Beast's Budget Build

[Beastlyness 22]

OK, thanks little fish....and yea I couldn't have been more wrong with the tap water. I already have a hair algae on my live rock :frustrat: eehh owell I looked up how to get rid of it. So tomorrow I will go get some distilled water and "nitrate sponge". Going to be a learning experience.

 

[little_fish]

Just do water changes normally and put your CUC in, I personally dont put much stock into chemically things.

 

[Beastlyness 22]

Quick question. My scarlet hermit crabs (5 of them) are doing great. They are even upside down clinging on to the rocks eating diatoms; however my snails arn't moving at all. They are margareta snails. Do they take time to acclimate? Everything else is good. I will take a picture.

 

[little_fish]

They might be goners, but either way they are going to be goners in your tank.

Margarita snails are cold water snails and just boil to death in our tanks. Look for the turbos, astraea, cerith, nassarius, nerite and tronchus snails.

 

[Beastlyness 22]

They might be goners, but either way they are going to be goners in your tank.

Margarita snails are cold water snails and just boil to death in our tanks. Look for the turbos, astraea, cerith, nassarius, nerite and tronchus snails.

yea I read that too..dangit. Thanks though. I think I will get some turbos.

 

[little_fish]

I love my turbos, but dont get too many. I would only get one or two, they eat a ton and can starve in your tank. The other ones i really like are astraeas, they are super! You should also get a few nass. They will stir your sand bed and eat the extra food that falls to the sand bed.

 

[Beastlyness 22]

I love my turbos, but dont get too many. I would only get one or two, they eat a ton and can starve in your tank. The other ones i really like are astraeas, they are super! You should also get a few nass. They will stir your sand bed and eat the extra food that falls to the sand bed.

Thanks little fish! just bought 2 tiger turbos! They are gliding along smoothly. Unfortunately for the margarita snails they are almost at a halt :( ...do you think the hermits will finish them up? or should I just remove them?

 

[little_fish]

I would remove them if they are dead, you dont really want to be adding to nitrates in your situations. Normally i just leave them in though. But i would toss the shells back in for the hermits.

I should warn you though, dead snail is hands down on of the worst smells on the planet. If they dont stink, probably not dead.

 

[Beastlyness 22]

I would remove them if they are dead, you dont really want to be adding to nitrates in your situations. Normally i just leave them in though. But i would toss the shells back in for the hermits.

I should warn you though, dead snail is hands down on of the worst smells on the planet. If they dont stink, probably not dead.

OK thanks. I feel bad that I basically murdered them...owell the fish store had a 50 percent of sale. They where cleaning out the tanks anyways. And I actually just checked my nitrates level. Surprisingly I'm at zero! whoop! ha ha oh also cycled in a gallon of distilled water.

 

[little_fish]

Its ok, i really dont understand why lfs sell them. Well actually i do, its because they are easy to get and if they keep dying you keep coming back for more.

And what do you mean by cycled in some water?

 

[Beastlyness 22]

Its ok, i really dont understand why lfs sell them. Well actually i do, its because they are easy to get and if they keep dying you keep coming back for more.

And what do you mean by cycled in some water?

I took out some of my salt water which was actually to high in salinity and poured almost a whole gallon of distilled water in. Is that right? I know my next changes I will have mix my salt in a separate bucket. My salinity is now spot on.

 

[little_fish]

Sure that works, but if you do that again, be sure to do it slowly. Swings in salinity can kill livestock.

 

[Beastlyness 22]

Sure that works, but if you do that again, be sure to do it slowly. Swings in salinity can kill livestock.

allrighty! thanks for the warning. Actully after I did it my crabs woke up and started eating everything. I think they liked it :D

 

[little_fish]

Pretty much a large swing in anything (pH, temperature, salinity yadayadayada, you get the idea) spells disaster.

 

[flip777]

Ebay is the best way to go. I have about 3000.00 in a 200 gal tank with sand, rock, coral, and building it in the wall. Most of my money is in coral and testing equiptment; with the tank and build we have about 1500.00 in it

 

[sen5241b]

RO water on a budget: [ame=http://www.amazon.com/ZeroWater-ZD-013-Filtration-Electronic-Included/dp/B001CUMLOK]Amazon.com: ZeroWater ZD-013 Filtration Pitcher with Electronic Tester, Filter Included: Kitchen & Dining[/ame]

 

[Beastlyness 22]

Thanks again. Everything is good. My turbo snails are emaculat! and my crabs are fun to watch but they are leaving there :pooh: everywhere. How am I suppose to clean it out the sand bed? Will the bacteria just eat it over time?

 

[Beastlyness 22]

Thanks again. Everything is good. My turbo snails are emaculat! and my crabs are fun to watch but they are leaving there :pooh: everywhere. How am I suppose to clean it out the sand bed? Will the bacteria just eat it over time?

Nevermind. I just used the back end of my glass scruber and mixed up the sand. looooking coool.

 

[wontonflip]

Good advice from everyone :D

I'm all for a budget tank. I've done the same w/ my 125g. PVC is my friend :D But as you learned quickly, sometimes, going the cheapest way isn't always cheaper (I'm talking about using tap instead of distilled heheh..but you learned that by the hair algae!). Some things I did not skimp on, like my return pump. In fact, aside from the tank, the return pump is the most expensive thing I have now. Everything else is used stuff, rubbermaid tubs, and pvc.

I suggest you scour craigslist for people selling used tank equipment. Or even your lfs...sometimes they sell used equipment. I bought most of my used stuff from my lfs here in VA. They had a back room full of the stuff.

 

[Beastlyness 22]

Thanks! actually its still very cheap. I only had a patch of hair algae about the size of my finger nail. But my gigantic turbo snail sat on it! So everything is really good. I'd recommend the same to anyone doing a cheap set-up. The distilled water is still veerrrry cheap compared to the reverse osmosis systems. Although it would not be if i had a larger tank like 70 gallons or something. All my chemicals are still doing great. And almost all my algae is gone. I will need to buy something for the CUC to snack on. I couldn't be more happy. Even all my margarita snails lived! Probably in about a month I will get my first clown fish.