The History or Story Behind The Making Of My Tank
I started out by buying a used tank. It wasn't in the best of shape, but what got me into buying it was it's dimensions. It's 10ft long and 18" wide, which fits perfectly against my family room wall. From the help of many websites, I was able to build my stand and canopy with materials all available at Lowe's. Because the decor of the family room is traditional style, I went with moldings that would blend in. I made my own filtration by using the Ecosytem method, but removing the bio-balls after my tank had matured. I used a used 40g tank as my sump/refugium which I used oolitic sand seeded with some miracle mud I had from my old 60g tank and I had many species of caulerpa growing with the razor winning out. I now only use chaetomorpha in my sump/refugium. I have two 400w and two 250w mh's with two 160w actinics. I have an open canopy which helps dissipate heat from the tank. I also have a 1hp Aqua Medic Chiller to keep the water at a comfortable 82 degrees during the warm months. But by using fans above my canopy, the chiller rarely comes on.

Makeup
I have over 300lbs. of lr, consisting of Figi, Marshall Island, Manono, and Tonga. The Manono is my favorite because it's very porous and lightweight, not to mention it's nice appearance. The Marshall Island would be my next favorite. I also have a 4.5" dsb with all sorts of critters living within. I have many corals, soft, lps', sps', as well as some sponges that have grown in my tank. I also have two anenomes, a caribbean and a sabae, which my marroon adores. I prefer the look of stoney corals, so I'm always looking for a nice piece to add. I started out with a lot of mushrooms, which eventually started taking over my tank. If I only knew the damage that these dreadful shrooms can do, I would've never bought any because they are very aggressive and have killed many of my more liked corals. I've sold and given many pieces of shrooms away and the ones I kept, I put them in my 29g hex that I'm putting together at the moment which is almost complete.

I'd love to hear from you!
rbalmes@adelphia.net

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Roland's Reef