Celticwraiths Aquarium Forum

Subject: Saltwater tank shots Wed Apr 02, 2008 7:21 pm

Yes, I know these are freshwater forums, but why not throw in a bit of change? Here are some pics of my 8 gallon nano-reef tank. Shots aren't too bad, but they could be better Surprised

Green star polyps (coral)

Peppermint Shrimp (I hate this guy, he eats my corals. Shrimp for dinner anyone?)

One of the hundreds of types of zoanthids (coral)

My clownfish Smile

A FTS (Full Tank Shot)

These shots were taken a few weeks back. The corals have gotten much bigger. I will post some more pics soon. Enjoy!
_________________
I have been keeping aquariums most of my life. I have kept both fresh and salt water, cichlids, catfish, loaches, clownfish, wrasses, and everything in between. Feel free to ask me any questions!

Visit my forums at http://aquariumuniverse.one-forum.net

Subject: Re: Saltwater tank shots Thu Apr 03, 2008 6:08 pm

HAWT!!!!...

i want to start up a small tank like that too... my LFS had a blue ring octopus and i want one of they... man he was cute and awethum... but i don't want to spend a huge load of cash for a chiller on a tiny tank... so fail...

Subject: Re: Saltwater tank shots Fri Apr 04, 2008 3:01 pm

blue rings need huge tanks, and they can kill you if you get bitten.
_________________
I have been keeping aquariums most of my life. I have kept both fresh and salt water, cichlids, catfish, loaches, clownfish, wrasses, and everything in between. Feel free to ask me any questions!

Visit my forums at http://aquariumuniverse.one-forum.net

Subject: Re: Saltwater tank shots Fri Apr 04, 2008 4:58 pm

Gumbii likes those dangerous critters!!! I heard they don't live very long.

I want a salt setup someday too. I'm still waiting to get into my new career so it'll have to wait. Damned, it'll be nice to have a normal income for a change. I struggle to pay rent on time EVERY SINGLE MONTH, and keeping the damned truck legal is a chore too!!!!Those saltwater creatures are incredible. Suspect

Subject: Re: Saltwater tank shots Fri Apr 04, 2008 5:18 pm

i have a ton of killer creatures allready...

and i thought they didn't need a huge tank since it was so small... and freaken cheap... well to me...

and i'm with you peter... i'm hurting right now... i need a stable job STAT!!!...

Subject: Re: Saltwater tank shots Sat Apr 05, 2008 8:14 am

Small tanks like this aren't cheap, as I have spent almost 2 grand to get where I am now. The bigger the better, and octopi need massive systems and they only live for about 1 year.
_________________
I have been keeping aquariums most of my life. I have kept both fresh and salt water, cichlids, catfish, loaches, clownfish, wrasses, and everything in between. Feel free to ask me any questions!

Visit my forums at http://aquariumuniverse.one-forum.net

Subject: Re: Saltwater tank shots Sat Apr 05, 2008 11:00 pm

um... what tank cost you 2 g's...?????

i dunno... i think tank building is cheap...
the 90g reef i'm building right now is going to be aboot $900
with 260W of light, 30g sump, huge 5' tall DIY protein skimmer with
400gph thread wheel, 80lbs of live rock, arragonite substrate,
powerheads with wave maker, and fish...

the only thing that's going to be baller, and that's only if i need
it is a chiller... but since that room is climate controlled i might
sans it all... i might not need a heater either...

well... i'm not trying to gloat, but it trips me out on how much
serious cash people spend on setting up a tank... it shouldn't
be so expensive... but i guess you get what you pay for... but saying
that doesn't mean my junk is going to be... junk...

Rank2 Member Age : 32 Joined : 20 Jan 2008 Posts : 57

Really nice pics, a little to large it took my cheap computer along time to load them.

Subject: Re: Saltwater tank shots Sat Apr 19, 2008 8:48 am

Once everything is set up, you still need to buy the fish, corals, inverts, and they aren't cheap! What filter are you using? Did you put that list together by yourself? You might want to ask your local aquarium shop about this. Also, are you ball-parking the price? You should go out and find the prices of everything, and don't buy used equipment. Used equipment usually work like crap, and you need the best quality equipment for a saltwater tank. Yes, you do need a heater, two in fact. You need two so that your filtration can whisk the heat all around a big tank like that. 260W of light won't do you any good for corals. I would go with so PC lights, VHO, T5's, or the best, metal halide. You need at least a 45 gallon sump because a sump has to minimum half the total water capacity of the tank. You need more live rock. At least 90lbs or more, and good quality CURED live rock will cost you about $900 for 80lbs. Forget the bagged aragonite. Get good live sand, and not the instant cycle stuff, because that doesn't work. Just the tank itself will be a lot of cash, and you still need a stand. A DIY skimmer should work, but I would be more careful and buy a store quality one. You also need salt, hydrometer, reef suppliments, and many other things. This is going to be a large time and money investment for you, so I would think again and again, research and ask, T.A.A.R.A. I respect you as a fellow aquarist, but I think you are running too fast to get this done. It takes 2 months to cycle a saltwater tank. I really hope this works out for you, and if you have any questions, just ask me.

