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Getting in to reef tank

AlanM

By AlanM,
in New to the Hobby

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AlanM Oracle Reefer

AlanM

Hello,

 

I've been considering getting into SW for a while, and have been saving for a while, and now I'm ready to take the plunge after doing planted FW for a while. Joined WAMAS today since I live in MD so that as I get into buying gear in earnest I can ask for advice on local places to shop.

 

Looking for prices for my planning purposes on a 120g tank at the moment. I think I know what I want, I just don't know if it's within my budget. Called a couple of my local stores and was told by one that "oh, other guys handle special orders in this shop," would have been nice if he took some info and my number so they could call me back. I've emailed them in the past and never gotten a response. In person if you get the right guy at the store it's great, but hit or miss if that guy is there. Called the other close store and was also told that it would be a special order product, but no offer to find out the price or exactly what I wanted or whatever. Sheesh. It's like they don't want to take my money.

 

After joining here I hunted through the forums and contacted some of the local guys with an idea of what I want to see if they can give me a rough estimate of the cost.

 

Anyway, looking forward to starting a build thread here in the near future and showing everyone my ugly tank for a while. 8)

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smallreef Oracle Reefer

smallreef

there area alot of costs associated with even just a basic tank... if you dont know specifically what you want, ie. Reef ready or HOB overflow, where to have the overflow box or just a standard rectangle tank... most stores dont make any money on tanks they make the money on everything else you buy from them...

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DaveS Oracle Reefer

DaveS

Welcome to WAMAS! Why don't you post up a wish list of what you want and people can offer what have or suggest places to go. You can do it I the for sale forum as a WTB thread if you want.

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jimlin Grandmaster Reefer

jimlin

welcome. i read that starting out with a bigger tank for beginners are better than the smaller nano systems so good choice in the tank size. cant wait to see your build.

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PotomacBoater Reefer

PotomacBoater

Welcome.

 

I have barely more experience then you do Alan,

but I agree with Flood ...

Find something used on the forum,

you can get a great package deal.

 

Take a look at my build thread so you can see why I made the decisions I did

http://www.wamas.org/forums/topic/50883-matts-first-90g-tank/page__view__findpost__p__426911

 

Read lots about your options

and take your time to do it right the first time

(as right as possible, until you change your mind and want to upgrade)

;-)

 

Good Luck

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AlanM Oracle Reefer

AlanM

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there area alot of costs associated with even just a basic tank... if you dont know specifically what you want, ie. Reef ready or HOB overflow, where to have the overflow box or just a standard rectangle tank... most stores dont make any money on tanks they make the money on everything else you buy from them...

[/Quote]

 

Ok, but they won't make any money on that other stuff from me until I have the tank or at least have one on the way. I really want to not order everything online for the cheapest price. I did my freshwater purchasing in a local store until I just couldn't get what I want, and this reef tank will be an order of magnitude more expensive.

 

If I'm going to get a custom I will get one just how I like it as long as the builder thinks it will work. I sent an email to Jeff from posts I saw here and also submitted a request to Artfully acrylic from their web form I would have kind of liked someone smart at a fish store to help me narrow my options a bit so I don't waste either of those guys time figuring out what i want since it sounds like they're both busy.

 

I'll follow DaveS's advice and post my wish list up in the buy/sell forum. I've been working up a detailed one for a while.

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Der ABT Oracle Reefer

Der ABT

Welcome,

Before you start the wish list in the buy sell forum try doing it in this thread....many will give advice on what has worked or not worked for them so you can tweek your plans.....Granted you may already have a plan it doesnt help to have some input.

 

agree that the best way to get into this hobby and not have to rent out a room is to start used....get a tank that is manageable for you.....cost and time wise.

 

think about what you want to add, fish only, corals, mixed reef, sps etc....

 

there are some things that buying used may not be the best thing for but i know i started off with just about everything used...some regrets but somethings i still have years later.

 

There are some good reads in the build threads and some other how to's....i used to hate reading until i started reading about tanks haha.

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.OptimusPrime. Master Reefer

.OptimusPrime.

Welcome to the club!

 

120 is a great size and what I eventually want to upgrade to from my 75.

 

If you're not deadset on custom, a member is selling their 120 RR tank with dual overflows. Might want to check if its still for sale.

 

http://www.wamas.org/forums/topic/51508-fs-120g-rr-tank/

 

And local (depending which part of MD you are in)

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NYfan78 Reefer

NYfan78

AlanM -- I do not know where you are in MD but a good store i have had great luck with is House Of Tropicals in GLen Burnie. I travel 45 minutes to get to them since i live in Mt. Airy, MD. So worth it. Welcome to the club, best one on the net.

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  • 3 months later...
AlanM Oracle Reefer

AlanM

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(edited)

So I'm in bidness. Took advantage of some black friday sales at BRS and Avast and Quantum Reefs and started buying stuff. Hooked up my first saltwater tank related thing. An RO/DI unit. When I did the plumbing for a basement bathroom I added an additional outlet with a 3/8 shutoff for an RO/DI and I hooked it up today. Fun. Filling up a brute with water so I can acid bathe some old rock in it which I've already bleached.

post-2633353-0-46927700-1354134447_thumb.jpg

post-2633353-0-50090200-1354134455_thumb.jpg

Edited by AlanM
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AlanM Oracle Reefer

AlanM

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Today I used 20 gallons of my new RO/DI water with 1.5 gallons of muriatic acid to nuke the old rock I had bleached last week. Here are the pictures of just after putting the rock in and 5 minutes later. The calcium in the rock seems to neutralize the acid very quickly since the foam settled down fast. Will leave it in there until later this afternoon.

post-2633353-0-83584200-1354212483_thumb.jpg

post-2633353-0-15818900-1354212495_thumb.jpg

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AlanM Oracle Reefer

AlanM

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Do you have before and after pictures of the rock?

 

Wish I had a before picture. I took the rock out after about an hour when it had stopped fizzing and dumped the water under my deck to let the groundhogs deal with it. I've started taking a bunch of pictures to document things, but only started after I did the bleach on the rock. I can describe what it looked like before. It had been sitting out dry in a bucket for a few years. The bottom parts of the rocks were kind of dark tea colored with lots of what looked like little dried worms growing on them. The top parts of the rock had a variegated green sheet which I could pick off with my fingernail of what looked like dried algae.

 

I'll take after pics tonight. There's still some dark staining left on the underparts of some of the rock. Some of it was very porous to start with and now it's pretty light and fragile, but really nice looking. Very white and clean. Still smells a little like HCl even after rinsing like crazy. Since your a chemistry kind of guy, will the HCl evaporate like bleach?

 

I'm making RO/DI rapidly and plan to do a few rounds of soak and dump before I start trying to use this stuff anyway. Then I'll put it in a can with a heater, powerhead, some Petsmart saltwater mix (topfin brand, I think? Pretty cheap stuff), and a bacteria culture and add ammonia to start enlivening it until I get a tank set up.

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Origami Neptune Reefer

Origami

I suspect that you're smelling residual chlorine or a hypochlorite sort of smell. Try soaking it in some water with a dechlorinator. Like Coral Hind said, no need to do all of this in RO/DI water. A final rinse with RO/DI is OK, but not entirely necessary either as long as you let it dry out afterwards.

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AlanM Oracle Reefer

AlanM

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OK. The recipe I found for resurrecting old rock on RC said to make the acid with RO/DI and soak and rinse in RO/DI too. I'll start using tap and rinse later. Will make it a lot easier. I have a jug of prime that I'll pour in for the first soak. Prime is stinky, though. The wife will wonder what I'm up to.

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