Like the title says, my husband and I are about to head to Hill AFB.  So, we figured it was best to join the club and start getting involved BEFORE we have to ask for help resetting up the tank! 

 

I'm Nikki, and my husband is Will.  We're both engineers for the Air Force (I'm civilian, and he's military.)  We were supposed to arrive in July, but we just found out he's deploying, so we're heading there sooner so he can leave again. 

 

We're both addicts: I'm more addicted to the coral side, and he's more addicted to the setup/technology side.  We've been reefing for over 4 years, and I was VP & Prez in my old club for 3 years total.  We're also both PADI Advanced Open Water scuba certified.

 

Ok ok...enough chatting...time for photos!

 

I'm really embarrassed I don't have a new FTS, but here is our main display a year & a half ago:

 

My husband and I designed/built/stained the stand/canopy.  Tank is a Marineland 150g.

 

Sump is a custom design by us...built by us.  Skimmer is an Octopus Extreme 250

 

Lighting consists of 2 x 400W MH in Lumenmax Elite reflectors on IceCap ballasts with 2 x 54W T-5's on a workhorse ballast.

 

Flow: 2 x Vortech MP40's

 

Controller:  Neptune Apex w/ moonlight simulator

 

Media Reactor:  NextReef MR1

 

ATO:  DIY w/ back-up safety

 

Dosing:  Reefdoser Quadro w/ 2-part solution

 

RO/DI:  Coralife 4-stage 75GPD (better one is on the way)

 

QT system:  10g drilled w/ 10g sump

 

A. Selago/Aculeus (not sure which one...old photo while back in QT)

 

ORA Blue Bottlebrush (old school...but a goodie!)

 

Blue Milli (grows an inch a month...this is a *very* old photo)

 

Blastomussa Wellsi

 

Tyree Cyphastrea Ocellina

 

Also have the following:

 

Tyree Pink Lemonade Acropora

Tyree $500 Efflo Acropora

Paletta's Pink Tip Acropora

Tub's Pink Jade Acropora

Strawberry Shortcake Acropora

Tyree Montipora Setosa

Icefire Echinata

ORA German Blue Polyp Acropora

Orange Crush Acanthastrea Echinata

Orange/Blue Acanthophyllia Deshayesiana

and many many many others....

 

Before:

 

~2 months later:

 

Before:

 

Now:

 

Before:

 

Now:

 

Before:

 

Now:

 

Right now we're in Dayton, Ohio.  Our old club was the Western Ohio Reef Club, but unfortunately, politics got in the way of reefkeeping, so we left.  Dayton is just not ideal for reefkeeping.  There are only a couple of LFS around here, and the ones that are here usually have livestock covered in pests...or just have brown/dying corals they have insane prices on.  Most of our corals came from stores we travelled across the country to.  We've been to MACNA, Steve Tyree's store, etc. 

 

It'll be really nice to be near a ton of reefers/LFS with beautiful corals!!  How many members usually show to meetings/etc?  I saw there were like 2700 forum members?!  That's insane!!!

I'd love to get involved, but it sounds like you guys have most of the bases covered as far as DIY.  We can do acrylic work, DIY magnetic frag plugs, normal frag plugs, recharging DI resin, DIY homemade food, macroalgae (I grow Gracillaria Hagi, Ulva, & red Agar), rescueing corals, QT procedures, treating fish for various diseases (link below), and I'm really good at pest/hitchhiker ID & treatment. 

 

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=18167069#post18167069 - http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=18167069#post18167069

 

BTW, I'm MechEng99 on Reefcentral.com

 

I presume you are at Wright-Patterson? I have an office on Hill AFB and live nearby in Layton so should be able to help when you need it (given that I am not TDY).

 

Wow, I've been browsing the site all morning, and I'm absolutely shocked at the amazing stuff everyone has!  The corals are beautiful...and HUGE!  I have a feeling it's going to be a stark contrast between the aquariums here and what I'll see out there!!  Plus...all the events?!  That's nuts!  Our club just had a frag swap once a year...the rest of the time we would just go to someone's house monthly to look at their tank.  Never had a speaker (no point for about 15 active members!!) 

 

I heard there's the SeaBase scuba/snorkel place there?  How is that?  I know it's no ocean, but I figure if it'll get me a scuba fix, then I'm happy. 

 

I think we're planning to buy a house unless we don't find one to fall in love with.  Hubby says I'm not allowed to make a house purchase decision based off proximity to a LFS.  :) 

 

Hey CapnMorgan - I see you have a NPS reef...that's awesome!  I had a little 8g one for a while about 2 years ago, but it was too hard to get anything other than suncorals in our area (had a balanophyllia, 3 suncorals, and a gorg...that's it).  Do you have a build thread? 

 

Ok, newbie question...why do several of you have *Presidency under your names? 

 

Whoa!  Hmmm...I just assumed it was like any normal rental place where anything beyond a 10g Walmart setup was banned.  Interesting...

