Have I bitten more than I can chew?

I agree with Sarah. I was in the same situation when I first got into the hobby with a 150g. I was buying rock a piece at a time which took forever. Never had much coral. Finally decided to cut my losses and got out of the hobby. A few years later I got back in with a 48g bowfront and that was so much better.

So just buy whatever you can afford and don't go into debt over it.
 
Homer said:
Yes, I have protein skimmer, I bought it like 6 months ago.

I am thinking it about the cycling process as well... That I could postpone the lights for one month or maybe one and a half month, meanwhile I could put on ,something like 48 wats on it (I have two spare t5 lamps) . My fish meanwhile could keep living in the nano aquarium...
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Your fish would be fine under any old lights. You really only need decent lights for corals, clams, or anemones. And you really don't need any lights on the tank to cycle it. If you want to go with the tank you ordered, then I would just go ahead and cycle the tank and then put your fish in it one at a time and use your spare T5 lights. You could run your tank that way for years if you wanted to. And then when you have the money to buy decent lights you can make that move and start putting corals in your tank. Depending on what T5 fixtures you have (4+ bulb fixtures) you could even get yourself started with some easy corals that would do just fine under those lights. I think we often forget that we don't have to get everything at once. Sure it would be nice if we could afford to set up the perfect reef tank in a few months, but most of us don't have the money to do that and have to take things in stages.
 
Homer said:
I have no idea what is craigs list... I guess, we europeans, don`t use that stuff.. :( We started trusting ebay only few years ago :D :D
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Homer: Here in the states Craig's List is a free advertising web site that is divided up by leaving areas. You choose topics and use it like the want ads in the news paper. If you have a tank or pet or car or what ever that you wish to get rid of .. you place an ad.. your e-address is hidden, a person wanting to come look at what you are wanting to sell or trade sends you an email that is handled by a third party server. Then if you wish you can contact them with your real e-mail or not. The same is true if you are seeking something... ..... :hernoseen (it even works for sex.. there are topics according to sexual preference... though that sounds like a scary way to hook up).

If you don't have one.. maybe you should start one. Ours gets millions of hits per day.
 
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Did you search under "fish tanks" as well as aquariums?

It will probably take time for it to gain in popularity, but I still think its always worth checking out - especially after the holidays when people upgrade equipment and are selling off their old stuff!
 
Im pretty sure the craigs list killed ruined the hook up part for everyone Pok.

Also there may be a different site for your area that is alot like craigs list. Around here we use Kajiji. Also remember you dont have to set up the tank right away, you could just get a few pieces at a time rather then all at once.

Thats what im looking into atm, since I live in a second story apt and dont trust anything over a 55g but eventually want a bigger tank for when we eventually move into a house.
 
Kelz88 said:
Im pretty sure the craigs list killed ruined the hook up part for everyone Pok.

Also there may be a different site for your area that is alot like craigs list. Around here we use Kajiji. Also remember you dont have to set up the tank right away, you could just get a few pieces at a time rather then all at once.

Thats what im looking into atm, since I live in a second story apt and dont trust anything over a 55g but eventually want a bigger tank for when we eventually move into a house.
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I also live in second floor... should I be worried? The aquarium setup won`t way more than 900 kg...
 
It really depends on how structurally sound your floor is. Remember that water weighs a little over 8 lbs per gallon. Then add in the weight of the stand, tank, rocks, sand, equipment, etc. and I think with a 90g tank you can easily reach 1500 lbs (I'm sorry I don't know what that is in kg). I have a 90g and set it up at work because I didn't think my 2nd floor apartment could handle the weight - but I live in an old apartment that was built over 100 years ago and I doubt the floors have enough reinforcement to handle the weight long-term. If you live in a place with newer construction, or are able to reinforce your floors at all, then weight shouldn't be an issue. And honestly, I don't really know what the weight limits would be for the floors in my place, it might be able to handle a 90g, but I just didn't want to risk it either!
 
