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I did some number crunching and reduced my list and got lower quality stuff but still not horrible. Heres the new list. Tell me what you think.
Ocean Masters Test Kit 54.98 20lbs Fiji Pink substrate 32.65 Coralife 2x96 PC Light strip 269.95 (there is a 1x96PC that im looking at too) Mounting legs 8.45 HK1 33.95 HK2 42.95 IO Hydrometer 12.35 50lbs IO salt 16.44 100watt Ebo Jagger heater 27.95 Total with taxes $596.93 (This is a lot less than the cost with everything i wanted before but i wouldnt mind reducing it some more) 22lbs Dead rock with shipping and taxes approx 103.89 The entire setup being approx $700.89 The changes i made are: No skimmer Refractometer changed to an Instant Ocean Hydrometer Lights downgraded from 4x39T5 to 2x96PC No algae scraper (I will just need to use a credit card or something) No foods added (Wont have any livestock in the tank for quite some time and even so it would probably be corals first so i would just buy food when i get them anyway) Salt went from 160gal mix to 50gal By doing all that my costs went down about $400 which is a HUGE difference to me and is much more acceptable than $1000+ when i have so many other renos to do around the house. |
WOOO an advancement!!! I bought my lightfixture. I had to get something cheap but good. I could no longer go with the nova extreme I originally wanted because of cost and the lesser nova extreme 2x39 was not HO and after reading many reviews, very cheaply made (broken bulbs, etc) AND when compared to the hagen glo was basically crapola.
So, I purchased the Hagen Glo 2x39 HO T5 36" model. I would like to get geismann bulbs to put into it but what combo would be best for my future corals. I want their colours to really shine and i want them to be super healthy too. I know under 2x39 T5 HO i can keep softies My list includes: rics, zoas, cloves, shrooms, xenia, and possibly devils hand leather with green polyps. I know i can keep some lps My list includes: hammer, frogspawn. My second question (1st was about bulb combo) is what other Lps can I keep should I want any? Some people say brain, plate coral, acan, and blasto. Some also say you can keep sps under those lights (I dont think so) but suggestions were pink birdsnest, and monti. I would like to get the list straightened out so I know what my limits are. Thanks in advance.:) |
I read a few threads about bulb combos but with a 2 bulb fixture its difficult because all the combos were for 4+ bulb fixtures.
Here are my bulb options Im looking at the Giesmann bulbs and my choices from JLAquatics.com are: Powerchrome - Midday (6000K) " - Aquablue+ (15000K) " - Actinic+ (2200K) " - Pure Actinic (421nm) I want a blue look where the corals really pop. But I want them to grow. I dont really like the pinky look. HELP!!!! |
So I ended up finding where to get ATI bulbs *THANK YOU PROGRESSIVE REEF*
Im going to get the Blue+ and the Aquablue special. But holy poop the shipping cost is killing me. The total cost for the 2 bulbs will be $103 From the store to my house. WOW almost as much as my fixture lol |
Bought the bulbs. check totals on first post. :)
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Hi all,
I know this project is going very slowly. I was waiting until I got back from Newfoundland to get started. Well I had to come back early for a family emergency. My dad was very sick in the hospital with Lung cancer. It was a surprise to us all. I spend 25 hours with him before he passed away. Im still not over it as it just happened July 6. But I realize more than ever that life is short and you never know when you will go so I just spent the money and bought everything I need for my salty tank today. The stand still needs to be built and who knows when that will be done now. My grandfather has now also become very ill so who knows. Its been an awful month and I need a little happiness in my life about now. Im hoping the start of this tank will help. |
Orders from JLA came in today. Waiting on bulk reef supply (prob next week) and I still have to build the stand then the magic will happen.
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Sorry for your loss.
What arrived from J&L? |
Sorry to hear of your father's passing. I used to spend hours every night with my face pressed into my glass it's a great time and it will surely bring a smile to your face (and a suntan).
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Thanks snaz and lastlight. Its still pretty hard and Im having a pretty rough time getting over it. I try to hide it from my family and be strong for them but when i get home and im on my own i just break down.
