150 g Reef build, slow and steady on an even slower budget

velbar

velbar

Member
Hey all,
I have a 150 g tank that I am working on slowly building into a Reef tank. I have about 40 lbs of live rock that has moved with Me a few times and may or may not really be live anymore. I built a cave out of what rock I have for the time being so there is an inner and outter realm for the critters I have. for the last year I have had little but a cleaner shrimp, about 20 snails that as I counted the other day exceeded 100, a clown fish, 2 yellow tangs, a blue damsel, a green chromis, and a lawn mower bleeny, and a black spiny sea urchine.
some where in the mix there are several hermit crabs from the big reef pack I bought but most of them either hid or didn't make the transition from the 50 g tank I had to the 150 (a gift that made My year).
in My most recent order I also began to add corals to the tank, I added an Australian Duncan, a Peppermint stalk, and 2 mushroom. I also began adding some live plant to the tank and put in 3 shaving brushes.
I am not great with specs but I will give what I know or can guess the best at:
I have an over the back of the tank carbon filtration system (lost the specs on it) its giving a decent flow to the tank through and so far nitrates / nitrites / ph are all pretty much where the chem strips say they should be.
a power head that I set about a third of the way along the back of the tank aimed at the cave and live rock for added circulation to that area, not sure what its capacity is anymore but its giving a really good flow 2-3" away down onto the peppermint stalk area and then eases up as it circulates around the the Duncan and the mushrooms.
I have 2 light fixtures,
1) 48" Marine glow.
2) 48" plant and aquarium bulb that I turn off at night to simulate night time and moon glow with bulb # 1
I also recently acquired a 10 g tank that I am attempting to breed copepods in for extra feed stock for the big tank.
Ultimately I want to build this into about 2/3 reef with a space in the center where I have a porcelian ship wreck that the fish love to hid and play in but only have a portion of the rock that I really want on one side and none on the other side.
I know that when I add more rock I will have to do it slow, a few pieces at a time more or lest so as not to greatly disturb the KNOWN environment to quickly and allow the critters to adjust to each stage.

 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
I don;t think that filter will be good enough for a 150G....you may want to get a canister, or consider doing a sump/refugium
ALSO, the lighting you have will not support too many corals or your plants, you may want to consider upgrading to a metal halide system
You also need more powerheads
You can add as much rock as you want, just make sure it is fully cured...you say you have 40lbs now?? but you want to leave one side open? why is that?
 
velbar

velbar

Member
I kinda figured it was all light duty equimpent but it has served well for the time being so i can continue. I will look into the lighting first and more power heads.
as for leaving one end open, I actually want to leave the middle open more or less, like a gap in the reef image, why? more or less because I think it will look cool. I don't believe, but could be wrong, that such a gap would affect reef life, it would allow for definate segregation of some of the corals and such that are more...agressive.
what you see in the bottom picture is all the live rock I have, I have considered using some various size rocks from My yard as base rock to prepare for more live rock but havent a clue what I should do to cure them and if it would even be a good idea.
basically I agree with everything you have suggested but budget has always been My problem, 4 kids to support all the money goes to them first, if I am lucky I get about 75 every few months to spend here now. that just doesnt buy better lighting or protien skimmers or sumps...so I limp along enjoying what I can and building it as I can waiting for those special sales when I do have My money. I even keep an eye out on craigslist locally for people wanting to get rid of equipment that I might get cheap.
I would love to see some of the reef rewards items be equipment to choose from as well, maybe I should request it from kim.
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
LOL...The rock space question was just out of my own curiosity....a lot of people do the 2 island look.....I likethat too
You can get another one of those hang on the back filters for the other side...they are not very expensive, or look into a canister.....you can run the canister with your HOB that you already have
I do think a protein skimmer would also be a good investment, BUT they are not cheap....just don't overload the livestock and don't overfeed
I also would not use rock from your yard. From what I have read it can contain metals, and that would be dangerous to your tank in the long run
DO LOOK for base rock.....you can find that fairly cheap, and eventually it would become live
 
velbar

velbar

Member
thank you very much for your advice meowzer, it is appreciated and taken to the heart of My reef *grins*
 
acrylic51

acrylic51

Active Member
Welcome!!!!! I like your idea of leaving a side open.....That is what I'm planning on my new setup build once I get to that point.....
 
slice

slice

Active Member
Welcome to the site!
There are great folks here that can be a wonderful resource along your way to reefdom.
My tank is going on 10 months old and still have not added coral, mostly due to budget considerations, so I can relate.
I believe a tight budget can be an ally, as it throttles back the pace of additions, allowing the tank to mature before having to deal with heavy bioloads.
I also like the 2 island rockwork.
Just remember that when you do add more rock, fish, or anything:
pics or it didn't happen!
 
