Mini-Dude Posted March 10, 2011 Author Share Posted March 10, 2011 Sorry syd and sorry Ray Link to comment
Oceanus Posted March 10, 2011 Share Posted March 10, 2011 funny user name. ohh did DH ever carry thru his actions regarding this? Link to comment
Mini-Dude Posted March 10, 2011 Author Share Posted March 10, 2011 Ray, this is my friend's account. It was setup at our school. She posted at our school once and then she came over to my house and while we were browsing through the forums she saw the ML. She asked what it was and I said click on it. She did and we landed in the Wint thread. She wanted to post an I told her to put " Wint" into the post. We were trying to customize here profile. Please unban her. While your at it.... What if say my dad wanted an account on MR? We have the same computer an you said it all goes off of IP's. That computer has the same IP. He wants to post. He gets banned to posting with the same IP. Why would this happen? Link to comment
Mini-Dude Posted March 10, 2011 Author Share Posted March 10, 2011 How is it a troll? Link to comment
Euphyllia Posted March 10, 2011 Share Posted March 10, 2011 How is it a troll? Just a joke. I know you aren't trolling. Link to comment
RayWhisperer Posted March 10, 2011 Share Posted March 10, 2011 You'll have to contact Lalani. I'm not going to undo what she has done. Link to comment
bitts Posted March 10, 2011 Share Posted March 10, 2011 Sorry, broke the rules. Thats life. Link to comment
ajmckay Posted March 10, 2011 Share Posted March 10, 2011 Yeah you have less area for the display but you now have a display fuge. You have a cool compartment for filtration and returns. This really is a great setup from my perspective. Being able to hide your equipment is huge in improving the aesthetics of any reef. Even the biggest gearhead would think it tacky to have the latest and greatest heater hanging on the back wall of your display. It's just not cool... Having a functional refugium is also an effective use of space IMO. Note that there are 2 faults I find with this setup though. The first fault I see with this setup is that it makes it difficult to bring a skimmer into the equation, unless you can create a small chamber in the center section to house a tiny tiny one. This could be done though you might need to modify the flow mechanisms to free up the amount of room you would need since a lot of tubing back there might not fit as well with a skimmer taking up 4-5 inches. It seems the hydor slim skim would fit though. I vote the bigger one though, not the nano (3-1/8" square) one. You should double check the recommended water depth though before deciding. The other fault is the stocking level. Being a beginner, you've obviously got many ideas about what you want in your first reef tank. The problem is that this setup isn't going to let you get everything you want. Room will be limited for corals and fish (for example most would agree that LPS corals of the genus euphyllia need at least a 4" buffer around the coral - that doesn't leave you much room in a small display!). Same for fish. Your water volume could deceive you! You need to carefully plan the species and quantity of livestock you want to keep. That's why you should have a pretty good idea of what's out there and what you want to stock before you completely decide on a specific tank. For example one guy earlier today wanted a flame angel, no matter what. He had a BC29. I indicated that he could indeed keep one in that size tank, however he needed to trim his other livestock (a flame has a larger effect on the biofilter than an ocellaris clown) and make sure he had plenty of live rock. This setup I do believe could be built pretty cheaply though. That's a huge plus. You could save a lot on materials by using glass instead of acrylic, and you could also spray paint the inside black to hide the equipment section. Of course you probably would have a toothless weir in that case though (you can cut it out with a diamond wheel from harbor freight on your dremel with some water). I vote you draw up the design in paint and put plans into motion for the tank. In the meantime, however, I would still continue to contemplate the livestock selection. The best tanks are designed around the livestock. I haven't seen many numbers put up in this thread (what I've read of it), so here is a quick drawing of how it could go. I feel that my price estimations are in the middle. They're certainly not high end, but they're not using crappy equipment either. The only thing I really left out was lighting, as that's something you'll need to decide on (after you've decided what kind of corals/inverts you want to stock). Note that I did this in less than 10 minutes. Goes to show that while equipment might seem like a huge portion of setting up a tank, it's really not. The livestock should take you much much longer. All the equipment I listed is pretty much standard fare for any reef aquarium and just the basics. Link to comment
bitts Posted March 10, 2011 Share Posted March 10, 2011 Oh if only I could remember the thread where you & I talked about proper stocking & the fish list method. still think that while this is a great design. the points AJ brings up. Kinda hit it on the head. skimmer & limited display size. Link to comment
