Reef in apartment questions and considerations

[BostonMatt]

Great thread- i just recently went through a lot of these same concerns since I rent an apartment. I too live in boston, Cambridge actually. Ended up using my 26 gallon bowfront I had in storage. The tank has been up in my living room since last summer, started putting in corals in late December.

As for Rodi, I use a portable unit that hooks to my kitchen faucet. I run enough water each time (2-3x,a month) for a water change and a few extra gallons for top off, lfs trip, etc. I'm pretty happy with it thus far and it's not a huge pain in the butt.

As for lfs options around boston- it's very lackluster. I've only gone to one thus far and their coral health seems questionable. It's a shame because there was a huge store in the south end that moved a few years back!

I'm curious if you are familiar with any good stores I should check out.

 

I was at work when I last posted, so couldn't respond individually then. Damn cool to find another reefer in Boston, was pretty unexpected. People look at you so odd when you talk about reefs up here!

 

Which portable RODI unit are you running? I think sink top is going to have to be the way I go.

 

The only relatively legit LFS with reef stuff I've been to has been Lovely Pets in Quincy. I just stopped in briefly once with the GF, so didn't heavily evaluate frag health, but it looked pretty good. Their vert livestock seemed very well maintained, all the employees I've spoken with are reefers themselves, but not as advanced as many on here to say the least. I feel solid with them, but certainly not the Florida quality LFS that I was used to as a kid. I'd be very interested to hear the results of your recent visit to one.

 

The idea of starting one here with a large mail-order facet to the business has been rolling around in my head. There is a need, but it seems sort of undoable in this area. Im sure you know how much commercial rent is in this area. I think I could get it started, but I also think I'd end up losing my head and wallet on the deal.

 

CCHS: Those pics are priceless!!

 

So, as an update I'm getting a tank, but now it's about picking one. I love that cadlights CCHS, and you're right, those curved corners are awesome, better than the IM 30 seams for sure. Here's the thing though, the sleek form factor of the IM 30L really gets me. In fact, the shape and size of that tank are perfect for me. If I could custom design a tank, that'd pretty much be what it looked like. The quality control issues is giving me serious pause, more so now that I'm not in actual money-spending mode. And, if anything, the quality of the stand worries me more in an apt, and I'm not at all enthused about the price - $350. Seems insanely expensive for what it is. If both these components had a relatively clean profile in terms of reviews, they'd already be in transit.

 

A direct question to everyone: Would you feel comfortable ordering these tank and stand given the issues that have been documented, and the struggle involved in getting them resolved. While I love the look more than anything else I can find, I'd probably be more inclined to purchase something else with a rock solid reputation. Quality matters a great deal to me, I'm 100% in the camp of do it solidly and correctly from the beginning.

 

I do want a 30 gallon, I do want low iron glass, and it has to be an AIO. I've never been a big sump person on anything less than say a 75, and in an apt I just don't want to mess with it.

[Guits]

Glad you decided to go through with it!

 

So I've recently been doing some research on finding some local options for corals and have found a few near Boston- going to check out a place this weekend. Very excited, he had a thread saying something crazy like 3000 frags! Let the spending begin...

 

I lived in Boston from summer 2013 to summer 2014 without a car. The options are exceedingly limited if you can only go places by public transportation. The only place I ever found was Lovely Pets in Quincy, not far from the Quincy Center T stop. I thought they had a reasonable selection of both fresh and saltwater. The Petco in Cambridge has a tiny selection, as does the Petco in Quincy not too far from Lovely Pets.

 

As to the original post - when I lived in Boston it was a tiny 300 sq foot studio. I wound up keeping a 6 gallon and 5 gallon. Both were relatively easy to transport. I wound up bagging each specimen individually and placing them in buckets and plastic containers for my move back NYC. For water, I actually wound up buying distilled water from Shaw's since I couldn't set up a RO/DI unit and I lived across the street from Shaws. It would have been cheaper in the long run to get a unit, but just not realistic given the limits of my small studio. When it used to be on sale, it was 88 cents a gallon jug if I remember correctly; I forget the full price they charge. I didn't keep fish last year, so when I went away for the week there were no major issues, plus everything I keep is very hardy.

[Butchy21]

Ya I agree- definitely not expecting to meet many people in the city with tanks, but you never know! As for RODI, I grabbed a faucet attached model off ebay (POQ-4B-10) for pretty cheap, under $100. I've been running it for 9 months and it is still doing 0ppm. The directions are confusing as heck because it is written by a non-English individual- no complaints though. Oh ya for sure - I think you could pull in some nice business if you get established. Most of the northeast online companies doing similar stuff has limited stock on hand. If you were very great at posting good pics of all of your corals, people would buy.

Thankfully I do have a car or it would be Lovely pets and nothing else with respect to LFS. It seems like Boston reefers are very active so that is another good avenue to track down some goodies for the tank.

.

[NirvanaandTool]

Been through all this before I bought my house. Had a 34g, 40B & smaller nanos in 2 different apartments. Local moves are no problem, just get a friend help empty and move everything over.

 

Be prepared to carry some Renters insurance for the tank in case it leaks. Most apt complexes require it for tanks, at least all the ones I checked out here in Philly.

 

Ditto on having a dog walker feed the fish while you are on vacation. Just make it easy for em and they have no problem taking care of the fish for you. I've also had friends from my local reef club watch my tank (& done the same for them) while on vacation. Make friends with guys in your local club, I know there is one in the Boston area.

 

I had my RODI set up in my bathroom of both apartments, coming off the bathroom faucet. Filled into a 10g rubbermaid container w/ float valve. Flooded the first apartment's bathroom once or twice minorly before I got the float valve, after that no issues. Do yourself a favor and get the float valve

[Tamberav]

I move a fair amount with my systems and it has never been a problem. I have large coolers and live rock goes in 1, fish in another. You can even get battery operated air pumps if your trip is long.

 

I don't bring all the water with me, just whatever I can fit in the coolers and then make new water once I arrive and treat it like a large water change.

 

I would not use an automatic feeder for vacations. It could very well crash your tank. Instead, when I leave for long trips, I buy live food (pods, mysis) and dump it in before I leave and it seems to work fine. I have also had my cat sitters feed (just pre-measure out portions).

 

I run my rodi in the bathroom with the container in the bathtub in case I forget (you WILL forget).

 

Have fun!

[kimberbee]

(you WILL forget)

 

Yes!