Need Your Input

[Jiddy]

Its me again! Im the guy with the empty 90g, tryin to gather up as much info i can before i dive into this expensive hobby. Ive read Salt4Dummies,Cons.Aquast,MarineSetp, so i got the books out of the way, now im on here cruisin around lookin at people with similar tank sizes and how they do things and i made my list up, just wanted to run it by the experts to make sure i got it all down:

90g AGA no holes, Acr. Canopy $40, 120 MI LR $550, black sand (dont know where from), Remora Pro HOB PSkimmer with skim box $270, 4 MJ 1200's 2 MJ 400's, 2 150w heaters $12, Salifert Test Kits $10ea, IO SaltMix, RO/DI unit $80, and ill figure out lights later. Besides the little things like food and tubs does this sound like a good setup for a starter, only creatures i play on havin anytime soon is clowns and maybe some easy shrooms (dependin on what lights i get) ?????????????

 

[bradreef]

you are paying too much for rock. you should be able to buy online and have it shipped for 2/3 of that. also look into half base and half live rock. dont forget lighting. In the long run you might want to rethink the whole 4-mj1200's unless you plan on staying with soft and LPS. skimmer should be fine unless you stock too many fish and the two heaters are a good idea.

 

[Jiddy]

I cant find Marshal Island for less then $4, thats how much i would be payin. The MJ's are all 6 for $50 used, think that will do? And i wont be skippin on the lights, just not sure what path ill be takin... Thanks for the fast reply

 

[MarineDreamer]

The MJ's are all 6 for $50 used, think that will do?

I think what Brad is getting at here is one of two problems: One) heat build up with that many motors turning inside the tank. Unless you have A/C and/or a chiller on the tank, you might run to heat issues. Two) for the best bang for the buck, and if you want to get into SPS's later, nothing can beat out a well designed CLS. If you've not thought about it, there are 'Sea Swirls' and 'SWCD's' that can make it easier to get the flow worked out. Just a thought. (Not to mention that after you put all this time, effort, and money into the tank, who wants to look at six powerheads?)

I'd also listen to the suggestion of getting base rock and then topping off with LR. Saves on the $$$.

And i wont be skippin on the lights, just not sure what path ill be takin...

Sure sounds like to me that you're headed down that slippery slope of SPS keeping... :lol:

 

[soldefender]

six power heads will look horrible

 

[Jiddy]

Well i havent set it up yet, im sure ill use one for salt mix container and what not, just implyin that i have six, what do you think about the overall setup besides that

 

[Jiddy]

What would you suggest

 

[MarineDreamer]

Hey Jiddy,

What would you suggest (?)

Ultimately it's your tank and YOU are the one that has to be happy with it. All I can give you is my opinion, and I'll charge you what its worth, which is nothing! I would strongly encourage you to build a CLS. And becuase you have an un-drilled tank, here’s a good plan.

does this sound like a good setup for a starter, only creatures i play on havin anytime soon is clowns and maybe some easy shrooms

Sounds like a great start to me.

 

[wrightme43]

Check it out man, Powerheads in tank and hang on the back filter and skimmer and the same tank switched to sump system.

 

[wrightme43]

Yeah 3rd pic finally found one right before the switch over. Less heat, looks better, better flow, better filtration, constant water level, great place to drip kalk, sumps rock. And no goofy distracting stuff in the tank. Steve

 

[Jiddy]

Thanks for all the help guys, but basically i guess im askin is, if i have everything listed, will i be able to keep a FOWLR and some simple shrooms alive, i understand this is one of those hobbies that if you spend an extra $100 dollars here and there you can have the best simple, but im not at that level yet, so without all the "extras" does my initial setup look good for a starter setup?

 

[big t]

Yes! You can run a tank w/ what you have. These guys are just trying to save you time and money down the road. I have been in this hobby for 3 yrs now and still spend a couple hun every now and then on something that I would like to do different. I am currently rethinking my whole plumbing scheme and tank size just wishing that I would have thougth it out more and done what I really wanted to do back then! So there goes another grand, flush

 

[Jonathan G.]

also the extra MJ can be held as spares and also to do water changes, or also if you wanted to build your own refuge.

 

[Jiddy]

Good point JonG

 

[wrightme43]

Yeah, Man. Just let it get stable, really stable. And this stuff is tough as nails. If you heat to 75-82. Ph stable at 8.0-8.4 anywhere in there. Sal. is stable 1.021-1.026, No ammonia, no nitrite, low nitrate. These guys do fine. They only reason why everybody is telling you to upgrade now. Is we most all have tried to save a little money at one time or another and spent 2 times as much upgrading than we had to. Hth Steve

 

[Maxx]

Jiddy,

like Big T said..all anyone is trying to do is save you some money. If you think you're going to keep SPS, its best ,(cheaper too), to buy things only once...meaning spend the most you can afford on a skimmer the first time, etc.
Hope that makes sense.

As far as running that set up on a FO tank...no problem. That set up will be just fine for an FO.

I'll also second the motion to use a live/base rock mix to fill your tank, that will also money for you.

Nick

 

[cronicreef]

I'll still give you credit for not jumping into setting up a tank. You already saved yourself alot of trouble by reading a few books and asking question on this forum too.

It really hard to say what your going to want to keep in your tank when your first starting out. So if you haven't already take a look around a few salt water stores and see what you want to keep in the future.

But you can keep a couple of fish and some mushrooms with what you have now. But it pays to look ahead like everyone is saying.

Good luck

 

[Jonathan G.]

i set my 75g up going on 2 months now and it is doing great so far... knock on wood. he's right about letting it settle, i got 40lbs 100% cured live rock from my lfs and experienced very little if any cycle at all. I almost made the mistake of adding my 2 baby O. clowns too early and started getting a bit of a reading in ammonia and trites but i added some bio spira and it took both down to 0 and started to get trates few days later, did a 10g water change a week after i added the bio spira and it has been smooth sailing so far. only thing is that i get a steady reading of 20ppm trates so i think im gonna gradually switch my bio balls for LRubble.

 

[wrightme43]

Yeah man. I want to give you credit for trying to start out right instead of jumping in. I did, and had to pay the piper in learning mistakes. It all worked out but I spent a lot of money I didnt have to. Here is one, the powerstrip wave timer and 3 rotating power heads. Is a waste of money. They dont last 6 months. That was just one of my nubie mistakes learning but it cost alot of money. The lfs still sells them by the truck load.

 

[Jiddy]

Thanks for all the updates and sharing of experience, thats why i love this site! Thanks for giving me credit on waitin, but its actually my wife who wont let me "blow" the money, so i turned into a FishFactFreak tryin to get as much knowledge as possible, the books only do so much, love the personal interaction from the site =)