I am new and do need some help from experience aquarists.

majesticangelfish

majesticangelfish

Member
Hello everyone!
My name is John Johnson but I decided to use " MajesticAngelfish " because it is one of my favorite. I have been off and on aquarist for 20 years. I do extremely well with freshwater and do somewhat in a "green and black thumb " in saltwater. As my age get ageing the more experience the more understandings... For some reason I feel that I am ready to start a 55 gallon which will be my first-time with such as sand, live rocks, and undecide whether I want to go for the live corals,and etc. By the way I do seriousily consider to try 29 gallon for a complete reef system (after research and considerations due to the cost to equip the small tank vs large tank is somewhat prohibative costly. therefore it may be cheaper to start on a 55 gallon or larger. My opinion)
My goal is to S U C C E S S this time!
I am having a extremely hard time to decide what type of filter equipment I would need and your opinion/experience assistance would be greatly appreciate. At first I considered as of:
Tidepool I with Mag 7 pump
Berlin Turbo Protein Skimmer
Emperor 400 (as an extra circulation and media accessible on needed bais
A couple of powerhead (Undecided brand Maxijet or power sweep)
Until just few days ago I discovered something new to me and began to ask around pet stores for some reason I feel that there is something they do not really want to share this with me. ( If my opinion is correct that they may are after the money-making ) It is called EcoSystem filter which have a combine of "wet/dry, mud/algae chamber with lighting enclose,and etc..... This got my attention and is under my extremely consideration. A Nature filtration system and keep animals in tank healthy and well fed? hmmmmm.
Before I make a final decision to buy equipment for my 55 gallon and I would like to hear your experience with such as "Eco-brand" filter that y'all are having....Pro and Con? If I decide to have that and should I consider a Protein Skimmer for best insurance when something should go wrong in tank? and a Emperor 400 as circulation purpose and extra Bio-medias/have access to use carbon on emergency/needed bais
Seriously I am considering to buy a first EcoSystem 40 hang on for my 29 gallon freshwater to try it out and see for myself before I make a serious decision. Any recommendation of store where I can find at cheap buy since such as That Fish Place or Petwarehouse dont carry them so is my local petstores even they know what they are!
By the way I have notice the wide use of that abbrevation " DSB " I wonder what this is? Is this as a dead sand bed? I think the moderator should establish abbervation column for new people to access to understand the abbervation being widely use in this forum.
Your assistance is greatly appreciate.
John
 
biggdriver

biggdriver

Member
first of a dsb is a deep sand bed..BY the way I think it is in this months issue of FAMA Freshwater and Marine Aquarium.It will tell you how to set one up..The eco system is fairly new and is something I also was looking into..A store about an hour and a half from me sells them and says he was using his own system like this for over 20 yrs now..There is a great debate over the 'MM' (miracle mud) as too whether is works or not..THe main concept behind it is to use calerpa to filter the water naturally and the mud replacing minerals etc into the water that is needed by the corals and other life. Using Calerpa for natural filter is not really new it is quite common to raise it in a refugium and seems to be very beneficial,,whether or not the mud is worth the extra..Big controversy...It is a lot cheaper section your sump and grow it there..I will try to find the link however to eco-systems for you...You can read their testimonials on it also do a search for refugiums and miracle mud on this site for alot of extra info...
 
mlm

mlm

Active Member
Welcome to the addiction as some say. I use this hobby as a supplement for when it is too cold to go scubadiving. Anyway forget about the tidepool or any other wet/dry for that matter. The protien skimmer you mentioned (berlin) is good and you can use it if one day you get a bigger tank. A DSB is a deep sand bed somthing that I and many others highly reccomend. The DSB and the fauna assciated with it will keep your nitrates down. If you are planning on keeping live corals you will need a lot of light dependng on what type you will keep. I have a 55 gallon reef tank and you can see what I keep in it at the bottom. The reason you do not need the wet/dry or tidepool is b/c you are better off spending your money on about 55 lbs of llive rock for your tank. The filter is not necessary b/c the bacteria will live on the live rock.
Any other questions just post we will be happy to help.
 
biggdriver

biggdriver

Member
Here's the link...http://www.ecosystemaquarium.com/html/natural_april2001.html
Do a search on mud also it may help you decide..
 