The tank is already bringing me happiness. Just getting my stuff from JLA made me so happy. It felt like christmas opening up those two packages. I recieved: Caribsea Fiji Pink Substrate Instant Ocean salt mix Ebo Jagger heater HK1 and HK2 Kent Proscraper Coral Frenzy food New Life Spectrum Food Reef Plus and Reef Trace additives Refractometer Tunze 9002 Protein Skimmer Coral Master Test Kits And then Hopefully next week My rock will be comming in. |
Sorry to hear of your loss... you're stronger than I am :wink:
And you're very much on your way with all that nice equipment :lol: Can't wait to see how things turn out... where are you getting your rock from? J&L? And what kind of rock? I've been wanting to see some real world pics of the Irian Jaya rock that they have on their website. |
Happy anniversary! It says the first post in this thread was July 23, 2008!
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Blue Abyss: thats what everyone is saying about me. That im so strong. It doesnt feel like it. I loose it when im at my own place. But life must go on, as hard as it is.
And yes, some not so bad stuff i recieved. Im hoping my tank turns out to look almost as good as many others on this forum. whatcaneyedo: YAY 1 year... although it feels longer than that lol. |
Hey all. Well the rollercoaster of emotions has not stopped yet. As you know my dad recently passed and I just found out that I was pregnant last month. I am now 9 weeks and 6 days. It will be our first child and the first baby in the whole family (grandchild, neice/nephew, cousin, etc) It is also my first time being pregnant. Its a bitter sweet pregnancy. We are excited about it but I just wish my Dad was here to play with his grandchild like he wanted.
Anyways, I recieved all my shipments for the salty tank and have been looking for a stand. Aparently they dont make stands for that size tank anymore. Im getting one made but my father in law says he wont start that for a while. Its been MONTHS! and he still doesnt want to start it. I wish my hubby would but hes not exactly motivated to do anything at any time. This is really getting frustrating but I will post pics of what i have so far in just a few minutes :) |
Here they are. There will be more rock added as LR in order to seed the tank. Im trying to decide where to place corals so they can be seen at their best. i want just a few corals and I want to let them grow out so the tank looks full and very established. As for fish I keep tossing the idea around of what I want so it will be quite some time after coral before I get any fish I think.
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a2...a/Stuff040.jpg http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a2...a/Stuff043.jpg Coral Thoughts: mushrooms (blue, blue with spots, green with stripes) zoas (blues, pinks, anything funky in the blue/pink range) neon candy cane kandy kane acan green with pink/purple tip frogspawn neon green hammer ice blue cloves and other cloves blue pulsing xenia blue rics and rics with blue in them Fish thoughts (only one of the selections below): 2 true percs 1 coral beauty pistol yasha goby combo blue damsels 6 line wrasse ??? |
my system costs around 30 bucks a month for my full blown SPS with 3 250's i have a 150 gal too i guess it pays to live in manitoba .568 cent a kilo watt:lol:
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looking good.
for corals i would say maybe add a finger leather to your list. they always look awesome once they grow out and will make your tank look nice and mature. plus they grow quickly too. |
yes if i got a leather I would want a green polyp devils hand.
Things have started to get back to normal, somewhat. My father in law finally got around to building my stand but he wont give it to me until christmas so i guess I wont set the tank up until then. I hope Im not too big by then :) On a brighter note I am now an auntie for the first time. My sister in law gave birth to my little neice Teanna on November 6th. YAY shes so beautiful. A few more months and it will be me Yikes. Pretty scarry. |
I like the way your rockwork looks already :lol: Congrats on being an auntie!
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Well my father in law built and painted a stand for me YAY!!! but i dont get it until christmas lol. So I guess/hope that it will be started for the new year.
I am now 19 weeks 5 days pregnant and baby is kicking up a storm :) Once the tank is cycled my first purchase will more than likely be shrooms... after the CUC |
FINALLY FINALLY FINALLY!!! Tank and stand are in place. Geez this reef stuff takes forever lol.
