Lilies & Lace Posted May 2, 2014 Share Posted May 2, 2014 If I could do it over, I would have found myself a rich sugar daddy or sugar momma to drop money on me before I even thought about going into this hobby. I've noticed that most of the problems in this hobby can be solved by money. Seriously though, if I had to do it over with the knowledge I have now, I probably wouldn't have a tank at all. Link to comment
tennis20 Posted May 2, 2014 Share Posted May 2, 2014 No aio. Go full out on a custom design Link to comment
gena Posted May 2, 2014 Share Posted May 2, 2014 I am a newbie to SW aquariums but have already realized that there are several things I wish I had done differently. Seems like a lot of hobbyist share this sentiment. I wish I had started with a Biocube 29 instead of a 14. Also should have never let my wife know it is an expensive hobby! What would you do different if you could? LOL about letting the wife know it's an expensive hobby . Hmmmm....with my new 8g tank I wish I would have made it 2 or 3" taller so I could use the ATO system I already have without having to buy another. That whole money thing . Link to comment
Jackal_Knight Posted May 2, 2014 Share Posted May 2, 2014 Gone with a Mr.aqua 17 gallon mines all full .also wish I made the sump area bigger So I could of fit a larger sump on in my stand that thing is packed to the max. Link to comment
TeamIM24 Posted May 2, 2014 Share Posted May 2, 2014 I would have bought my buddy's entire 100+ gallon set up that lived less than half a mile from me. He offered it for less than it cost me to get my "own" 24 gallon IM Nuvo with all the equipment. Link to comment
Spiderguardnano Posted May 9, 2014 Share Posted May 9, 2014 has anyone ever regretted going all dry rock? Link to comment
05XRunner Posted May 9, 2014 Share Posted May 9, 2014 Nope i went all dry rock and I would never do another tank any other way. maybe 1 tiny small piece of LR to seed but I like the fact I didnt introduce any nasty pest or any unwanted bad stuff that comes on live rock Link to comment
malawian Posted May 9, 2014 Share Posted May 9, 2014 Move to the West coast where I could actually go to a LFS and buy something. It stinks having to buy even the tiniest thing online. theres a pretty good one in Columbia, I know its a bit of a drive but it might be worth it. I wish I had ponied up the cash (and the cohones) to spend enough money up front on things instead of trying to be clever all the time and saving a couple bucks doing it my way. Just about every time Ive said "man...that thing is really expensive...you know what? I bet I can just do this....." it has been the dawn of a new nightmare. I would do a bigger mix of dry and live rock than I did in my 75. Use enough dry rock to make some really cool scapes and shapes and then some really good LR to get a lot of diversity. Still believe in LR, there can be pests but if youre proactive from the start you can nip everything in the bud and just have the good stuff left. (but I also wish i had been more proactive from the start lol). I too wish I had just gone with a bigger tank. On my 75g I spent so much money its insane and if I had just had the foresight I could have set up a decent 120g for not much more (and I wouldnt have this 10 year old scratchridden tank and stand thats going to fall apart if I sneeze in its general direction). Oh well...180g already in planning... Link to comment
theishkid Posted May 10, 2014 Share Posted May 10, 2014 • A lot of you mentioned starting off with a bigger tank. Are we talking about you having a 7G and with you had a 24? Or do you have a 24 and wish you had 100 gallons? I was just thinking it was kind of ironic being that this is (or at least started) as a nano reef forum. Or was it just simply cost that made you go with the smaller tank? I know the 34G tank I'm looking at will end up costing more than my old 75 did, but that's because I want to do it right the first time. • A lot of you brought up not going with an AIO again... what was the negative experience with these tanks? I'm looking at the new Cadlights 34 and want to make sure i'm not overlooking something. I had a 75 with sump before and just wanted to do something different and smaller this time. • Some of you also mentioned not going with live rock. Is this just because of the pest that come with them? I'm curious what you would think of either... A. Getting uncured live rock and putting it in a bare bottom tank while the tank goes through it's initial cycle for a month or two. Hopefully most of the bad worms and nuisances could be taken care of and pulled out... Then adding sand after a couple of months, and then after that cycle ends from the sand start adding goodies. B. Purchasing cured live rock so that hopefully there won't be as many nuisances, since even though there won't be as many good hitch hikers I wouldn't have to worry as much, then the same as above only not having to wait as long for each stage. Link to comment
Red_Blenny Posted May 10, 2014 Share Posted May 10, 2014 Some of the problems about AIOs are limited equipment (ex: hard time finding a decent efficient skimmer that will fit in the back compartment), the back chambers collect lots of detritus, little room for expansion (ex: hard time adding a GFO/Biopellet reactor that actually fits), some lack decent surface skimming, some of them are irregular shape (makes aquascaping a challenge), or the AIO chamber takes up potential tank space that we could use for aquascaping (or more coral hording) Sump pretty much takes care all of those problems AIO faces (plus it increases the tank volume, giving the tank added stability). As for dry vs. live rock, it's generally because live rock contains unwanted hitchhikers (some may not even appear until 6+ months after), or they're really pricy (dry rock = less than $2-3lb vs live rock = $6+lb). Plus its easier to aquscape the dry rocks and gives us a chance to plan out the dream 'scape we want. The only problem about dry rocks is that some of them require an acid bath to get rid all of the unwanted gunk that is full of phosphates. The cool thing about LR, IMO, is that some can come with cool hitchhikers (someone here on NR got a free blenny, which is pretty boss), cool corals, or unique fauna (see that Florida live rock thread). As for me, If I had to do it all over again, I wish my tank was an extra 2" taller and extra 2" wider than my current tank. That, and buy an ATO a loooooooooooooooooooonng time ago. Link to comment
Tamberav Posted May 10, 2014 Share Posted May 10, 2014 +1 NO AIO's!!! I would have started out with tanks in the 40g range instead of upgrading 100 times and wasting so much Link to comment
