hi new here....

[dragon79]

Thx for all the help I'll try and use the search feature more ...... I didn't even see it until you said something about it.... ( I'm really stupid sometimes....) Yea I have no questions for now and if I do I'll rememeber search then ask if no answers are found! Thx for pointing it out

Incysor is right on this one, although he's a great source for advice and answers, much of it he's already answered it, in another post. I run search on here all the time, and I even backtrack to very old posts from like a year ago, and sure enough my problem has already been asked there. I'm suprised he answered so big though, he got everything down you needed, that was awfully cool of him

 

[fishcrazee]

Well I was thinking for my AC500 I would put LR, mineral mud, chaetomorpha, live mysis shrimp/copepods/amphipods, and other live foods. I was wondering when I set it up would anyone like to sell me some with this stuff? I'll tell you if or when I can set it up. Thx!!!
P.S. If no one has it does anyone know where I can get it besides ebay? Thx!!!

 

[Narkon'n'more]

What about your local club, someone should be clipping some of thier cheato, and the rock, well go buy a decent rock and smash it with a hammer, the mud, I personally would not use it.

The pods will come, mostly some with the cheato since that can't really be helped.

Since you using the AC500, are you changing the impeller to slow the flow, and are did you put the divider to slow the flow down even more?

N

 

[incysor]

What about your local club, someone should be clipping some of thier cheato, and the rock, well go buy a decent rock and smash it with a hammer, the mud, I personally would not use it.

The pods will come, mostly some with the cheato since that can't really be helped.

Since you using the AC500, are you changing the impeller to slow the flow, and are did you put the divider to slow the flow down even more?

N

If you use the overflow surface skimmer attachment and just turn the flow down, (it's adjustable), you shouldn't need to change impellers reduce your flow. If you don't use the attachment even turned down it may be too much flow.

Most LFS will carry either miracle mud, or mineral mud. They're pretty much the same stuff. I'd get the smallest package you can find, and one that's resealable. Shannen bought the smallest jar she could find and only used about a quarter of it. Many LFS will cary chaeto, if you can't find one, try searching for either local clubs like DJ suggested, or try searching over on RC's wanting-to-buy forums. Just be sure to post your location in your subject line.

B

 

[Narkon'n'more]

I could send you some of mine, but I think I will be growing it out soon.
But if you wanted to do the thermos trade thing, I think it will live long enough for that. Not that I want to trade anything right now, but I could mail you over some, but the cost would be a whole lot more expensive than you just finding something local.

Our LFS here sale a bag full of cheato for 5 dollars, and a bag will be more than what you would need for your AC 500.

 

[fishcrazee]

Thx for the help! I son't think there are any local fish clubs around me or at least I know nothing about them then... Well if I can't find it elsewhere I'll try here. Thx!!

 

[fishcrazee]

Oh uhhhhh about how many zoo frags and other coral frags can I eventually put into the tank? I want to have everything planned out before I get it. I think it will be mostly polyps(mainly zoo's), soft, and maybe a couple of really colorful LPS ( going for a colorful reef tank with colorful inhabitants, which is why purple firefish is gonna replace the regualr, not that one is more colorful... I just prefer less yellow and more purple)

 

[incysor]

Thx for the help! I son't think there are any local fish clubs around me or at least I know nothing about them then... Well if I can't find it elsewhere I'll try here. Thx!!

If I didn't look up some other Monterey Park, you're basically a suburb of LA. There's tons of clubs in Cali. This is all from RC. Most clubs have their own website, but there's a couple that are just forums on RC.

B

Bay area clubs
www.bareefers.org
www.bareonline.org

Central Valley
www.cvreefers.org

Fresno
www.fareclub.org

Sacramento
http://www.marineaquarist.org/

Los Angeles
www.maslac.org

On RC
Southern California Reefers
http://reefcentral.com/forums/forumdisp ... forumid=50
http://reefcentral.com/forums/forumdisp ... orumid=341

 

[Phischy]

Just as a side note for responsible reefkeeping, if you do buy macro algea from a store and don't/can't use all of it and can't find anyone who wants it, put it in the freezer for a day or so before youdispose of it. It is very important to destroy macro algea and in fact anything if you're getting rid of. Exotic species do not belong in the local environment. If you are in cali you may want to attend a meeting of the surfrider foundation for information on how species (most noteably calupera) was released by an aquariust into the environment thinking they were doing the right thing and now the calupera is a huge multi-million dollar cleanup issue.

Same goes for tank water, it should be disposed of by pouring it onto dirt, never into the sewage or drainwater systems.

Just an FYI.

 

[incysor]

Oh uhhhhh about how many zoo frags and other coral frags can I eventually put into the tank? I want to have everything planned out before I get it. I think it will be mostly polyps(mainly zoo's), soft, and maybe a couple of really colorful LPS ( going for a colorful reef tank with colorful inhabitants, which is why purple firefish is gonna replace the regualr, not that one is more colorful... I just prefer less yellow and more purple)

Ummm...You can have tons of corals. As long as they aren't stinging each other you're all good. It's impossible to tell you how many of X corals you can have because everyone's aquascaping is different.

Check this out. Talk about a zoo tank.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-08/totm/index.htm

 

[djconn]

WOW! :shocked: If only I had that many zoos...

 

[fishcrazee]

YAY!!!!! I think my parents are ok with me having a nano!!!.... I just gotta pay for it all.... I did an estimate and its gonna come between $600-700 for initial costs..... Now I gotta get the money and figure out how to order online without a bank account/credit card.... Erg........ Oh and should I add fish then corals or corals then fish? Also.... my inverts/clean-up crew will come with the corals....(gotta save on shipping)...I'll get a small clean-up from liverock and the lfs probably to start it out.

 

[incysor]

YAY!!!!! I think my parents are ok with me having a nano!!!.... I just gotta pay for it all.... I did an estimate and its gonna come between $600-700 for initial costs..... Now I gotta get the money and figure out how to order online without a bank account/credit card.... Erg........ Oh and should I add fish then corals or corals then fish? Also.... my inverts/clean-up crew will come with the corals....(gotta save on shipping)...I'll get a small clean-up from liverock and the lfs probably to start it out.

Congrats.

Most of the companies online will take a check or money order. It slows down the process by a couple days, but is doable.

You want to let the tank cycle with your substrate, and liverock, once it's cycled you can order your corals, fish, and majority of your clean up crew at the same time to save on shipping if you want to.

B

 

[fishcrazee]

Ok thx!!! so far my nanofund is at $70. I have a looooooooooooong way to go... Is it really possible to order fish, corals, and clean-up crew and just add it to my tank? Also where would be the best quality/price to get the items from online? So far I think it's petsolution as they have all the corals/fish/cleanup I want but its gonna be costly.... Thx!!!

 

[fishcrazee]

About lighting... If I use the 96 watt 2 50/50 2 10K bulbs would I need any more actinic lighting or more light spectrum? Also would it be ok to use a 13 watt galaxy light over the AC500 fuge (flourescent light not actinic....) Lastly would it be better to use a 1 watt moonlight or a 3/4 moonlight on a 10? Would it make a difference? If not could I just get the 3/4 and save a couple dollars? Also where do u get replacement bulbs? Thx!!!

 

[fishcrazee]

heres the light fixture I was talking about in case anyone is confused: http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/p ... 2004&Nty=1

 

[incysor]

It just depends on taste....I've got the 96w quad over the octo tank, and my wife's 10g. We like it fine. My boss has the same thing, over his 18g, but doesn't think the actinic is quite strong enough.

Here's the same light cheaper.

http://hellolights.com/

The 20" one here isn't quite as powerful, but you get a moonlight, and independent switches so that you can do dawn/dusk lighting.

http://www.championlighting.com/e/env/0 ... orbit.html

B

 

[fishcrazee]

Thx for the help!!! I'm gonna go with the coralife aqualight. I never knew there was a site for lights and its soooo cheap too. When I get replacement is it better to go for the 6700 or 50/50 10K? Also im going to get a moon light from there too (its on the same page under moonlight) would it matter between a 1 watt and a 3/4 watt or not? Also is that suffeicent for a probably all polyp, soft, LPS and mushroom corals? Lastly does macroalgae need any special lighting or will a regular clipon desk light work? Thx!! sorry for the questions... CAn't find the answers... (im not very good at that.... )

 

[djconn]

Okay, I'm locking this post b/c its just too long (6 pages with 77 replies).

At some point, we all need to realize that nobody on this board is really going to gain any useful knowledge when their post has this many varied topics.