Im in the process of marking final exams for my classes but I want to get all things organized under my stand today. I also need to find a small container so i can make distilled water and store it there so i can calibrate my refractometer. Now i want to get it right. Im so excited im forgetting where to start. Step 1: fill tank with water and mix salt in it until desired salinity All powerheads turned on Step 2: put rocks and sand in tank Step 3: Buy LR to seed the tank Step 4: Wait patiently for cycle to be over Step 5: buy CUC Step 6: Buy more CUC if previous CUC has croaked or is not doing its job well enough Step 7: Buy inverts Step 8: Buy some corals added at 2 week intervals so as not to overwhelm the system Step 9: Buy 2 true percs Step 10: Turn on skimmer Am I missing anything? Should i change the steps? Add steps? Let me know PLEASE. I dont want to forget anything and with times being as stressful and busy as they are (only going to get worse with baby comming in 3 months) I need step by step |
i would turn the skimmer on right after you put water in, i have my tank with just sand in it and the skimmers going, it will take a fair amount of the live rock
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added water and salt. Will wait until tomorrow to test the salinity at which time I will either add rocks and sand or adjust the salinity some more.
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what kind of water are you using just tap? or RO, also what type of salt (all for interests sake :p)
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Im using tap water. The quality in our town is very very good. I am also using Instant Ocean salt because that is all that is readily available here.
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Tested SG today and it was 1.026. I know its in range but its up there. I would like it at 1.024-25. But instead of adjusting it now i added sand and some dead LR. Cant see a thing in there. I will test again after the storm settles and all the rocks are added so I can adjust water then. Just in case Argag alive changes SG at all. The bag of sand came with a water clarifier thingie in a bag. I didnt bother adding it.
Next step either turning on Skimmer or waiting to go to LFS to buy LR for seeding :) Hoping to get pics up later today. |
My makeshift water distiller to calibrate the refractometer.
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a2...llingwater.jpg Sandstorm http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a2.../Sandstorm.jpg |
I'm a bit surprised that there is a LFS in Kitimat that sells saltwater. Do they carry a decent selection (fish, coral, equipment etc)?
Its suppose to be better to calibrate a refractometer with a solution of known salinity rather than distilled water. However I've done both at the same time and the difference was only .001 so its probably not a big deal. BTW why did you buy 'live sand'? This is how I would perform the steps. Step 1: fill tank with water and mix salt in it until desired salinity All powerheads turned on Step 2: put rocks and sand in tank Step 10: Turn on skimmer Step 3: Buy LR to seed the tank Step 4: Wait patiently for cycle to be over Step 5: buy CUC (Dont over do it, I've often watched people add too many snails, crabs etc only to watch everything starve to death or kill each other. 1 CUC member per 5-10gal is more appropriate in my opinion.) Step 6: Buy more CUC if previous CUC has croaked or is not doing its job well enough Step 9: Buy 2 true percs Step 7: Buy inverts (what kind of inverts are you referring to?) Step 8: Buy some corals added at 2 week intervals so as not to overwhelm the system (Fish impact the bioload of a tank much more than coral do. Coral simply need a mature tank to survive and thrive.) |
whatcanyedo: Nope, no lfs here in Kitimat. The town over has one though (Terrace). Its 45min drive away. They dont have a decent selection of salty stuff because there isint a high demand for it but they have 3 tanks. 1 for LR, 1 for fish and 1 for coral and fish and inverts.
The directions on the refractometer said to calibrate with distilled water. The distilled water should read 0 on the refractometer if not then it needs to be calibrated until it reads 0. Mine read perfect. Didnt need to touch a thing. As for buying live sand, I just wanted Fiji Pink and that was what was available. I doubt its really 'live' though considering how long it may have sat on the shelves at the store and then through shipping conditions and then waiting in the bag for me to dump into the tank. Rocks and sand in tank now, pumps working and skimmer on. Skimmate is only going up halfway the tube and is white. Nothing being collected. I played with the skimmer to see if i can get the skimmate higher up the tube but to no avail. Im assuming it needs a short break in period? Its a tunze 9002, very quiet im impressed. Ok so CUC, fish and then Coral got it. :) and yes i plan to take it very very slow. Wont be gong to the lfs for at least a week and a half maybe 2 weeks to pick up some LR to seed the tank. Then i want to leave it for at least a month or 2 for the cycle (I have testing equiptment so no worries :) ) THEN I will buy CUC at which time I will prob be ready to give birth at any time so no other additions for quite some time. lol |
the skimate shouldnt have to be high up in the cup, as the yuck rises to the top the bubles wont pop and should be pushed to the top of the cup :), and if its brand new it will need to break in
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Alright, so i left the skimmer as it was and a few hours later I went to admire the tank. Well some skimmate 'yuck' had collected in the bottom of the cup.
