Aqueon Pro Heater?

[Goby Angyl]

I've read a lot of good reviews for the Aqueon Pro Heater and I'm thinking of using the 50 watt in a 10 gallon. One review (petco/petsmart) said that they used an Aqueon Pro to keep a 100 gallon outdoor tub warm through the cold winter so their horse could drink.

I've also read that it's new to the market. How new is new I don't exactly know, but it's much newer than the other topic about heaters and new things might have quirks not yet widely known or discovered about the long run.

If you think there's a better heater then I'm more than happy to hear your opinions, but going by what I've read thus far this is the one.

 

[Anonymous]

I've never used that brand but if it is UL approved I would try it.

Let us know how you like it if you decide to buy...

 

[Goby Angyl]

Hi, sorry but I just bought a Marineland Visi-Therm Submersible Heater yesterday. Went on the holy shopping spree to get the bulk of the supplies and here's what I bought.

The above mentioned Marineland Visi-Therm Submersible Heater.
Instant Ocean Hydrometer, took it to Absolutely Fish in Clifton, New Jersey today and they calibrated it for me. It's one/two points off. Just -1 when I use it.
2 thermometers, floating kind for the bucket when I make fresh and one that sticks to the glass with a magnet that stays in the tank.
3 pound box Instant Ocean Reef Crystals. It's going to start as a live rock only tank and see what I get so I want to accomodate whatever pops up.
Koralia nano 240 power head/pump.
API Stress Coat +, the kind that conditions tap water too.

Hey, I saw something very strange at Absolutely Fish today. A young percula clown hosting what looked like an open brain coral... Not sure, looking it up in a book. There's no mistaking that he was hosting it, he was all up in there rubbing and squiggling about like it was an anemone and just having a blast. It was really cute and I got to point it out to my mother. Little weirdo went for one of the most colorful things in the tank. I think he might have hosted a rubber tire if it was painted pretty enough! :lol:

 

[Anonymous]

Haha! That's great about the Clown. They will sometimes host in all sorts of corals. Good luck with the equipment and new tank - I love getting new live rock and watching it with the lights off with the "moon light" or a red flash light. Seems like there is always some sort of small life forms creeping around.

Have fun and post some pics.

 

[Goby Angyl]

Haha! That's great about the Clown. They will sometimes host in all sorts of corals. Good luck with the equipment and new tank - I love getting new live rock and watching it with the lights off with the "moon light" or a red flash light. Seems like there is always some sort of small life forms creeping around.

Have fun and post some pics.

Like a boxer crab sometimes using coral if he looses his anemones... If the tank was matured and I had an open spot I might have bought the pair, he just looked so happy I'd hate to see them separated. Probably not the best beginner's coral, but I don't think I would have been able to help myself! :roll:

Hey, I'm trying to decide on just putting a 50/50 tube in the current single lamp or buying a double tube lamp or LED so I can have blue and full spectrum lighting. Can't find any 20" doubles, it'd have to be a 24"...

My dad doesn't like the thought of me spending a dime on anything so I've been spending as little as possible where I can, buying quality for cheap so I don't have to buy twice down the road... Anyway I want to eventually (several months away) go from this being a live rock only ten gallon to a nano reef, slowly adding the occasional shrimp or coral over the months.

I think I might be better off starting with a 50/50 on the current lamp and getting something more expensive and permanent when I start to buy the corals, like an LED... Does this sound right or would it shock the animals? If I'm going to buy a lamp I'm only doing it once. It give me a chance to save up again after I splurge on the live rock.

 

[Anonymous]

We Dads can be funny that way. :wink: You don't need anything lighting wise other than what you have for the rock, shrimp, or fish. Keep the calcium, alkalinity, and magnesium buffered and everything should be fine. You will need better lighting for corals - keep your eye out for used lighting on your LFS bulletin board - if they have one - or Craigs list and there is a for sale forum here. Keep in mind if buying used you prolly will need to change the bulbs and they can be expensive too.

You can get 20" power compacts for around a hundred bucks.
http://www.innovativelights.com/20pocofi.html

Good luck and keep posting your progress.

 

[Goby Angyl]

For lighting I'm thinking of a Marineland Double-Bright, the double because it'll be a reef later on, but I still can't decide... Petco sells it online for 75 with free shipping. So I'm not too worried about trying to buy one used.

Do the LEDs work with glass lids? I want to get a secure lid that covers everything before I buy any fish. Not worried about live rock hitchhikers going carpet surfing unless I spot something that tells me different so I'm not rushing for the lid. There was a chipped one at a garage sale last weekend and dad was trying to get me to buy it... It didn't have the plastic strip for the back and he was saying we could make one, but the thing was chipped up to the point that it would have cut me eventually...

I actually wrote an over a page long update rant... Was going to post it before I came to my senses. Sometimes I get like that and I can't stop talking, or in this case I don't know when to stop writing. The tank now has sand and salt water in it. It was dusty as hell from the sand and I eventually got a Whisper PF 10 and it's been cleaning up nicely. It wasn't rinsed first because it's biologically alive sand, Arag-Alive Indo-Pacific. The rant was about that...

 

[Anonymous]

You can get egg crate from the hardware store - little plastic squares that cover fluorescent lights in the ceiling - and cut it to fit your tank. I use it on all my tanks - keeps most fish in and lets heat out. May get a little salt creep but that's to be expected anyway. I just put it over the tank, mark the dimensions with a Sharpie and cut it with landscape shears or if I'm in a hurry simply break it with the side of a chisel.

 

[Goby Angyl]

I Thought I Replied This! Sorry!

Went with the double-bright and glass lid.

Well here's a big update. I bought rock last Saturday.

I have Real Reef now and I've been wondering if I made a mistake. The best thing I did for the tank so far is buy the fist sized dead coral head, it's the only live/manufactured rock in the tank (nice light green color from the algae). It's the only interesting thing to look at in there for now. The LFS I got all of it from keeps the Real Reef in the same tanks as their other rock and they had just gotten in a shipment of RR and had barely any LR left. They said that they're switching to RR.

Anyway, the coral head is a bit scooped out underneath like a cave and allows flow through current which is perfect for the filter feeders I found under it. There is a tiny piece of Yellow Encrusting Coral growing under the lip on one side (thought it was a squirt), a tiny feather duster found last night under the opposite edge, a couple of tiny baby snails with pretty cone shaped shells (under .1" long), and a few amphipods running around that I sometimes feed fish flakes. There's this dead feather duster tube sticking out of the middle of the top like a flag and one of the amphipods is living in there while another is living in a hole next to the tube so it's kind of interesting always knowing where to look for them day or night. For the longest time I thought the antennas coming out of the hole were hairs/debris moving in the current and it's fun to watch them drag in a flake.

The only thing that might be a problem is that in the scooped out area underneath the coral are a couple of patches of black stuff. Is it black sponge and will it become a problem? I'm worried that if it is a problem any attempt to remove it will just spread spores or something like that while it's getting scraped/scrubbed off. It's black as tar.

I plan this Saturday to buy a small piece of LR from another LFS. The stuff they carry has so much life covering it and I want micro brittle stars in my system. A small piece with a micro brittle or two that I can easily inspect for baddies. I'll try to get one that also has feather dusters and maybe even mushrooms and CUC hitch hikers if I spot some. Some of there LR actually has beautiful mushrooms on it. A lot to hope for on such a small piece, but hey I might as well try for it and I've seen it on their rock. I've been wishing I got their stuff instead of the RR, but I'm not going to throw away money just so I can spend more.

Have you heard anything bad about Real Reef?

Posting now before this can get any longer... :roll: