My Work in progress

[Knox_Legend]

Here is my current work in progress. Comments constructive or otherwise are welcome. I still have a ways to go it came from someone who did no maintenance to it and topped it off with tap water I think it has come a good ways since then. I can tell the fish are way more happy ! Sorry if some of the pics are fuzzy and the blinds reflection. Camera phone

http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r96/trebor717/2010-08-04185415.jpg[/IM

[IMG]http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r96/trebor717/2010-08-04185433.jpg

And Mr. Betta just for fun

 

[macclellan]

What is that, gallon and dimension-wise? It's hard to get a sense of scale.

Looks good, but I'd get more live rock if possible.

 

[Knox_Legend]

It's 72x18x24 135 gallons I think or there about. I'm working on some more rock. There is about 60 pounds or so in it right now.

 

[Engloid]

Looks good. What kind of bulbs do you have? You may want to look into better lighting before putting much into live rock or more corals...that is if those are T8 fixtures.

More rock is what I'd want, but some people like a tank that has just a little rock and more swimming room for fish. If you want more rock, you may want to buy base rock and put it on the bottom, and put your old rock on the top.

 

[Steve W]

base rock

base rock

Where's the best place to get suitable base rock cheap? I'm going to try my hand at culturing live rock from base (with a few seed pieces) for a 72 gallon tank I hope to get up and running this winter.

 

[Engloid]

I know Coral Reef has some. I'm not sure if Aquatic Marine does or not. Then you also have the option of buying online. I'm not sure how the price is online, considering the shipping cost. If you caught a group buy or bought over $150 in stuff, Reefs2go has free shipping. Some other places have free shipping over a certain dollar amount also. If it's a club group buy, sometimes the club will pick up the shipping costs.

 

[Knox_Legend]

I know my lighting is woefully underpowered at the moment but I am working on getting two 36" 4 bulb t5s and that should tide me over for a bit till I can upgrade to LED which is what I would ultimately want but expense is to prohibitive right now.

I'm going to get some more live rock when I get a chance to run out and pick some up.

 

[shirley386]

I can highly recommend Marco Rocks. I bought their Key Largo rock and have been very satisfied with it.

 

[reeflover101]

the rule of thumb is 4 to 5 watts per gallon. i have a aqualight pro that is 48" that is 496 watts that i am going to sell or trade let me know. has to 150 watt 20,000k MH and 2 96 watt pc and 4 1 watt moon lights

 

[Knox_Legend]

That fixture sounds great reeflover101. My tank is 72" long with a big thick glass center support that doesn't allow a ton of light through. I was trying to stick with 2 36" fixtures or a 72" to have somewhat of a symetrical look to the lights on top of the tank, but if the price is right I would highly consider it and then run a 24" fixture on the opposite side

That is kind of the reason for the two rock islands I have set up. The sand space is under the glass center support.

Again thanks for all the comments

 

[planejane]

Check out BRS for dry rock too. I like your aquascape like it is, especially the right side.

 

[Knox_Legend]

Thanks planejane

 

[Engloid]

...and when you get around to it, put some more water in that tank.

Not sure how new you are to this, but if you allow water to evaporate down that low without topping it off with some RO water, then your salinity will go up. Water evaporates, but salt doesn't.

 

[Knox_Legend]

I top off once a week or so with RO water I need to fill it the rest of the way up just havent had enough buckets yet to fill it all the way up. I check my salinity once a week and have my parameters checked when I get my ro water to top off.

It's a big work in progress and I should have took before pictures as it came from people who pretty much did nothing with it other than put tap water in it and feed the fish. It had a little LR and some ugly fake coral in it. I have added more sand and about 30 pounds or so of live rock in the past 3 weeks that I have had it. The lights are inadequate for what I want but are working for the time being as is the filtering. Coming from planted freshwater tanks to this is quite a step up in the money department but will be worth it once I get it set up the way I want it.

 

[Engloid]

The people I bought my tank from put tap water in it also. I'm having a little problems with phosphate, and suspect that it could be leeching out of the rocks. I'm just telling you because you may run into the same thing since your tank was given tap water too.

It does take time to build a setup, and I don't know that you're ever done with it...just a constant state of upgrading.

I try to buy most stuff used, since the prices are much better. Once I get this surgery past and get back to work, I hope to get a better light than what I have...and may sell the one I have now. It's a 6 bulb t5 fixture, 48" long. I really would like a 6ft with halides or led's.

I'm still fairly new to saltwater too, and the people here have not cussed me yet (at least in front of me) for asking stupid beginner questions. They've been pretty helpful.

 

[macclellan]

Those are sweet dimensions and that will be an excellent setup.

 

[Knox_Legend]

I'm always for buying and looking for quality used stuff as in this hobby people are always upgrading and good deals are out there. A 6ft light set up would be perfect for this tank but those are pretty pricey from what I have seen. I figure it will be pieced together for some time which is fine by me as long as stuff remains happy and healthy in the tank that's all that matters.

I guess starting off with a big tank like this makes it a little more forgiving for a new saltwater owner such as myself!

 

[vwtanker]

I would look at the total lumen or par output on which ever type of lighting your looking at. Watts per gallon can be very deceiving. Older type bulbs like t8s and pcs, will have lower par and lumen output, but the same wattage as t5s and leds.

 

[Knox_Legend]

Thanks vwtanker good info to know!

 

[Flavum]

nice start! Im partial to the "island" rock configuration myself. Rock walls are dumb...

Sweet beta set up. what tank is it in? Lights?