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My New 60g Cade Reef Tank
Another tank! My previous article, “The Tampa Bay Saltwater Experience” showcased my experience with ordering and picking up “The Package” from TBS. I’ve used them to start all of my previous saltwater reef aquariums and this one was going to be no different. Welcome to my newest build… the “Mixed Reefalicious Cade 600“, a Cade 600 S2 Reef Tank. It’s been a while since my previous tank. And even longer since my previous saltwater reef tank. We sold our house and moved into a rental property for a little over a year while we built a new house. Then moved into the new house and got settled before I finally…
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The Tampa Bay Saltwater Experience
I’ve been a Tampa Bay Saltwater customer for more than a decade now and have started at least half a dozen saltwater reef aquariums using their rock, sand, and clean-up crew. TBS is an amazing asset and resource for hobbyists in the USA. In this article, I hope to offer some insight into their product/service, take you on a little journey, and show you what it’s like to purchase “The Package”. Who is Tampa Bay Saltwater? Tampa Bay Saltwater (TBS) is a small family-run outfit based in Tampa, Florida that was started nearly 40 years ago by Richard Londeree, who recently handed the reigns over to two young Florida-native siblings,…
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DIY Dosing Vessels – The GHL Edition
These are an inexpensive way to create some functional and stylish dosing containers and you’ll be recycling/repurposing, too! The “GHL Edition” in the title is just a little humor because these happen to match my GHL Doser perfectly! A little added bonus for any other GHL owners out there. But if the transparent blue is not your thing, feel free to grab a can of Krylon plastic paint and spray the caps the color of your choice. This is almost identical to creating dosing containers using the glass Voss water bottles. I was one of the first to do this several years ago and it has become very popular. They…
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Oase Biomaster 600 Thermo
Now that the stand is complete, it’s time to start adding equipment. The first and most important thing I needed to decide on was the filtration. I went back and forth between a few different canister filters but finally decided on the Oase Biomaster 600 Thermo. Two of them. The Oase Biomaster 600 is the largest canister filter that Oase offers. They advertise a max flow rate of around 1250 l/ph or 330 gph. Since my tank is 5′ long (143g) I decided it would be best to have two for proper flow throughout the aquarium. This will also allow me to clean on an alternating schedule. One canister will…
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Building the Waterbox Clear Pro Stand
We found the perfect spot for the new Waterbox Clear Pro aquarium, so now it’s time to build the stand! The stand is from Waterbox and it’s designed to fit the new Waterbox Clear Pro 6025 tank perfectly. Gathering the pieces: Here is the hardware as supplied from Waterbox Aquariums. Next we had to bring all the pieces in from the garage. And there was a lot! Let’s build! You start with the base. There are A LOT of leveling feet.The instructions are bit lacking. They are illustrated steps, nice and clear but almost zero mention of any of the hardware.If you’ve put IKEA together before, it shouldn’t be a…
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NEW TANK BUILD!
After more than a decade and several successful builds in the Saltwater Reef hobby, I’ve decided to jump ship (for a little bit) and try my hand at this planted tank thang. For real. Not the little low tech 7g cube I’ve posted about here, but a proper, large aquarium. So time for a new planted tank build! I set up the little 7g cube that I’ve been fooling around with to kind of dip my toe in and start familiarizing myself with freshwater planted practices. But it’s really just scratching the surface. For the big tank, I’m going all in! So, let’s get on with the show, shall we? Here’s…
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Betta Tank July 2018
It’s been a while since the last update, but this low tech Betta Tank is cruising along. Although the Betta behavior changed and he’s not eating well. The Betta situation has been interesting. He was doing great, then his behavior changed. First, he seemed to become quite anti-social! This sounds funny, but it’s true. He likes to go inside the rock structure and he spends much of the day in there. He has also become a bit listless. If he is out and about, he tends to be just sitting on the substrate. And finally, it’s like he became blind and dumb when it comes to food. If I drop…
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Thinking of moving your Saltwater Reef Aquarium?
Sometimes life changes. It can change in a way that requires your beautiful reef aquarium, that you have poured your heart and soul (and a lot of cash!) into, to be torn down and moved to a new home. It may seem like a daunting task, but a little thought and planning can ease pain and suffering. There are a few different approaches you can take that will just require you to make some decisions on what will be best for you and your livestock. I hope that this article can provide some insight into the mayhem that is moving an aquarium. So when you have to go through the…
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7 Gallon Betta Tank – It Begins!
Hi there! I was about to jump head first into the world of hi-tech planted tanks (coming from over a decade in Reef tanks) but the new Waterbox Clear Pro I plan on using won’t be shipping for a few months so in the interim I decided to set up a little planted Betta tank. The Setup After some back and forth on tank size, I picked up an Ultum Nature Systems 30c from Aquarium Design Group (ADG) in Houston, along with some river stones and a few sticks. Lightly planted and low tech is the plan for this tank. For a filter, I’m just using one of those little…
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Video of My 120g Elos Mixed Reef Aquarium
This is a 2 year old saltwater reef aquarium. The tank is the Elos 120XL Diamond Line with “Quiet Drain” overflow. It was started with live rock and sand from Tampa Bay Saltwater, as are all of my reef tanks. The filtration consists of a berlin style sump and refugium from LifeReef, along with a LifeReef Skimmer. This system is controlled by a GHL Profilux 4 controller. Dosing the big three (Alkalinity, Calcium and Magnesium) is accomplished with the GHL Doser 2.1 dosing unit. Lighting is provided by 3 Radion G4 Pro LEDs from Ecotech Marine. Additional flow is also provide by Ecotech Marine via two Vortech MP40w powerheads. For…
