Help me to understand

[Bleigh]

I'll be uploading one with my moonlights on soon. It's almost full moon. You need a filter for your phone. Polyp labs makes a good one.

I looked it up. Thanks for the tip! Your tank looks super nice! I hope to have something that big one day!

 

[Bleigh]

My high tech, expensive Mitras lx7's

I do not know much about lights yet. I'm using my biocube manufacturer's setup still. My plan is to make sure I can keep up with everything on a smaller scale before investing a huge sum of money into it. But I feel like every day that passes, my time line for upgrading is shrinking. :) . It has already went from a year or so to maybe 6 months...

 

[Scdell]

I looked it up. Thanks for the tip! Your tank looks super nice! I hope to have something that big one day!

It works good. Now, I bought that tank used off letgo. $50. Figured for $500 I could have a nice tank. Well if I don't have 6-7 k in it now I don't have a dime in it. I started out doing cheap. I bought 2 kessils a 360we used off r2r. I bought cheaper pumps. I didn't succeed. Lights weren't enough even though I went with the recommendation from kessils. Pumps weren't enough. I upgraded everything.

 

[Scdell]

I do not know much about lights yet. I'm using my biocube manufacturer's setup still. My plan is to make sure I can keep up with everything on a smaller scale before investing a huge sum of money into it. But I feel like every day that passes, my time line for upgrading is shrinking. :) . It has already went from a year or so to maybe 6 months...

It's addictive. What would you like to accomplish?

 

[Bleigh]

Lol! I've checked craigslist a few times for bigger tanks. I haven't seen any I liked. It's not a bad idea to check out other sites like letgo. It's like red queen effect with the hobby. Always trying to improve the weakest link - which is a moving target, of course. How long has your tank been set up?

 

[Scdell]

Let go can be hit and miss. You have to keep checking. My tank has been set up for just about 2 years. Around Father's day will be 2 years. The one thing I can recommend is read, read and read. Reviews of anything you buy. Or thinking about buying. Ask questions on here. Read all you can. There is a lot of junk out there.

 

[Scdell]

Lol! I've checked craigslist a few times for bigger tanks. I haven't seen any I liked. It's not a bad idea to check out other sites like letgo. It's like red queen effect with the hobby. Always trying to improve the weakest link - which is a moving target, of course. How long has your tank been set up?

My tank is 150 gallons. But it's a high, deep tank. That makes it a challenge.

 

[Bleigh]

It's addictive. What would you like to accomplish?

LOL! To have something pretty to watch?

I've almost always had some type of tank. This is my first attempt with saltwater though. In high school I worked at a local pet store. They paid me with animals/tanks/etc. I think I had 12 different tanks going at one point. My mom called and said only pay checks... no more animals! :)

Now, I'm lucky that I work from home a few days a week. I just really enjoy watching the tank when I take breaks.

I think it could be considered an addiction by this point already! :)

 

[Bleigh]

My tank is 150 gallons. But it's a high, deep tank. That makes it a challenge.

Yeah, this site has been very helpful so far. I'm assuming you can't reach the bottom. Has that been an issue at all?

 

[Scdell]

LOL! To have something pretty to watch?

I've almost always had some type of tank. This is my first attempt with saltwater though. In high school I worked at a local pet store. They paid me with animals/tanks/etc. I think I had 12 different tanks going at one point. My mom called and said only pay checks... no more animals! :)

Now, I'm lucky that I work from home a few days a week. I just really enjoy watching the tank when I take breaks.

I think it could be considered an addiction by this point already! :)

Oh yeah. It's an addiction. Do you want corals? Lps or sps?

 

[Scdell]

Yeah, this site has been very helpful so far. I'm assuming you can't reach the bottom. Has that been an issue at all?

I can reach the bottom. I had to build a short stand. That limits me with protien skimmer and sump. I have stand on a chair to reach the bottom though.

 

[Bleigh]

I can reach the bottom. I had to build a short stand. That limits me with protien skimmer and sump. I have stand on a chair to reach the bottom though.

I'm assuming the limitations aren't terrible? Hopefully you don't have to get at the bottom very often.

I have a few corals so far. To be honest, I have no clue what's in my tank. :P Rather, I don't know what they're classified as.

One, I don't actually know the name of, but it's super pretty and happy. Then I have 1 GSP, 2 frogspawn, 1 acan, 1 cat's paw, 1 Zoas, and 1 mushroom. The zoas were actually on an oyster. So I have that as a hitchhiker. :) Everything is growing except the mushrooms. I just moved them lower in the tank hoping they'll make a come back.

 

[Scdell]

Mostly lps. Cats paw can be either lps or sps. Still have to get to the bottom. Some corals fall off even though they are glued. Snails have tendency to knock them off. Snails get turned upside down. When I clean the tank I have to siphon from the bottom. One finds the way to get it done.

 

[Snuggs]

And God did not use an apex controller

 

[Scdell]

And God did not use an apex controller

One has no idea what God is using.

 

[Weedy Sea Dragon]

Here's my "cheap" setup.

Tank - free
HOB filter - $20
Light - $18
Circulation pumps - 2 x $15
Heater - not sure how much it cost, it's over 20 years old - had it from a tank I had in high school

Been running 5+ years

 

[Scdell]

day light photo.

 

[Crustaceon]

The cheap Chinese equipment works BUT there is a tradeoff. Let’s compare circulation
pumps:

Jebao:

Cheap
Might last a day or several years
Might be louder than your car or be completely silent
Not much controllability
Takes up more room in the tank vs. other pumps like Ecotechs
Cord is in the water
Might catch on fire (My experience)
Worth about 25% used
Warranty? I guess Amazon returns counts...
Tons of flow

Ecotech:

Crazy expensive
Most last for years without issue
Most are extremely quiet
Good controllability
Cord is out of the water
Takes up very little space in the tank
Probably won’t catch on fire
Devalues very little if used
Warranty
Tons of flow

I think if we all had monocles in our eyes, we would buy the best stuff for our tanks. In reality, most of us buy what we can afford in order to be in the hobby in the first place. We might be putting a Honda Civic on the same track as a top fuel dragster, but at least we’re on the track and will eventually finish the race as long as we’re not competing.

 

[Crustaceon]

Some of my cheap setups through the years.

 

[Ardeus]

I got into saltwater tanks because I came accross a small tank in a trade fair that only had a small maxijet pump, a heater, live rock, a few corals and a T8 fixture.

I was surprised by the simplicity.

That was almost 13 years ago and I managed to avoid having a sump until now.

It's so easy to create our own personal hells by making our own lifes harder and more complicated, creating increasingly difficult challenges for ourselves. I always saw a sump as the ultimate enabler of complexity.

After 13 years, I finally gave in and I will be having a sump for purely aesthetic reasons, while trying to keep it as simple as possible. There are times where I regret it and I think I tricked myself.

This also means that I have been selecting new equipment and it's 90% chinese, because it's the best for my needs. A bad experience with the 2 ecotech pumps and good experience with the 3 jebaos make the decision a no brainer.

Some of this chinese equipment was far from cheap. The lighting fixtures were more expensive than Kessils.

The extra spending, instead of going into more reliable and expensive equipment, went into redundancy and disaster management and prevention.