ohaverd July 25, 2013 Share July 25, 2013 - would have not wasted SO MUCH money on cheap crap that eventually got replaced. - would not have started with such a small tank (55gal) - would have quarantined every living thing that went into my tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Rhoads July 25, 2013 Share July 25, 2013 Here is a list of things that I have realized I like based on my trial/errors in this hobby: Low/wide tanks as opposed to high/narrow Aquascape so that flow will create a gyre effect DC wave makers Large refuguim (I like the 20% of main tank rule of thumb) More space is always better Use window tint on the back glass rather than painting Things I will change next time: Bigger Fish room for sump, fuge, etc... Tank controller with remote monitoring Multi tank system with lagoon setup/refugium (perhaps a SW pond or similar) Oh to dream! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Garrison July 25, 2013 Share July 25, 2013 (edited) Jason Rhoads, on 25 Jul 2013 - 11:54 AM, said: Multi tank system with lagoon setup/refugium (perhaps a SW pond or similar) Careful if you put a cowfish in the pond... they spit... quite far actually when they get bigger Oh... and be sure to take preventive measures to keep other animals away from the pond... cats... dogs... etc, based on another recent incident with a sump and a feline it is a bad combo! Edited July 25, 2013 by Kevin Garrison Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt July 25, 2013 Share July 25, 2013 i wish i'd have gotten my wife more into the hobby before i got started...would have made all the other negotiations for fish tanks, equipment, space, etc...so much easier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NateCamReef July 25, 2013 Share July 25, 2013 Here is a list of things that I have realized I like based on my trial/errors in this hobby: Low/wide tanks as opposed to high/narrow Aquascape so that flow will create a gyre effect DC wave makers Large refuguim (I like the 20% of main tank rule of thumb) More space is always better Use window tint on the back glass rather than painting Things I will change next time: Bigger Fish room for sump, fuge, etc... Tank controller with remote monitoring Multi tank system with lagoon setup/refugium (perhaps a SW pond or similar) Oh to dream! Has anyone used window tint on the back of their tank? What are the benefits of this? Sounds interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime July 25, 2013 Author Share July 25, 2013 Jason has. Benefits? It looks bad ass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huly July 25, 2013 Share July 25, 2013 Find WAMAS first, before I invested in a bunch of expensive) stuff (@ retail) that was ultimately (and quickly) disposed of. Would have gone with a bigger tank/real refugium setup rather than the Red Sea Max.... Plans to fix that mistake are in the works. Exactly! We would have never bought the RSM if we would have found WAMAS first! GFI. Backup air pumps. Quarantine fish! Yeah learned the hard way there with total fish loss He means that he'd like a separate sump, possibly with a refugium (macro or otherwise) . A refugium doesn't have to become a detritus trap. AIO's can be very limiting in terms of what equipment you can use. That can be a huge limitation. (Sent from my phone.) A good example, when our nitrates, phosphates etc spike from say loss of a fish that we never found a body or any other thing we can not run reactors, we do not have chateo as you can not keep it in an AIO (no light in back) so we have no way of naturally helping us. We can not change to a better skimmer as nothing would fit we are VERY limited to what we can and can't do. Also there is no way to add a seperate refugium as we would have to drill our tank and you can not drill a full tank. I wouldn't have gotten married.... LOL LOL LOL LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Rhoads July 26, 2013 Share July 26, 2013 Has anyone used window tint on the back of their tank? What are the benefits of this? Sounds interesting. Yep, I have 5% black on my tank right now. I love the way it looks. With the lights on you have to look hard to notice the fact that it is transparent, but when you look through the back glass you can see into the tank. It makes it easier to spot frags that have fallen behind the rock work, or fish that are hiding. And, if I ever get sick of the black background I can take it off in 2 seconds. If you decide to go this route be sure to take your time in putting the tint on, and use a rubber spatula or a squeegee to remove air bubbles as you go. All in all it cost me 5$ and I had tint left over to do another (smaller) tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Origami July 26, 2013 Share July 26, 2013 Yep, I have 5% black on my tank right now. I love the way it looks. With the lights on you have to look hard to notice the fact that it is transparent, but when you look through the back glass you can see into the tank. It makes it easier to spot frags that have fallen behind the rock work, or fish that are hiding. And, if I ever get sick of the black background I can take it off in 2 seconds. If you decide to go this route be sure to take your time in putting the tint on, and use a rubber spatula or a squeegee to remove air bubbles as you go. All in all it cost me 5$ and I had tint left over to do another (smaller) tank. This is a great idea. I'm guessing, though, that if you have a fish room and the lights are on in back but not on in the tank, that you're looking back into the room? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coral Hind July 26, 2013 Share July 26, 2013 Jason, How long have you had the tint on? I saw a fish store that tried it but the tint was coming away from the glass as water got spilled on it and I'm sure the high humidity in their store caused it to fail faster than in a house. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Rhoads July 26, 2013 Share July 26, 2013 Tom, you are correct, if there are lights (to a lesser extend bright walls) behind the tank you can see more of whatever is behind the glass. You could go with darker tint (2.5%) or some type of mirroring to help cut down on that. For most tanks on a stand in front of a wall this will not come in to play, but good points! I have had the tint on the tank for around a year now, but, I have only had water in the tank since February 2013. I have not seen any bubbling or separating on my tint, but I was very careful in putting it on, and took my time. I used a razor to cut the tint right at where the plastic frame hits the glass, ensuring there is very little room for water to creep in. When I see water hit the back of the tank it always rolls down the outside of the tint (rather than between the glass and tint). Because the tint is held on by static cling, I can see how humidity levels would affect the tint. Like I mentioned above, I have not seen any separation under normal hobbyist conditions Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanM July 26, 2013 Share July 26, 2013 Mine has only just gotten water, but since I've been building it for 6 months, I have a few things. I might have gotten a Reef Angel instead of an Apex. Also I might have not cared as much about the controller running the lights. I am probably going to switch to a Coralux Storm X and tear my light build apart about the time that I'm ready to put coral and fish in the tank. That might also be an Apex issue. I just find the Apex very kludgy to get to do what I want. Reef Angel is kind of a pill to program, apparently, but basically every feature is exposed and if you don't mind doing Arduino code you can do whatever you want with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sachabballi reef September 7, 2013 Share September 7, 2013 I wouldn't have gotten married.... I assume that is reciprocated by Mrs Zygote. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronl September 8, 2013 Share September 8, 2013 Yep, I have 5% black on my tank right now. I love the way it looks. With the lights on you have to look hard to notice the fact that it is transparent, but when you look through the back glass you can see into the tank. It makes it easier to spot frags that have fallen behind the rock work, or fish that are hiding. And, if I ever get sick of the black background I can take it off in 2 seconds. If you decide to go this route be sure to take your time in putting the tint on, and use a rubber spatula or a squeegee to remove air bubbles as you go. All in all it cost me 5$ and I had tint left over to do another (smaller) tank. Where is the best place to pick up the 5% window tint? Is this something they sell at Home Depot or Lowes? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coral Hind September 8, 2013 Share September 8, 2013 I've seen 5% at Walmart and also at Advanced Auto. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zygote2k September 8, 2013 Share September 8, 2013 I assume that is reciprocated by Mrs Zygote. I could only hope, but alas that is not the case. Never again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime September 8, 2013 Author Share September 8, 2013 - I would have put my lights on pulleys a long time ago in order to bring them up and down in order to work in a tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MisterTang September 8, 2013 Share September 8, 2013 Would anybody put a matt underneath their stand before they put it down? I did this with my first tank, and was immensely glad I had; when I had to get rid of the tank a couple of years later, the mat matched the color of the underside of my stand, which would've definitely stained the carpet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coral Hind September 8, 2013 Share September 8, 2013 It's nice to see you posting again. You still have a tank? Did the mat help any with water spills? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sachabballi reef September 8, 2013 Share September 8, 2013 It's nice to see you posting again. You still have a tank? Did the mat help any with water spills? I have his old tank LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MisterTang September 8, 2013 Share September 8, 2013 I have his old tank LOL Now I feel nostalgic How's the old tank doing? I just decided to get back into aquaria after a several-year hiatus where I was traveling overseas all the time. I have a 30 gallon that is currently cycling my live rock Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sachabballi reef September 8, 2013 Share September 8, 2013 Now I feel nostalgic How's the old tank doing? I just decided to get back into aquaria after a several-year hiatus where I was traveling overseas all the time. I have a 30 gallon that is currently cycling my live rock Its awesome....its my softy /LPS tank now which is quickly becoming my way too huge RBTA tank.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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