Here we go...
And it's about darn time! I've been waiting over a year for this. I began researching for my tank in March 2006. Sixteen months later I am finally putting it together. Too much research? That's impossible. The good thing about waiting and still learning while I did is that I think my tank will be pretty close to what I really want it to be without really redoing things.
I decided to go with a 90 gallon tank originally because I read that that was the smallest reccommendation for mandarins and that may be my favorite marine fish. Anyway I later found out that with large healthy
refugium they could still thrive. At that point I would have scaled down my tank if I hadn't already gotten a great deal on a brand new 90 gallon AGA tank with overflow. Though the tank is really not a huge part of the setup cost. As far as equipment and the look of the setup, I am probably keeping toward the higher end of a basic setup and make sure it looks good too.
I needed a place for my tank so I completed my basement office. This was part of the delay in starting my setup. But before that I had other house projects to complete since we moved (2 years ago now). Now all that's behind and the tank is the task at hand. So here is where it is today...
I was going to put shadow box moulding below the chair rail in the office but realized with the tank, a couch, my desk, and a bookshelf on the four walls, you would hardly see it anyway. If I ever move the tank I will add it in, or I may even be able to do it with the tank in place if I took out the
sump.
