Hi socali reefers,
My name is Jay, and I recently got back into the hobby about two years ago after over a decade of time off.
I started my first reef back in the late 90s while I was a student at UCSD. I had a softie and LPS 60 gallon and used Scripps water with pretty decent success. Lots of growth with the easy leathers and zoas/polyps using old school power compact lights, a Red Sea Berlin skimmer, and a deep sand bed. I had to breakdown the tank when I moved back to LA for work and graduate school. I kept some saltwater FOWLR tanks along the way, but everything got put on hold during grad school.
I forget how I caught the reefing bug again, but in 2011, before the birth of my daughter, I just felt the urge to re-learn all the stuff I forgot about reefing and learn all kinds of new information about reef husbandry that has developed since my time away. I read up a bit and thought I should set up another reef tank, thinking I could duplicate my success back in the 90s. But Man, ALOT has changed. I set up a 40 breeder, with 50 lbs of dry rock, GH overflow, Reef Octopus NWB150, Tek 6x39w T5HO, Cal & Alk dosers, fuge, and Mag 7 return. Went through the cycle, bought some easy SPS frags, had some growth, but nothing spectacular. In fact, nothing positive really started happening until a year after setup. Like I said, ALOT has changed and I got way too eager in getting things in the tank. Lost a bunch of frags, but some kept pushing on. Unfortunately, right when things started turning for the better in the 40, my wife and I bought a new place and we were moving, which meant the tank would have to be broken down. The move went well, but in breaking down the 40, I realized I really just missed the movement and simplicity of softies and LPS. So the 40 remains in the garage, and half the rock and remaining coral are being maintained in a 15 while I plan to set up a 20 long to focus on zoas, LPS, and leathers. So that's where I'm currently at. I'm definitely glad I got back into the hobby. My 18-month daughter loves the fish and I love seeing her excitement every time she walks by the makeshift 15 gallon holding tank. I'll hopefully start a thread on the 20L as soon as I finish buying the necessary equipment to get things going the right way.
Anyway, that's my reefing history in a nutshell. I'm glad to finally post something here after lurking for a while now. I hope to be able to contribute positively to the forums.
See you around,
Jay
My name is Jay, and I recently got back into the hobby about two years ago after over a decade of time off.
I started my first reef back in the late 90s while I was a student at UCSD. I had a softie and LPS 60 gallon and used Scripps water with pretty decent success. Lots of growth with the easy leathers and zoas/polyps using old school power compact lights, a Red Sea Berlin skimmer, and a deep sand bed. I had to breakdown the tank when I moved back to LA for work and graduate school. I kept some saltwater FOWLR tanks along the way, but everything got put on hold during grad school.
I forget how I caught the reefing bug again, but in 2011, before the birth of my daughter, I just felt the urge to re-learn all the stuff I forgot about reefing and learn all kinds of new information about reef husbandry that has developed since my time away. I read up a bit and thought I should set up another reef tank, thinking I could duplicate my success back in the 90s. But Man, ALOT has changed. I set up a 40 breeder, with 50 lbs of dry rock, GH overflow, Reef Octopus NWB150, Tek 6x39w T5HO, Cal & Alk dosers, fuge, and Mag 7 return. Went through the cycle, bought some easy SPS frags, had some growth, but nothing spectacular. In fact, nothing positive really started happening until a year after setup. Like I said, ALOT has changed and I got way too eager in getting things in the tank. Lost a bunch of frags, but some kept pushing on. Unfortunately, right when things started turning for the better in the 40, my wife and I bought a new place and we were moving, which meant the tank would have to be broken down. The move went well, but in breaking down the 40, I realized I really just missed the movement and simplicity of softies and LPS. So the 40 remains in the garage, and half the rock and remaining coral are being maintained in a 15 while I plan to set up a 20 long to focus on zoas, LPS, and leathers. So that's where I'm currently at. I'm definitely glad I got back into the hobby. My 18-month daughter loves the fish and I love seeing her excitement every time she walks by the makeshift 15 gallon holding tank. I'll hopefully start a thread on the 20L as soon as I finish buying the necessary equipment to get things going the right way.
Anyway, that's my reefing history in a nutshell. I'm glad to finally post something here after lurking for a while now. I hope to be able to contribute positively to the forums.
See you around,
Jay
.. Just say you are jay from azusa.
