zotzer July 15, 2007 Share July 15, 2007 Hi all! I am brand new here (live in Ashburn and work in Herndon), and have been actively lurking for the past week or so. As a friend was setting up a new FOWLR tank in his new home about a month ago, I got to researching this hobby, and am interested in setting up a small reef tank of my own. While studying up, I stumbled on WAMAS and am SO GLAD I did!!! Anyway, I don't even have a tank yet, though I have shopping carts filled up all over the WWW. This will be a long slow process. I probably won't get started until August, and envision 6 months or so until it is really on it's way to what I envision. I figured I'd post up my plans and ask for some feedback, since nothing is yet set in stone, and there is time to change course. The tank I have my eye on is a Finnex 30g glass tank, which comes ready to go with a protein skimmer, T5 lighting, and a refugium (with light). The only initial add-ons I have planned right now are a hydor-flow for the stock system, and the addition of a Koralia 1 or 2. Oh, and of course a heater (titanium or glass for this?) I plan to use a combination of 20lbs Arag-alive oolite, and 20lbs arag-alive fiji sand, and another 40lbs of LR. My first question... where to get the live rock? Right now I am leaning toward Premium Aquatics cured LR. I looked at TBS, but feel that may be too "alive" for my goals. Would like to have a little more control over what ends up in such a small tank. Ultimately, I envision a softie tank....ricordea, mushrooms, zoa. And I plan to add either an easy anemone imposter (ie torch or frogspawn), or maybe an anemone if I get brave and feel confident. Recommendations here would be greatly appreciated. As for fishies....I'd really like to find a pair of Onyx True Percs, but haven't figured out how to find a pair which will reliably turn black. Marine Scene said I'd just have to take my chances with young A. Percs and hope they turn black....that can't be right, can it? That or Picassos. I have a long time to decide. The only others I really plan to add are a blennie (because I LOVE them)....maybe a little Barnacle Blennie (but would like suggestions for a small tank), and a Goby/Shrimp pairing. Also, for salt, since I will be starting from scratch, should I go standard IO, or use IO Reef? Lastly, has anyone done a snail-only clean up crew? Is this even feasible to leave out the crabs? I look forward to getting to know you all, and relying on your collective wisdom during this process. I'll be out most of the morning/afternoon at a dog show and transporting a rescue dog up to Baltimore, but look forward to responding to your feedback when I get home. Thanks all, and nice to "meet" you! Tracy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trble81 July 15, 2007 Share July 15, 2007 Tracy, When looking for LR, the best place is the WTB/For Sale Forum here at WAMAS. My wife and I bought some LR at a LFS, but the best deals are from members who have extra that they're willing to part with at a very good price. Welcome to the club. It's the best money you'll ever spend in this hobby. --Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lanman July 15, 2007 Share July 15, 2007 I agree with that - check out the buy/sell forum. Some folks, like dschflier, almost always have quantities of rock you could pick through. I started my 24 with very live rock; and the 6-week cycling of the tank killed just about everything in it. Since then, I use cured rock - I just don't have the patience. bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesbuf July 15, 2007 Share July 15, 2007 (edited) Anyway, I don't even have a tank yet, though I have shopping carts filled up all over the WWW. This will be a long slow process. I probably won't get started until August, and envision 6 months or so until it is really on it's way to what I envision. -----------Good to see that you're going to take it slow. So many people start out trying to rush things and end up costing themselves alot of money in the beginning. The tank I have my eye on is a Finnex 30g glass tank, which comes ready to go with a protein skimmer, T5 lighting, and a refugium (with light). The only initial add-ons I have planned right now are a hydor-flow for the stock system, and the addition of a Koralia 1 or 2. Oh, and of course a heater (titanium or glass for this?) ------I would also consider stalking the boards to find something used for the initial startup. Once you get the hang of the hobby, you will want to upgrade to something large (trust me, its inevitable ), so why spend alot of money on new stuff in the beginning. Just an idea. I plan to use a combination of 20lbs Arag-alive oolite, and 20lbs arag-alive fiji sand, and another 40lbs of LR. My first question... where to get the live rock? Right now I am leaning toward Premium Aquatics cured LR. I looked at TBS, but feel that may be too "alive" for my goals. Would like to have a little more control over what ends up in such a small tank. ----------Buy regular old dry Carib-Sea arogonite sand. Get the dry stuff because members here are usually more than willing to give you a cup of live sand to seed your sand bed. No need to pay the higher LFS prices for their "live" sand in a bag. You can get a 40bls bag of dry sand from most LFS for around $35 and you're good to go. As far as liverock goes, there is always liverock on the for sale boards so no need to pay the $6 and more per lb that any store charges. If you do want to go that route and spend the money on good stuff, checkout premiumaquaticslive.com. Get the Marshal Island rock if you don't have a problem spending between $6-7 per lb. If you're going to spend that much, you might as well get the really good stuff. I wished someone had told me about this in the beginning. Also, for salt, since I will be starting from scratch, should I go standard IO, or use IO Reef? ---------I would go with regular old IO, no need to spend extra money in the beginning. Lastly, has anyone done a snail-only clean up crew? Is this even feasible to leave out the crabs? -----------I can give you some free baby snails once you're setup. and lastly..... Welcome to the Club!!!!!! Edited July 15, 2007 by jamesbuf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zotzer July 15, 2007 Author Share