Marine Tank

[GoldenGirl13]

Still think you should let me look after that horrible ugly thing for you Yan....really starting to worry about your eyesight :bighug:

[Yanagi]

Thank you all. (Flame, feel free to come and do water changes, gravel vac and algae razoring for me.. It may improve my eyesight!) I am honestly really surprised the coral is doing this well for me. I stopped testing everything but the basics a few weeks ago.. I never thought I'd be able to keep coral alive, ever. lol Haven't killed anything yet. (But my angel has.. little so-and-so killed my zoa rocks. At least I am 99% sure it's her). At least she doesn't touch anything else.

We got some FREAKING GORGEOUS Acros and other lovely bits of coral in at work yesterday.. I am going to try really hard to control myself but I think I will end up going on a spree just before closing. Seriously I cannot believe the colour of some of it. Just WOW. I have no idea how long I was staring at it for but the boss had to come and nudge me back into this world LOL

Acro is one of the hardest things to keep... probably THE hardest. I so don't feel ready for it so I don't want to buy it in case I kill it but.. It's incredible! And I'll never know unless I try! What to do, what to dooo..

[Bettarazzi]

You can't say that without linking to a pic. :protest:

[Yanagi]

Got too busy.. Came home with a mostly bleached acro freebie and nothing else. Will frag it and hopefully it will make a recovery. Same colour as the top right (the parts that are still alive, anyway).

I did save a cleaner wrasse who mysteriously ended up into a dead FRESH WATER sump below all the other marine tanks. How he jumped and managed to end up there is anyones guess. Hope he survives the ordeal. Who knows how long he was swimming around in that nasty old (fresh) water though.. So bizzare! It's directly under all the other marine tanks..! I might have to bring him home if he's still alive when I get my salt water on the weekend. A fish like that you know is surely hard to kill, lmao.

[girlz0r]

oh so puuuuuurdy.

You've set it out so nicely (:

[Yanagi]

I've am working on rehoming my bettas, then I can 'rehome' my barracks to Roc.. And then I can get my 4FT MARINE TANK in!!!! Wooooooo!

I still haven't decided whether or not I am keeping the RSM 130D. I guess if someone offered enough I'd part with it and get an actual tank and I can buy the pieces I want.

This tank has been great to learn in on a hands on manner but it just doesn't have the flexibility I want.

So!

I already bought the 4ft. Just a standard 4ft.

$172.50 For the tank, cabinet, hood, sump, ehiem ecco canister, lots of good filter media accessories, etc.

Looking at getting 2 Vortech MP40w ES at $499 each from guppies.

Triple T5 4F lighting is $99 from guppies.

Undecided on LED lighting but giving myself a budget of $500 max.

I will need a chiller if I keep my RSM. That's another few hundred down the drain.

So far I've just spent the money on the tank, so $172.50

Everything else adds up to just about $1600. Not including the potential cost for a chiller. *dies*

And I haven't even priced coral sand and live rock yet.

I'm also looking at upgrading the sump... Oh boy. I need a second job. (

[girlz0r]

Hey Yan, my boyfriend orders marine stuff straight from stocksts, he's got contacts from the aquarium he used to work for I can ask him if you'd like if you want and see if they will deliver to sydney? We pick up our orders from the aus airport.

I'm sure he can sort some deal out with you if it's possible for suppliers to deliver to sydney.

btw sump FTW. It's so much easier to clean 'filters' haha

[girlz0r]

Hey Yan, my boyfriend orders marine stuff straight from stocksts, he's got contacts from the aquarium he used to work for I can ask him if you'd like if you want and see if they will deliver to sydney? We pick up our orders from the aus airport.

I'm sure he can sort some deal out with you if it's possible for suppliers to deliver to sydney.

btw sump FTW. It's so much easier to clean 'filters' haha

[Yanagi]

Ooh, always handy to have contacts. Not sure how much it will help though because apparently Guppys is selling the Vortech's BELOW cost price.. But every possible penny counts, haha. I can't always order stuff at cost price from work. Please find out for me.

PS I loath filters... I hate filters!! LOL Still beats gravel vac'ing 20 tanks in one day though.

Oh and we got some epic freaking live rock at work the other week and not much has sold (not many marine customers?? You would thing they would come out and thrive in the cooler months with no chiller running.. haha) so I went through it today and grabbed one super nice piece. Absolutely covered in zoos. Then I got it home and under my T5s.. and found a GORGEOUS tiny ricordia!! BOUNS! I'm a very happy Yan. Also found two tiny bubble tip anenomes on a piece I brought home a couple weeks ago. Bright green and very very pretty. Smaller than a 5c piece though.

