just bought a tank- need advice

[prattreef]

They are on there way over here, so I can confuse them with 3 totally different systems at once Randy

 

[House of Laughter]

Enjoy the choas RD - hope their heads are still attached when they leave

J

 

[masterswimmer]

They are on there way over here, so I can confuse them with 3 totally different systems at once Randy

Did you alert them to the fact that they'll be going to a public aquarium? :tongue1: What time do the tours start?

R

 

[sarahandkevin]

OHHHH RANDY took good care of us!!! that was so wonderful! We are totally pampered
Going to see tanks is the perfect thing for us to do right now.

I liked the idea of a 120g 4 footer.
Kevin wasnt sure - liked that idea of a 120, but also thought randy's 75er was a nice size too.

I like the concept of a 4 footer- lights divide easily into it, gives depth to the tank to do land scaping and have a little sand out front.

We want a mixed reef tank- hard and soft. (the more $ on lighting the better, right )

-----

Masterswimmer- that thread you sent was great! I loved seeing the step by step of the rock set up. loved reading peoples thougths about it.

It was good to look at Randy's - cant believe he just balences rocks. definately going to need to purchase some interesting LR to try to be like him

 

[prattreef]

Well, I think their heads are still attached, but definitely spinning Nice to meet both of you. I think a 4' 120 reef -ready might be a really good choice for you. I'd contact Tim at Tim's Aquatics in our vendor section and see what he can do for you. He handles stands too. Also, keep your eyes on the for sale forum as great deals appear frequently. Once you decide on a tank and stand we can go from there.

Randy

 

[masterswimmer]

Sarah, you guys started at the pinnacle. Seeing Randy's setups could benefit you in a plethora of ways. I'm sure your heads are spinning like he said.

Thanks for the kind words on my little 16g.

swimmer

 

[sarahandkevin]

actually seeing Randys tanks helped see things clearer
and give us a sence that we are not alone, lost in deep waters.

we still dream about how beautiful his 240 is, but seeing it in a real room, full of things we want, it was clearly bigger than we want to deal with ourselves. (as soon as we win the lotto, we will hire a guy to do take care of one like that for us ) and it was perfect to see the other two sizes and really get a sence of the space they take in a room and the amount of creatures that can be held in them. it was a perfect experience.

Kevin is looking forward to seeing Deepwater's a 90g this weekend- which is in the middle size between the 2 tanks at randys. just to get another shape tank in his head.

In the book I am reading it says that you top water up- with calicum water. and do water changes every 1-3 months. I was just on a thread that talked about people doing vaccuming and water changes every week. Sheesh.

I thought the whole point was to not be disturbing the balence so much. And that some people attempt a eco system in reefs and never do water changes. (not that we were)

We do top up one week and water change the next week in the FW.

 

[prattreef]

Sarah,

Now you are getting into specific husbandry pratices and that is a very varied, complicated and personal thing depending on how you have set up your system, what animals you have etc. Plan on monthly 20-25% water changes and you wil be fine. Vaccuming the sandbed ( if you even decide to have one) is not a very common practice and those who are doing it are generally very experienced and doing so for very specific reasons. I wouldn't be worrying about it at this point. Also, topping off with calcium water ie Kalkwasser is not likely to be the way you end up supplementing for Calcium and Alkalinity--- this can be done in a # of ways, but again not a priamry concern of yours right now.

Ronen's ( Deepwater) tank is a very good one to go look at as it is beautiful, realatively low tech ( that's good and I think it is very much in line with what you will be striving for.

Keep up the reading, but don't let it intimidate you.

Randy

 

[DEEPWATER]

Thank you Randy

Nice meeting you guys today .I have to say you are in the right track.Doing your resreach is going to give a big advantage when you are up and running your tank.Hope you guy made it to the tank store ok and found the style you where looking for .



Ronen

 

[sarahandkevin]

Deepwater (Ronen), thank you so much for enviting us into your home and sharing your tanks with us. It was very valuable! (and your moms cooking was an extra nice treat!!!!)

Please PM us with exactly what to do to copy your water filter set up. I want to include that in our Co-Op board work request. (I know you think we're crazy to need to tell them, but TRUST me they are insain. better to just have them approved it) The more I think about setting it up the filter just like yours, the happier I get!

We tried to follow your directions to the tank store you liked, got way off track and had to double back and just follow the map quest directions to the other tank store.

