What do you buy?

Striike · Oct 28, 2009

Hi all, looking for some feedback on what you guys buy, or where, or what type, ect. This may be helpful to other users, too, so the more ideas, the better. Please answer your post with a number next to each one so we all know what you are referring to. If anyone wants to add something I didn't add, please do.

1. What brand of salt water mix, how much do you buy at a time.
2. Specific brand of food? Where do you buy it?
3. Crabs, snails, or both?
4. Water flow per gallon?
5. Watts per gallon? Moonlights? # hours you keep lights on?
6. Size tank/size sump?
7. Dream tank size? (if money were no issue)
8. DIY, or pre-built preferred?
9. ???

Striike · Oct 28, 2009

I'll start

1. Instant ocean, usually from PetCare
2. Don't know yet.
3. Both is the plan.
4. 10.6
5. 4, yes to moonlights, plan on 12 hours per day
6. 75g/29g
7. 8000g whole wall aquarium, I saw a post about a guy with a wall as the tank. Sounds like a plan, but cleaning it would be tough, lol.
8. DIY all the way.

AlexStinson · Oct 28, 2009

1 H2Ocean, I buy in 5gal buckets
2 Omega one flake, various frozen including rod's food, cyclopeeze, and enriched brine and mysis; then refrigerated DT's
3 Snails, Hermits, and begrudgingly a few emeralds
4 Vortech mp40w, hard to say flow per gallon when you are rocking the tank
5 im running around 12 watts per gallon, 490 watts over a 40.
6. 40b/20l
7. I would be happy with setting up my 185 again.
8. My tank is custom built by Ocea, cause I like starphire. most other things I like to DIY

Phin · Oct 28, 2009

1. Using Instant Ocean right now
2. Omega One, Cyclopeeze, DT, frozen mysis
3. Both lots of snails and reef hermits a few emeralds
4. 3,000 gph about to up to 4,000 gph (20/27)
5. 2 + right now getting ready to up it to 5 +
6. 150/15 - upgrading to 150/45
7. Happy with my 150!
8. What ever works best!

blueray · Oct 28, 2009

Ok I'll play along.

1. Instant Ocean box(Make 200 Gallon) , Seachem reef salt (5 gallon)
2. DIY seafood mix (clam,oyster,mussel, silverside,scallop,shrimp,octopus and nori). I get all the ingredient from Atlanta seafood market. I do not have many coral. So food is for my fish not the coral.
3. Snail and hermit
4. 7500 GPH for 125 Gallon tank around 60 turn per hr.
5. I run 616 W total (400w MH for 8 Hrs and 4 T5-HO 54w each for 10 Hrs.) that will be 4.9 watts/gallon
6. 125G/30g
7. 300 gallon. 120x24x24 both side viewing, center over flow, euro brace and starfire glass (a must).
8. Depend on project. If pre-built is cheaper, I will go with the pre-built.

Hi Alex

Are you crank MP-40 all the way? Are you get any sand storm?

Mak

AlexStinson · Oct 28, 2009

I have the mp40 full bloast on pulse mode, no sandstorm or even sand migration, although it did grade it to a degree, it has become a steadly slope going up towards the vortech (far side is about 1" deep, vortech side is about 3" deep

blueray · Oct 29, 2009

Nice. I always think since it pull so much water (3000 gph) it might create sand storm in the tank.

AlexStinson said:
I have the mp40 full bloast on pulse mode, no sandstorm or even sand migration, although it did grade it to a degree, it has become a steadly slope going up towards the vortech (far side is about 1" deep, vortech side is about 3" deep

ironman · Oct 29, 2009

1. Reef Crystals. 200 gallon box, order or buy local in bulk when deals are running.
2.dry foods= omega and ocean nutrition, frozen= hikari brine and mysis, rods food.
3.Snails only, tiger trochus, nassarious, astreas. no crabs cause i like to keep my snails!
4.Personally i dont think there is any accurate formula for flow. to many variables. each tank and situation calls for change. between the two vortechs and the iwaski 70 in my 120 i have plenty of flow.
5.Not a watts per gallon person either, has more to do with what corals you are keeping and the demintions you are lighting. rule of thumb, one 250 watt for every 2square feet. I use moonlights and love them.
6.120 display, 120 sump, 40 frag
7.Not enough time to type!
8.Im a believer in quality equipment, and usually DIY is not quality. If I can build it better than someone can make it I will, but id rather let someone else with better expertise make the mistakes.

Myteemouse · Oct 29, 2009

1. Instant ocean 200 galon box two at a time
2. Hakari , rods food, LFS or The 2 docs.
3. Snails only
4. 7000gph in a 125
5. 2x250w MH 2x86w T-5 MH on for 6 hours T-5's on for 10
6. 125 tank 50 gallon (running) sump
7. 600 gallon walkaround island lookdown
8. DIY and pre built,
9. Kalk and CA RX only don't add anything I don't test for.

