Are you happy with your saltwater reef aquarium right now?
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SweetCoralline
Community Member
Voted no simply because my tank is a figment of my imagination and the hobby is, otherwise, just too expensive to get started in. Near as I can figure, a system that one can hope to enjoy modest success with and hope to have a chance of avoiding crashing starts at about $1000 (without livestock) and quickly goes up from there.
Definitely not a hobby for a lower/middle class income household IMHO.
Definitely not a hobby for a lower/middle class income household IMHO.
biophilia
Well-Known Member
Happy with my little slice of the ocean at the moment. Finally managed to solve a poor acro polyp extension and coloration issue I'd been having with this tank. Fixed it by turning the AI Primes way down. These little LEDs are way stronger than they look (and the PAR measurements are deceptive IMO)!
The view from my favorite part of the day: Peering down while feeding some Oyster Feast with the pumps off shortly before lights out.
The view from my favorite part of the day: Peering down while feeding some Oyster Feast with the pumps off shortly before lights out.
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Ill be completely honest. I am not happy with my tank. when i started i went cheap, little did i know that i would spend the same amount on what i have now if i had went and bought a red sea reefer, Radions with a controller. Total cost of my tank is somewhere around $5000. For that money i couldve had an even better build, with less of a headache.
but i guess there is no need to regret anything. The life in my tank is growing and having a blast. Corals are growing like i thought id never see them grow. In the process ive lost two fish, and one coral. two coral are being nursed back to life. Chaeto and Dragons breath are growing like crazy. My tank has just hit 4 month mark and i am growing coralline.
but i guess there is no need to regret anything. The life in my tank is growing and having a blast. Corals are growing like i thought id never see them grow. In the process ive lost two fish, and one coral. two coral are being nursed back to life. Chaeto and Dragons breath are growing like crazy. My tank has just hit 4 month mark and i am growing coralline.
don_chuwish
Smells something fishy
Somewhat. Bummed with recent new fish failures but busy with two good ones in QT. My DT is on cruise control and I feel like I should be doing something but not quite sure what...
U
User1
Guest
Voted "somewhat". Why? It is maturing.
Reminds me of a case of wine I bought last year. I was talking to one of the workers at Raumbour Vineyards while we sat and had a glass. He made a comment you know this wine is great right now, right? I'm like yes, it is. He then said only drink a bottle and let the rest age. Split the remaining case mark one for 2020 and the other half for 2021. I'm like really? He was like yes, do it. It will be amazing. I'm like ok - done. But now I need to buy another case so I can enjoy this year!!!
Anyway my point is that I did a upgrade earlier in the year from a 40 breeder to a 210 gallon. I like it. I'm happy. But it is that patience thing and maturing part that I'm not a fan of. 210 gallons is bigger than what I had or could move over. To save some costs because I have two in college I made some decisions to use dry Pukani and seed with what we already have instead of the plan A option which was to use TSB rock. So what I moved over wasn't a lot of coral and rock but it did seed and life moved about and we see progress. Mother Nature is super awesome sauce for sure. But the rest of the rock, well, back to that patience and maturing
It is just a matter of time. Each day that passes it matures more. Fish are getting plumber. What coral I have is spreading. And above all it allows me to work on other things that I sometimes forget when dealing with a larger tank. Maybe I should have said yes...na. Somewhat is accurate.
Reminds me of a case of wine I bought last year. I was talking to one of the workers at Raumbour Vineyards while we sat and had a glass. He made a comment you know this wine is great right now, right? I'm like yes, it is. He then said only drink a bottle and let the rest age. Split the remaining case mark one for 2020 and the other half for 2021. I'm like really? He was like yes, do it. It will be amazing. I'm like ok - done. But now I need to buy another case so I can enjoy this year!!!
Anyway my point is that I did a upgrade earlier in the year from a 40 breeder to a 210 gallon. I like it. I'm happy. But it is that patience thing and maturing part that I'm not a fan of. 210 gallons is bigger than what I had or could move over. To save some costs because I have two in college I made some decisions to use dry Pukani and seed with what we already have instead of the plan A option which was to use TSB rock. So what I moved over wasn't a lot of coral and rock but it did seed and life moved about and we see progress. Mother Nature is super awesome sauce for sure. But the rest of the rock, well, back to that patience and maturing
It is just a matter of time. Each day that passes it matures more. Fish are getting plumber. What coral I have is spreading. And above all it allows me to work on other things that I sometimes forget when dealing with a larger tank. Maybe I should have said yes...na. Somewhat is accurate.
