TCMAS: Twin Cities Marine Aquarium Society TCMAS: Mission Statement TCMAS: Club Calendar TCMAS: Member Tanks TCMAS: Club Discussion Forum TCMAS: Articles TCMAS: DIY Plans TCMAS: Links TCMAS: FAQ TCMAS: Contact Us

TCMAS : Member Tanks : Bill & Nicole Tschohl

Member Since...

March 2006

Screen Name on TCMAS

HermitSolo

Background...

I started keeping brackish tanks in college in the early 90’s. I just loved the colors of the spotted puffers and their great personalities. When I finally bought my own house I didn’t have much time for tank anymore and got rid of most of my equipment so I could focus on remodeling the house. About 2004 Nicole and I started setting up a 55G saltwater tank, we learned a lot by trial and error and a lot of reading and patience. We watched a single hitchhiker hermit crab stroll the tank all by his lonesome for a couple months. I was surfing craigslist around that time and found someone selling an entire 75G setup with the coral. Woohoo! We bought it all and used the lights and live rock from our 55G to make it our own. That was going pretty well until I found TCMAS on thereeftank.com and went to their frag swap in March of 2006. I’ve been even more addicted since then and have received more good advice than I’ve known what to do with at times!
When we were looking at new houses I had made a deal with Nicole that when we bought a new house we would get a new tank so I wouldn’t have to break down the old tank and move it along with all the other household goods. We bought a new house in April 2006 and I found a member selling his 180RR. I’ve since added on a remote sump in the basement along with a frag tank. I’m working on the plans to skin the stand and build a new hood that will accommodate metal halide lighting.

 

My Current Tank...

My current tank is an 180gal RR with a 60gal frag tank and 150gal Rubbermaid stock tank for a sump
 
 

Tank Size:  180 Gallon

Sump Size:  150 Gallon (includes refugium)

Refugium Size:  15 Gallon (sits in sump)

Skimmer:  ReefMania PS-8

Supply Pump(s):  Iwaki MD-70RLT

Salt Mix:  Oceanic

ss

Lighting & Schedules...

Actinic:  1 X 72 " VHO

Turn On:  10:30 A.M.

Turn Off:  10:30 P.M.

White/Daylight:  2 x 400w MH XM 10k

White/Daylight:  4 X 96 corallife fixture

Turn On:  10:30 A.M.

Turn On: 12:30am

 

Turn Off:10:30 P.M.

Turn Off:8:30pm

 

Moonlight:  8 LED’s and 400W MH over frag tank

Turn On:  11:30 P.M.

Turn Off:  7:30am

Controller:  Neptune Systems Aquacontroller II

Ballasts:  PFO/Corallife fixture

 

 

Heating & Cooling...

Heaters:  2 x 250W and 2 X 150W

Chiller:  Fans

Controller:  N/A
 
 
 

Water Flow...

I get about 900gph from my return pump, after head pressure.  The rest is supplied from two maxijets 900’s in the back of the tank alternating on a Red Sea Wavemaker and an additional two Seio M820’s on the front.
 

Water Supply...

A pump in a 30gallon trashcan downstairs reservoir controlled by a JBJ ATO provides top-off water.  The reservoir is filled by a 75GPD reefstock.com RODI unit as needed.
 



Home | Mission Statement | Club Calendar | Member Tanks | Forum | Articles | DIY | Links | FAQ | Contact Us