Ashlar's 175g + 55g refugium

I've been keeping marine tanks for about ten years, but until about five years ago, never anything more than 20-30g.

In September 2005, a friend of mine who lives in Waco, TX called me. He was on vacation in Las Vegas, and he was freaking out. Hurricane Rita was headed for the Texas coast, and they were predicting it would run through Waco. His problem? He had a 175g tank and he didn't want to cut his vacation short.

So he had me drive from Dallas to Waco and catch the two fish (spotted puffer and monodactylus that he'd acclimated to full SW) and a horseshoe crab he had in his mainly empty tank, and temporarily house them in my 20g qt tank. (Yes, two fish and a crab were the only things in the tank.)

Rita missed Waco, thankfully, but when he got home he realized he didn't miss the water changes and maintenance. He offered me the tank for free, on one condition. I had to leave the Texas flag he'd painted on the back of it. So I drove down again and we loaded up the tank. I got it home and took stock-

* 175g tank, not reef ready
* 4ft fluorescent shop light
* tiny wet/dry sump
* rio return pump
* laguna "powerhead"
* two MJ-1200s
* maybe 10 lbs of "live" rock - really lace rock
* maybe 2" of sand
- no skimmer
- no ATO

First thing I did was ordered 90 lbs of pre-cured fiji premium live rock from DrF&S. When it arrived, I also picked up an additional 100lbs of live sand from an LFS.

I put the sand in the tank and let the rock continue to cure, since we all know that pre-cured rarely is.

Here's a shot of the tank after the sandstorm cleared.


While the rock was cycling, a buddy of mine decided to get out of the hobby and offered me his 55g tank for a song. I couldn't resist. I decided to set it up as a display fuge, dumping into the same sump. It had 4 x 54w T5 lighting, which is fine. I dumped in 75lbs of pavestone crushed limestone sand, and set it up next to the main tank, but quickly realized the little wet/dry sump I was using could not handle that much volume. I snagged some chaeto and caulerpa sp from friends, and away it went.



I trolled the local message boards and picked up 3 250w MH lights (two PFO, one Hamilton).

A local guy who works with acrylic made me a nice sump to fit under the stand of the main tank. It's in two pieces because the stand openings are narrow but tall and the center divider doesn't come out, and I wanted as much volume as I could fit in there.

At the same time, I picked up an AquaC EV-240 skimmer, and a couple of mag pumps to feed the tanks.



I really had to shoehorn the sump in there, and I was fiddling with those bulkheads for days to get them lined up without leaking.

That's the basic set-up I've been using. Since that point, I've added a hacked up ebay ozone generator, a DIY ATO, a Neptune AC II (replaced by an AC3 Pro later), a DIY dosing rack for two-part (later replaced by a re-purposed medical dosing pump), a rack mount UPS for the return pumps, a chiller, and four vortec mp-40s + battery backups.







So yah, I'm a computer nerd, too. I love to DIY and combine tech with tank.

I made my own battery backup air pump that only turns on when the power is out..



I hacked up a DJ power station to have a second cord- the last four switches are on another cord so that they can go to a UPS.



Here's the ATO refill gadget that keeps my RO/DI from bouncing on and off..



These are just fun things that I did..

A 27" scrolling sign in my office shows the current time, temp, ph, orp, and conductivity of the tank..



I used to have a 5" screen next to the tank to show parameters, when the ACII was under the stand..



But eventually I picked up a touch screen and wrote a VB app to display status of devices, graphs of parameters, etc





The latest toy I set up was a pair of cameras. I've integrated the xml from my signature program as well. (The MH's are on from 2-10 CST for best viewing)
http://rowelab.com/fish/camera

Here are some shots of some of the corals we've had / have..



















And here are some of the interesting critters we've seen in the tank..





This is a hitchhiker brittle star..




I also have a couple of microscopes that I use to check out things living in the tank..


Here are some interesting shots I've taken..

Amphipod closeup - YouTube

Ostrocode and snail - YouTube

Ostracodes and snail - YouTube

Diadema sp. spine

very impressive!!!!!

Love the microscope!

and Welcome to the site!!!! Can't wait to see what else you have to share with us!

Wow...I am seriously impressed with this!! What a FANTASTIC build/intro thread! Thanks for sharing

Oh, and

Thanks, it's a labor of love.

holy crap!! i now crown you king DIY electrical nerd!! hehe

love the dosing system BTW - the holding bottles and DIY rack are awesome.

you're cams are awesome! I love the controls and how it shows what's working and what's off!

Thanks.. It looks much better (and the framerate is smoother) when the metal halides are on, in about two hours.

I guess I don't have to tell you

You have an amazing looking setup, now I just have to come back once the lights are on.

Took some more pics tonight..

This little snail was hard to catch in frame, he was motoring along quite fast.


A random piece of sand turns out to be a tooth..


And these pictures don't do this flatworm justice- it was a beautiful orange-red on the edges, fading to a solid magenta in the center. The small dots were iridescent.

A tooth?!?! That's crazy, and totally awesome at the same time

Thanks for sharing!!

very cool, but when are you sending me the microscope?

AWESOME!!!!!

About twice a year I used to lug the scope to a local club meeting where folks would bring a sample of their sand to poke through. Always fun finding new stuff.

I have a little USB one that I put up to my sand bed. It is cool to find the critters in there.

Next time you're doing tank maintenance, take a scoop of the grunge that collects in your sump and check it out. Even there, lots and lots of life.

oh I know. It's amazing!

Your technology is burning my eyes out!!!!!
ahhh...that's better!

( But it is seriously freakin' cool Ashlar! Jesssdinnae tell nobody I said that! Shhhh )

Now I gotta whip out m' 'scope and view the critters therein....

I actually got a new scope and camera today- mechanical X/Y stage, fine/coarse focus adjustment, nice diaphragm iris w/ filters, and a trinocular view. The camera is 10mp.

Originally Posted by Ashlar

I actually got a new scope and camera today- mechanical X/Y stage, fine/coarse focus adjustment, nice diaphragm iris w/ filters, and a trinocular view. The camera is 10mp.

I am ummm...assuming that all of those things are both amazing and worth having...where are those sunglasses?... ahhhh. I keep hanging around you, I'm gonna go blind from your brilliance!

Here are some new pics with the new scope and camera..

Cyanobacteria..


Dinoflagellate..


Probably a spicule from a soft coral..


And an interesting skeleton..