Please Talk me into a tank

[lennon]

Originally Posted by TeresaQ1
welcome. good luck with your 65 gal. I have a 55 gal, it is now about 6 mo old, and doing great, other then an algea outbreak. I have satellite compact lights, they dont get too hot, they are cooled by two fans. the kids can touch without getting burnt. I am setting up a 150 in about 8 mo, and will be putting mh lights on it. they will be unnder a canopy,m so no worries there. Hope you have as much fun as i am having.

That is a 55 gallon? Wow, it looks so much bigger than the 65 I am getting. What are your dementions? What kind is it?
Thanks for the info. Are Satellite lights the best out there? I would like something that does not heat up too much.

 

[adam2817]

As others have said so far, you are on the right track by asking before you start. I have been doing this for 5 years now and have had NO success until 6 months ago.. MY problem was my water. Yup, the tap water had too many hard metals in it and it was killing my fish. My suggestion to you is this. 65 Gals is perfect to start. GET YOURSELF AN RO/DI (reverse osmosis/deionizer) water filter. don't even try with your tap water. I tried and it cost me hundreds if not thousands to find the problem. And with the help of this board, I did find diagnose it. (you guys are the best)
You also mentioned maintenence. Well, I have a 72 Gal with a WD (wet/dry) filter. I do 5 gal water change every week. Some say it's excessive, others say no, but remember, your inhabitants will get used to your RAIN, meaning, if you change it every week on sunday, do it every week on sunday for the life of the tank, if you do it every 2 weeks, keep it the same. I say RAIN because in Real life, water changes get done naturally when it rains. Keep that in mind. And again, don't rush it. it will come, be patient.

 

[adam2817]

You asked about LR. Start with 1Lb per gallon and go from there. Just remember, get your LR set up before you put in inhabitants. everytime you put in LR, the tank CAN start another CYCLE. After it's set, don't add more rock. the new rock may have parasites on it and crash the tank.

 

[sw65galma]

Also you asked about lights...
Yes they get extremely hot, anyone who touches them WILL get burned..
This is where educating the kids or making sure it's built into your canopy comes to play.
Bear in mind that a nice canopy with lights can run $1,000.00
You also asked how people do those beautiful nanos...Very experienced reefers and NOT recommended for new people..
Your Most important purchasess are
Skimmer
Lights
Skimp anywhere else except those or be prepared for failure.
A good Skimmer is Aqua C, they make a nice hang on back and sump version...
Your next question is do you want to start of Fish only and move to reef?
Reason i ask is Fish only is a LOT cheaper than reef setups..
And a lot Easier till you get the hang of keeping the water good...
You just don't get colors like these in Freshwater fish..

 

[czone13]

hey sw65galma how long have u had that moorish idol???? is he doing good???? what does he eat???? i would like to get one very cool fish

 

[sw65galma]

I don't recommend them to ANYONE..unless you know EVERYTHING there is to know..
90% won't make it a week...the other 9% won't make it a year 1% makes it past 1 year.
It's been a few months...so far so good...but I'm not celebrating yet...
I have it in a 300Gal with 700lbs of Live Sand and 500lbs of LR, 65Gal Fuge with 100lbs of LS and another 200lbs of LR, 40 Gallon Wet/Dry, UV light, Ozone generator.
I built this tank especially to house an Idol (and mandarin, linkia)
So if you have anything less I would advise against it!!

 

[lennon]

Thanks for the replies. I went to the store and saw a great light. It has the fans on the top and was cool to the touch. It had some type of protective glass underneath it.. So there will be no burns.
It also had a moonlight which made it really nice. Of course it was on the expensive side and well worth it I suppose since that was what they used at the shop.
I will try the classifieds to see if I find it.
Thanks for all the help again. Oh, you asked about fish only or reef too. I actually want to do a reef tank. How do you do a fish only and then convert? What is the difference because I was told it was not good to establish a tank of fish and then introduce all the other things into it for the reef. Is this true?

 

[latino277]

1st Welcome to the board... there is a great wealth of knowledge here.

ok... were to start! For the most part... Stop looking for the "best equipment" There a very few thing in this hobby that people will agree are the "best."
look into protein skimmer:
for the best sump skimmers look into euroreef
For the best hang on back look a aquaC.
other than that you need to find equipment that fits your personal needs IE. your worried about you kids touching the lights... so you should be looking in to some type of canopy were there is no way for them to touch the lights unless they climb on the back of the tank or open the canopy... I know that no kid can open my canopy... My wife struggles to get this thing open.

