Looking at adding a fish, but what one?

Yeah they actually had a lawnmower blenny there, if i didnt get the beautiful tang I would have went with him. But as you can tell Im fresh outta room. If the lawnmower blenny wasnt enormous it could have been an easier decision, that thing was like 4.5" long... And not nearly as... well. Blue?
 
Thanks for the support guys! I know it wasnt probably the wisest decision ever, but I'm commited to upgrade in the future. I was just talking to my manager on MSN and I came up with an idea... Would it be worth it to transfer everything in my tank over to a 75 right now? I'm thinking it would be a lot of work... cause a guy at work owes me some money, and he also has a almost brand new 75g freshwater aquarium with almost nothing in it.. a few gold fish and stuff. I could probably give him that dirty 55 in the basement and my stand for his 75 and stand... just a though?
 
Sounds like a lot of work to me. Not sure seeng your tank is so new. Also before you got the tank I would test it for copper to be on the safe side. If it was me I would wait until you move. But from what we know about you you'll do it.
 
Naw, I only rush into easy things... I know the tank is brand new, once I bought mine at the LFS they brought that one out of the back room... made me mad. I bought the biggest tank they had when I first started. Unless someone comes though and is like "oh its no where near as bad to transfer from 1 tank to another..." I highly doubt I'd go through with it... Seems like a bunch of work to me.
 
Alright, the tang is doing great so far, after the first few days there was a little spec, almost like a few zits on her of white, then I started to get scared, they have went away now and she seems to be 100% fine, devouring the algae strips I put in, but barely touching any other algae other than what I feed her. I figured keep steady feeding her, the algae is supposed to boost their immune system and keep them less stressed. Today I got a hold of a guy with a 125 and stand hes willing to get rid of. I made a facebook market place listing as wanting a 125+ gallon tank and stand, its located about 3.5 hours away in Milwaukee, from what it sounds like its perfect, drilled with overflows from what I understand, he hasnt sent a picture yet, but he said it was drilled for this canister he was using when he had it running. (would that have the overflows that I need for a sump? Or would it be different for a canister?) I then realized its 6 feet long, not the 4 I was expecting... He said he has lights to sustain plant and invert. life (not sure if he meant coral or not) I asked what kind of lights and how powerful etc. He doesnt know how much he wants for it, just said he had a lot into it. I just said I can get a brand new 180 and a stand for around 650$ at foster and smith... Havent heard back yet. But what do you guys think would be a fair price to pay for something like that? Just the tank, stand, and canopy. Once I find out what the lights are I could see if they are worth it or not. Dang I didnt want to jump into the 6 foot tanks, but I think it will look a lot nicer than a really thick 4" long tank. I'm just worried about lighting all over again! ahh. 72" lights aren't cheap at all...
 
um. Do you have space for it? Will your floor sustain the weight? My new 125 was in the mid $300 and I forget the stand price. Lights are a major expense, depending on what you want to keep. MH will run you about $1200 for three handing pendant lights or maybe a bit less for retrofit lights in a hood, but then you may need a chller which will put you back about $400.

-Doc
 
I'm not planning on setting it up quite yet, ive got 1 more semester here and when I move I plan on contacting every place for rent and finding out which ones will allow a 1200 lb fish tank... Probably a ground floor apartment that i can lease for a few years straight, no moving home for the summers for me :(
Dont they make T5's for 6 foot tanks? Or could I just get another nova extreme, like the 432 watt one and run it in conjunction with my 216 watt T5's I have now, some how hang them from the top of the canopy? I'm assuming that is what a "retro fit" is? I really dont want to run MH's cause biff scared me when she said her electric bill went up about 100$ a month... I havent gotten "talked to" about the electric bill yet, and ive had my T5's for a while now, usually when I cause the electric bill to spike by an obscene amount I get it mentioned at least once. What is the floor holding capacity of a normal floor? I cant see a 125 being a huge issue unless its a pretty old house. Otherwise I'm sure I could talk someone into letting me "modify" it a bit to make the floor strong enough, go buy one of those metal poles that support the weight in the basement, and just place it right under where your putting the tank on the 1st floor... wouldn't that work?
 
Wow i just checked out that site, thats some really cheap good deals. Has any one ordered from them before? And what have you all noticed for differences in your electric bill with the 1134 watts of MH's or similar running? Id rather not do a chiller though... They dont really make any long T5's, they have some cheap T6's there, how do those work compared to T5's?
 
