Tell me if you've heard this one before...

[bigploch]

I am now to the hobby, got a good deal on a tank and threw a bunch of stuff in it...what did I do wrong?

Well I read a bunch of those and am learning from others mistakes. So to that end, thanks. Some of you may know of me if you read the newb forums. Everyone has been helpful and this is a great site for info so to those "in charge", keep up the good work!

I hear pics are appreciated so I'll throw in what I have. (or at least try)

I'm bigploch from Central PA and have been playing with freshwater aquariums with everything from painted turtles and feeder goldfish to my current 45 gal hex with two Jack Dempseys and and algae eater. A friend recently got into the saltwater game and was telling me about these great deals on setups he was seeing in the paper and on craigslist. He found one for me that I could fit in my budget and we scoped the house for a good place to place a tank. After demo of a closet and my wifes gift wrap storage (she's such a sweetheart), and picking up a sweet deal on a tank, I got started.

Here is the hole I cut in the wall. I have a laundry room with a couple slop sinks right there so I chose this spot.

I constructed the stand of 2x4's and attached it directly to the wall. Below the stand is a canister filter and wet dry filter that came with the tank. I bought a All Glass brand 110 tall (48"x30"x18") with a custom stand with canopy, wet dry filter, two 48" t-12 lights, two 175 watt metal halides, external pump, and various plumbing and powerhead fixtures (none of the powerheads worked though) for 200 bucks. I then purchased a 30 gal for a sump, two aqua clear powerheads and 2 300 watt heaters from cl for 60 bucks. I subsequently sold the wet dry and external pump for 100 bucks so for a 160 I purchased 90% of my setup.

Here is a pic of my lights all setup.

Add 110 gals of water and 100 lbs aragonite sand.

Here's the sump pre bubble trap with a Mag 7 for return.

And here is a pile of live rock, a softie, and my first saltwater fishes.

Now she's growing all sorts of algae, some green and some coraline. I had no cycle because the LR came out of a very established tank. I will keep this updated as I add more softies and fish. Maybe SPS and LPS if things go well. Be well.
-bigploch

[Altohombre]

you should have put this in the Tank Showcase thread

[flojo]

Looks awesome though!

[Alexander]

Looks like a great start. Not a bad deal on your setup that's for sure. I'm sure our mod can move this to our tank showcase forum no prob.

[bigploch]

That's kind of weird. I keep reading all of the introductions and the people are asking for pics upon introduction. I add the requested pics and now you say I posted in the wrong spot. I would put this in the tank showcase if I thought that this project was close to ready to display. Anyway, thanks for the input. Kepp em' coming. Any fish or softies you recommend? Budget friendly and very hardy.

[Bifferwine]

Moved to Tank Showcase

[dustyboy316]

This is what I want to do when I move out. Looks great.

[yote]

Thats gonna be an awesome system.
And what better place to show the complete build than the showcase forum?

[JAG107]

You're my hero, I'd love a built-in! Someday, maybe.
That's going to be kick ass when it's matured some, what are your plans for stocking fish and corals?
It sucks to see all those bleached SPS as live rock though...
Great job! Keep us posted

[bigploch]

Hey thanks guys! I had the same thoughts about the live rock but I couldn't beat the deal. I have very limited plans on my fish and coral adds as I am still learning and doing research. Any input from the experienced would be greatly appreciated! Wink, wink, nudge, nudge. I have gotten a cladiella and want to get an open brain because I think they are wild looking and I am thinking about a toadstool as a possible pseudo host for a couple clowns to keep my nephew happy (he likes nemo and I think that they are awesome looking fish) if they so chose to host there. Beyond that I am not sure. I have read some conflicting info about what types of fishes will get too large for a tank as "small" (at least I think it is) as mine. What I am afraid of is getting fishes that will quickly grow too big and/or become aggresive towards my corals. I want the corals to be the main point of the tank. AS far as corals go, I need to get my water a little more stable and established with the right mineral balance so I can really get into coral propogation. Still looking into what I need as far as light goes and what else I need to be testing for and supplementing my water with. It seems as soon as I think I have figured out what I need, I read and learn a little more and find out I missed something.