Two veterinarian's attempt at a complete saltwater ecosystem

Drknudsenx2

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(If you have seen my build thread over on R2R, I apologize for using the same title...I liked how it sounds :p)

Hey everyone! My wife and I are veterinarians in Cumming, who share a love for the ocean as well as passionate SCUBA divers. After diving "the wall" of the continental shelf at Grand Turk, I have had a desire to try my hand at keeping a reef tank. We have had a busy couple of years, including the birth of our now 18 month old son, but that urge never left. We moved into a new house this past year, and we decided now was the time. We got a great deal on a used 75 gallon tank, with 20 gallon sump and 10 gallon refugium, along with dry rock, pumps, power heads, chemicals, and other various equipment.

As you can see in the picture, the tank and stand needed some TLC, which has taken up a lot of my time the past few months.

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Fortunately, we are finally up and running and salt is mixing with RODI water as I type! I have learned so much about keeping a reef aquarium, plumbing (I plan to switch out my Durso standpipe for a herbie because dang this thing is loud!), and patience over the past few months of having this equipment that has not been in use. If all goes well, I will add Aquavitro Seed and Dr. Tim's Ammonia and start cycling this evening!
Once cycled, we plan to start with a pair of Ocellaris clowns named Moana and Maui (named after my son's favorite movie, which is on repeat during the daytime hours:oops:)

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Loving everything about this thread. Again welcome to ARC. We have a few people that are here in ARC that live in Cumming. I work out in Cumming so if you ever need a hand with anything just reach out. We also have a handful of people that are avid scuba divers as well. @ActiveAngel is one of the people that scuba with his wife.

Do you have all of the equipment that you want to run for your tank? I dont see a skimmer in the sump. That is something that I would highly suggests having.
 
Welcome to the community! And awesome thread. We will definitely have to meet sometime soon.
 
I am SO glad to see 2 new Vet's join the club.
Welcome to the ARC!
Are you also a vet? I see Cherokee as your location... Cherokee County? My wife grew up in Canton.

Loving everything about this thread. Again welcome to ARC. We have a few people that are here in ARC that live in Cumming. I work out in Cumming so if you ever need a hand with anything just reach out. We also have a handful of people that are avid scuba divers as well. @ActiveAngel is one of the people that scuba with his wife.

Do you have all of the equipment that you want to run for your tank? I dont see a skimmer in the sump. That is something that I would highly suggests having.

I really appreciate the offer, I was hoping to meet fellow reefers in the area in case I ever need a hand! So, the setup came with a Coralife SuperSkimmer 125g, but I can't for the life of me figure out how to get it to fit appropriately in the sump. It almost seems too big (and possibly outdated). So I do plan on getting a skimmer, hopefully one that will fit a little better. I am also trying to figure out how to set the refugium up, as you can see it is a separate tank that is designed to drop into the first intake chamber, but I don't think I want it to drop in before the skimmer...seems counterproductive?

Welcome to the community! And awesome thread. We will definitely have to meet sometime soon.
Absolutely! I hope to attend some of the meetings once we are up and running!

You cleaned that up nicely! Welcome.
Thank you!
 
No, not a vet, just an old biology major.
We’ve lived in Cherokee 30 years.

Fwiw, my uncle & cousin were Vet’s in south GA. I spent several summers working with them in my early teens. Large & small animal, but no fish ;)

I hope that you might consider providing your input on occasion, perhaps even giving a talk? Your unique qualifications, expertise & perspective are most welcomed.
 
No, not a vet, just an old biology major.
We’ve lived in Cherokee 30 years.

Fwiw, my uncle & cousin were Vet’s in south GA. I spent several summers working with them in my early teens. Large & small animal, but no fish ;)

I hope that you might consider providing your input on occasion, perhaps even giving a talk? Your unique qualifications, expertise & perspective are most welcomed.
That is a great suggestion for a meeting.
 
No, not a vet, just an old biology major.
We’ve lived in Cherokee 30 years.

Fwiw, my uncle & cousin were Vet’s in south GA. I spent several summers working with them in my early teens. Large & small animal, but no fish ;)

I hope that you might consider providing your input on occasion, perhaps even giving a talk? Your unique qualifications, expertise & perspective are most welcomed.
I will try to stay active on here and provide whatever knowledge I have that may be applicable! I would absolutely consider giving a talk in the future- my wife actually did research at UGA developing a vaccine for Koi Herpes virus, which may be an interesting talk...
My father in law still practices veterinary medicine in Canton, if you ever needed veterinary care, he would take great care of you!
 
It's always exciting to see new members who are fired up, have done some research and ready to get their hands wet! You will find that we are a close knit community who will pitch in and help in a heartbeat. A hearty welcome to what we think is a premier reefing community! Very glad to have you!
 
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