(Heavy top! made it this way on purpose).
the other thing... Keep you setup simple at first for a reef all you really needs is:
1) tank
2) Stand
3) Filters
4) Canopy
5) Lighting
6) Circulation
tank ... 65G is great
Stand ... if you good with wood work you can make this stronger/better that the pre-fab ones and cheaper.
Filters... again keep this simple. LR/LS and a good skimmer is all you Really need. you stated that the tank will be next to a heater... so look into a chiller. Also a heater. Also look into a RO/DI filter. this will clean the water before you put it in you tank (top-off and water changes)
Canopy... Again. this is more that likely the best way for you to go since you have kids. also if you have a clue about wood you can make this very very easily! (just a box with a top that is on a hinge!) :thinking:
Lighting... there are endless options here! the 1st thing is to figure out exactly what you want! if you going with soft corals... PC's and VHO's would be just fine. if you going with LPS and SPS... you have to look into MH.
circulation... look into closed loops, Power head, Oscualators (Sp?) sould have ~20 X the turnover an hour

you also had a question on maintenance! the 1st couple of weeks... that is you life!

after that... I spend about 1/2hr a day doing check-ups/top offs.
during these daily check-ups I'm toping off my tank with ro/di water (This is the longest thing because RO/DI units only put out 2-5G of water per Hour!) during this time I'm just making sure all my pumps are running, skimmer cup isn't to full/stinky, Make sure my coral and fish look healthy. that's it
once a week (usually Friday night or sat. afternoon) I spend about 45min to 1 hr:
open beer
look and pumps
do 10g water change (125g tank with 30 sump)
open another beer... (takes me only 2 min to finish 1st beer)
now with the old water I run all of my tests. this can take me 20min.
clean light bulbs
clean skimmer.
with a turkey baster I blow crap off of LR.
and then I have another beer. and vegge! :cheer:
Sorry for the book... good luck!

 

[teresaq1]

Hi, mine is a standard 55 gal, i bought at wal mart yrs ago for fresh water, and in feb converted it to salt water . I have a canister filter, which i bought on line for about 85 dollars. I have power compact lights, which i also bought on line. (they are like what you are looking at.) I have 3 power heads, and a hang on back filter and a aqua remora pro skimmer. (i think this is a must, and an easy skimmer to use.)I can understand about time and maint. i too have three kids. once a week, i do a 5 gal water change. I usually buy premixed salt water from the pet shop. I change the filter material in my canister about every two to 4 weeks. I top off with fresh water every day or so as needed, and check my levels when i do my water change. so all in all, its really not that much. yeh, i usually walk by, and mess with something in there, but as far as cleaning, its not that bad.

 

[lennon]

Latino..thanks for the info. Once a week for other than testing is alot for me right now. I know that sounds silly..but I have 3 kids and one on the way. I get so many different things as far as maintenance. I have been told that until I get an established tank..then there will be alot of maintenance. BUT once It is established..once a week for testing should be good and then topping off every week to 2 weeks depending on my tests and how they keep coming back.
I am also doing a large sump and putting in some plant that is suppose to help ALOT with filtration. The guy I know that does this says he only does water changes once every 2 months and that the plant in the sump made all the difference to him. He doesn't even have a skimmer!
He said since he has done that..his levels have remained perfectly and he has not lost a fish at all and it's been 6 months since he has made that change.
Have you heard of this?
If I have to do changes and top offs once a week..I think I will have to not do this hobby as much as I want to.

 

[latino277]

Now... keep in mind that is what "I DO." there are a thousand "right ways" to do things in this hobby. You have to find what works. now saying that... at a min I would do a 20% water change once a month. so I think that's ~ 13g on new saltwater a month. now you can divide these 13g how ever is best for you. if you can only do it once every 2 weeks then you would do a 6.5g wc every two weeks.
the other thing to keep in mind is that your Maintinance is based on you bio-load. the more fish you have to more WC you have to do.
for the top-offs. (don't skip on these, if you do you Salinity will swing and can cause a very big head ache) can be automated. some of you test can be automated. if you jump into this hobby you will find that there is a way to automate just about every thing and make life easier... but now you are looking to chuck $$$$$ at the issue.

 

[latino277]

Originally Posted by Lennon
I am also doing a large sump and putting in some plant that is suppose to help ALOT with filtration. The guy I know that does this says he only does water changes once every 2 months and that the plant in the sump made all the difference to him. He doesn't even have a skimmer!
He said since he has done that..his levels have remained perfectly and he has not lost a fish at all and it's been 6 months since he has made that change.
Have you heard of this?
yes I have heard of this. there is a substrate out there called MiricalMud (SP?) I've heard it's really good and can product these results for a time frame (NOT INDEFINITLY). Eventually the substrate will be come loaded with nutrients that will cause a head acheand or crash. Now this time frame is, again, based on you bio-load. the more fish... the more stress on your filtration. Now if you can afford to change this sub strate every yrs or so then go for it. I am thinking of switching my Sand to this stuff but it's expensive. ~60 for 20#... I need ~120#.

