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
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
