pbnj

Don't go spending all of your Christmas money. I'm planning a mega frag sale sometime before then. Corals will include: ORA Pearlberry (see avatar for mother colony) Green Montipora Spongodes (frags and mini colonies) Aqua Delight (frags, mini colonies, and a full colony) Meridiana (mini colony) Duncans (mini colony) Orange Montipora Digitata (frags and mini colonies) Purple Montipora Digitata (frags and mini colonies) Pink & Blue Prostrata ORA Tri-Color Valida Leaf Branching Pavona Metallic-Green Psammacora (mini colony) Blue-Tipped Staghorn (maybe Insignis) Teal Trumpets Candy Canes Orange Wall Hammer Rainbow Stylophora Hyacinth Birdsnest Tubb's Birdsnest (looks like it, anyway) Neon-Green Toadstool (possibly others) Sorry, not taking pre-orders. Stay tuned!

The OP seemed discouraged at the thought of spending 15K to build a large reef tank. I'd hate to see someone give-up on an upgrade because they feel they need to spend that kind of money just because others have. If money wasn't an issue, this thread wouldn't even exist.

For me, the corals and fish in the tank should be the Ferrari's....no need to drop an extra $2000 on fuzzy dice for the rear-view mirror.

I don't want to turn this person's thread into another VorTech debate. Let's just say to each their own. If people want to overspend on fancy pumps, more power to them. But like I tell everyone, if people are noticing/obsessing about 3 inches of powercord at the top of your tank (which get covered in algae anyway), then your tank's probably not very impressive to begin with. You can buy a lot of nice, eye-popping corals with that $2000+ savings. Controllers are a completely different story. I look at them as insurance policies; I think they're vital because they can save a complete tank disaster, not to mention make your life much easier.

If you buy that $80 bulb, what you'll be missing is about $65 out of your pocket. Trust me, just do some research on the Plusrites. Like someone once told me, "they're all made in the same factory in China". It's all about the marketing for the name brands. True, you could spend 15K and then some (like many have). My point is if you want beautiful, big reef tank, it's not mandatory to spend that much.

I'd say $7K-$8K.

Let's break this down a bit, shall we? Tank, Marineland 300G (Saphire 3 sides) $2000 -- ($1800-$2000 is about right, but you can save 10% at the LFS with a $10 ARC membership card or wait for their big sales) Stand, Custom in wall (Sheet Rock & Metal) $3000 Again paying someone to make the stand and do all the dry wall work. -- (I don't know about the sheet-rocking/in-wall part, but Prof, one of ARC's sponsors can build you a beautiful stand/canopy at a fair price) Water Movement, 4x mp40's $2000 This might be overkill but its for SPS right! -- (Big waste of money. You can buy 3 Koralia 8's for around $300-$400. I know this is blasphemy for VorTech owners, but they are so overrated and not necessary) 2xEheim 1262 $350 skimmer, Reef Dynamics INS400E $1500 -- (There are much cheaper options, including used skimmers) heater, 2x 800W $100 -- (May not even be needed) ZeoVit Reactor, Nextreef mr1 $100 -- (Not necessary) Controller, Apex Neptune $1000 (with all the extras) -- (Apex Lite will run you less than $500) Lighting, 3x 400W MH -- (No reason to buy new. People are practically giving away their MH reflectors and ballasts to go LED) Ballasts $450 -- (See lighting) Bulbs $240 -- (research "Plusrite" bulbs, which cost about $12) Pendants $450 -- (See lighting) T5 Actnic $500 -- (See lighting) Chiller, JBJ 1/2 hp $1100 Criptic zone, 40G Breeder $200 (Probably don't need this but I like sponges)-- (Not necessary) Refugium, 40G Breeder $200 (Mainly for pods. Not in the sump but above tank flows right into tank) -- (Not necessary) algae scrubber, $350 -- (Defintely not necessary if you have a good skimmer) Sump, $500 -- (Cheaper options) Auto Top Off $100 RO, Spectra pure 180GPD $400 Rock $2000 -- (If you're thinking liverock, switch to dead rock and just seed it; still way overestimated for the amount of dead rock you'll need) Sand $1000 -- (You don't need "live" sand. Regular sand runs about $20-$25 for a huge bag)

15K? Probably, if you're talking top-of-the-line, new equipment across the board, some of which is probably completely unnecessary (like the build I saw with 12 Radion LEDs). You should post your estimate list.

They do well at all light levels (I have two large colonies), but I'd say low-to-moderate flow for best tentacle extension.

Latest acquisition....

I read this on another forum. I don't know if it's actually true or not, but definitely interesting: "Splitting is not necessarily a good thing. In nature, they very rarely split, though they split often, in captivity. Splitting is actually thought to be from stress, as a survival mechanism."

With enough light and fish poop, you don't need to feed BTAs at all. I have three RBTAs in my tank and I never target feed them....one is over 10" across.