July 15, 2007 (edited) Thank you all for the nice welcomes! No doubt...when I stumbled on WAMAS and discovered membership was only $20 per year, I jumped on it. I am smart enough to know what I don't know...which in THIS case is just about everything! LOL One reason for the all-in-one, versus collecting items for less and doing it myself, is because I know that there is a big learning curve and this way, I'm a wee bit ahead of the game. There are goo gobs of these things out there, but I really didn't want to tinker too much with modifying them. After a bit (well, a lot!) of research, I knew I wanted a skimmer, a refugium, and all bio-filtration, and the Finnex was the single system that pretty much comes the way I want it. And indeed, I presume I will want to go bigger one day, and this will let me learn a bit while I figure out how to "do it myself" on a bigger system. Have seen photos of several ricordea-dominated tanks, which I LOVE, and seeing how tiny those things are, and the expense involved in acquiring them, small has an advantage there as well! Thanks for all of the tips on the live rock and sand too!! When I am ready to start adding things, can I just post in the forum that I am looking to buy it? I plan to venture out to BRK one day this week too. Sounds like a wonderful place to visit!!! I see they have Picasso Clownfish on their website, so I will ask them about the black true percs as well. James reiterated Premium Aquatics. One reason I thought of getting my LR from them, is that I plan to order my tank and supplies from them as well. Sounds as if they are a nice, reputable supplier? I forgot to ask another question, which might be simple, but I don't know the answer. I plan to just get a small glass tank and sponge filter from Walmart or something to use as a quarantine tank. Do I put the filter sponge in the back of the main tank *while* it is cycling, or after, or does it matter? (I plan to just stash it in one of the chambers until I need it for new additions). Thanks again, guys! Look forward to meeting you all in person one day. I can invite everyone over when it's all set up for some pizza and beer and critiques. That is, if you don't mind big dogs...my other high-dollar hobby (that, and an addiction to cruising. Heaven help me when I realize I need to take up scuba-diving!) LOL Two of my three pooches can be seen here.... www.zotzybriards.com Tracy Edited July 15, 2007 by zotzer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trble81 July 15, 2007 Share July 15, 2007 Tracy, Go ahead and post in the forum when you need your stuff, it's just that simple. I assume you want to colonize your sponge from the sponge filter with bacteria for your QT tank. Someone correct me if I'm wrong but I would wait until the cycling is done (or does it matter ). When you see the end of the cycling, you'll have enough bacteria to handle ammonia so I figured that when you get to that point, a week or so in the main tank would be sufficiant to colonize your sponge. And just keep watching the boards for socials that occur at different LFS. It'll be the best way to check out a new place and meet new people at the same time. We also haven't made it down to BRK yet but I can't wait until we have the time to do so. --Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zotzer July 16, 2007 Author Share July 16, 2007 And just keep watching the boards for socials that occur at different LFS. It'll be the best way to check out a new place and meet new people at the same time. --Mike Sounds fun... Thanks, Mike! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lanman July 16, 2007 Share July 16, 2007 Smaller than you're interested in, but the Nano-wave 9 is a really neat all-in-one system. bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toastiireefs July 26, 2007 Share July 26, 2007 the online places i like to get dry goods from is That Pet place which on ground shipping only takes a day to get to my house! Pet solutions and then im ordering some fully cured LR from PA as well- only ten lbs to fill space- hopefully it truely is cured! i dont want it to kill anything also buy your sand from PA they have the best deals 40lbs of sand for 24$!!! and 20lbs for 16$ (for live sand) HAVE FUN!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zotzer July 26, 2007 Author Share July 26, 2007 also buy your sand from PA they have the best deals 40lbs of sand for 24$!!! and 20lbs for 16$ (for live sand) HAVE FUN!!! Thanks for the tips! PA does seem to have great prices overall. I have a HUGE wishlist page there (and yes, 40lbs of live sand is in it!). I only wish they offered deals on shipping for such big orders. Oh well, when I'm back from vacation, I'll get this project started! So far, I think the long term stocking list is: -lots of ricordea and other miscellaneous easy corals -frogspawn (and if eventually I get the nerve, a BTA for the clowns) -a pair of onyx or picasso percs - blenny (probably a barnacle blenny) - small flasher wrasse OR -a little falco hawkfish - standard issue CUC It's so fun to plan, but I need to get down to business! Tracy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toastiireefs July 26, 2007 Share July 26, 2007 Thanks for the tips! PA does seem to have great prices overall. I have a HUGE wishlist page there (and yes, 40lbs of live sand is in it!). I only wish they offered deals on shipping for such big orders. Oh well, when I'm back from vacation, I'll get this project started! So far, I think the long term stocking list is: -lots of ricordea and other miscellaneous easy corals -frogspawn (and if eventually I get the nerve, a BTA for the clowns) -a pair of onyx or picasso percs - blenny (probably a barnacle blenny) - small flasher wrasse OR -a little falco hawkfish - standard issue CUC It's so fun to plan, but I need to get down to business! Tracy omg i want a flasher wrasse sooo badly!! and ricodeas are like so gorgeous!!! im gonna get my clowns and bta last- which is gonna kill me but i dont want to get them till the BTA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nitro Junkie July 27, 2007 Share July 27, 2007 www.nano-reef.com is a great site for nano tanks oh, and WELCOME Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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