My New Plan

[toastii]

so just my fish and invert not including corals pricing is about 220$- which is a nice number- but those prices are according to foster and id prefer to buy all my fish - or as many as possible at my LFS

 

[toastii]

and my equiptment list was 1530$ which is also good- i used maximum prices on things that i was looking at

 

[toastii]

so here is my checklist!

55-80gl tank includes stand and/or canopy may include lights - 200-700$ (at LFS)
heater (will i need a heater with strong lights?) 20$
LS 50-100$
LR 300$ max
Skimmer (red sea) 250$
HO T-5 lights 280$

(approx 1,700)

Live stock
2 small clowns
1 tiny hippo tang- from fosters
3 gobies- orange stripe prawn goby/fire fish/ black barred convict goby

1 pistol shrimp
2 cleaner shrimp
snails- mexican turbo/ trochus/ cerith

approx 250$ according to fosters. mayb more

so approx total around 2000$$

i showed that too my mom and she nearly had a heart attack


i have a question... getting the tiny tang means its a baby right? does that mean its a lot harder to keep it alive? i was gonna introduce it and the clowns later in the process after all the gobies are settled in. id put the clowns in- then order and place the tang in..

feel free to add anything to my list

 

[toastii]

?? i know ppl are there!!! is it a good list? needs improvement?

 

[toastii]

add frozen/flake/ and vegie sheets to that list

if i were to seed with copeppods. and provide brine will they go back to eating frozen?

 

[mr_X]

you are going to need a heater with or without lights.

if you shop around, you can get good deals at local stores from time to time. so, don't go by what you see to be the going price. i just got a 2 inch hippo for 27.95 at a local store, and i traded in some of my overgrown macroalgae for store credit so it ended up costing me 4 dollars!

someone chime in here if i am way off, but i would just buy regular reef sand and not "live" sand. you will have the live rock for the tank cycle and bacteria. i think that is a needless expense. the sand will turn live eventually.

if you are undecided about a tank size, your best bet is to go with the largest you can afford to keep.

that hippo tang you want will get massive, so choose the tank accordingly.

i don't think it's harder to keep a young tang alive. i bought my tangs small also.
never had a pistol shrimp, so i can't comment on those.

don't forget to add a 160 gallon bucket of instant ocean salt, which is around 30 bucks, and consider all the other "odds and ends" we never seem to calculate in the bottom line. nets, various containers for this and that...(i guess you could use moms tupperware )

 

[mr_X]

i also don't think you need to seed with copepods either. i never did and i have a zillion. same with bristleworms. i believe you'll get plenty on the live rock.

 

[toastii]

thanks sooo much-- ok so what i have to say

if you shop around, you can get good deals at local stores from time to time. so, don't go by what you see to be the going price

yup thats what im doing

i want to get the larger tank but it depends what the deals are at the time. they have some pretty sweet deals...

i didnt see any hippos at my LFS that were small..

don't forget to add a 160 gallon bucket of instant ocean salt, which is around 30 bucks, and consider all the other "odds and ends" we never seem to calculate in the bottom line. nets, various containers for this and that...(i guess you could use moms tupperware

im use oceanic- because thats what i use with my dwarves and i dont want to have two different salts in the house. so i recently baught and waiting on delivery of 200gl bucket of salt- because i need some for my dwarves and i need it for my new tank.

i have a measly 10gpd RO unit - its gonna be handy i wish i bought a larger one but it was a gift from my grandmother

could i QT small fish in 2 gl tanks... because i have 2 2 gl tanks that 1 is being used for fry rearing the other for hospital purposes..

i g2g cuz i just realized i left my dog in my room with a candle lit on the floor

 

[mr_X]

8O

 

[cindre2000]

Don't buy what you don't need. If your LFS is offering a tank with a great price and it has cheap lights already, the store is normally fine with not selling the lights. The stores are trying to get you to buy the tank, since that price never changes (unless they get them on sale); they just drop the price of all the accessories that they already have a 200% on. They figure if you buy the tank you have to come back for the fish, accessories, etc.

 

[toastii]

oh well the deal was 300$ for tank and stand (75gl) if you buy the the HO T-5 ;ights that came with it. for a total of 575$

but that deal is prolly gone

 

[toastii]

oh and for any concerned persons
my dog stayed exactly where i told her too and the candle was fine

 

[toastii]

so my list looks good?

if i get anything smaller than 75 there is no hippo for me..
the reason why i ask about copepods is because i have a small culture of them.. and i want to uuse them.. haha

so just get regular sand?

the hippo i will get tiny so that it can live longer in the smaller tank- but whn i feel its to big or will get too big i will find it a new home..

they have some larger tanks that i would LOVE to have b ut we dont have room i dont think...
well im going to the store today to pick up a snail for my horses...


anything else disconcerning

im prolly not going to add a hippo for a while after i have my tank established.. example. lets say i had my tank cycled and fish in it by the end of june... i prolly wouldnt put a hippo in untill after thanksgiving..

 

[toastii]

oh i got my 200gl bucket of salt today!
off to plug my RO unit in.. well hook it up i mean

 

[mr_X]

"regular" sand would mean aragonite sand, not silica sand like you can get at home depot.
even 75 gallon is cutting it close for a hippo tang. i just don't like the fact of having to get rid of a tang because he outgrew my tank. have you ever seen a full grown hippo tang? he will swim about 2 feet, just to turn around and swim back 2 feet again, in a 75

i think you'll eventually want more fish that swim in the water column. all those gobies will have the tank looking kinda empty i think.

you can also get some pretty good deals on used tanks here and there...try craigslist- http://www.craigslist.org/about/cities.html
i see cheap tanks there every day. you might end up saving hundreds. :wink:
if you go the used route, just make sure you see the tank full of water before you commit to it. i bought my 125 used off of ebay, and it wasn't till i got it home and filled it did i see the scratches.
needless to say, the guy credited me some cash, but i still have to look at my beautiful reef, through scratched glass

 

[mr_X]

btw..if you get a 75 gallon or 48" tank, a friend of mine has a t5 fixture you might be interested in. he used it for about a month then went to halide. i think it's 6x54...324 watts.

 

[toastii]

oh wow thanks a lot!!!

i personally would love to have a 125gl tank. but i dont think i have the room for it.. how long is it?

and yes i think im ousting on the hippo, unless i get something larger...
well im going to the aquarium store in like 30 min when it opens to get my snails...

but seriously thanks!!!!
i shall report back shortly

 

[toastii]

OMG THERE WAS THIS AMAZING DEAL!! (at least i thought iwas)

it was entire set up- lights stand canapy filter skimmer and 175gl tank for 1700!!!!!

that would be incredible if i had the room

but i dont..
and apparently my LFS said that they can make your own package for your tank and they are very flexible about everything!

 

[toastii]

oh and i got two very active nassauris snails for my dwarves and i stupidly forgot to fw dip them.. damn me again!!
hopefully everthing will be fine

 

[toastii]

OOOOOH and there was a tank full of TINY TINY TINY hippos...

so how fast do they grow? can one live a nice life for 3 years in a 75?
they are like an inch big... i can imagine that getting lost in a 75 gl tank

but idk

my other thought was getting a lionfish... a dwarf lion fish.. i love them so much they are gorgeous