Cool..Thanks and let me know when your going...For my next home I want to convert my basement to a breeding farm, and NO, not Asian babies...=)
I've been into this for a while now, I'd say the last 3 years now? I used to have 3 tanks going but I've consolidated most of what I have into a new 125g tank I put together. I've got a 46g bow front I'm cleaning up to sell, stand, tank and canopy with lights. I'm on ReefLounge.com and a couple other sites. Here's a link for where I've been posting stuff at http://www.zeroyon.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=6329&hl= . I'll be updating the link in the next day or so with recent pics and info.
Hey N1ce, Setup is looking good...It would be great to see how your lighting turns out after you have them in place. The current ones are great for fish only setup. But it looks like you have a different lighting setup, as you mentioned. Definately can't do Halide lights with a canopy, it will get to hot, so VHO is good. I think that is what you mentioned? I currently have a canopy on mine and running coralife Highout Compacts on my 75G 96Wx4, but upgrading my bulbs to 120Wx4 in another 2 months. Should start to see a few ripples in the H20, just like the halide lights. Also a lot of time you will have a "BLACK HOLE" in your fish tank...I lost about 4 fishes already and there is no explaination for it, suddenly its gone...Check the back of your fish tank because that is usually where they are I found 1 of my missing 4 all dried up. How much GPH you have going in your tank? How long has your Tank been setup? I would also recommend adding sprial-Vital to jump start the process even faster, its pricey though but helps. I think it is like $20 for 1 use. Adds a good amount of beneficial bacteria to speed things up. Also I hope your testing your H20 at least 2-3 a week. When I first got mine I was testing my water every 24hrs for spikes after I added my 3rd fish...Do not overload your tank to soon. Sorry I didn't mean for this to be a long post and not at all, saying that you do not know what your doing, but this is just my thoughts.
Thanks for the complements! Most of that data, if not all is from a few months ago. I've 2 MH's on the tank and a full-on sump/ refugium setup going on in the stand. There have been a 'lot' of changes since the last time I posted there and like I mentioned, I'm getting ready to do some updates.
Nice tank N1ceDrgn, get some upadated picks. How do you like the T5's? At first I thought it was NO flourescents, but then I was like. Those are way too bright, must be T5s! Then I read that they were indeed T5. I was thinking of those or MH's, but I have heard that some softies don't take to the intense linear light to well. So, I went MH so I could still have some shaded area's of the tank. But, mine is shallower than yours i'm sure. So not so much of an issue for you. Sogonerg, no problem with housing MH's in a canopy. It just needs to be ventilated. I've seen 2 400w halides over a 59g in a canopy. It can be done. Just depends on what corals you want to keep and how serious you want to get. You just want to mount a fan or 2 in there. Also, the sump helps act as a cooler for water. Of course there are alot of people who run chillers. Oh and as far as those Salifert tests, you can find them here: http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=Salifert Premium is in Indiana, so it generally takes 2 days to reach us here with UPS ground. I've done alot of business with them. They will price match everything no questions. Just provide a link in the comments section if you find a cheaper price online.
I'll get some updated pics up later today. I didn't want to take anything this morning because I wanted to give everyone a chance to 'wake up' before I started to take pictures. Plus, I want to get more information on the 'residents' as well. Later today, once I get home I should have more info and better pics listed.
Usually you have to have an oversize canopy to fill and cool the MH properly...I was thinking about it. I only have a 5-6in. Total Height Canopy which means my lighting is 1 in. away from the tank and it should be about 6-8in. high off the tank (Minimium) for proper ventilation. Wonder if they make a HM cool bulbs, that would be sweet...A bulb that doesn't get hot. LED would be a solution but it doesn't emmit enough Light and doesn't immulate Natural lighting. So NEXT! I'm thinking of getting a Bigger Tank I really want the All-glass 210Gal. But I do not think my up stair living room will hold that much weight. Plus my assoc. for my townhome already warned me about it...haha
Well, before I moved in where I am, I asked and they said it was ok. Even though I'm on the second floor, with a 125g.
Heh, yeah with only a 6" high canopy, you would be screwed! The T5's N1cedrgn has on his tank are about as close to you can get to the light output of MH in a cool running flourescent bulb. In most cases they have more light penetration on the sandbed then MH. But, they aren't always good for some softies or mixed reefs. Shrooms have been known to melt under them. Some LPS like brains, candy canes, etc also don't always like the intensity. But in a tank as deep as a 125g, they don't hurt too much.