HTH

From,

Fish_Genius
_________________
I have been keeping aquariums most of my life. I have kept both fresh and salt water, cichlids, catfish, loaches, clownfish, wrasses, and everything in between. Feel free to ask me any questions!

Visit my forums at http://aquariumuniverse.one-forum.net

Subject: Re: Saltwater tank shots Fri Apr 25, 2008 2:10 am

Subject: Re: Saltwater tank shots Fri Apr 25, 2008 7:26 am

Actually now that you gave me some info, it looks like you are doing pretty good, although you could have gotten two good quality heaters for half the price! If you have cooling fans and ballasts, you should be okay to go chiller-less. Sump is still too small, but I think you could get by. You might want to invest in a refugium, as I managed to convert one part of my filtration system into a fuge, and it really helped me out with the seeding. Just make sure you cycle the tank for 2 months (it was very hard to wait for me!) before getting any fish or coral. Upgrade your PC lights to T5s, T5s are better for coral and cheaper than PC bulbs. Feel free to ask me any questions.

James
_________________
I have been keeping aquariums most of my life. I have kept both fresh and salt water, cichlids, catfish, loaches, clownfish, wrasses, and everything in between. Feel free to ask me any questions!

Visit my forums at http://aquariumuniverse.one-forum.net

Subject: Re: Saltwater tank shots Fri Apr 25, 2008 12:28 pm

yeah... i tried that two heater trick before... it's pretty much fail/aids...

well... the sump size only matters on how the water gets filtered... i'm using three different types of mechanical media... then when it leaves the media and goes into the sump, the protein skimmer will pick up some of that clean water... when the skimmer is done with the water, the return pipe is routed to go back into the mechanical media of the sump... so i don't need a 600gph power head for the skimmer... i'm using a 300gph with a fiber wheel... that reduces it i heard to 200gph... but alot ALOT of fine bubbles... and some of the water leaving the skimmer might return into the skimmer via sump...

yeah... it's kind of hard for me to decide on light since the canopy is only 3ft long... and it's 90g... i might add a metal halide lamp later on if i get coral that need it...

Subject: Re: Saltwater tank shots Fri Apr 25, 2008 1:22 pm

Halides are pretty costly, I really think you should go with T5s.
_________________
I have been keeping aquariums most of my life. I have kept both fresh and salt water, cichlids, catfish, loaches, clownfish, wrasses, and everything in between. Feel free to ask me any questions!

Visit my forums at http://aquariumuniverse.one-forum.net

Subject: Re: Saltwater tank shots Fri Apr 25, 2008 5:52 pm

i don't understand how a 30" fixture of four t5's will outperform a 400w metal halide lamp... what are they 100w each... i know they aren't... i know t5's are the new black... but i don't understand why i would want 4 bulbs that's bearly 230w of light when i can have one bulb that... jsdakl;fjsad;lkfjsdalkfj

never mind... i know about the power compacts... right now i have 260w of power compact lighting... now i know that's more powerfull than 230w of t-5's... if i get the metal halide lamp i'll just get acnic bulbs for the PC's...

that is all...

Subject: Re: Saltwater tank shots Sat Apr 26, 2008 10:31 am

I dunno, just my preference Razz

Once you get your tank up and running, I might be able to send a couple of coral frags your way. I got tons of Green star polyps now, and they are actually becomming a weed in my tank now.
_________________
I have been keeping aquariums most of my life. I have kept both fresh and salt water, cichlids, catfish, loaches, clownfish, wrasses, and everything in between. Feel free to ask me any questions!

Visit my forums at http://aquariumuniverse.one-forum.net

Subject: Re: Saltwater tank shots Wed Apr 30, 2008 4:34 pm

that would be the awesomest if you did... but right now the tanks is only going to be FO... i can't afford the live rock right now... all of my income right now is being put asside for my girls 1st birthday party... ugh... i hate those things...

but my tank is more than halfway there... i have everything done except the piping, overflow, and wireing for the lights...

the protein skimmer came out being 50" tall... well i think it was 50"... well i know it's going to be huge... i also got to test it... i'm going to the LFS later on today and ask them for some dry skimmate to adjust it and stuff...

but i also want to get into fragging... that's the biggest reason i want to start up a reef... later on once i'm cool with the reef and everything, i'm going to spend some serious cash and get some rare corals to propigate and share with LFS and other enthusiast... just like how i'm doing it with the michosticast cichlids...

by the way... i got an email today from USC... since we did a species count, we figured out that there are only 300 specimens on these fish on the planet... and i have about 75 myself... i guess it's going well... we started out with 75 at USC a year ago... woot woot... i'm also the one with the greatest turnout of fry survivals...

i should of probably made a thread about it... lol... oh well...