Hi, I'm new to the forum. My name is Mark
I've been out of the hobby for 8 years and just starting to dabble my toe in the water again.
So here is a little about me: moved to Northern Ireland from Hertfordshire around 8 years ago so I had to sell all my aquariums before i moved, I just couldn't move them the 500 odd miles in the back of a van or the tanks so they had to go
i did have a small tank with a couple of goldfish in in my kitchen that started me on the road to to bigger and bolder set-ups around 11 years ago it was a rescue as the tank was in an office that my wife friend worked in and they were just going to throw it out and thats where the bug started. not long after that i started to get more ambitious.
My second Tank was a Trigon 350 with a mix and match of tetras guppies lots of plants and it was nice but it still wasn't enough so i went to my LFS and purchased a large custom made 5x3x2 foot tank a couple of big Fluval external filters and it sat there in my dinning room for 3 weeks all empty and sad while i pondered about what i was going to do with it.
The wife wanted to put black moors in it and was not sold on the idea and then it came to me MARINE!!!! why not I thought got goldfish, got tropical lets go nuts.
And so it started buying the bits and bobs over a few months skimmers metal halide lights you know the drill "Sorry dear we cant go out tonight for dinner, there's not enough cash" while hiding another gadget or bag of live sand in the garage waiting for here to go out. Well the day arrived to put the tank together fill it and start cycling the tank it was a mad dash to my LFS to get the Live Rock i had been buying and getting them to keep out the back for when I was ready for it and the wife thought it was a bargain to get all the rock we got for £50 ( i think she knew deep down inside but let me have my moment)
now I am looking to get back into the hobby but this time i'm doing it my way by building a custom tank to my requirements with the kit i want and all the whistles and bells i always wanted.
Feel free to give me a shout to discus my project(s) and i am always open to free advice or ideas.