I don't want to jinx myself but.....
 

After 4+ years of hard work, three crashes and too many losses, my tank is **finally** coming around. Like I can see daily improvements in the growth and health of my tank inhabitants.

My SPS actually have color and are growing like weeds to the point that they have encrusted and are competing with each other. All of my brownapora now have polyps and cool colors that I didn't know they were supposed to have.

I can now pay for equipment upgrades with coin I make off of frags. There are cool morphs in my zoas and palys. Algae is being decimated by an improved CUC. I could jig, I am so happy. Murphys' Law be damned, I am going to be optimistic.

Hell, my tank has lasted long than my first marriage. Just thought I would share with people who can appreciate what it means.

Pics or it didn't happen? :twised:

Ya lets see this tank! Love tank pics...

Ohhh, I might be able to post a couple of "neat to me" pictures but I am nowhere near posting a FTS. Notice the lack of a Build Thread?

That is because it will never happen because my equipment isn't high end brand names, I don't have a sump (cats & children), and my pictures are taken with my phone. Besides, I'm just a schlub who posts during the winter, not a regular poster or a minor "personality" of Canreef fame.

Besides, a Build Thread would require a working memory and pictures of progress, neither of which I have. I can tell you stories about my killer maxi-mini that ate over two dozen fish, despite me target feeding it meaty bits, or how my tank never met an anemone that didn't walk straight into a powerhead, or the time I fragged death palys only to get paly juice squirted directly into my eye followed by a couple of weeks of prayers to a deity to let me die, but aside from that, I don't have anything worthwhile to share. Give me another four years.:wink:

no need to justify, just wanted to see a pic of the tank. No biggie, keep enjoying!

You don't need any of these things! Tank Journals are about sharing, not trophies or the "Hey look at me! I soend $30,000 on my tank!". Or there are some people like that, but I think you have to look on RC to find them! :lol: Besides, it sounds like you do have a heck of a personality anyway! :D

Congrats, that is indeed a good achievement and milestone. You must be doing a lot of things right.

I agree that there is no need to have all the high end brands to make a good tank journal or a successful reef tank. One of the local reefers I know who always has the most spectacular tank does it KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) and like you, there is no sump (or even a skimmer) on his systems. Regular water changes, paying attention to what his livestock are telling him, and a certain "touch" in instinctively knowing what he's doing seem to be the keys to his success. If you're able to keep sps and have them thrive, then it is of interest to other reefers here. I'm not an sps guy but I'd still open and read your tank Journal thread:wink::biggrin:

Anthony

I would love to see some pics and hear more about some of your experience/battles over the years. I'm working on my first reef tank build now so I could learn a lot!

I'm curious, what about cats and/or children makes a sump a bad idea? I ask because I have a cat (and 2 dogs), with a child (or children) likely on the horizon soon.

If your child/pets can open a cabinet, then things inside could be tampered with/contaminated. Just install a childproof lock/device if this could become a problem.

A sump is great, more water volume = almost always good. Lots of in-sump skimmer options open up when you have a sump.