Jackal_Knight Posted May 10, 2014 Share Posted May 10, 2014 Dry rock is the only way to go for me. Next build I do is definetly gonna have better wire management. I just installed an mp10 and I have a huge rats nest in my stand Link to comment
Mirya Posted May 10, 2014 Share Posted May 10, 2014 I set up an IM8 in January and am planning on setting up an IM24 soon. Not as an upgrade, but as an additional tank. Yes, I would love to have a huge 100+ gallon tank with a sump, but that just isn't feasible with my living/work situation right now. So, I'm OK with the negatives of an AIO. I haven't had that bad of issues trying to cram stuff into the back chamber, but then I don't run a reactor and stuff. If I had to do my IM8 all over from scratch what I would do different is going with the IM16 because I filled up the 8 with coral and anemones fast. I also would have gone with a Nano Box light rather than the Maxspect Razor. At first I hated the Razor until I upgraded the optics to the 120. Now I like the light quality that comes from it, but I wish it had more controllability. I bought my Razor used, so it was cheaper than a Nano Box. The Nano Box just puts out nicer light to begin with, is more controllable and customizable, and sexy as hell looking. My advice is if you are going the LED route -- see that light in action before buying it. In regards to the dead vs live rock discussion. I went dead rock in the IM8. I loved being able to be all OCD about the aquascaping. I even took the time to epoxy the rock all together once I had a scape I liked. (I knew I'd be getting a Pistol Shrimp and didn't want any rockslides.) Yeah, I wish the rock was all coralline encrusted, but it will get there. There are purple polka dots everywhere. I loved not having ninja hitch hikers killing stuff in the tank. However, I am contemplating going live rock in the IM24 because I'm going to be doing a Florida biotope in that tank. Getting the Florida live rock seems like a fun way to add some native livestock that I wouldn't necessarily be able to buy. I am a little nervous about hitchhikers and aquascaping. We'll see how it goes. Link to comment
metrokat Posted May 10, 2014 Share Posted May 10, 2014 A tank with square glass sides, not rounded. Link to comment
ElmoC Posted May 10, 2014 Share Posted May 10, 2014 A tank with square glass sides, not rounded. +10000 to this! Link to comment
jbb Posted May 10, 2014 Share Posted May 10, 2014 I wish I would have drilled my 90 for a closed loop system instead of paying for numerous powerheads. Its a much cleaner look, can be hidden within the rock work, and you only have 1 additional pump/ power cord to worry about. ANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNND since I'm rebuilding it ... guess what Link to comment
Tamberav Posted May 10, 2014 Share Posted May 10, 2014 A tank with square glass sides, not rounded. +10000 to this! +infinity! Link to comment
malawian Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 • A lot of you mentioned starting off with a bigger tank. • A lot of you brought up not going with an AIO again... • Some of you also mentioned not going with live rock. Is this just because of the pest that come with them? I do like nano tanks because its an 8x10 picture frame instead of a wall mural. You can put a picture of just one little flower in that little frame and it will look really neat but the wall mural can hold a giant panorama of a city. Both allow for different things. That said, for me just having a pico wouldnt work, I need more to play with. When my 29 was my only tank I needed more to play with. Now with my 75 I have enough room to play with but I could have just gotten a 120 and been able to keep the fish I really want. What is my ideal? a 120, a 60g cube and a couple of 3-5g cubes. one day... why are AIOs great and suck at the same time? its all in one place. Great at work because you probably cant turn your office into a fish room. Not so great when you want to start adding complexity to the system and theres no place to put your skimmer, reactors, sensors, fuge and frag rack. my BC29 started to look like a methlab after a while. Even now Im using 100% of the space under my 75 and really wish I had more room to play with. Even cured liverock may have god knows what in it. The tiny gorilla crab that was only the size of the head of an eraser will have a fun time eating all your corals when its the size of a silver dollar but you probably wont see it for 6 months. Personally I think its still worth it but a lot of people dont agree. More importantly though its not very practical to put live rock through a bandsaw, drill it, chisel it, glue it together, and play around with it until you get that perfect structure. perfectly easy to do with dry rock and an empty tank. Link to comment
Formula462 Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 Would have made frag tank slightly smaller, and made of glass. Link to comment
Gilligan Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 I might have went a little bigger, but the reality is it is pretty expensive to equip and maintain a larger system. I can spurge a bit more on a smaller system(s). I would have gone 10-25 gallons instead of 5, for the ability to have some fish. Stocking options are very limited with only 5 gallons. When I decide to build a "big" tank one day, it would be around 40-70 gallons tops. I would do AIO again, I like it. It's not that external plumbing is prone to leaks, but there is a little more peace of mind with an AIO. Efficient use of materials in AIO construction. Aside from my MP10 and a temp probe tucked behind a rock, I don't have any equipment in the display of my 5 gallon. I would have went straight for the good stuff, (Ecotech, Kessil, Neptune etc.) Some things don't have to be top shelf, but I wouldn't compromise again if I thought something was better. It's actually cheaper this way, compared to upgrading etc. Would have made frag tank slightly smaller, and made of glass. How big is your prop tank? Link to comment
Fnard Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 I wouldn't have 2 tanks and a 3rd sitting empty ready to go. Or maybe I'd just stop changing my mind so often. Link to comment
Gilligan Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 76 gallons Ya I could see that as a little big for a hobbyist. I am building my prop tank no bigger then 24"-30" max in it's longest direction and shallow so I can utilize a single light source (A150W) and use affordable equipment. I estimate it will be around 15-20 gallons which should still be in my comfort zone of maintenance etc. although it's probably a little smaller then what it should be. Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.