majesticangelfish

majesticangelfish

Member
Biggdriver and mlm,
Thank you for response. It is a big help! I will omit the wet/dry off the list.
Biggdriver,
That website you gave me <a href="http://www.EcoSystemaquarium.com" target="_blank">www.EcoSystemaquarium.com</a> was the one that I discovered and got me interested. I wonder is there any other competitor than EcoSystem Aquarium-brand that I can look into? Also the problem is " Where can we find at cheap price such as that fish place, Petwarehouse, and etc? "
The cost to get a complete sump for a 55 gallon runs around $400+! (I doubt that pump is included except the hang-on types)
Here is my possible plan for my 55 Gallon tank:
Two Powerhead (180-220's gph)
Berlin Protein Skimmer on hand!
Possible EcoSystem sump (If I can find reasonable price)
Lightings: Still sought for cheap price and would 4-55 watt power compact be enough?
How does this sound?
Should I add third powerhead? or would pair be enough?
Type of aminals in 55 gallon tank ( My wish list)
Live rock (50+ lbs)
One Purple or Sabin Tang?
Two- Four Eye Butterflyfish (After tank is well established)
One- Blue Fin (Look almost like Coral Beauty but in deep blue-color. Never see or have it.)
One Flame Angelfish (The last one.)
Maybe Mandarian at the very last!
Would that be " too much " on my 55 gallon?
I will not provide any live coral and etc as long I have Butterfly fish in tank but things could change when I buy a larger tank pending upon my success attempt with 55 gallon. 125 gallon is more affordable in my local and I want to know how much do your local sell a 250 gallon tank for? (8-9 foot long, 2 foot wide, and around 2 foot tall.) Just curious Because I almost lost my eyes <img src="graemlins//eek.gif" border="0" alt="[eek]" /> after I realize the compare of between 125 and 150 gallon price which they asking in $350 range for 125 gallon compare to $500 for 150 gallon! A whopping $150 for only 25 gallon difference! No way! <img src="graemlins//uhuh.gif" border="0" alt="[U-Huh]" />
Later
 
blj1234

blj1234

Member
I am at the same sport your at. Thinking about saltwater after obtaining a freshwater tank. Don't know if a 29 gallon will work, so I will probably go with a 55gallon.
I have a question for you.
Do you have any good tips of a way to kill a 7 inch Pacu. Takes up too much space, so without it, I have a 55 gallon tank to spare....
 
kris walker

kris walker

Active Member
Hi Rookie,
You probably won't get any positive responses to the whole methods of killing question. And I only hope this doesn't start a flaming war, as many of us here are very sensitive to topics like that. Why not just take it back to LFS--even if the nearest LFS is only 1-2 hours away? Other options include giving it away via overnight mail to some other hobbiest online (who would pay the shipping).
sam
 
kris walker

kris walker

Active Member
Almost forgot, Majestic,
if you are thinking about purchasing an Ecosystem for a freshwater tank, I think that is a serious waste of money. It will be much better for a saltwater fish tank unless there is something that I don't know about the "Ecosystem 40" system. There really isn't need for bio filtration for freshwater, unless the pH is in the 8.x range, but that really alludes to ammonia/nitrite conversion which Ecosystems don't process. If you want to get rid of nitrates though, I suppose it will help, but IMO, it is really the caulerpa that you need for this, not the mud.
If you haven't seen this particular webpage yet, I highly recommend reading the entire thing *very carefully*
<a href="http://www.ecosystemaquarium.com/html/Comparison.html" target="_blank">http://www.ecosystemaquarium.com/html/Comparison.html</a>
You can decide for yourself if it is worth it.
Best wishes,
sam
 
chrismilano

chrismilano

Member
In South Jersey and Philadelphia, we have ZOOS Aquarium Center. They will pay you 1/2 retail for fish you no longer want. Dont know if zoos is national, but maybe local aquarium centers do this as well...
Dont kill him unless you going to eat him
 
von_rahvin

von_rahvin

Member
where did you find that sumps cost s much money?? You can get an overflow for liek 40 bucks. The RIO pump you need is like 50 (go with a mag I like them better) all of the tube will come to less than 20 bucks. Then all you need is a big tube. I use rubbermade from WALMART theat costs you like 9 bucks. So fo a sump for a 55 gal i came up with 119 for the overall cost. Now if you want to do a refugium that is a different story but i built mine for like 50 buck including the 10 gall tank for the refugium. I would not put any butterflies into a tank like that. 1 they are a pain to keep. 2 they will eat/ nibble on any clams or corals you want to put in there. Did i mention they are a paint to keep.
FOr powerheads i would use MAXI jets. they are cheep and do a wonderful job and they are very unobtrusive. Since this is your fist time out start simple. a DSB and LR in the tank, a sump with a skimmer int he bottom. when you feele like life is too easy throw a refugium under there :) good luck. if you want any help just dromp me an email.
 
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