MattS · Oct 29, 2009

1. Reef Crystals, two 200g boxes
2. Ocean Nutrition Formula Two small pellets, Foster & Smith
Mysis Shrimp, chopped Krill, and Rod's Food (coral blend)
3. Just changed to snails, no hermits but I do have an anemone crab and an emerald crab
4. Not sure,the vortech is at 80% Reef Crest and then the 600gph from the return
5. 11wpg 500w MH (9hrs), 156w in T5s (12hrs), 9 blue LEDs (24hrs) Didn't count the T5s in the watts per gallon they are pure actinic.
6. 46g display, 20L sump/fuge
7. the 95g I'm about to get
8. For the tank? Pre-built for sure I suck at DIY

Striike · Oct 30, 2009

Lots of participation here, thank you to all so far. I'm kind of disappointed in the dream tanks, though. Remember, If money was not an issue. Like "I'd like the saltwater section of the Chattanooga Aquarium" kind of dream tank. Some great info and variety in how everyone does thier own thing, meaning I can get multiple opinions from multiple points of view.

blueray · Oct 30, 2009

Striike said:
Lots of participation here, thank you to all so far. I'm kind of disappointed in the dream tanks, though. Remember, If money was not an issue. Like "I'd like the saltwater section of the Chattanooga Aquarium" kind of dream tank. Some great info and variety in how everyone does thier own thing, meaning I can get multiple opinions from multiple points of view.

Cleaning and maintenance will be a nightmare. Think about cleaning the glass surface, vacuum the sand (I have shallow sand bed.) or just simple thing like moving coral from one spot to another. My tank is 24 inch tall and I have hard time to clean my sand (I have short arm.)

Even money is no object, I still want to do tank maintenance by myself. If I hire someone to do it, that would not be my hobby. :wink:

I saw one thread long time ago. The man has 17000 gallon (Google "Reefzilla 17000 gallon"). It has 65 page to read if you up to it.To bad that they did not show finished tank picture.

or you can see this one

YouTube - DSPS tank from Thailand II.
DSPS tank from Thailand on Vimeo

This guy live in Thailand.

Mak

Silveradositn · Oct 30, 2009

1.REEF CRYSTALS
2.OMEGA ONE VEGGIE AND FROZEN MYST FOR FISH//FOR CORALS I USE DT'S AND RODS FOOD
3.CRABS BLUE LEGS SNAILS tiger trochus, nassarious, astreas
4.I HAVE TWO VOTECH MP40W'S AND IWAKI 55RLT RETURN PUMP
5.120 REEF READY AND A 60 GALLON SUMP
6.A 300 MARINELAND
7.I LIKE quality equipment IM KINDA FUNNY ABOUT THE STUFF I RUN

jules11vb · Nov 1, 2009

1. I buy my saltwater straight from 5th Day. It makes it simple and easy.
2. Most recently bought Omega at 5th Day. I might check amazon.com to see if they sell it. I buy Nori to feed my yellow tang at the asian food store in East Ridge. It is soooo much more affordable than at the fish stores.
3. Both. I like the small hermit crabs. If they start getting too big, I move them into my 29gallon tank to keep them out of the main display. Nirites and astrea snails also.
4. not sure.
5. currently running vho's on my 75gallon....need to upgrade around christmas to t-5s with moonlights.
6. 75 gallon no sump. running protein skimmer and two good powerheads
7. I really love the ones that are built into a wall where everything is hidden on the other side. It would be huge!!
8. only have exp w/ prebuilt.

bkv1997 · Nov 7, 2009

1. Reef Crystals - tried them all just not worth the extra money
2. Frozen mysis and Brine (Hikari), Seaweed Sheets, nor flake
3. Green emeralds (hermits are the devil

) astrea, tiger trocus, and nessarius for snails
4. Never can have to much... The art is to keep velocity down. Currently have about 4500 gph in a 92 gallon tank.
5. i would ditch the whole PWG measure look at PAR ratings. The club has a meter if you decide to join up. I get about 700 PAR at the top corals and 250 on the bottom. Radium 250s in luminarc reflectors driven by ice cap ballasts.
6. 92 gallon tank, 75 gallon sump, 40 gallon frag tank.
7. I love my current tank... taken me almost 3 years to automate everything... moving buckets, dosing chemicals had me a slave now I just feed and enjoy, which is more important than size if you ask me.
8. Pre-built... the DIY stuff never turns out cheaper think we've all tried it at one point or another.

Just my 2 cents.

Striike · Nov 11, 2009

Hi, was wondering if anyone has a bead on some Argonite Playground sand? I've called Home Depot, Lowes, Ace, and they all only carry silicate. I know the stuff exists, I just can't seem to find it in Chattanooga.

Looking for a 50lb bag for around $5-10.

bkv1997 · Nov 11, 2009

Don't think you'll find any locally. Last I saw someone in Nashville was able to find some, but the trip and/or shipping wouldn't make that cost effective.

Striike · Nov 12, 2009

I can't even find any on Ebay. Its almost as if all of the main stream companies bought out and closed down the argonite based sandbox buisness. I see posts all the time dated back to 2003 saying "Go to Home Depot" and "go to Ace Hardware." I was wanting to add a little more to my substrate, ~50 lbs, but I wanted the fine stuff to mix in with my courser substrate. Its looking like I'll have to do without the extra buffer, and go with silica sand.