Sascha D.

I like it!

It really depends on the reasons behind adding new rock. If you just want a more full look and don't care about adding any diversity of life, then I would add dry rock. My experience with dry LR has been excellent. If you want to order a big box from an online store and want all of the hitch hikers then I would cure it in a seperate container with a light attached. You shouldn't cause a cycle if you add small amounts of rock to your existing system, regardless of the die off. Adding 5 pounds of rock per 2 weeks or a month shouldn't affect anything in tanks above 55g.

Awesome! I'm glad that it worked out for you. I'll jump in on the next one

I think I'm about to just custom order everything from Stinky's.

yeah, i didn't have time to jump in either. i guess i'll just have to order $225 worth myself . Haha good luck with that! I can't afford to crash my tank already.

Aww too bad. I was seriously considering a foxface

I don't have to ARC and drive because I'm on this site all day at work!

Supplementing with land based vegitables is recommended. It's not supposed to be the basis of proper nutrition for marine fish.

You can also try cucumber, peas and broccoli. I've seen LFS feed romain lettuce, but it doesn't look like the tangs liked it much.

I had a clown tang in my 180. He'll act very aggressively to new fish when they get around medium size. Very active swimmer. I would probably also agree that they are slow growers. I had mine for 3 years and he didn't grow fast enough to double in size.

Hydor Pico pump

Nice job on the tank. You'll have to keep everyone posted on that open top. My wife is afraid of the kids throwing stuff and it landing in the tank, plus the evaporation is a killer. Haha it's not a competition!

Haha funny read! I took the less traveled route and indoctrinated my wife to the idea of the hobby. It took years but I think I've successfully turned her into a symphatizer. Plus she would rather see me do ANYTHING than play Xbox!

Looks great! How long did it take to color up after you made the rock?

The blackstripe is probably a Humbug or 5 stripe damsel. I follow the rule of 1" of fish per 1 gallon, if in a fish only or fowlr. If you want a reef, then I would divide at least by 1/2. IMO you will have better success by trading in all of your damsels and the Humbug and going with less aggressive fish. Fish associated with nanos will do well - Clown Fish, Firefish, Gobies, Chromis etc.

Look great! I know what you mean about the holey rock. When I first converted over from FW I had all this rock made out of limestone and concrete that I used in my reef. It was okay at first and I was hoping it would purple up and looks like everything else. After about 2 years I was at 50/50% LR and "other" rocks. Taking it out at that point just made a giant mess and cause a symphony of problems. The forum classifieds are a great place to find things like LR and it normally sells for around $2 per pound.

I work for the Department of Aging and Disability Services in the accounting unit and my wife works for the Texas State Department of Agriculture. I'm currently looking for another job though . I originally wanted to get into Financial Analysis after completing my degree but got a job as an accountant when we moved to Austin. I like my job, but would like higher pay or less commute time.

Welcome

DIY is the best way to go. It's more fun and it makes it more of a hobby than a piece of furniture. Buy your LR from the forums and you'll save 70%. Smaller tanks are harder to take care of than larger tanks. The more water volume you have, the more slowly the parameters change. Larger tanks are more forgiving of mistakes.

The easiest way to save money is on the tank itself. A new 200g tank and stand will cost in excess of 1500-2k+. With a month or two of patience you can get the same tank for 500 used. It will probably be undrilled, which will cost around 100 to remedy. After that you can buy a 55g used tank and build your own sump for 50. It doesn't matter if it's scratched because it's hidden anyway. Plumbing will run you another 50-100 but you can do it yourself in an hour or two. Pumps I always buy new but sales are super common; 100ish for return pump, about 40ish for each circ pump. You can save on lights by building your own LEDs or buying used. It really depends how much light you want and what you want to keep. Starter lighting will run about 100-200 + 40 for a hanging kit. Everything past these essentials are luxuries. You don't really need them, but they help reduce the workload for you. People have plenty of success without skimmers and some even prefer it. One thing to keep in mind is that the tank, stand, sump, and, generally, plumbing are one-time investments. Unless something happens or you physically upgrade, you don't have to buy them twice. Bulbs get replaced every 6-12 months depending on usage. Pumps get replaces as needed, typically every 5 years or so. Tank 500 Drilling 100 Pumps 500 Sump 100 Lights 200 Total 1400ish General month to month upkeep: salt, water, electricity, part replacement alottment = maybe 200.

Reef Octopus skimmers are supposed to be pretty good. Make sure you look up the modification for the impeller. It improves performance significantly, making it the most economical of the higher end skimmers.

You've come a long way! People sell live rock on the forums all the time for 2 / pound ish. I like to epoxy my rocks before I put them into the tank though.

Instead of buying a veggie clip for $3-5, I use a piece of live rock rubble to attach my Nori. Drill a hole through the rock and attach fishing line for easy removal and placement. Reef plugs cost 6.99 for a pack of 20 + s/h. For the same price or less you can get 3 pounds of live rock rubble and a tube of super glue gel. It looks more natural than coral plugs and they are easier to place into an existing reef tank. Dosing pumps cost 100-400 + 23.99 for the dosing container. You can save hundreds by using a timer, a cheap air pump and a vinegar bottle. For hanging your lights, a ceiling fan kit works great for 20 bucks. PVP pipe works great for stabilizing your live rock structures. If you want to save a few bucks, you can use a hack saw to make the bottom of your large pieces flat. You then epoxy rock pieces together to create large structures that won't fall or topple over. Just be sure you don't make them too big, incase you have to remove them for maintenance.

I would blame it on the vodka. I've only heard of people dosing vodka for nitrate reactors, at a rate of about 2ml per day, and a turn rate of 2x per week through the reactor.

Looking good! Keep us posted.