when i was in the virgin islands, there were big black spiny sea urchins like that but were like 5 times bigger, and i stepped on one ant it went like 2 inches into my heel. :(Quote:
Originally Posted by Fengzi
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when i was in the virgin islands, there were big black spiny sea urchins like that but were like 5 times bigger, and i stepped on one ant it went like 2 inches into my heel. :(Quote:
Originally Posted by Fengzi
Ouch!!! I put my hand down on one while snorkeling in Thailand and it hurt like hell. Most of them have poisonous spines and if they break off under your skin it really sucks. I got stuck a few times by the one in my tank but never too bad.Quote:
Originally Posted by NightProwler
Congrats on your purchase Smokey . Now comes the fun part :pQuote:
Originally Posted by Smokey McPot
Sounds like pretty good pricing. The Berlin classic is an ok skimmer. This was one of the first skimmers I had. If you have a lot of fish and/or corals you may want to upgrade in the future but this one should do fine for now.
The water issue, always fun ;) First of all go and get one or two of those 30 gallon rubbermaid tubs. You'll find they come in real handy for mixing salt water and all kinds of other stuff. As for the water itself, I wouldn't recomend using tap water. Even if you use dechlorinator it still has a lot of things like silicates and other minerals that you don't really want in a reef tank. So, you've got two choices: buy fresh water or make it yourself. If you want to buy it I'd recomend finding one of those pure water stores and buying five or six 5 gallon jugs. Then just make several trips until you've got your 65 gallons. If it will fit in your budget I'd recommend getting your own ro/di filter. You can pick one up for about $175-$250. Depending on the model they'll filter 20-60 gallons a day and over the course of a few years you'll find it ends up being a lot cheaper than buying water every time you want to do a change.
How are you going to cycle the tank? I hope its not by putting damsels in the tank. It's seriously stressful to the damsels and, especially if you have a reef tank with a lot of live rock, getting the damsels out if you don't want them later is a pain in the ass. Plus, if you're doing a reef with live rock they aren't needed. Once you get the tank up and running just put the live rock in. It may get really funky and you'll need to do a bunch of water changes at first but it will end up cycling your tank really quickly.
I won't bs you, the next few months are going to suck. There's going to be a bunch of work, trial and error, failures and successes. All this without having any cool fish or corals to show for your hard work. Be patient though and hang in there. It will all be worth it and a year from now you're gonna have an awesome tank. Keep us posted on the progress.
CONGRATS ON YOUR PURCHASE!
I am with Fengzi,go buy as much live rock as you can afford goes for 3.98lb here.Now on the next few months could go either way good or bad.water chages during cycle I dont realy agree on ( maybe 1or 2 next few months)you want the water to basicly filter itself with the live rock.give it a chance to build up enzymes b-4 for you go taken them out with water changes.May i suggest you get good test kit and test the water if the nitrates or nitites start to peak do par. water change,the rubber bucket cool(they have them with nice wheels they work best)salt isnt cheap so dont go crazy on water changes.No offense Fengzi,i just had better luck on my large scale & small scale set ups this way.post some pics
I'd say the water change thing depends on whether or not your live rock is cured or uncured. If it's cured when purchased your good without too many water changes. I've seen some uncured stuff, however, that would turn the tank water into sewage if you put 50-60 lbs in. With this stuff you'll need to do the water changes if you want to keep the life in the live rock.
unmeg's right about salt being costly. Do yourself a favor and order one of the big buckets. Always be sure to keep enough salt for at least a 50%(100% is better) water change on hand. You never know when you'll have to do an emergency water change and salt's a bitch to find in the middle of the night.
Ya im goin all out on the liverock because I am going to be limited to the type of corals i can grow because I am going to use 4-96 Watt Pc flourcent lights. So i figure just load it with LR. Tomorrow (saturday) I am going back to the store with my cousin and getting everything else. Last saturday when i went with my cousin we smoked 3 bowls on the way and drank a few tall boys all day. That was fun. I recomend not going shopping for somthing expensive while stoned.
How long should cycling that tank take? 2-4 weeks?
Should i put all of my LR and LS in when i cycle it? No im not using a damsel to cycle.
I finally got my tank together (65 gal). I have 70 pouds of live sand, a 20 gal sump, 1 Rio 1400 pump and 1 Rio 1100 pump in the tank, a millenium filter, 2 96 watt lights with 2 96 watt blue actinic lights, a Berlin Classic skimmer and 2 mag drive 7 pumps in the sump. I still need to pick out live rock which is abouT $10 per pound for the good pourus rock (thats VERY expensive considering i want 65 pounds of live rock). Just gotta let the tank cycle now. I want to let it cycle for even longer than it needs to becuase everybody told me that is the way to go.
I have Sea-Monkeys if that counts. I love my Sea-Monkeys! They're so easy to take care of, cheap, and cool to watch while you're stoned.
www.seamonkeypalace.tk
Damn Smokey 10 bucks a lb.! where do you live & it better be cured for that price.
there is places on line that will ship direct to your door for like 6 bucks a pound.
Yes let it cycle til its done.goes in like 3 stage gets clear after you start bout a week later goes cloudy then when its done it should turn nsclear again.Dont rush it should be lots to watch on live rock while it cycles.longer is better,by the way set up sounds sweet so far.Check out on line rock,10 BUCKS IS TOO HIGH
Ya its cured but i found out its cheaper by like 3 bucks a pound if you order from the same place instead of walking in and buying. There is cheaper rock there (i dont know the names) but it is heavy and not as nice looking. This expensive shit it light and pourus. It is beautiful looking. My cousin got me 25% on everything so far and hopefully he can do the same with the live rock.
Can i throw a raw shrimp in my tank to get the amonia up (to start the cycle)
Oh ya i live in cleveland ohio and it is cured.
No need to throw a raw shrimp in the tank if your going with live rock and live sand. The die off from the rock and sand will cycle the tank for you without adding any additional bio matter for cycling. Hard to say how long it will take the tank to cycle. Each tank is individual depending on whatis in/on the rock and sand. After two weeks or so start testing it every few days and when everything is good your tank is ready. The hardest part is being patient and not putting fish and corals in too soon. When you start to add the fish, don't put too many in at once or it will overload the system.
I definitely agree with unmeg, order the live rock on-line. This place http://www.marinedepotlive.com/live-rock-sand.html has a few different types for about $5 delivered. That's a big savings considering how much you need.
yes you dont need anything else to cycle tank.there will be(should be) lots of life on youe live rock.you really need to shop around for the live rock,there is so many places that have bitching live rock/with Guarantee!
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&l...1&q=+live+rock
dont rush it on the rock it is the most important part of your bio filter,you also need to rinse off rock real good b-4 u add to tank,evan cured rock!
One thing about rinsing the live rock that unmeg didn't mention, do it in a bucket of saltwater. Freshwater and saltwater organisms don't mix well and if you just rinse it in the sink you stand a good chance of killing off a lot of good things.
The place where im gettin my rock has good water quality and i guess its the best and biggest fish store in ohio (says the phonebook) so i trust them. I wont need to scrub the live rock if it is cured before i put it in the tank right?
yes saltwater is a must & you dont have to scrub the rock that is bad idea.Quote:
Originally Posted by Fengzi
just simply stick in water and gentile shake,if you are that confident in your store than do what you feel is best.we can't see the rock you can,cant wait to see pic some day :)
Its a good idea to wear gloves when handling a lot of live rock. There's all kinds of critters that can get ya if you don't. Bristle worms are most likley, they won't kill you or anything but can leave an itchy burning sensation on you hand kind of like stinging nettles.
i got stuck by a lionfish while cleaning a 500 gal tank, that hurt for a bit
Ya i read about that in a book. I bought these really long rubber gloves so i wont have to wash my hands and arms everytime i work on my tank. I found this awesome book called The Conscientious Marine Aquarist. It tells you everything and the information all seems to be very helpfull.Quote:
Originally Posted by Fengzi
So whats up on some pics?
Ill try to get some pics, but i dont really know how to use all that shit. as of right now theres nothin in my tank but 70 lbs of sand. Im gettin rock soon though and fish when ever the tank cycles
My tank has been up for ten days now and i was wondering if it is ready for some livestock. Here is the water readings or chemistry or whatever they call it.
Ph- 8.3
Ammonia- less than .25
specific gravity- 1.023
Nitrate- 50
it seems as though my tank is just about done cycling. I havnt put any liverock in it yet so im guessing once i do the ammonia will go up again and it will have another small cycle. Are those good numbers?
what about the nitrites which break down into nitrates.
I would guess no if I had to,be on the safe side and wait few more days.
What do you plan on putting in first?
what did your ammonia spike at?
I put in 51 pounds of live rock, 2 blue damsels and i yellow tail damsels. The ammonia is still at 0 and the nitrate is at 50. Im sure by tommorow that will change.
I'm wondering what you put in the tank at first to cycle it? The process is generally to add the sand and live rock and then wait for the tank to cycle. The live rock is essentially your filter. It is all the bacteria which build up on, and in, the live rock that break down the ammonia. Cycling is the process of building up all of those bacteria so that they can handle additional waste entering your tank. So, if you hadn't put the live rock in your tank wasn't cycled.
Don't worry about it though. Once your ammonia levels have gone down again, and stayed down, your tank will be cycled. Be sure to check for nitrites too, like unmeg mentioned. Nitrates aren't so bad. They can cause algae to grow which is a pain in the ass but won't really do any harm to the fish or corals. Nitrites, however, are a different story.
Damsels huh? I just hope you got them because you liked them and not because that's what the guy at the fish store said you should get first. I actually thought they were pretty cool and had a couple that lived for as long as I had my tank. If I had to do it again I wouldn't have gotten any, however, because they can be bullies and will limit what other fish you can add. Still, they're pretty cool, I especially liked my yellow tail. I think you can even see her in one of the pics I posted early.
Anyhow, good to hear things are coming along. Keep us posted on your progress. Damn I'm jealous! I want a new tank too.
need more pics on this thread.
i want a really cool aquarium to just get high and stare at.....
and mastrubate.....
ya those damsels i got are agressive. The yellow tail got stuck in between rocks and died. Oh well. I bought 4 turbo snails and 1 emerald crab. They are awesome to look at.For the past hour i have been staring at my tank very stoned. Its amazing! i keep on finding new things! The live rock i got is VERY good. There is a lot of shit such as coral growing on it. I love the way i set up the live rock. There are so many caves. Barely any of the rock is on the sand which is good. Most of it is stacked. The two fish that are left are very healthy i can tell. They are moving all over the place. Same with the snails and crab.
Im stoned
gald to hear all is alive for now,dont add anymore for couple months,just be happy watching the live rock establish your tank.
Yea those Fiji damsels look cool,I cycled a tank with some b-52 mollys(freshwater)acclimated them to salt water use to blow ever ones mind when i would check the salt level with freshwater fdish swimming around.
Havnt talked about this in awhile! Ill try and send a pic of my tank some time. Right now i have a fire shrimp, 2 saddleback clowns that are black with yellow fins and yellow faces, a blue damsel, and a yellow tang. I also added a small refugium. I love this hobby. It is very relaxing (and expensive!). I plan on going back to the store this thursday and pickin up 20 snails and another fish. I may also pick up some base rock. I need more rocks but cant afford the live rock. I mixed base rock and live rock when i first put in all the rock. The base rock allready has coraline on it so i am kinda mad that i spent $9 a pound on live rock when i could have ust bought $3 a pound base rock that would turn into live rock.
I plan on getting a low light coral and seeing how that goes. I want a yellow goragian or whatever. I must get a better cleaning crew. My sand has to much fish shit on it that i have to siphon.
Glad to hear all is going well. Don't feel bad about spending the money on the live rock. There will be all kinds of critters coming in on it that you don't see, like amphipods, but the coral will love. You just won't get that from the base rock. Can't wait to see pics. I'd stay away from the yellow gorgonians though. They look really cool but are notoriously hard to keep for more than a few months. I had a red one and even though I had a well established tank and fed it daily with live phytoplankton it only lasted about 3 months.
O.K. i have a freshwater aquarium. A goldfish, a betta and some neon tetras. I decided I wanted to make it a salt water aquarium so I could have some coral and invertebraes too. After putting three cups of salt in the tank though, everything died. What am I doing wrong??
My friend told me I didnt put enough salt in there for them to breathe. :( I'm putting more fish in there today though. Does any one have a good site to buy live fish?
euphoric you cant just put salt in your freshwater tank to turn it into a saltwater tank. you have to have totally different water like um i dont know SALTWATER. and yeah of course your fish died because of the salt you added those are fresh water fish. freshwater fish cant have salt in the water. unless there brackish water fish but those are a different story.
Look dude, a fish is a fish. Mine keep floating to the top of the tank though :( I think it is because the salt make them too boyant.
Do you know of some heavier food I can feed them? :confused:
hehe ok this was a joke. I was trying to horrify Fengzi. :) I do have a freshwater aquarium but I'm not that stupid to dump salt in it and add coral hahah good times.
all muh fishies are in good health they get plenty of THC i mean TLC i spend lotsa time with them they have plenty of room to swim about with live plants and such
The Horror
Mission: Accomplished. :cool:Quote:
Originally Posted by Fengzi
Dude i love my tank. I advise everyone to get one ha ha. I have 2 wild saddle back clowns, 1 blue damsel, 1 yellow tang, 1 bicolor dottyback, 1 cleaner shrimp, and 1 threadfin butterfly. I even added 2 pieces of coral: green star polyp and a yellow gorgonian (AKA sea fan). Im going to try and post picks. I just made moon lights out of LED christmas lights.
ANyone else have a tank?
If you want to get back into the hobby but dont want to spend as much time or money, just get fish only with live rock. You dont need strong lighting. Also there are some cool lookin corals that are cheap and dont need strong lighting. Thats what i have and i spend about 10 minutes a day on it and maybe like once or twice a week i spend an entire hour out of a day on it. It no big deal to me. I think its pretty cool. You basically have a small ocean in your house. I love the ocean so it works for me.Quote:
Originally Posted by Fengzi