FishyReef said:
It really depends on how structurally sound your floor is. Remember that water weighs a little over 8 lbs per gallon. Then add in the weight of the stand, tank, rocks, sand, equipment, etc. and I think with a 90g tank you can easily reach 1500 lbs (I'm sorry I don't know what that is in kg). I have a 90g and set it up at work because I didn't think my 2nd floor apartment could handle the weight - but I live in an old apartment that was built over 100 years ago and I doubt the floors have enough reinforcement to handle the weight long-term. If you live in a place with newer construction, or are able to reinforce your floors at all, then weight shouldn't be an issue. And honestly, I don't really know what the weight limits would be for the floors in my place, it might be able to handle a 90g, but I just didn't want to risk it either!
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1500 lbs - 680 kg... In my opinion , in The old days, houses were built to last, so I wouldn`t be worried about the floors in old houses...Think about what force is required to break a thick wooden plank.. Now think about force required to break two layers of them, crossed each other... But then again, I am motorcyclist with two crashes and lots of metalic screws in my bones - I like to take risk...

I can`t sleep, can`t decide either go with 90 gallons or 140 ... Price wise (for tank - the same). 90 gallon will be sooner made in to pretty tank, while 140 gallons... well it will take few months,before it will start looking attractive..
 
I would have no problem going over, if I could modify the floor, which I cant. This building is only about 20 years old, but I live on a reserve and most of the older houses have sub par construction.
 
Nothing good happens fast in this hobby, I would not be concerned with taking a few months to fill a tank. Waiting a month between fish alone puts you at the several month mark in either a 90 or a 140
 
Homer said:
1500 lbs - 680 kg... In my opinion , in The old days, houses were built to last, so I wouldn`t be worried about the floors in old houses...Think about what force is required to break a thick wooden plank.. Now think about force required to break two layers of them, crossed each other... But then again, I am motorcyclist with two crashes and lots of metalic screws in my bones - I like to take risk...

I can`t sleep, can`t decide either go with 90 gallons or 140 ... Price wise (for tank - the same). 90 gallon will be sooner made in to pretty tank, while 140 gallons... well it will take few months,before it will start looking attractive..
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Mine is a 95.. and It sets like an extension of my desk... which is cool.. else I'd love to have the 140.. to me it is if it fits the room and the strength of the facility. Mine is on a slab.


And for the record.. fresh water weighs from 8.33 to 8.35 pounds per gallon and our salt water weighs fro 8.8 to 9.4 pounds per gallon. So toss another pound per gallon onto your figures... who ever as a safety measure... then we have all that rock.
 
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poksal said:
Mine is a 95.. and It sets like an extension of my desk... which is cool.. else I'd love to have the 140.. to me it is if it fits the room and the strength of the facility. Mine is on a slab.


And for the record.. fresh water weighs from 8.33 to 8.35 pounds per gallon and our salt water weighs fro 8.8 to 9.4 pounds per gallon. So toss another pound per gallon onto your figures... who ever as a safety measure... then we have all that rock.
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Ok, FUDGE it... Made my decission, I am not going with the 140 gallon tank, I will let my brother take it ... I think, I might go with 79 gallon tank.. Or is it too small? and I should reach for the 90 gallon?
 
Homer said:
Ok, FUDGE it... Made my decission, I am not going with the 140 gallon tank, I will let my brother take it ... I think, I might go with 79 gallon tank.. Or is it too small? and I should reach for the 90 gallon?
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Go as large as your budget will allow you too. It doesn't matter what size you end up with, you'll always end up wanting something larger anyway. I startedxwith a 180, and with some of the tangs and angels available I wish I had a 240 or a 300
 
If I could choose over I'd look for a tank that wasn't 23" deep with 7 more inches of border around the top of that... I can't reach the damned bottom!!! so that may be a thought.
 
If I could do it over I'd make sure the inside of the stand was large enough to hold a decent sized sump! (i.e., over 18" wide)
 
poksal said:
If I could choose over I'd look for a tank that wasn't 23" deep with 7 more inches of border around the top of that... I can't reach the damned bottom!!! so that may be a thought.
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I am European, we are kinda monkeys, we have long arms... :)
 

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