U
User1
Guest
I am about 8/10 happy. I have a couple of fish that are halfway through QT, knock on wood they will join the tank at the end of the month, and the problems I have will be correct by another reef tank that I hope to get going by the end of the month as well. If you're not happy with your reef start another one! - That probably isn't the best advice but in this case it works for me
The shadow effect on the back wall is pretty amazing I have to say. Tank is nice also. Just every time I see that back wall I'm like neat. Good job.
Scrubber_steve
2500 Club Member
what I'm most unhappy with is my reef photography. Its crap!
This confuses me as keeping coral in a vase is as simple as water changes and a 30 dollar par bulb. I was really poor when I started this hobby and no way I came even close to 1000 on a tank and it ran beautifully. It was a petco 40 breeder and Chinese black box and koralias I bought both used.
Anyways I voted happy...not everything is perfect yet but it's all going in the right direction and coral seem to look better every day. That is good enough for me.
SweetCoralline
Community Member
Your comment makes me realize I likely need to look more into the attainability of a stable system. When I start looking into it at any length, all I see is tank, power heads, pumps, led/halide lights, protein skimmers, fuges, carbon/gfo reactors, kalk/calcium reactor, chems for cycling a tank and establishing nitrifying bacteria, salt, live sand, live rock, chem tests to check nutrient levels, etc. and then, of course, all of the beautiful coral, fish and inverts!
Maybe keeping coral can be as simple and affordable as a vase, water changes and a $30 PAR bulb (are there any links I can have a look at that showcase people's success with such a modest setup?), but everything I've seen for a starter AIO reef tank on BRS or some other supplier's website start at around $600 and that seems to be rather barebones from all of the "standard equipment" I see on the majority of people's builds.
Any other experienced reefers care to chime in on any misunderstanding I have? Can an enjoyable, rewarding and stable reef system be setup for no more than the cost of a vase, a $30 PAR bulb and regular water changes?
Thanks for any input folks!
biophilia
Well-Known Member
I definitely second @Tamberav 's comment!
The reef tank I had before my current one was a $50 3.7 gallon pico tank from Petco with a bag of activated carbon that I swapped every few weeks, a $20 heater, $20 powerhead, $30 of live rock and sand, and a light. I sprung for a $200 AI Prime, but I ended up having to dim it way down over that tank so a $30 PAR 30 bulb would have honestly worked just as well. Still, a light is a nice place to splurge a little for a little extra control (like spectrum and dimming so you can tweak it as you add different types of corals). My only real filtration beyond the carbon was a 2 gallon weekly water change done with two gallons of distilled water from the grocery store ($2) and about $1 worth of salt. It worked great. Pico tanks are a great starting point because you can easily correct problems with a quick 90% water change and "reset" things any time you want.
Dr. Dendrostein
Marine fish monthly
You read my mind. I'm trying to keep up with Lasse, on his photography, and I cant, crap, yeah crap.
Scrubber_steve
2500 Club Member
Its just too hard !!!! :mad:
SweetCoralline
Community Member
This is actually really awesome news. Thanks to the both of you for the feedback. I really had no idea that the hobby could actually be affordable while still managing to be enjoyable. I think it's easy to conclude people have all of the bells and whistles because that's how they avoid a crash that's going to cost hundreds of dollars worth of livestock. I was under the impression that beginners are often dissuaded from nano or pico tanks because of the precarious balance of water quality and likelihood of a crash.
