sen5241b April 11, 2014 Share April 11, 2014 I need to upgrade my little 20G to an 80 maybe --but we are kinda of tight on money so I can't just override my wife. I need a really good excuse. I tried telling her that ctenophore's thread My new coral greenhouse was "just one guy's tank and all I want is a simple 50G upgrade." She didn't buy it. She does like my 20G and even feeds my corals sometimes. Help me here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smallreef April 11, 2014 Share April 11, 2014 Lol..ummm yeah unless you can find something for almost free and cash in your change...not going to override the budget,lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orion April 11, 2014 Share April 11, 2014 Happy wife, Happy life. You are keeping the 20G. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime April 11, 2014 Share April 11, 2014 Happy wife, Happy life. You are keeping the 20G. +1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sen5241b April 11, 2014 Author Share April 11, 2014 +1 Disagree. A man has got to have his priorities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime April 11, 2014 Share April 11, 2014 Disagree. A man has got to have his priorities. Sure, look forward to your new build thread then. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Origami April 11, 2014 Share April 11, 2014 Lol. It's good to have a governor even on the domestic economic engine to keep it from overheating and blowing up. Talk and work it out. It's good practice. Sent from my ADR6425LVW using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sachabballi reef April 11, 2014 Share April 11, 2014 Disagree. A man has got to have his priorities. if your priority is a fish tank over a happy wife ......ooooh boy.... might just be time to re prioritize.... we only help to creatively come up with stories with regards to new corals etc....not to blow budgets and tanks...even us SW addicts have our lines we don't cross.... Tom's right....governor's are time honored and exist for a reason.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanM April 11, 2014 Share April 11, 2014 Disagree. A man has got to have his priorities. This is true. A list of priorities is important. Make such a list and put the tank on it and discuss it between the two of you. See where the tank ends up. You don't have to take it off the table, just see where is on the list and come up with a plan for working through the list until you get to the bigger tank. It's what I did when I set mine up. But I really should have multiplied the tank costs by about a factor of 2.5 from my initial estimate. Oh well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PK3 April 11, 2014 Share April 11, 2014 But I really should have multiplied the tank costs by about a factor of 2.5 from my initial estimate. Oh well. This! Whatever you think it's going to cost, it's going to be way more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orion April 11, 2014 Share April 11, 2014 But I really should have multiplied the tank costs by about a factor of 2.5 from my initial estimate. Oh well. Agreed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darkcirca April 11, 2014 Share April 11, 2014 Better start looking for some great deals... or getting your wife even more interested in the hobby. Find a fish that needs a bigger tank that she just loves. That worked for me to move from 56 to 90... and now the desires to move even larger in the next place. We share our hobbies, which is good and bad at times. The downside to the fish is I want to go with practical/less expensive/still functional solutions and my husband wants to go all out. I caved for this last purchase in the agreement that he would deal with the setup/programming/hassle (AI Hydras and Apex, upgrade from T5 and ACJr). I'd rather monitor chemistry and tinker in the tank than that stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sen5241b April 11, 2014 Author Share April 11, 2014 Seriously, my wife wisely made the argument its not the bigger tank by itself but all the extras. But I have extra pumps, heaters, more than enough dry rock and an unused set of T5s. I'd only need sand and the tank. What did I leave out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime April 11, 2014 Share April 11, 2014 What did I leave out? More water, more salt, higher utility bills, more RO/DI filters, dosers, and ato, and more room to put more corals that you will buy. And then the need to go bigger in about 6 months. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr.x-ray April 11, 2014 Share April 11, 2014 More water, more salt, higher utility bills, more RO/DI filters, dosers, and ato, and more room to put more corals that you will buy. And then the need to go bigger in about 6 months. And on and on and on.... If your budget and wife will not allow a bigger tank at this time, don't push it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BowieReefer84 April 11, 2014 Share April 11, 2014 "I got it for $20." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wildcrazyjoker81 April 11, 2014 Share April 11, 2014 Got a skimmer that will meet the needs of a 90 gallon? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taiscici April 11, 2014 Share April 11, 2014 Just tell her you"ll skip lunch and use the money for reef. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime April 11, 2014 Share April 11, 2014 Got a skimmer that will meet the needs of a 90 gallon? I don't know how I missed that one, excellent point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanM April 11, 2014 Share April 11, 2014 Let me predict your future given my recent past... Yeah, I'd say bigger skimmer, more salt, then you'll not be satisfied with the "extra T5" or how it looks so you'll be looking for a new set of lights. Somewhere along the line you're going to realize that with that large a volume of water and investment into fish and corals you should really have a controller to monitor things while you're sleeping or away so after that $500 for a controller you'll find out that your pH is doing weird things and want to set up a refugium with reverse photo period. Then as you start putting the extra corals in there with the much larger volume you'll need to start dosing and you'll drop $200 on pumps and hardware for that, and if you're dosing you'll need to buy test kits that you might not be using now because you take care of that with easy water changes in a 20g. And once you're testing you'll see that certain numbers don't look quite right, or the more demanding coral will start to brown out, then you'll need to start lowering phosphates, so you'll get a reactor filled with HC-GFO that costs more than gold, then once your phosphates drop and the hair algae goes away you'll start to see a cyano bloom because it's better at using very small amounts than regular algae, which you'll try to combat with KZ products which go for $20 for a 10ml vial. Or maybe biopellets would help. Or vodka dosing, so that's another reactor or dosing pump. And on and on. Go read "If you give a mouse a cookie" and you'll get the idea of what reefing looks like once you open the handbasket and start adding parts for an upgrade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morgan175 April 11, 2014 Share April 11, 2014 Let me predict your future given my recent past... Yeah, I'd say bigger skimmer, more salt, then you'll not be satisfied with the "extra T5" or how it looks so you'll be looking for a new set of lights. Somewhere along the line you're going to realize that with that large a volume of water and investment into fish and corals you should really have a controller to monitor things while you're sleeping or away so after that $500 for a controller you'll find out that your pH is doing weird things and want to set up a refugium with reverse photo period. Then as you start putting the extra corals in there with the much larger volume you'll need to start dosing and you'll drop $200 on pumps and hardware for that, and if you're dosing you'll need to buy test kits that you might not be using now because you take care of that with easy water changes in a 20g. And once you're testing you'll see that certain numbers don't look quite right, or the more demanding coral will start to brown out, then you'll need to start lowering phosphates, so you'll get a reactor filled with HC-GFO that costs more than gold, then once your phosphates drop and the hair algae goes away you'll start to see a cyano bloom because it's better at using very small amounts than regular algae, which you'll try to combat with KZ products which go for $20 for a 10ml vial. Or maybe biopellets would help. Or vodka dosing, so that's another reactor or dosing pump. And on and on. Go read "If you give a mouse a cookie" and you'll get the idea of what reefing looks like once you open the handbasket and start adding parts for an upgrade. This is me. I agree always something. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PK3 April 11, 2014 Share April 11, 2014 (edited) Stand, sump, plumbing, T-5 bulb replacements. Then you'll decide you want to upgrade the lighting to LED on the bigger tank. Then you'll want a controller to control everything. The list goes on and on. ** Looks like I was a little late on my post. Edited April 11, 2014 by PK3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime April 11, 2014 Share April 11, 2014 I forgot to add the price of a sump, which I don't think you have right now either. FWIW I've never seen this many club members come together and say "don't do it." We normally encourage going bigger, and spending money, and supporting local vendors and the hobby. I think maybe with the the explanation of how you want to come into it is the problem. You already said money is tight (there is your answer already) and your wife disagrees (there is your real answer.) Wait until your pocketbook is looking nice, and then take the plunge. Sit down like everyone suggested and talk it out with your wife. Maybe agree that over the next year you can begin the upgrade process. Maybe bring home some flowers tonight, and then bring it up next weekend, she'll remember the nice gesture, and it wont seem like your pushing an agenda. This trick usually works for me, at least in gaining her willingness to entertain the idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sachabballi reef April 11, 2014 Share April 11, 2014 LOL don't forget the title Isaac.....we all enjoy creativity when speaking to our spouses about the hobby and tank contents...but the "help me lie" thing makes me want to cringe... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanM April 11, 2014 Share April 11, 2014 It's not just reefing. My mistake in the past was: "My friend is selling his great 1978 Triumph Spitfire 1500. I've always loved that car. He only wants $2500 for it and it's in great shape and insurance costs almost nothing on it because it's registered historic." Hahahaha. Finally I gave it away because it was costing me too much money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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