oh, and what is in the tank is 4 shrimp, 5 sand sifting star fish, blue link, powder blue tang, hippo, purple, 2 yellow tangs, 2 anthias, 1 sailfin flag banner wrasse (whatever it's called), sleeper banded goby, mandarin, 2 engineer gobies, mated pair of clowns, 2 purple fire fish and some nocturnal fish that I can't remember but does not come out unless its mid night.
And a bunch of corals, all stuff that moves with the current, I have some acans, blasto and other stuff that I bought to see if I would get into but I don't think it's going to happen, they get fed and are growing because the frags have new heads but I dont seem to like them. Oh, and 8 different types of zoas and 3 diff types of palys, i dont bother with the names.
Lighting, I decided to try VHO's. I have to say I was really enjoying T5's, a month ago when I installed ATI bulbs in the 36 inch fixture that was on the 65 gallon the corals that had been in the tank for a while responded beautifully. I am going to try VHO's bc of the slightly higher wattage and well known spectrums and see how they grow over the next 6 months. Under t5's the acans, duncans, xenias and other fast growing stuff was reacting very well, lets see how growth goes with VHO's.
I considered a fancy VHO ballast but I have done so much research on different consumer products that I already know that most retailers get their parts for the same suppliers, both expensive well known brands and common brands use the same main parts.
I purchased a VHO ballast from Reef Optics Lighting, new in the box with a warranty and with 8 end caps and complete harness for $70.00 shipped and it's working perfectly, just like the coralvue vho ballast that I tested prior to buying this new one instead. I made the standoffs out of pine wood so the light with bulbs cost me $170.00 plus my labor.
I've spent a few thousand in the last 3 months with MR vendors, ebay and my favorite Dr Foster and Smith. It sucks that now Dr FS no longer offers me return shipping labels at their rate, I have to pay for shipping at common rates but at least they still take returns without asking questions.
I had to bargain hunt where ever I could, some stuff is brand name other stuff is not. 4 hydor koralias purchased new. All small for gentle but effective currents as oppose to 1 or 2 super strong pumps that beat up the tank.
The skimmer, i was going to buy the magus nac7 but was running short on cash so I found a skimmer called SC180 on ebay, it's basically a knock off of the NAC7 and simillarly designed skimmers that retail for over $200. Someone on MR gave me good advice, a skimmer is in the pump, a good pump and you have a good skimmer. Well, the chinese copied the brand name skimmer perfectly and it sells for $130 shipped with pin wheel impeller and PH2500 comparible pump. Skimmer has 1 year warranty and 30 money back guarantee. I had the skimmer working or nearly a month side by side with a skimmer that was originally installed in the 65 gallon tank and it kicked ass, dont see the need to spend $300.00 on a skimmer for a 120 gallon tank, unless I intended to setup a tank with super super delicate inverts that require super super super super super clean water and even then I would research some more.
I upgraded to a titanium heater, 300w, new with 1 year warranty, cost me $40 with controller. I have broken heaters before so i will try the titanium, they dont break but i do know they can stop working so lets see.
mag 18 pump feeds the tank, carbon reactor and hugeeee uv. i had the same mag 18 in the 65 and it never made a noise, it did not cause heat issues. i did replace the screws for nylon screws upon the advice of ppl on MR. Dont believe people that mags run loud when they are selling a used one, i spoke to Danner directly, they run silent and my system is silent, I designed the 120 water loop to be silent, I can actually hear the hydors and skimmer (very gentle), no water cascading.
I ran all over NJ, Staten Island and NY in the past 3 months.
Here are my lessons learned, it may help someone else out:
When a fish vendor drops the price of a fish without you asking them to, it may not necessarily be because he likes you. The Queen angel I purchased was reduced in price by me simply asking about the price and it indeed was a very good price. hmmmmm, it does not eat!!!!! wont accept mysis, wont accept frozen pods, wont accept cyclops, wont accept nori, wont accept flakes, nor pellets nor angel food mix. I was told tanks were fed earlier in the morning when I asked so I believed it. Only reason why it is still alive its because it nipped the tail of my large engineer gobies which are now healing in my sump, hence if it does not start eating and at this point it probably wont, its been here for weeks now, it will die a slow death and I will lose the money and since it was a store with no guarantee, well a 24 hour one, there is no point in me even mentioning it. Next time I simply wont buy if not fed at my request and I wont buy the "fed earlier" line.
Another lesson learned, if the place you buy fish from tends to overcrowd their tanks, you should most def QT those fish and keep an eye on them for 2 weeks before adding them to your tank.
For corals I have to plug Coral Theory, those guys know how to take care of their customers and help you out with discounts without asking for them and that I appreciate, it tells me they know this hobby is expensive. Dont go in expecting 75% off but do expect that they will pass on savings to you where ever they can.
Supplies, Gotham was super fast with his shipping, def worth checking with him before ordering shipable goods.
Bulk Reef Supply is also great with customer service but they are probably huge and anything less is not to be expected.
I am still on the fence with my fish suppliers so wont plug those yet, other than Live Aquaria. I have to take care of this bacteria I introduced into the tank and it only began after I added local fish.
The yellow tangs, powder blue, shrimp, star fish, anthias, wrasse, purple tang, mated pair of clowns all acclimated perfectly, began eating within 24 hours and (knock on wood), over a period of 3 months none sick, none dead and all came from Live Aquaria.
As for buying from private homes, hit and miss. Go in with caution and don't be afraid or hesitate to say thank you but no thank you and walk out, they dont hesitate to say no when you ask them to drop the price on he ultra light pink tip hammer, is that really pink, yeah it is, its its its just that my lights are not working properly or I just turned on my lights before you got here. Some folks do offer good prices, others lure you in and really have $160 torches to sell you with the "rare" and other hype words attached and frankly if you are going to pay $160 for a coral you better know the guy at a personal level or simply go to one of the specialty local stores such as Red Sand, Ocean Gallery, Coral Theory or which ever other local place you like. People looking to get out of the hobby offer good buys but its too much work finding the deals, dont waste your time, you will be glued to your computer, if it falls on your lap go for it.
Frags are great and a lot off ppl will hook you up for cheap from their own personal tanks, just dont get frags of stuff that takes 3 years to grow a few inches, you may not have the tank that long, get stuff that grows at a decent rate.
Tha'ts pretty much it in a nutshell, hope some of this helps a newbie or two. If I remember anything else I will update this post.
Lastly, now that i dont need to cut anything, measure anything and so on...I am reminded that men like this hobby because of the work involved, building stuff, mixing stuff, feels productive.
