First inhabitant

Hey check out that cool anemone! Wait a minute, this thing sucks. Okay so the the first inhabitant I encountered in my tank was the dreaded Aiptasia Anemone. Being the only apparent creature living in my tank at the time I moved in, meant that I spent a lot of time staring at this piece of crap. It wasn't until I did a Google search that I found out that Aiptasia was a nuisance. Here is a pic of what I found in my tank.

Initial Setup

Like I stated in my previous post, my tank started off at quite a minimum. My configuration consisted of the 240gal show tank (Oceanic with starphire front glass) a large sequence pump, a 84gal sump and two refugiums. The first refugium is a 67 gallon acrylic tank with a live sandbed and several forms of beneficial macroalgae. The second refugium is a 20gal glass tank with a course sandbed.

When I bought my house, the show tank was bare except for a 3 inch live sandbed and water. To my knowledge, the only inhabitant in the tank was a very large aiptasia anemone. (For those whi don't know, aiptasia = satan).

Not knowing any better, I was greatful to have such an interesting creature living in my bare tank.
Over the first several days, I learned that some very beneficial inhabitant were indeed living in my tank, I just had to learn how to find them, and what they were.

Okay, this is the point where any good aquarist asks, "Hey what about lighting? What kind of filtration did you have? What was the specific gravity (salt levels) and water temp?" Completely ignorant to the requirements for maintaining a healthy tank, I asked no such questions.

Take a look at some pictures of the equipment I had to start with.

In the beginning........

Okay, lets talk about how I got into this hobby and how I ended up with a 240 as my first tank.

About 10 years ago I met the most caring and beautiful woman alive. We were a great match and saw eye-to-eye on everything. Five years later, we married and bought our first home. Our opinions about what were and were not necessities for our home began to take different paths. I wanted an aquarium, she thought it would be too much of a hassle. After a million attempts to persuade her that we needed an aquarium, I gave up.

In 2004, my wife gave birth to our Son and we quickly decided that our house was not a good fit for our family and the location was no longer ideal for our busy lives. The answer was to sell our home and start looking for a larger, more central located home. Last year, we found a great house close to her mother's that had everything that we wanted. A large floor plan, wood and tile floors, great kitchen, detached garage, a large backyard and..................A 240 gallon saltwater aquarium in the wall of one of the living rooms.

I had no idea that the the homeowner would empty the tank and leave me with nothing more than 240 gallons of sand and water. Over the past year I have spent a lot of time and money getting it to where it is today, a beautiful, thriving reef community.

Here are some shots of the set up when I first got it.

Welcome

Hi,

This is my new blog focusing on the inhabitants and maintenance of my 240gal reef aquarium. I plan to post pics and an account of the progression and growth of my reef. I am by no means an expert aquarist or a marine biologist, but I am a fascinated hobbyist.

If you don't agree with the methods I use to raise my tank or just have some advice, please feel free to let me know. Though this blog is really a way for me to keep track and recount the events surrounding my tank, I also want it to be a fun and educational resource for other trying to maintain a small piece of heaven in their own aquariums.

I can't wait to get started, I have a lot of catching up to do.