Alright, the link's been updated. Take a look.. http://www.zeroyon.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=6329&st=30&p=122433&#entry122433
Agree...Blue with Brighten things up. I would recommend to add more snails usually 1 snail per gal. is ideal. Are you planning on adding some Blue legs too? Looks like you got some nice coralines growing...Your mushrooms look GREAT! I always love looking at mushrooms under atinics *drool* A diamond Goby would also help airate your gravel too so you do not get a Algae build-up on top of your gravel...Just do not get a Sleeper Goby because tey will decorate your corals and LR with Gravel, I just want to KILL mines, but I have no room to catch'em. I have to dismantle my whole tank just to catch a fish. At least I can catch my Cow Fish! haha...SLOW MTF 8)
Looks nice! Have you checked out what that cow fish/ box fish will look like once it's mature? They 'really' change! A friend of mine got one because his now x-wife thought it was cute. After he learned more about it, it found it's way 'back to the store'.
Thanks..It looks cute when small...As they get bigger, that's a different story...It can get about 12in. But I highly doubt it will get that big in my tank size. They are a little clumpsy, which is what makes them cute. They get dirty looking as they get older...The yellow is gone...I want to get a helmet fish as well and a Blue Spotted box fish. No one has'em yet...
Well, you can try hitting up my 2 hangouts, either Something Fishy in Richfield or Ocean Devotion down in Savage.
I've checked them out...Something fishy is a nice place. World of Fish is just way way over priced. I go to my local guy "Fish and Friends" he gives me a good deal. Never been to Ocean Devotion before...That maybe to far for me...
There is nothing to sneeze about...Because all the good stuff is gone before they even arrive. When they get there shipment in every week. Either Thursday or Friday their are people lining up looking and buying the corals and fishes before they can even take it out of the bag. They usually get 6-12 boxes full of goodies every week. By the time you or I get there, we get all the leftovers...haha...So I always end up telling Dan to order certain things for me.
Sadly, that's the best way to get things here in MN. I used to live in San Diego and I'd have around 4 shops to choose from to get things. Aside from the variety, I miss the prices too.
I hear you...I'm from San Fran, CA and the selection I get there and price are very very hmmm...well good, but not that good. Chinatown has a great selection of Saltwater fish and corals now...It is amazing when they use to be a goldfish store.
Well, some places 'chime in' on what makes money and it is interesting to see shops make that transition.
Especially here in MN. World of Fish! Someone needs to Smack'em for what they charge. But hey they got the rep. and people keep going to them to buy...
Because they don't know any better.. that's why. I find them questionable on both prices and quality. I've seen too many dead critters in their tanks and corals that aren't happy to spend any real money there.
I feel the same way...They do overload there tanks. They are at least marking up 3-4x over cost on corals. And 5x on Inverts. And 3x on Fish.
shoot, i dont even know where to start right now. maybe you can toss me a # and i'll see if i can do it or not
Brand new Bow front 46g with stand and canopy and light would be around $550-$600 depending where you go.
Ok, well, how about $400 for the tank, canopy, stand, pump/ filtration and ls? Altogether, that's a pretty good setup. Lighting is pc lighting, I can't remember the voltage right now. The pump is a Fluval 404. There is around 40 pounds, ls. Let me know.. I'm not set on the price but the setup cost me considerable more than what I'm offering it for. I brought this one back from San Diego, as for everything, I'd like to move it as a package.
Ray, give Jerry a call. I can give you his number if you want. He's got a TCMAS sale going on. Some nice corals for cheap. I'm not going over there anytime soon. I prolly won't be around here much either. Otherwise I get too tempted! I'm trying to save up for a house http://jnsaquatics.com/tcmas/ Let me know, i'll send him a pm letting him know you'll be calling if you want his number. I came across some old pics of my tank. This was last winter, my tank went to &^%$#@! after a kalk OD: This was last summer after some rehab and 50 some snails!: This is about 3 years ago, before the kalk OD. The Xenia went nuts as did the Halimeda:
Heh, its got more coral now tha I ever had before. Pink, fire n ice, dragon eyes, PPE's, sunflowers, soloman island zoa's. Zoa's are my favorite coral. That first pic was September 2004. I overdosed on Kalkwasser, over shot my PH, precipitated calcium carbonate and it killed all the coraline on the LR:emo:. Once the coralline was dead, algae took over the rocks and because I had no inverts(well 2 or 3 snails) nothing ate it. The second pic was in April 2005 when I decided to get a nice reef again. I bought 25 astrea's, 15 ceriths and 10 nerite snails, and a tigertail cucumber to clean up the sandbed. Got some new corals from a few reefers. The 3rd pic was 3yrs ago befoer it all went to hell in the 1st pic. Now, I just have either zoa's, ricordia yuma's, clams, LPS and SPS corals. I decided to step up the game a notch from softies.:biggrin:
Just got it. I sent him a pm on TCMAS. He knows me as Floppy over there. I'll let you know what he says.