I love bringing home stuff and then finding all the little bonuses on it, haha. Sometimes you get some not nice stuff though.. I am sure I have a pistol shrimp somewhere in my tank and I got stung by a frogspawn coral at work. Blahhh. It'll take me ages to go over these new pieces of rock over the last few weeks and truly find all the cool stuff on it. :P

[girlz0r]

Now or last month is a good time to buy marine supplies, coz most people's tanks die over summer coz it's too hot haha. We almost bought one off ebay for $500 with 2 t5's all he live rock AND a Hailea chiller!!! but unfortunately missed out ):

Summer when the 8 ft failed mostly -__- Summer damaged it, then it was beyond repair because the dead corals just poisoned everything. Chiller for over 1000L of water was errr a little out of budget.

Next one will be a 4 ft. We've been diving around melb, and there's heaps of corals and live rock around the area! so.. not sure if we'll be buying much if we can dive for it ourselves >_> (yay)

I think to order off that list, it needs to be orders for $200 or more...(I think) which isn't very hard after you see pics. or well.. for me it isn't haha! all of the fish have been quarantined etc coz shipments are all from QLD.

ahh zoos are so pretty. I always want to poke them hehe .

Seeing all your pretty pics motivates me to find another job just to sustain fish keeping addiction lolol.

P.s Learn to dive >=] then you can harvest your own stuff. AND see pretty fish.

[Yanagi]

See I bought my RSM130D for $600 with live stock, live rock, chiller, canister, etc in uh late january, lol. The old owner never managed to keep coral alive?? Not sure why.. I have had no issues even with the stock lighting, haha.

Ouch.. Yeeah, my floor would not handle an 8ft tank, it would just cave in on it's self.. LOL.

Don't you need a permit to dive for coral? I know in some areas you can legally catch up to 5 fish every.. 28? days. Something like that but couldn't find much info about coral. Also limits on net sizes.

I could easily spend over $200 on anything marine related, especially at start up time... Scary thought, really. Gorgeous convict tang at work who is just adorable. I know the tank isn't really suitable for a tang but damn it, I want him. I can always take him back to work when he gets too big. I haven't seen many tangs that I like. I find most to be rather an eye sore. *glares at the brown tang in my RSM*

My dad and I have been working on the cabinet and tank the last few days. Floor needed replacing (it was just chipboard with bad water damage) and sealing. Hinges needed replacing because they looked like they would just disintegrate within the next 5 times of opening a cabinet door. I also want to replace the little cabinet knob/handle things, they're just ruined.

Also working on scraping the blue background off the tank so I can paint it black. Cabinet is going to be sanded back and stained or painted black to go with all the other furniture in my bedroom.

Some of the zoos are opening this morning. Most appear to be bright green with yellow outer ring. I have no idea the names of colours people call zoos. I wonder if there's a list somewhere? Probably.. I should go find that. Love love love looking at Zoos under my blue LEDs. They're pretty epic.

And man that's one big tank. Kind of jealous although I don't care to imagine how much it cost to stock that thing up just to lose it all. Ouch.

I think we both need another job, LOL. Aquarium maintenance? Those guys make pretty good money!!

I'm scared to go diving.. I get an allergic reaction to salt water already. Burns my arms, very itchy, etc. Wouldn't want to jump all the way in to find natural salt water does the same.. to my entire body! Ugh.

[Yanagi]

I can't decide on lighting for my 4ft tank. Obviously I want to do it as cheaply as possible and that would mean T5s and a metal halide or two. Metal halides produce a LOT of heat though and that means chiller running all the time in summer.

LEDs are a lot cooler but a lot more expensive and somewhat unreliable with sourcing. Tempted to get two 120W LED panels along with the triple T5s but apparently one of the people who were importing these dropped them like a hot potato but they really are the cheapest option and if they work, they work, right? ... Maybe I'll contact a few people selling them and have a chat about warranties. I love the aquaray LEDs I have at the moment but the price is just too steep to try and light a 4ft with them.

I saw a brilliant idea in metal halide spotlights for highlighting parts of the tank/coral. I thought 'OMG BRILLIANT' then I remembered it's only a standard 4ft and I really don't have that much room to stack lights over the top LOL :(

[Matt_95]

Guppies have some pretty cheap units, I got my 3 foor lights with 8 T5Ho for $120

I think I may set up a nano for some zoos, love them. Maybe I could get some cuttings of you B-)

[Yanagi]

*Points up to a previous post* I will be getting the majority of stuff for this tank from Guppys. Although last time I ordered I didn't get the pumps I ordered, I got a crappy no name brand instead and the impeller shaft is already rusting on both. I will be kicking down doors if they send me anything other than what I order this time, especially since I am ordering the expensive stuff.

