"pics are in bio"

i started out 10 or so years ago with a 120 i converted to sw from fresh. after learning a few good things and the process of how the environmental and chemical load works on saltwater i got a 180 and gave away the entire 120 setup. the 180 is about 4 years old and undergone extensive tinkering, testing, trial, and errors. its cycled more than any tank i known of due to this. although i successfully purchase, grow, harvest/prop, and sell frags, i still find myself learning things. many people get to a point in there life they think "well its good enough. my corals are alive (perhaps not thriving), so this is where i stay. i'm definitely not that type of person. my corals are live creatures made up of many independent organisms. these organisms depend on me (the owner) to supply them everything they need to flourish.

With this in mind, i feed between 3-10 times a 24hr period pending on my mood. i don't waste time with snake oils/gimmick-fixes. my protein skimmer is adequate for a tank/system approximately 5-8 times its current volume. my lighting i test with a par meter (8 t5's VHO which is 84 watts a bulb on 4' bulbs). i don't like fish... esp when they host my 16 inch war coral and kill there polyps. i don't like anemones either as they like to find there way into powerheads and my returns. i check all my parameters weekly at the least. my water temp stays at 78.5 to 79.5 24/7. i dislike fuges and can filters. they have there place and that place is not in my setup. i don't run gfo. my skimmer takes care of that bc it is sufficient for my tank's bioload. i run carbon... sometimes. sandbeds absorb po4 (phosphates), as does rockwork. sandbed went. i never seen a reef in a sandbed.... ever. it has its place, but not in my setup. ive tried to be cheap on rockwork and make my own. its nice until all the little nonporous divots collect some much crap that you have a farm of aiptasia and GBA (green bubble algae). so it was pulled (about 250 lbs worth and a 75lb bridge that spanned the tank). i have Hundreds of lbs. of liverock that sits in containers... dry. i completely suck at rockwork... OCD (if anyone would like to assist me pls do lol). google can be your friend and your enemy. i've learned 75% of information given away is false or not completely true. this is why i stick to myself moreless. but, i notice i have never lost anything due to anything i've done. either my corals are tough sob's from all the experimentation i've done, or i'm doing something right.

conclusion on my setup:
*1- over rated skimmer removes poo before it turns into a nitrate cycle.
*1- filter sock (2.50@ dudasupply) yeah... they are really that inexpensive when they arent for "reef use"
*some- carbon in the sock.
unknown lbs.- liverock. take care of anything possibly going from nitrate > nitrite > Nitrogen Gas (and the corals have a perch)
*8- 84watt VHO T5's. (2- 420's, 2-460's, 2- 14k, 1- 10k, 1-fiji purple equivalent)
*1- 2640 gph (dc-10000 waveline) skimmer pump with a venturi i made. its like a becket but... less expensive if you understand hydraulics
*1- 900 gph return pump (working on a larger one but my overflow is maxed out atm, so need new 1800gph eshops)
*1 - titanium ground probe (stray voltage is Not your friend)
*1- auto top off fed from my ro/di with 20 gallons total reserve (feeds my icemaker and drinking water on the ro side also
*1- 5 Gallon lowes bucket for my skimmer poop (dumped about every 2 weeks when it gets full)
*3- 300 watt heaters (omg no they dont all run at the same time, but in the winter they all cycle accordingly)

bout sums it up.

except for one part: if you understand the complexities of the saltwater biological world, its amazing how simple keeping a reef can be.