ytbj
Mon, 12th Oct 2009, 08:56 PM
I never thought a simple water change on my 20 gallon saltwater aquarium would turn into the whirlwind that was to come over the next 8 months. The 20 gallon turned into a 125 gallon then I found a 280 gallon on Craigslist, I made an offer and it became mine… I was informed that it would take at least 6 grown men to move it, and they weren’t kidding. After renting a 26 foot u-haul, buying water containers and rounding up 6 willing friends we spent an entire weekend moving and setting it up in the living room. Then I decided that the 125 just wasn’t big enough so I traded it back in to the local fish store for a 210 gallon that we set up in the master bedroom for SPS corals and turned the 280 gallon tank into a LPS coral tank. Everything was going great and growing…..growing….growing and then I saw a 500 gallon acrylic tank in San Antonio on Craigslist and thought (to myself) wow that is what I need! Still maintaining both the 280 gallon and 210 gallon tanks and everything doing great I soon noticed that things are growing so good that we are actually running out of room in both tanks.
I occasionally go to craigslist and that 500 gallon aquarium is still there for sale….I still ponder the idea and do some measurements in the living room to see if I should still even consider it or just give up the idea……of course I could always move to a house that has bigger living room haha…..I know a little unreasonable but still a thought that pops in my head.
Well after months of throwing out the idea of getting the 500 gallon aquarium I finally make the plunge….call my girlfriend and tell her schedule a u-haul we are going to San Antonio to look at the 500 gallon and with luck on my side two of my friends are already in San Antonio and eager to help. So one afternoon me and my gf head to San Antonio and after one look I knew I would be starting the Grand Aquarium overhaul project. There were quite a few….okay tons of scratches in the acrylic that looked really deep but I was ready for the challenge.
We buy all the necessary supplies for the project to begin, with a little elbow grease and time it was really rewarding to see the results and actually wasn’t a challenge at all, I think the pictures say enough. Once we were done with removing the scratches on the tank, it was time to begin the stand and the plumbing. We ordered the custom made doors for the stand and await their arrival, ordered a custom made PM refugium that we picked up in New Braunfels. I am just about finished with the plumbing and about ready to start with the electrical process.
In the mean time…….yes another tank is purchased from Bigbird on MAAST. I started to think that the 500 gallon aquarium was going to need more live rock so I started to look on MAAST and there it was 215 gallon reef ready aquarium for sale with some really nice rock and a few corals and fish. So once again I call my girlfriend and tell her to schedule a u-haul we were going to San Antonio. We get the aquarium loaded with the help of Steve and his two sons. We got the aquarium home, got it cleaned and set back up in the spare bedroom and it looks really nice.
We are getting closer and closer to the BIG move day where we take the 280, 210 and the 215 and combine everything into the 500 gallon. I can’t wait to see the end result however, it will be weird not having multiple tanks to take care of. Please continue to check MAAST if you are interested in any of the other tanks/equipment everything will be posted once the tear down is complete. LPS corals will be priced to sale we will be focusing on SPS corals in the 500 gallon.
I have included pictures of the different tanks and pictures of the 500 project (on-going). I will continue to update this thread and include pictures.
Oh I almost forgot we are also now waiting for a banded cat shark egg to hatch in the 215 as well…it’s never a dull moment around here.
I occasionally go to craigslist and that 500 gallon aquarium is still there for sale….I still ponder the idea and do some measurements in the living room to see if I should still even consider it or just give up the idea……of course I could always move to a house that has bigger living room haha…..I know a little unreasonable but still a thought that pops in my head.
Well after months of throwing out the idea of getting the 500 gallon aquarium I finally make the plunge….call my girlfriend and tell her schedule a u-haul we are going to San Antonio to look at the 500 gallon and with luck on my side two of my friends are already in San Antonio and eager to help. So one afternoon me and my gf head to San Antonio and after one look I knew I would be starting the Grand Aquarium overhaul project. There were quite a few….okay tons of scratches in the acrylic that looked really deep but I was ready for the challenge.
We buy all the necessary supplies for the project to begin, with a little elbow grease and time it was really rewarding to see the results and actually wasn’t a challenge at all, I think the pictures say enough. Once we were done with removing the scratches on the tank, it was time to begin the stand and the plumbing. We ordered the custom made doors for the stand and await their arrival, ordered a custom made PM refugium that we picked up in New Braunfels. I am just about finished with the plumbing and about ready to start with the electrical process.
In the mean time…….yes another tank is purchased from Bigbird on MAAST. I started to think that the 500 gallon aquarium was going to need more live rock so I started to look on MAAST and there it was 215 gallon reef ready aquarium for sale with some really nice rock and a few corals and fish. So once again I call my girlfriend and tell her to schedule a u-haul we were going to San Antonio. We get the aquarium loaded with the help of Steve and his two sons. We got the aquarium home, got it cleaned and set back up in the spare bedroom and it looks really nice.
We are getting closer and closer to the BIG move day where we take the 280, 210 and the 215 and combine everything into the 500 gallon. I can’t wait to see the end result however, it will be weird not having multiple tanks to take care of. Please continue to check MAAST if you are interested in any of the other tanks/equipment everything will be posted once the tear down is complete. LPS corals will be priced to sale we will be focusing on SPS corals in the 500 gallon.
I have included pictures of the different tanks and pictures of the 500 project (on-going). I will continue to update this thread and include pictures.
Oh I almost forgot we are also now waiting for a banded cat shark egg to hatch in the 215 as well…it’s never a dull moment around here.