Let me know if you need any help/advice with marine, Matt. PS plants are cuttings, coral are frags, haha. Quite a few of the zoos are opening up on the new piece. Looks like plenty of green ones with the yellowy/orange 'fringe' (I should really find out the proper/technical names for it...).

Now I am not sure what to put on my livestock list.

Snowflake Eel - Absolutely going into this tank without a doubt.

Convict Tang - More than likely, yes. Will outgrow the tank, a larger one is recommended but I can take him back to work once that happens. Or knowing me, upgrade again.

???

And from that point onwards I am at a loss.

There is plenty of fish I like, they just tend to not like each other. Plus the eel presents the problem of, well, snacking on anything he can wrap his mouth around and swallow whole. This is the main reason I don't have him now. If you've ever seen a compatibility chart for eels you'll see a whole lot of 'No's. But that's with adult size eels. Supposed growth rate with these guys is half an inch a month with good feeding. Sigh. I don't think I've ever seen so indecisive in my life.

[Yanagi]

Snowflake Eel

Convict Tang

Marine Betta ???

Never seen a Marine Betta in person to know if I would like them or not.

[girlz0r]

WOWOWOWOW!!!

from what i read they seem quite high to maintain though..

http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/sw/marinebetta.php

[Yanagi]

I watched some videos of them on youtube. Uh, don't think they're for me. Not really very interesting.. They're pretty to look at but that's about it. Still have basically no idea what to stock up the tank with. Thinking now though

Pair of Clarkii clowns (would need to find some big ones, which may be quite difficult. We only ever seem to get the juvies) or Maroon clowns (not too keen, seem to be quite aggressive)

Either 4-5 Anthias (not sure which kind.. maybe threadfins) or 5-6 Cardinals of some sort, probably Pajama.

Snowflake Eel

Convict Tang

That should be well and truly stocking capacity. I'll need to rehome the eel when he gets too big, though. Tang too.

However.. I came across some photos today of injuries inflicted by snowflake eels. Yeeeah. Um. Having second thoughts. It was a lotta blood. Also the restrictions on fish is really putting a dampen on things. Why must I be so indecisive?! :(

[GoldenGirl13]

I can see your point with the Snowflake Eel. Every time you've mentioned them I've found myself thinking how brave you are :lol:

[Yanagi]

See I've been bitten by the ones at work and laughed at it, then pulled the eel out from under the rock with him still latched onto my finger... Then I remember they get to like 3ft long and are designed to crush shells and swallow things whole. And they grow pretty fast. The snowflake at work is pretty chill but still he might not stay that way when he realizes he can inflict some serious pain. I doubt they follow the whole rule of 'don't bite the hand that HANDFEEDS YOU'.

I may make a stock list of fish without the eel and one with the eel, but then I know I'd go without. Sigh.

[Neffy]

what about a mimic octopus they are really cool XD and he would prettend to be an eel

or just a normal octopus :P

Edited May 25, 2011 by Neffy

[Yanagi]

Because they're creeeepy. :blink:

[fishbites]

Marine Betta ???

Never seen a Marine Betta in person to know if I would like them or not.

seriously nice fish Yan.... my LFS has one in their marine display tank.... I put a video up at one stage of him but he was playing hide and seek a bit....

[Yanagi]

Bit boring for my tastes I think, plus they're a predator which rules out small fish again. I think they're supposed to be rather expensive as well so I doubt I could just ask the guys at work to order one in to see if I like it or not. I feel like I'm banging my head against a wall here, lol.

I need to come up with a QT tank and put some coral in it to test out dwarf angels. Any who pick at the coral can go back, any who don't could go into the 4ft. Sound good? lol I love me some angels.

[PeachSlices]

Yan get a cow fish. the ultimate marine fish

Simon

[Yanagi]

They are actually REALLY cool. We had one at work who would waddle over to me to get hand fed since he just wasn't fast enough to keep up with the other fish. They are toxic, though. I think it's when they're stressed or after they die they release some toxin that can wipe out entire tanks. I forget, been a while since I read that article. Grow huge, too. Over a foot or there abouts. Reef safe is iffy. Some will pick at coral...

I'll certainly keep them in mind, though.