 

[lennon]

Originally Posted by latino277
yes I have heard of this. there is a substrate out there called MiricalMud (SP?) I've heard it's really good and can product these results for a time frame (NOT INDEFINITLY). Eventually the substrate will be come loaded with nutrients that will cause a head acheand or crash. Now this time frame is, again, based on you bio-load. the more fish... the more stress on your filtration. Now if you can afford to change this sub strate every yrs or so then go for it. I am thinking of switching my Sand to this stuff but it's expensive. ~60 for 20#... I need ~120#.

I am not sure what you are talking about BUT I want to try that too. What I was talking about was refugium. I found the paper he wrote out for me. He said he puts the sand and refugium in the sump with a light and that works as a filter for the stuff that the fish secrete. Then the plant grows and I have to cut it back. I think I am going to do that and instead of the sand..maybe I should use the substrate you are talking about.
What is the stuff you are talking about? do you have a link? I want to read up on it.
Thanks much for the info!

 

[jer4916]

Lennon welcome!
This site has many many good people with years and years of pracitce and foul ups...so hopefully you can learn from our error's and our sucess's. Everyone is right about waiting for things to come into play...such as cycling....please wait wait wait....because the longer you wait the less you will spend....its extremely hard to wait...but if your like me your pay checks wont allow you to buy to much at once ..Anyways i have a 125 gallon reef with lights/rock/sand/refigum/miracle mud...etc...several corals/4 or 5 fish....My tank takes care of itself for the most part...i just do water changes and check water that evap'd out of the tank...so also with that in mind note that the bigger the tank you buy...truely the less work it is to keep. I found out that from going from a 10 gallon, to a 55 gallon to a 125 gallon...the 10 and 50 i was in it all the time. Advice going fish only or reef...i do suggest going reef...its much more calming to watch/you can have more life in your tank. But do what is cost effective for you...also before you set up your tank...i suggest making a QT tank for all you new friends...before they go into your main tank...simply to avoid displacing deseases into your main tank.
well enough talking from me.
good luck
~Chris
:jumping:

 

[scotts]

You know one thing you can do to save a little coin, since you are not in a terrible hurry is to check out the classified section here. I know I got a good deal on my 125 here and got some extra equipment and passed on the good deal that I got. You don't have to buy everything used, just bits and pieces. You can also check your paper for deals. Also don't worry about the lights, if you tell your kids to touch them because it is hot that should be enough, plus the lights will be at least 4 to 5 feet off the ground so it is hard for the kids to reach. I have two of my own so I know.

 

[jer4916]

plus keep in mind your lid is going to be heavy that holds the lights...children would have a hard time lifting it up...my lid on my canopy i'd say is prolly around 30 pounds...but its solid mapple.
plus you can always put shock collars on your kids..hehe j/k
get to close ...ZZZZZZZZAP!...
HEHE

 

[lennon]

LOL....yes I can do that too.
The stand and canopy I am getting are supposedly real wood from Oceanic. It is a 58 gallon size but fits the 65 since it is the same length but alittle higher. I can't wait to get it.
thanks for the advise.

 

[jer4916]

what kind of wood is it?...cause my can, cost me $1600, and my stand was another $1800....most use pressed wood now days

 

[oceana]

Originally Posted by Jer4916
what kind of wood is it?...cause my can, cost me $1600, and my stand was another $1800....most use pressed wood now days

thats just crazy lol. i know some woods are expensive but damn. that must be one super fancy stand and hood. the average solid oak stand hood should be around 500 or so each.
heck we made our first stand out of solid oak for around 300 in materials and a weekend of work. that includes all the oak moldings.
125 stand hood with dental modings and finishings is around 2000 in maple
1200 in oak here in florida

 

[jer4916]

Originally Posted by oceana
thats just crazy lol. i know some woods are expensive but damn. that must be one super fancy stand and hood. the average solid oak stand hood should be around 500 or so each.
heck we made our first stand out of solid oak for around 300 in materials and a weekend of work. that includes all the oak moldings.
125 stand hood with dental modings and finishings is around 2000 in maple
1200 in oak here in florida

Mine is made out of Maple, also note my whole tank is made by " Clear For Life " one of the top custom brands in acrylic/custom tank set ups.
research it....its TOP stuff.