It was all the fine dust floating around the tank. Made the room smell like a rock quary. I fed the spoils to the porcelin god. This morning the tank is sooooo clear. I cant wait to go to the lfs to pick up my LR to watch the life spread. Currently my skimmer is set on a timer with the lights. Its on when the lights are on and off when the lights are off BUT I dont have the lights plugged in yet. I figure its a waste of good bulbs when there is nothing alive in the tank until I get some rock. Im researching a CUC for the tank. I love love love hermits but they are mean. They kill the snails for shells. I would like to get at least one hermie though. So, 1 Blue legged hermit crab ? Certh snails ? Astrea snails ? Nassarius snails ? Margarita snails |
well right now as the tank has nothing in it i would say thats okay, but once the rock is in i would run the skimmer 24/7, also with the lights im doing the same thing :p
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Margarita snails are said to be sub-tropical and eventually cook in normal reef tank temperatures so I would skip those. My personal favorites are mini brittle stars, Abalone, Turbo snails and Stomatella snails. LFS wont sell mini brittle stars or Stomatella but if you're lucky you will get them on your liverock.
I'd run the skimmer constantly as well. Its actually more important for it to run at night than during the day (if you had to pick one). Algae stops performing photosynthesis in the dark which causes your pH to drop because CO2 builds up. A skimmer helps keep the water well oxygenated and buffers this effect. |
What if i want to grow algae (macro algae)?
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id do it in the sump
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Gracillaria is pretty non invasive and is a great source of red color. Thats the only one I would dare put into a display tank. Halimedia, chaeto, caulerpa, etc all have a way of taking over and are better suited in a refugium section of a sump.
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I really dont mind the "take over". I would love to do a macro tank with some corals which is what i was planning for the last couple of months. I entertained the idea a few years ago and I am again. I love planted reef tanks.
The corals will be softies, shrooms, zoas, cloves, xenia and some lps like frogspawn or a torch and maybe an acan and candy cane I am aiming for a mature look tank where there are a few corals and they just spread everywhere |
So far for a CUC Im looking at
1 hermit crab 2 certh 2 nassarius and whatever comes on my LR if im a lucky one Anything else?? Remember I want to grow macro algae but not micro algae. Then after a bit I want to get 1 or 2 skunk cleaner hermits, fan worms. And for fish; 2 true percs. I may have to add something else to get the bioload up at a later date to increase trates in the water for the macroalgae. Its hard to choose. The only other fish I really want is a coral beauty (my fav) but it will just eat all the macro :( Gotta look into that bit a lot more. |
Right so ive been doing a lot of reading and talking to people who have macro tanks and seahorse/pipefish tanks. This is what im doing.
SG at 1.025 Temp at 76-77F at the warmest Overfeed tank inhabitants and feed daily sometimes twice a day No dosing except for maybe trace elements and only every few months if that Variety of macroalgaes and they must be trimmed often so they dont choke eachother out. I will not be using green grape capulara or hamladea (sp?) or chaeto Dwarf angelfish do not eat macroalgae but they do eat microalgae. Skimmer (have many different results from people using macroalgae tanks) 24/7, not at all or 1/2 time. Aparently they all work depending on your setup. WC are done minimally. Once or twice a year. Some however do it more often about once a month (10%) to replenish the trace elements. Livestock will be 2 true percs and a coral beauty (YAY). 1 skunk cleaner shrimp and a few snails and a hermit crab. OH and some feather dusters. Corals will be, Zoas (super bright ones like devils armor), lots of mushrooms (electric blue and shrooms with stripes and spots), pulsing xenia, cloves (esp blue), rics (maybe), Either a green with pink/purple tip frogspawn or a pink tipped torch, acan lord, duncan (maybe), dendro (maybe), gorgonian (maybe) Of course lots and lots of macroalgae. |
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