30 gal long reef tank

I've first gotten into reef tanks was about little bit over 2 years ago when I was working at a pet shop. My wife and I always wanted to setup an FOWLR and a few of anemones ( like the flower nem, which was my favorite) cause she likes the sw fish so much more. But we was told that maintaining a FOWLR is extremely expensive every month. So at that time we just stuck with tropical fw fish (which I've kept everysince I was 12yrs old).
Anyways when I was working at the pet shop, I was the main one who maintained all the fish tanks (and saltwater was part of it). My boss lady decided to start selling corals. Well it was on for me, I was hooked after seeing some corals in person for the first time. So I talked it over with my wife of what she thought about setting up a reef tank. She said that would be great just as long as the cost didn't interfer with paying our bills. Then it came to me if I were sell all my reptiles, 3 roach colonies, few millipedes, centipede, all the scorpions but 1 (had about 90) and all of my tarantulas but 17 (had about 300), plus sell for of my tanks and use that money there to get started on my reef tank. The I would be able to fullfill this craving, and I did.
So I taken down my 15 gal high tropical fw tank. Use that tank to get started (cuz of lack of room for a bigger one). Every week I would buy one item at a time to get the cycling part starting and bought everything else before I added any live stock (cuz i didn't make very much at the pet store. Taken me about 4 months to have all I needed (sure was worth the wait), like the proper lighting, protein skimmer, powerheads, more live rock, ect. My 15 was up and running for about a year. Then my family and I moved into a bigger place I turned around and cycled out a 30 gal long and moved everything from the 15 to the 30.

I'll have a few pictures of my 15 gal and what I have going on with my 30 gal long reef,
my equipment:
Penguin 350 fitler (350 gph), taken out those bio wheels
SeaClone 100 Protein Skimmer
Odyssea 4 buld T-5 156 watts w/ 3 lunar lights (I know these are junk, bought before I asked around)
Maxi-Jet 400 powerhead (106 gph), have behind the rockwork for better flow
Hydor Koralia nano (240 gph), bought this small size to see how I would like this brand, need a bigger one)
Stealth heater 50watts

use Reef Crystals salt
dose with B-Ionic 2 part, only dose when needed

fish & shrimp
1 neon goby
1 yellow watchman goby
1 scarlet cleaner shrimp
6 sexy shrimps

corals
1 Acropora sp.
1 red and green Blasto, 2 heads
1 Rainbow Acan, 9 heads
1 Sinularia sp.
1 neon orange Ricordia
3 orange and blue Ricordeas
1 purple/blue Ricordea
1 neon green Ricordea rock, 4 heads
Radioactive Green Candy Cane colony, 3 heads and all are splitting
1 Radioactive gr. Candy Cane frag, 1 head
1 Kenya tree
Athelia colony
Green Star Polype colony
Powder Blue Zoanthid, about 25-30 polypes
Green Tip Hairy Mushy rock, 3 heads
Floresence Green Mushroom rock, 8 heads
Cherry Appy Berry Palythoa colony, 13 polypes
Green Palythoa colony, 5 polypes
Eagle Eye Zoanthids, 30-40 polypes attached to 2 mussels
1 colony of zoas suppose to be Armor of Gods
and a few other mushies and zoas, which i have no clue what they are.

1 Feather Duster

CUC
3 blue leg hermit crab
3 Astreas snail
1 Turbo snail
5 other snail, cannot remember what they are.
1 baby Brittle Star
3 baby Serpants
I need to add more CUC

Parameters
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0.5
Ph 8.4
Phosphates 0
Salinity 1.026


Here is pretty much how my 15 gal tank looked before everything was moved over to the 30 gal.

The FTS of the 15, sorry for crappy shots. This pic was from my wife's cell, taken over a year ago


FTS of my 30, tried to get a close shot, but I couldn't without being too fuzzy looking.


right side view


left side view

center front view


my neon goby, who is all lonely without it's friend, had 2


My 1st sps coral,Acropora sp.

Rainbow Acan, I love this pc. I had paid $30 for this beauty.

Blasto

This one was suppose to be an Armor of God zoas.



I do have more pix, but I don't have too much more time to post them all.
Sorry these pix of my 30gal isn't too good. They were taken from my dig vid. cam
Thanks for looking.
Mark-

Thats a very nice set up. I find it hard to believe that THAT cost so much money. I mean idk anything about fish so dont take it the wrong way. Was it really worth selling all your critters for that?

i love saltwater tanks...
if thats not an armor of god zoa, what is it?

ive only ever seen one before and it was about an inch tall by like an inch and a half wide with about 9 heads sticking off it...

still...good job, even with how bad you think that pics are, i like them

anemiaffx wrote:

Thats a very nice set up. I find it hard to believe that THAT cost so much money. I mean idk anything about fish so dont take it the wrong way. Was it really worth selling all your critters for that?

Actually, it was worth selling most of what i had to get started with a reef. I've only kept the ones I cannot apart from and the rest would be so easy for me get again in a New York minute.
I have no regrets.
Also, at that time I was moving into a smaller place and didn't have the room for all my critters.


Mickey, thanks.
I say theey are Armors, but when i searched on the ID site, they pix there didn't look like mine, maybe it's lighting.
All and all, I like that frag and love this hobby like i love keeping inverts.

mikey*

oops Mikey


A few more pix to share with ya.
1 of the 6 sexies in between the polype of some sort and the candy cane

2 more sexies


my scarlet cleaner on a red mushy I was told that it's an superman mushies,
All the pimples are blue but the cam didn't allow the blue to shine.

here is a better pic


My neon goby. I love these guys. Use to have a pair, but one came up missing one day


I'll get a shot of my yellow watchman goby if he would ever come out of hiding, he's shy

green candy canes


I thought this was a cool pic

lol sorry i didnt mean to seem rude...


thats pretty awesome...
i love marine tanks

thanks
worth getting into reefs for me.

Hell, i didn't take it asyouwere being rude, it's all good

this is when i first gotten this mushroom rock that was sold as supermans

here it is now


this is my Sinularia sp. only paid $6 in Tally Fl. next to that is my Powder Blue zoas

redknee wrote:

anemiaffx wrote:

Thats a very nice set up. I find it hard to believe that THAT cost so much money. I mean idk anything about fish so dont take it the wrong way. Was it really worth selling all your critters for that?

Actually, it was worth selling most of what i had to get started with a reef. I've only kept the ones I cannot apart from and the rest would be so easy for me get again in a New York minute.
I have no regrets.
Also, at that time I was moving into a smaller place and didn't have the room for all my critters.


Mickey, thanks.
I say theey are Armors, but when i searched on the ID site, they pix there didn't look like mine, maybe it's lighting.
All and all, I like that frag and love this hobby like i love keeping inverts.

Oh ya lol

If you wanna keep saltwater fish and live rocks, etc, all the equipment, fish, decor, and electricity will keep your pockets empty xD

my light bill hadn't changed that much or I wouldn't upgrade to a lil larger tank. To each thier own