I do have one however it hasn't been updated in FOREVER. I'll have to update it soon. I'm actually getting ready to move it to a new spot in a month or so, so I'll probably post the update then.

 

P.S.  Anyone need an engineer?  :-)  (Can't blame me for trying)

Send me your details. My buddy is a mechanical engineer at ITT composites. They do a lot of aerospace stuff for Boeing and the military, I'd be happy to pass your info along to him.

They have a huge assembly facility right by SLC Intl. Airport. They did a lot of design and fabrication on the new UH60 airframe as well as composite components for Boeing jets and the JSF, but I know they have a ton of other projects as well. 

 

 

Our plan is for Will to find a house, I'll fly out and ok it, I'll fly back, then close on the house.  Once he has the house, he'll set up a small tank and get it cycled.  I'll fly the fish/corals out in a couple batches (just in case something goes wrong with one box).  I'll then tear down the tank, kill the live rock, then move everything out...and set back up.  Hopefully we'll be back and fully operational by the beginning of August!

 

 

 

Right now everything is in a temporary tank until the main tank is set up. 

 

On a side note, does anyone have a brine shrimp hatchery for sale?  My poor mandarin is in the temporary tank, and I'm sure he doesn't have enough food.  Thanks!

 

Can't wait to meet you all, and can't wait to get the main tank going! 

Welcome! I don't have a brine shrimp hatchery but you can always make one with an air pump some rigid tubing and an old two liter bottle . Let us know if we can be of any help! I know moving can be stressful enough without moving tanks!

 

 

If you need more right away, BSD does sell live shrimp also, along with lots of other food.  and they are very nice to work with.  They don't have any kind of a store, but just call and stop by.

Yeah they aren't the best looking by any means lol . In any case great to have you here, and I can't wait to see pics of you tanks all up and running here in Utah!

 

We purchased a house in South Weber (outside the wind zone), and so far we love it.  Our neighbors have had us out to several different city activities (picnic & game show night, a 5k/10k race, and then just a neighborhood meet & greet.)  Plus, we're only one exit from the base, so that makes it really convenient.  We also went hiking up Adam's Canyon, which is a convenient 5 mi from our home.  Never thought I could find hiking so close!

 

Now for the important details - the tanks!  Right now everything is in a 40g breeder temporary tank.  Since Delta lost my boxes, everything is either dead or poo brown.  I lost my purple tang, strawberry shortcake, and my ORA Hawkins...*sad*.  We had quite a bit of RTN as well, but it has all stopped, and everything is starting to color back up. 

 

The 150g tank is set up in the finished basement (wasn't going to risk that thing on the first floor).  The plastic brace on the top of the 150g needs to be repaired before water can go in...but the RO/DI doesn't arrive until Monday.  Anyway, the 150g is set up as a 360 degree view, so I'm excited for that.  Last house it was set up only as a 2-sided view.

 

While on the topic of the 150g, I'm looking for some very specific rock shapes.  Can anyone around here cut rock?  I'd like 2 slabs that are about 6" wide by 2" thick by 20" tall.     

 

Since we couldn't have the 150g tank on the first floor, the hubby is starting to plan out a smaller tank for the entryway.  It's a top secret project, but I can say that it'll have some of the most unusual species in it.  My guess is it'll be about a 30g cube or something.  :)

 

 

 

Aquarium brace was fixed, and the new RO/DI arrived (now I have two that need to go...upgraded this time.)

 

Now we're just waiting to have our house modified for hobby.  Never thought I'd actually say that.... 

 

We're getting bids on having our foundation drilled to add plumbing to our 2nd basement.  Once we get that finished, we can hook up the RO/DI finally and actually get the main tank up and running.  (I really hate buying RO/DI water when I have three units sitting here...aargh) 

 

And if you're wondering what a 2nd basement is...so are we.  No joke, we have a solid concrete bunker under our garage.  We figured we'd add some plumbing and finish it off...with part of it being a huge fish room.  :-) 

 

I have to say that so far the cold storage area is working awesome as a fish room - no need for a chiller!  Might need more heaters in the winter though....

 

I also have a 25gpd RO unit for household water.  I was going to sell it since it came with the house until I realized it's only 25gpd - not much use for one that small for aquarium use (not to mention it doesn't have a DI).  Guess I'll keep it.   

 

The 25gpd one I'm keeping for home use and replacing everything on.

 

We wanted to upgrade to a unit with a built-in dual TDS meter and pressure guage.  So, we did.  Previous RO/DI was fine...just wanted more features.

 

I've bought mine on Amazon the past few times with no problems.  The standard Dow Filmtec 75gpd membranes are $25.39 + free shipping right now. 

 

I'll probably get some people mad at me for saying this, but "Reef" RO/DI systems aren't really at all specialized to "reefs".  They're just RO/DI systems that are sold by aquarium companies and marketed with the "reef" description.  You can buy the filters/membranes anywhere.  RO/DI systems are used in all sorts of industries, and in some industries, the prices are less expensive.  

 

Zippeay - sorry...had company in town.  Will get pics ASAP and post it up.