velbar

velbar

Member
lol, yea, no pics its a pigment of My imagination *grins*
I have discovered through reading some of the forums already that there are great and experienced people here and I look forward to disappointing each and every one of them with My pitance of experience lol
I do agree the budget is an ally in not overloading with new life to quick but I sure wish I had all the rock at least.
 
anjiro

anjiro

Member
Hello and Welcome! This is an especially addicting hobby. but there are many do-it-yourself alternatives to anything you can purchase. http://www.mindspear.com/reef/concrete/index.htm will show you how to make your own live rock. If done right it ends up costing about $1 a pound, but it is a bit tricky. You can also check out a certain reef cleaners website, they have dry for a bout 2 bucks a pound with free shipping. If you ever want to upgrade lighting, powerheads or get a skimmer you can always check the bay. You can usually get powerheads in pairs for half of the cost of one. I got my metal halide lighting ( 36" dual 250 watt Orbit system) for only 125 dollars. It's good that you check craigslist. One of my local LFS went out of business and I got my skimmer for only 20 bucks. just keep a look out for those deals! OH, and Happy Reefing!
 
velbar

velbar

Member
Ok, another week into it, the corals are actually settled in pretty well and even tolerate the urchin passing by them. so now I have a question...I have the HoB filter and its been pointed out that I can get a decent skimmer for way cheaper than I thought...sooooooo HoB or Skimmer or Both??
 
velbar

velbar

Member
neither have I but then I dont really know the names of the better skimmers yet either, but 40 dollars vs 200+ and including a power head....the powerhead alone is probably worth that much and I need another one anyway. I wasnt sure if the skimmer replaced the HoB filter or not, I may have to get a bigger powerstrip though, all My plugs are full lol.....
 
velbar

velbar

Member
ok, next thought while the skimmer idea bounces along the water surface...
I did some reading last night on MAKING my own live rock, now it does not appear complicated and I am probably going to look at getting the needed materials (concrete mix and agrasand stuff) but I am curious if anybody has tried this here with a positive result?
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
are you looking for a HOB skimmer or sump? for a 150G tank you are looking at some bucks....I have a 225G tank and paid $700 for my skimmer..it's massive and does a GREAT job
also my motto is why make something when someone sells it
...I HATE DIY
 
velbar

velbar

Member
I don’t really know, I had had this salt water set up for 8 years or so in a 50 g tank but was given the 150 as a gift/payment ..with the 50 g I never worried about a sump or a skimmer.....
I have done some reading and honestly don’t see much difference from a sump to a skimmer and if its HOB or drill a hole then I vote HoB cause I am not risking My big tank that I have waited 20 years to get. yes I know several of you are rolling your eyes at Me but I am at least speaking the truth lol...
as for DIY vs. Buy it......DIY materials cost about $1/lb vs. $5+/lb...so if what I remember being right is 1 lb/gal then I need about another 110 lb....at $1 that’s $110 more or less.....at $5....you see the math and again, low budget sooooooooo DIY will take Me longer making it Myself IF it works but it appears that the only real time that I have to really put into it is about an hour Myself and the rest is curing and water changes...
 
velbar

velbar

Member
well a few days into it, I have made 2 attempts at making the first stage of the live , the first one I didnt let dry long enough ( i was over 24 hours) and it crumbled badly when I was taking it out of the casting so the next set will be staying in at least 48 hours..pictures to come later tonight
ok, this picture is one day after starting the second batch, it is the second batch basking in the arizona sun while laying comfortably back in the litter box I chose to use for these projects (yes it was a clean litter box) hopefully saturday I will be able to take the rocks out of here and get them to curing.
 
velbar

velbar

Member
Ok, day 3 of rock building, I THINK I figured out why My rocks keep crumbling and I have a third attempt at a decent base table in the mould right now. turns out the concrete I was using already had sand and gravel in it, in the future I will want to buy a mix that does not contain those things so I can add My own agra sand and make it match better, but the pieces I have will work out ok once they have cured, which started today, only 4 weeks to go lol, I am learning as I go and hole this table idea works out this time.
bigger developement is that I cheeped out but bought a Sky 495 skimmer, the documentation was worthless and it took a fair amount of further reading to figure out how to set the dang thing up and as always the first shot didnt turn out how I wanted but after reading more and more, My second shot had it skimming immediately, with in 12 hours I had to dump the crud catcher compartment.....
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top