World Class store was good to see. It was a totally differnt looking store than the other ones we had seen. But we went looking to see a particular cabnet Tim offers. Relized the stain it comes in... not so crazy about. So back to square one. Started talking with the staff and endless options came up. as well as a pitch to have a custome tank made. didnt know what to think of that. I think tanks should be common enouph that it should come off the rack. Dont want anything special, just a square glass box with some holes. Dont understand why it is so complicated.

I got very stressed out.
on one hand store shopping has and "easy button" , just pay $$$ and magically the store will come in and PRESTO a tank will be running.
But looking at thier cost break down it looked like it would be easy to cut out some of those costs by organizing on our own -- - (with MR help)
but gathering it together on our own stresses me out too.


came home and PMed randy. Randy wrote back with soothing words. So now I am ready to tackle thinking about his again.

We have concretly decided we want
120G 4 foot
soft corals. (thou we like the hard, we felt happy with just having the leather coral is the visual contast to the bubbly type corals)
the idea of black sand seemed nice. Is there any ups or downs to the black verses the white?
recommendations on light?

 

[Wes]

120 is a really nice size...as far as lights, if you only want to keep softies you don't need anything super powerful...I like T5 alot, enough light for just about anything you would want and it doesnt add alot of heat.

do you want a fixture or a retrofit kit that will fit inside of a canopy?

 

[FRY]

Sarah and Kevin
sofar how do you like MR and the members here

 

[Wes]

hi guys...

here is a link to a good retrofit kit that will fit well in the AGA canopy as we discussed in grafitti..

http://reefgeek.com/products/categories/lighting/104069.html

It is a pretty good kit, but if you want to upgrade to Icecap stuff it is another $150...IMO, it's worth it...Better reflectors and the Icecap ballasts push the bulbs harder and make them burn brighter aka "overdrive"

For bulbs, I would try this...Reefgeek sells all of these..

Front to Back

Pure Actinic or Actinic Blue
ATI Blue Plus
Midday
Aquablue
ATI Blue Plus
UVL Super Actinic

 

[sarahandkevin]

I like the AGA Modern black oak 34"tall stand.

Next question- the top-
I do not want to see the light (hate the bulbs in my eyes)
it comes with a canopy- but it would forever restrict me to the T-5s and not beable to go to the hotter/brighter lights. And top-down access to the tank.

How much is it to get a custom hood made that is taller to be able to hanging lights in and have side access in matching black oak?
Who offers that kind of service? is there premade hoods by another manufature that do that?

Second question- what should I put underneath? I want everything to fit underneath (except, of course, if I get a chiller) Assuming for now I am having mostly softies (and possibly try to sneek some hards in)

thanks for all your help !!! (getting closer!!!)

 

[masterswimmer]

I think if you speak to jhale (Jon) or Bad_Coffee (Brett) about them making a custom hood for you, you'd get what you pay for........quality. They both do beautiful work. Brett just might be overwhelmed with work ATM.

swimmer

 

[DonCisco]

Sarah, Aqua Vim, who makes tanks, started to sell lighting systems also. Their prices seem very nice, I saw some of the fixtures at Reef Fantasy in SI, but you can see the fixtures if you follow this link. http://www.4fishtank.com/aquavim_mh_system.htm

 

[prattreef]

OK. We now know tank and stand (AGA 4' 120 reefready with AGA 34" black oak modern stand.) You seem to not like the standard canopy which is fine. I'd price out the tank and stand. Try Tim, and I'd also try Tony at Reefexotics ( www.acropora.net) as well as some of the other vendors here and see what they can do pricewise.

There is no reason to hold off ordering these pieces if you are happy with the choice. Hold off on the canopy for now as there are a lot of lighting options and you don't have to make that decision right now.

I'll talk to Herman for you as I think he might have a sump that would be good for you. Then we can talk skimmer--- this is sure to be the most fun as nothing ( except perhaps choice of light bulbs) will illicit more debate and differences of opnion than this critical piece of equipment
Slow and steady. Things are starting to fall into place.

Randy

 

[Tim]

Do we want a sump or refugium/sump?

 

[Aqua Pro Builder]

I have seen JHale's stuff-he has taste besides quality.

If you need plumping work and drilling glass done, I think Deepwater does those.

 

[LeslieS]

I got very stressed out.
on one hand store shopping has and "easy button" , just pay $$$ and magically the store will come in and PRESTO a tank will be running.
But looking at thier cost break down it looked like it would be easy to cut out some of those costs by organizing on our own -- - (with MR help)
but gathering it together on our own stresses me out too.

I did the presto option and it ended up being a huge amount of work and some items were substituted with less expensive items without consulting me (or refunding me the difference). You are doing this the right way, and you are getting the best help you could possibly imagine.