMC V2 Skim Pro 450 Protein Skimmer
https://fishkeeper.co.uk/product/tmc-v-skim-pro-450-protein-skimmer
Bluemarine Reactor 120 with bio pearls
https://fishkeeper.co.uk/product/blue-marine-reactor-120
https://fishkeeper.co.uk/product/aqua-marin-bio-pearls-500ml
I will also be receiving prepared salt water, live rock and live sand from the LFS, which will be arriving later than the equipment.
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