Birth Of My Fish Tank

[PSYCHO1000R]

i almost forgot,if you plan on keeping any corals, you need good lighting, PC, VHO, MH. PC's are the cheapest , but you cant keep all coral or clams, just soft corals and some anenomes, and for my tank it cost $200 fust for a 30 gallon light set up, MH are like double the price of mine but you can put anything u want under them.... im sure you can start to see why it becomes complicated and pricey.

[ronin_01r1]

....oh forget about it, my 2 dogs is enough pain in my ass...and i can barely keep up with them! lol.

[PSYCHO1000R]

Originally Posted by ronin_01r1

....oh forget about it, my 2 dogs is enough pain in my ass...and i can barely keep up with them! lol.

lol, i hear ya!

[liquiddevil2000]

dam thats a hot ass tank..mine isnt a salt water tank and its not that big but its still a pain in the ass to clean and take care of..

[tommymac]

thats something I want to get into down the road. I had a few freshwater tanks as a kid and would like to go into that once we get a house ( of course thats after Iget 4 or 5 more snakes that I want )

Tom

[PSYCHO1000R]

nick, that the airtube off the powerhead, thast why your gettnig all those air bubble, whcih arent good in salt water tanks

[ffejtable]

Not to jack the thread, but I used to have a 125gal (6ft x 18in x 18in, I think) that I gave a friend (2+ years ago) and I am pretty sure he still hasnt used it. Its scratched a bit on the inside (previous owner had a lot of coral in it), but once full its not that bad. The plastic trimming needs to be replaced as well.. But if you have any idea what a 125gal costs, the costs to make it presentable is minimal.

A fresh water tank is relatively cheap to run, but with saltwater your price goes up because of...

a) water maintenence. freshwater fish are generally much less tolerant to poor water quality, so in addition to more frequent water changes, you are going to be testing the water more frequently, adding chemicals more often, and probably have more test equipment (some of it not so cheap, either)

b) cost of fish. Few freshwater fish (not including adults) are over $10.. most are well under $5. With the exception of the clown fish, few saltwater fish are under $10, most are many times that. This is primarily because almost all saltwater fish are taken from the wild, they rarely breed in captivity. Many freshwater fish can be bred in captivity.

c) filtration. With most freshwater set ups, you can get away with pretty small and simple filters. Saltwater tanks usually require bigger, more expensive and in some setups, multiple types of filters.

d) lighting. as already mentioned, for tanks with coral, you need hundreds of watts of lighting. and its "special" lighting that has to mimic the frequencies of the sun. The bulbs arent cheap, and they have to be replaced on a regular basis, as they lose intensity over time. Of course there is the cost of electric, too. even without coral, the lighting requirements for saltwater tanks is generally much higher than saltwater.

Of course, the end result is a wonderful display of colorful fish that a freshwater tank can't even come close to replicating.

[njf4i]

Originally Posted by PSYCHO1000R

nick, that the airtube off the powerhead, thast why your gettnig all those air bubble, whcih arent good in salt water tanks

Yeah i adjusted the jet to only push water and no bubbles.

The stand was free, the tank was free, all it took was a little time and some beer.

But its becoming alot of work with new filters, better lights, protein skimmer, 45lbs of live fiji rock, and all the other crap you need. But i'm totally commited to it and have a couple of friends that are into it to help me along.

Like ron said, this is what happens when you stop riding sportbikes.

[Redlinerider]

i have fishing here ready.

[John712]

good stuff Nick, looks real good. now draw something up for me lol. i got a 55 gallon sitting in my basement doing nothing.

[njf4i]

Originally Posted by John217

good stuff Nick, looks real good. now draw something up for me lol. i got a 55 gallon sitting in my basement doing nothing.

John just tell me what you want and we'll build the stand for you. My stand incorporated a 4 drawer stand i had, then we added 2 center doors and 2 shelfs. One on the bottom left and one on the top right.

[PitsVtec]

Nicely done!

[Jay]

I am gonna bump this bro. I am definately interested in building a stand. what type of wood did you use?

Might need a little help with this.

[shadoxkila]

i always wanted to get a saltwater tank, but i really don't even know where to start, because i know that there is a lot involved in maintenance etc etc...

[Sue]

Nice job Nick...looks great!