cbashaw

Hi Eve, It's been a few years since I've been to your house. I'm looking forward to seeing your tanks this weekend.

I stopped in today. It is a great store with lots of promise. I remeber when the owner had another store about 5 years ago off of Quince orchard and Darnestown Rd It was my favorite shop at the time. I'm glad he's back in business.

Great I'll stop in tonight.

I would post and search on the RC Feedback forum to see if anyone has done any business with him.

Will this one be good for my tank or should I go up one size? I have 5/8" glass and this is rated for up to 3/4" + it's only $23 Hopefully it's better than my mag float. http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewItem.asp?idproduct=TZ3113 I wish I had seen the scraper from Oceans Motions sooner. I just ordered an easy blade and it looks cheap compared to that one.

This thread was going good lets keep it going :-)

I have some 4" dia acrylic tubing (About 16") if you want to build a round one. If you're interested I could trade it for some zoos or some other soft or lps coral.

http://melevsreef.com/topdown.html

There is a dive shop in Gaithersburg off Muddy Branch next to the ski shop. You may have some luck there. When I used to spear fish I really liked the Cressi Sub masks. It was good but not too pricy.

I have the same problem. No access from the front of the tank is a real pain for cleaning. It wasn't a big deal for the first few months but after the coralline started taking off... Climbing up the ladder behind the tank, scraping then walking around to the front about 5 times is becoming a long task.

My Mag float 350 is not doing as good of a job as I would like on my 5/8" thick glass. I'm thinking about getting a Magnavore or some other high end magnetic cleaner. Are they worth the money or is there something cheaper that I could use that will work just as well. I have not tried the scraper attachment for the Mag Float yet. Is it worth trying or should I just go for the high end magnetic cleaner.

As Raf said they are a great store. The owners are both very cool guys. They will pay cash for frags not just store credit. Great store.

Thanks brother, I took your wifes recommendation of upgrading and I think I'm gonna jump to a 75 or a 90 very soon, right now I'm leaning more towards the 75 not sure yet. lets go get that 75 or 90 tomorrow

Any time is fine for me.

Hey Antonio, The tank looks great

Hopefully this is not too far off topic: I've heard lots of people say 14k Phoeninx bulbs are the best for zoo coloration. I've been thinking of going with them when I switch to MH because the 440w of VHO I have just isn't enough for my 30" tall tank. Do you use any actinic with your 14K?

Gionva Your second pic of zoo's is amazing. Those are some of the nicest ones I've ever seen. Do you know what they're called? I would like to try to track some down for myself. Thanks, Chris Raf, Did the green with purple center ones I gave you ever open for you? If not let me know and I'll get you a few more.

I just posted pictures of these up on RC yesterday

trust me you will want a way to access the tank from the front. I don't have a way to access my tank from the front right now and I am planning on putting a door on the front soon. You won't realize how much you need it until you don't have it. cleaning the glass and moving corals around is difficult when you can't see. I have to walk around to the front of the tank and see where I want to put something then I have to go to the back and hope I can find that spot on the first try.

I can bring some frozen Mysis and some flake food I also have an old blender I can donate.

To keep the cost down I would try to buy Live rock and corals from other people who are taking their tanks down. You can usually get it for about $2.00 per pound vs the $5+ that a LFS will sell it to you for. I would create a post here or on Reefcentral and ask people to post a picture of their 180 and tell you how many pounds of LR they have in their 180 so you can get an idea of how much Live Rock you will want. IMO Getting used equipment like skimmers lights and pumps IMO is OK because if it fails you can replace them easily just set aside some money for emergencies. I know this is going back on what I said before about the tank but: Getting a used tank that big is risky because if it fails you will not only have to replace the tank you will be replacing your carpet and anything else in the immediate area. 2 years ago I spilled 5 gallons of new salt water on my floor and had to replace my living room carpet + the sheet rock on the ceiling directly below the tank. I couldn't imagine what 180G + all the water in the sump ending up on the floor would be like. Another thing I do is keep $500 set aside at all times for tank emergencies. I'm glad I did because my power went out a few weeks ago and I was able to buy a generator before losing everything. Hopefully we are not discouraging you by telling you all this stuff it is really a great hobby. We've all had our share of disasters and "learning experiences" and just want you to learn from our mistakes. When your tank is cycled let me know and I'll give you a few frags to get you started

I use carbon for about 2 or 3 weeks then I replace it as part of my water change routine. It will be fine for 30 days but it's easier for me to keep track of it if I change it every time I do a water change. I put it in a hang on filter bag that I attach to the pvc pipe that drains water from my skimmer back to my sump.