Or what about running 2 of the smaller ones that are like 360 watt, hang those one on each side, that should be enough coverage shouldn't it?
I really dont understand the whole watts/gallon idea. So, your tank is twice as wide, that doubles your volume. Why would you have to double your lighting wattage? I dont see why corals couldnt grow in a 5000 gallon tank with the lights I have now, as long as they are positioned under the light... Someone needs to give me a scientific explanation as to why its necessary and not just a marketing ploy to sell 1,200 watt MH fixtures...
 
there is some truth to corals being able to grow under lights no matter the volume of water, to a point. You have to realize that the depth of the tank makes a big difference and that any tank that is deeper than about 24 inches cannot support coral growth with PC or T-5 lighting very well. Those lights just do not penetrate that far down. If your tank is 30 inches deep, you would not be able to have corals all the way down and it would look funny.

If you try to skimp on lighting, your tank will suffer. You could try to hang two pendant lights on either end, that would support ample coral growth, but then you would have a dark spot in the middle that would drive you totally crazy. There is just no way around it. The choice is yours. You can do 1 four foot T-5 fixture and 1 two foot T-5 fixture that would cover it.

-Doc
 
I've got a while to decide, i'm just going to find a tank at the best possible deal I can and store it until I move. I have some time to make up my mind. My main concern is the electricity consumption and heat issues I guess for the big MH fixture. (Any thoughts on 72" 1134W Metal Halide System (Electronic Version) - 504042 )
They seem to cheap to be good... I wouldnt have a problem buying those, what if I suspend them higher above the surface to prevent heat problems (thus avoiding the chiller) I'm sure i wouldnt get as good of light penetration then, but jesus, 1134 watts of MH's on a 125... thats insane! Its the only 72" fixture they have too, I wouldnt mind like 500 watts... I dont plan on any like super light intensive corals anyway, just some basic stuff. But who knows I might change my mind... the tank should be 23.5" tall, so about 5" taller than what I have now, 6 inches deeper, and 2 feet longer. I dont see why a good set of T5's wouldnt hold me over... Do they even make 72" T5's? I didnt see any on that site, or on ebay.
 
They say those lights you linked to are better than what they use to.Earlier fixtures were catching on fire.I still don't like them...also the bulbs are crappy from what I hear.

Like duh,yes they make 72'' T5 fixture,I have one on my 210 gallon.Its 29'' deep and corals do just fine on the sand bed.I wouldn't put sps down there but softies and lps do fine on the bottom.BTW,its a Aquactinics 14x39w,its not cheap....about a grand without bulbs.
 
I'm thinking some nice T5's with individual reflectors would be a good choice, isnt that what you run doc? Or who was that that loves the reflectors? reeffreak? I found one 72" but its almost 1000$!! And they dont even say the wattage... but its a lot of bulbs!
 
I think im going to sleep on it... for a few months at least. then decide later on. I cannot justify in a million years, unless I'm growing something that I can easily sell on the street for 50-75$ a gram, to spend obscene amounts of money a month on the electric bill. Anyone else have an estimate at the cost of running the lights on their big tanks?
 
I love individual reflectors, as taught to me by Reeffreak. Of course they make 6 foot T-5s and just so you know, lights for a tank that size are going to be about $1000-new unless you get lucky and fine something on ebay or cragislist. Plan on spending A LOT of money on a tank that size or bigger. There is a relative cost involved the bigger you go, even just to upgrade your existing tank.

-Doc
 
My tank is 7 feet long, but I bought a 72" (6 foot) MH fixture, around 1200 watts, for $1300. The cost of lighting goes up exponentially the larger the tank you get. If you do upgrade to a 125 or larger, the lighting is going to be your biggest expense (that, and live rock). I would have liked to stick with T5s for my new tank, but it's 3 feet deep, and T5s can't penetrate to that depth. And yes, it has raised my electric bill by at least $100 a month.

I highly doubt that any apartment complex is going to let you have a fish tank that size. And they are not going to let you reinforce their floors either. The only way you could keep a tank that size as a renter is if you were renting a house and kept it on the ground floor.
 
Oh yeah, I'm going to rent a house, a duplex probably. Ha, funny story. A guy I know at STOUT (UW: Menominee) has a bunch of fish tanks, and he lives in the dorms. Every year they assigned him to a different floor... Now that would SUCK. Hes got a few 55's at least, and I think a 30. Hes an RA so i hope he gets a bigger room. I dunno, i'll just take my time and see If i can find some deals in the next few months, ive got an entire semester + a month or 2 breaks in there...
 
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