Mini-Dude Posted March 10, 2011 Author Share Posted March 10, 2011 This really is a great setup from my perspective. Being able to hide your equipment is huge in improving the aesthetics of any reef. Even the biggest gearhead would think it tacky to have the latest and greatest heater hanging on the back wall of your display. It's just not cool... Having a functional refugium is also an effective use of space IMO. Note that there are 2 faults I find with this setup though. The first fault I see with this setup is that it makes it difficult to bring a skimmer into the equation, unless you can create a small chamber in the center section to house a tiny tiny one. This could be done though you might need to modify the flow mechanisms to free up the amount of room you would need since a lot of tubing back there might not fit as well with a skimmer taking up 4-5 inches. It seems the hydor slim skim would fit though. I vote the bigger one though, not the nano (3-1/8" square) one. You should double check the recommended water depth though before deciding. The other fault is the stocking level. Being a beginner, you've obviously got many ideas about what you want in your first reef tank. The problem is that this setup isn't going to let you get everything you want. Room will be limited for corals and fish (for example most would agree that LPS corals of the genus euphyllia need at least a 4" buffer around the coral - that doesn't leave you much room in a small display!). Same for fish. Your water volume could deceive you! You need to carefully plan the species and quantity of livestock you want to keep. That's why you should have a pretty good idea of what's out there and what you want to stock before you completely decide on a specific tank. For example one guy earlier today wanted a flame angel, no matter what. He had a BC29. I indicated that he could indeed keep one in that size tank, however he needed to trim his other livestock (a flame has a larger effect on the biofilter than an ocellaris clown) and make sure he had plenty of live rock. This setup I do believe could be built pretty cheaply though. That's a huge plus. You could save a lot on materials by using glass instead of acrylic, and you could also spray paint the inside black to hide the equipment section. Of course you probably would have a toothless weir in that case though (you can cut it out with a diamond wheel from harbor freight on your dremel with some water). I vote you draw up the design in paint and put plans into motion for the tank. In the meantime, however, I would still continue to contemplate the livestock selection. The best tanks are designed around the livestock. I haven't seen many numbers put up in this thread (what I've read of it), so here is a quick drawing of how it could go. I feel that my price estimations are in the middle. They're certainly not high end, but they're not using crappy equipment either. The only thing I really left out was lighting, as that's something you'll need to decide on (after you've decided what kind of corals/inverts you want to stock). Note that I did this in less than 10 minutes. Goes to show that while equipment might seem like a huge portion of setting up a tank, it's really not. The livestock should take you much much longer. All the equipment I listed is pretty much standard fare for any reef aquarium and just the basics. For the skimmer Euphillia mentioned one on an earlier page. I dont want glass chambers because my dad doesnt have a dremel.l I will be using mostly base rock in the display but will have a coupe of pieces of LR though. I will have just LR in the fuge though. Im trying to make a deal with my dad to let him pay for the equipment and I pay for the livestock. I told him that liivestock s more expencive in the long run. Link to comment
dickie52 Posted March 10, 2011 Share Posted March 10, 2011 I only made one alt. lavalash MD next time get better fake ID, if you know they are checking at the lounge door Link to comment
ajmckay Posted March 10, 2011 Share Posted March 10, 2011 for a few $$ you could probably have your glass shop cut the weirs for you as well. $35 for glass is probably on the high side for most areas. If you called several places you could probably buy your glass (all cut) for about $20 if you wanted to. Black acrylic in a decent thickness will cost much more, and it's still not easy to work with as you need a tablesaw and/or a router. Clear acrylic would work, spraypainted, but probably cost more than glass still. I suppose it's better to err on the high side though as doing your own custom build will almost always come out costing more than you planned on. You may mess up a cut, or find out that a particular way of doing things won't work in your plan, etc... Also, don't skimp on a skimmer. It doesn't have to be expensive or anything, but typically should be rated for a much larger tank than what you are planning for. I think most would agree that the ratings given by skimmer manufacturers are for light bioloads at best. Link to comment
Mini-Dude Posted March 10, 2011 Author Share Posted March 10, 2011 Ok I will look around on the glass stuff. Do you think Home Depot or Lowes would do it? I wil look around for a skimmer. I don't want it to be very expencive yet I don't want to skimp. Link to comment
Oceanus Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 Maybe, look for a glass shop in the phone book. Link to comment
Mini-Dude Posted March 11, 2011 Author Share Posted March 11, 2011 Ok I will There is plenty!!!! I will chose one and let you guys know. Should I spend the extra mulah and get Starphire glass or just get regular glass? Link to comment
Oceanus Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 Meh, regular will work. But you may regret it later. Link to comment
Mini-Dude Posted March 11, 2011 Author Share Posted March 11, 2011 What is the difference between the two? Link to comment
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