My 80 Deep Blue, love the dimensions

[Chihuahua6]

After being out of the hobby for two years and sadly giving up my 380 gallon that I was never able to set up I got back in (now on a tight budget.)

I purchased everything used or I traded for other tank equipment I already had. I couldn't go very big due to living in an apartment so I decided that I would get something between 75 and 90 gallons which I felt was safe being that it's spread across three floor joists and against a load bearing wall.

I found an almost new 80 gallon Deep Blue tank here on MR 48X24X16.
I also purchased 70 lbs of Pukani rock and a 4 stage RODI shortly after from the same guy all for a great price. I traded a huge Barracuda pump I had for a brand new 4' Aqua Medic Ocean Light with hanging kit.

I painted the frame of the tank with white gloss epoxy paint and plan to paint the light fixture to match. The 2X4 stand will be skinned with a clean modern design and painted a glossy white to match.

Here's what the tank looks like after 3 months. I will post more pics once the stand is skinned.

 

[KathyC]

Very nice!

 

[jackson6745]

Looks very clean!

 

[nanoreefer22]

Looks great! In the process of setting up the same tank.

 

[Chihuahua6]

Thanks for the compliments. The tank went through its cycles of hair algae, diatome and cyano but all is good now. I had fish but removed them due to ich on the Powder Blue Tang (don't ask) but they're in a temporary home until it's safe to put them back.

A few weeks after removing the fish the pod population exploded. There are tiny ones to huge 1/4" ones and they're everywhere. No predators equals lots of microfauna.

 

[Chihuahua6]

Kris you're going to love the tank. Did you get started yet?

Here's a pic of the anemone under moonlights. When I got this anemone it was a little pale, not completely bleached out, just a little. Now it has grown and darkened quite a bit. I love it. I have a big Tomato Clown just waiting to snuggle with it ; )

 

[nanoreefer22]

That looks really nice!

Haven't gotten it yet, it's stressful staring at this empty tank in my living room

Probably will be up in 3-4 months. Lots of planning ahead.

 

[skene]

nice.

 

[Chihuahua6]

Here's the way it looked with the rock up to the surface. It doesn't show the depth as well this way. I changed things around twice so far. This is the first shallow tank I have had and the rock pieces are large so it took a while to get the look I wanted.

 

[pecan2phat]

Amanda right?
I had bought some stuff from you when you were out in the Island before you went down to the Carolinas.
Tank looks great

 

[mdevera15]

really nice.. u just gave me some inspiration for my new project.

 

[OOtzie]

+1 on the cave action !

 

[Chihuahua6]

+1 on the cave action !

Thanks. All of the rocks have only a small area touching the bottom of the tank so that water flows under everything. There are lots of caves, pass throughs and crevices. I also keep the rock away from the back of the glass. There are nine pieces of live rock, two of which are very large.

 

[Chihuahua6]

Amanda right?
I had bought some stuff from you when you were out in the Island before you went down to the Carolinas.
Tank looks great

Wow, great memory. What did you buy? That was eight years ago!

 

[pecan2phat]

Your NIB sump with baffles, still using it on a 120g to this day

 

[Chihuahua6]

Your NIB sump with baffles, still using it on a 120g to this day

I remember. Wow still using it? That's great.

 

[Chihuahua6]

I purchased two good size pieces of live rock sight unseen. He said one was covered in Xenia and he was right ; ) I love it. I have it arranged in a way that it won't easily spread to the the surrounding rock. It would have to go over the edge and under. It does pop off pieces that float and land in other parts of the tank. I just remove them when I see them, usually on the sand bed. Both rocks with Xenia cost me only $15. Only one rock is visible in this picture.

 

[Chihuahua6]

 

[Chihuahua6]

 

[Chihuahua6]