new here.....HI

[medican]

Hello all.......
Thought I would drop a note to say hi and let you know who I am.
I have had fish tanks all my life (fresh water) but now am playing with salt. I have had my 90 gal up and running since Sept. 03. I hounded my wife for so long she finaly gave me the visa and off I went :lol: . Knew a little bit of what I wanted but not enough(enough to make me dangerous or should I say stupid) :sad: . Went to the LFS that I knew about, little did I know that they were taking me on a ride I would not soon forget. First I went to Pisces, was being helped by a kid that now I know dident know his ass from a hole in the ground, but he got me to spend a pritty penny there. Then I went to Big Als they seemed very nice and seemed to be teaching me as we went along(dident even kiss me before they ****** me). I have my tank now looks ok, running good, still licking my wounds and trying to get my tank to where I want it. Not the best set up but I plan to peice it out as I get the $$$$$. They got me then but little do they know I will be building a 250 gal in my new house and wont be getting my $$$$$. I dont even have a sump under my tank and its not drilled, just to give you an idea of what happened. Anybody want to buy a EHEM PRO and a x2 150wMH + antics Spacelight :sad: .

Thanks for letting me vent......
much more educated now thanks to the great sites and the people in them like these.

[AJ_77]

Glad to meet you - good story! Sounds like you are off and running, but with some better resources for information now. This will help tons...

:biggrin:

[Pisces]

"Pisces" :question: :question: :eek:

Just want to clarify that that's not me!! :biggrin:

[Quinn]

There's a store in Calgary by that name. Something along the lines of PJ's as of late.

[Son Of Skyline]

"Pisces" :question: :question: :eek:

Just want to clarify that that's not me!! :biggrin:

Yah right u scammer :razz:


Welcome medican. Is your Spacelight 150w double ended HQI? If so, I wouldn't give up on it just yet. Many people have success with 150w hqi lighting.

[Jedi68]

Glad you can join us...

I know exactly how you feel...I went through the same thing a couple of years ago. My tank is a good 1st stab at saltwater. It is 16"narrow and has a stand that can barely fit a 10 gal tank for a sump.
In a few years, I plan to set up a 72"x36"x24" tank in the bsmt so I am going to make sure my buddy who set me up for my first tank won't even get a chance to smell my $$$$.

[Delphinus]

Welcome to Canreef. Sounds like a cool setup you're planning.

I agree with the comment about not giving up on the Aquaspacelight, they're slick little units. Probably not enough for a ~200g system, but great for smaller setups like 50-90 depending on what you want to keep. If you have no need for it you should be able to unload it fairly easily, I would guess.

What sort of system are you planning, what sort of animals do you wish to keep?

[medican]

The tank I have now will have to do me for a bit, the new one won't be for a couple of years behind the wall built to spec in our new home.It will have all the bells, but for the 90 now everything I get must be able to handle the one I have planned.its my practise tank :lol: . Yes the light I have now is SWEET but I was thinking of a DIY set-up with 250MH then will have the power I need now and be able to just exspand it to the new tank. SPS doing very well now would like to get some hard corals to learn from them too. I have been trying to get all the things I might have in my tank now(not as many of course) So I will know about them when the new tank comes along. Right now building a LED nightlight sys. will post when done. float sys in the mail....all will be able to work on the new tank.

Thanks guys/girls for your help

Richard

[Quinn]

SPS doing very well now would like to get some hard corals to learn from them too.

SPS are hard corals. I think you mean LPS, the other type of hard corals. :biggrin:

[medican]

yup...LMAO the other ones

[medican]

Hey.......
Just thought of something :idea: do you think if I added VHO maybe x2 96w to the system I might have better luck with SPS

Richard

[Quinn]

Metal halides are fairly widely accepted as the standard for SPS. The bigger the wattage the better, of course. Currently I have a number of lovely pieces under dual 400w Ushios, and this fall I will be putting them into a tank with only a 175w pendant over it. It will be interesting to see how the colour changes and if growth slows down. I do know of reefers keeping SPS solely under VHO, however the colouration of their animals is not as intense as I believe it could be under halides. Some people feel supplementation is a necessity for growth and colour but I don't agree. In short, my own opinion based on what I know would be that, no, you should not expect VHO to lead to greater success with SPS.

What kinds of troubles are you having, by the way?

[monza]

I had lots of SPS with the same 150W light, but three bulbs. They did well just lacked vivid colors. So it's not a bad place to start. The hobby seems to be all about upgrading and slagging fish stores so dude your off to a great start. Welcome to Canreef!

Dave :biggrin:

[medican]

In short they die good flow in the tank have tried different spots, water tests come back good. I was thinking lights ????? just the next thing I was going to try.

[Quinn]

Why don't you post your tank in the Tank Specification forum and we can 'ave a look at what you've got.

What genera of SPS are we talking about, Montipora spp., Acropora spp., Seriatopora spp.... they might just be shipping poorly, I'm assuming you're buying them from the shops, correct? There are a myriad of coral killers that you really have no control over when you're dealing with wild-collected colonies.

[Delphinus]

Start with captive prop frags first. Firstly they're cheaper, secondly they're hardier. Wild caught pieces are hit and miss until you really know what's going on.

What are you doing to maintain Ca and Alk? Without good values that promote active growth, pieces can die off.

Flow is probably more important than lighting. What kind of water turnover do you have?

[trilinearmipmap]

Anybody want to buy a EHEM PRO

Medican, these are the Mercedes/Lexus of filters for the planted FW tank people. You will have no trouble selling your Eheim filter on a FW plant tank board. I suggest advertising on the Aquabotanic boards, there are a lot of Canadians there.

[medican]

Delphinus......

I use Kent Liquid Reactor with Kent Turbo-Calcium when needed. keeps me @ about 420Ca and 10-12 dkh. My water flow is Aprox. 1100GPH Via 4 powerheads and about 250 GPH whith the EHEIM.....So turn over is abou 15 times.....this should be good.....right????

PS thanks for all your help
Richard :lol: