saltwater aquariums

[NightProwler]

Here's a few pics of my tank taken over a several year period.

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.

[Fengzi]

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.

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.

[Fengzi]

I finaly got a saltwater tank. I bought an all glass 65 gallon aquarium that came with a stand and a canopy made of oak. I also got a Berlin classic protein skimmer and a mag drvie 7 pump. I got all of this for $550 because my cousin got me a 25% discount for verything. Saturday I am going back to get everything else i need to get started.

Does anybody know if a berlin classic protein skimmer is a good skimmer? I didnt get the one that hangs on the side.

Where do i get 65 gallons of purified water. Do i have to buy 65 water jugs?

Congrats on your purchase Smokey . Now comes the fun part

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.

[unmeg]

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

[Fengzi]

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.

[Smokey McPot]

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.

[Smokey McPot]

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.

[doomfreak]

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

[unmeg]

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

[Smokey McPot]

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)