I mean, I already have an unused 10 or 20 gallon tank that was used years and years ago for freshwater. Beyond that, a $20-$30 powerhead, splurge on a light with a higher PAR output, heater, some live sand, live rock and it's good to go with regular water changes? That would be awesome! What about other "basics" like Dr. Tim's tank cycling bacteria starter. Tests seem unessecary if your changing as much as 90% of the water regularly. Of course, you'd be paying plenty for salt and kind of defeating the purpose of cycling a tank in the first place, throwing out most of the nitrifying bacteria every water change, no? Algae wouldn't be a major problem with this approach? I suppose an algae scrubber could be a good option for biofilter and replacement for lacking a fuge. I'm
I'd love to have more info in a PM from either of you who have responded to my initial post about setting up a basic system like this and how you achieved success and what upkeep expenses I should anticipate.
In the meantime, my apologies to the mod for unintentionally hijacking the thead temporarily.
Somewhat as I have a new tank I love, but all current fish are in qt and tanks are fallow. So, a bit boring. My carpet anemone is doing great without hosting clowns currently. Cannot complain as everything is now happy and growing including a bit of algae, but that will be fine.
My smaller tanks are fallow also, so just watching corals grow. Fish are tolerating CP fine so far in qt. I do love my new qt set up.
My smaller tanks are fallow also, so just watching corals grow. Fish are tolerating CP fine so far in qt. I do love my new qt set up.
Leadfooted
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Why not just get Berghia and be happy? I made one call to reeftown to find that happiness.
I'm somewhat happy. If you asked me a few months ago, I would have said happy. My 120 gallon tank started with dry rock (tho I cured the rock for 2 months before putting it in the main display) is only 10 months old. I realize patience, patience, patience is the key. I kept the tank clean with weekly water changes and kept up with cleaning the pumps, ect and everything was going pretty well. After months of no issues, and no new fish, I lost some of my fish to marine velvet. I kept the tank empty for 75 days and put my one surviving fish back in the tank(yes he was treated in a QT tank). I added fish slowly (still only have 5) and they were all in QT (lost 2 fish in QT) and treated with Copper safe and Prasipro. I still somehow got ich in the main display. None of the fish died this time and now all look healthy again.
I then had cyno. I treated with chemi-clean and it worked great. I then got dino right after. I treated with Din0-X and that seemed to clean everything up again. Then my acros began to fade. sighs. I've tried keeping the parameters as stable as possible even with the chemicals to clean the cyno and dinos. I then had a couple of weeks of peace and 2 days ago, I noticed turf algae on one rock and has now moved to several. It's a daily battle. So far I'm trying to stay positive and keep up the good fight. I also have a biocube that's about 16 months old that despite a touch of bubble algae has not been an issue at all. All the corals are growing gangbusters and I still have the 4 original fish. That tank I started with live rock, so I do have pests in there that I don't have in the 120 gallon tank.
The 120 gallon has acans and chalices that are growing nicely. The zoas took a hit when I had the dinos but are rebounding now. I have a couple of leptos that are doing well as well as some cyphastrea. Some acros are encrusting and keeping their color, while others have either bleached or faded color. So figuring out the acro issue and getting rid of the turf algae and a touch of aptasia are my next projects. It's why I say somewhat.
I then had cyno. I treated with chemi-clean and it worked great. I then got dino right after. I treated with Din0-X and that seemed to clean everything up again. Then my acros began to fade. sighs. I've tried keeping the parameters as stable as possible even with the chemicals to clean the cyno and dinos. I then had a couple of weeks of peace and 2 days ago, I noticed turf algae on one rock and has now moved to several. It's a daily battle. So far I'm trying to stay positive and keep up the good fight. I also have a biocube that's about 16 months old that despite a touch of bubble algae has not been an issue at all. All the corals are growing gangbusters and I still have the 4 original fish. That tank I started with live rock, so I do have pests in there that I don't have in the 120 gallon tank.
The 120 gallon has acans and chalices that are growing nicely. The zoas took a hit when I had the dinos but are rebounding now. I have a couple of leptos that are doing well as well as some cyphastrea. Some acros are encrusting and keeping their color, while others have either bleached or faded color. So figuring out the acro issue and getting rid of the turf algae and a touch of aptasia are my next projects. It's why I say somewhat.
BestMomEver
2500 Club Member
Somewhat.... since I’ve been dosing BRS part 1, 2, and mag and Red Sea A, B, C, D my corals have never looked better. The color is good and things are growing. I say somewhat because I’m never satisfied!
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