OgreMkV

Well, HEB was nice enough to give me 2 fresh shrimp for free. So, I've got them floating in a ziplock with a bunch of holes in it. I'll check again ammonia again tonight and tomorrow.

I wish I had ordered that top-off, they're on vacation until mid-next week. My salinity is up a lot since Saturday with evap.

So I splurged and got some 'cured' live rock to seed my dead rock. I put the the water and liverock and livesand in on top of my dead rock and dead sand. Let sit for 24 hours. My ammonia reading at 8PM was 0ppm and Nitrate was 0ppm as well.

I really don't think I'm cycled, but it's kind of curious. I don't want to have to wait for several months because there's nothing for the bacteria to survive on. I don't want a bacteria die-off.

Anyone have some ammonia I can borrow? I figure about about 0.5 milliliters will give me 2ppm in the tank and we can see what happens after that.

What do you guys think?

I'm not ready for fish yet, but I was wondering about the best places to get tank-raised fish. Everything I've read suggests they are heartier, easier to feed, and generally healthier than wild caught. Not to mention helping to not pull fish out of the oceans.

Anyway, other than the tank-raised section of live-aquaria, do you know of any places that have (local or internet) that carry tank-raised fish?

Thanks

I've got some free samples of Tetra Aquasafe (.51 oz), Tetra Aquasafe w/ Bio Extract (.51 Oz), and TetraMin Tropical Flakes (.11 oz).

It's not worth a drive, but if you're in the area (AW Grimes and 45) let me know and they're yours. The two packets of dechlorinator are good for 30gallons each.

PM sent

Very nice work. Art Major?

Picked up some great DR from Prof's. Thanks for having us over BTW. The tank is also in a new location.

We've got 20lbs of dead sand, almost 40lbs of dead rock and I picked up a Maxi-900 with a sponge filter (not shown)

It was great to meet and talk with everyone. Thanks for the rock dave, I hope to get everything setup... hopefully sinner rather than later and get some live rock in the tank.

August 1st... besides, my tank won't be ready until then.

Things I have:

Coralife 2x96W PC fixture with newish bulbs (36") and mounting legs.

25 gallon tall tank with lid and light.

fixture for 18" T8 lamp (with bulb, only used about 20 minutes)

25gpd RO filter (may need a new membrane)

older Compaq PC w/ DVD writer drive (not sure of other specs)

Things I want/need:

5 to 10 gallon water containers with lid large enough for a small pump (x2)

small pump (see above)

smallish powerhead (x2)

20-40 pounds of live sand

50-60 pounds of live rock (including some rubble for a HOB filter)

40-60 gallons of prepped saltwater (in containers, you can have them back or ask for trade)

Saltwater before sand and rock please!

Cash for the items I have is always welcome too.

Here's a first picture of my new tank. Oh, and the missus and x-boy.

We saw it at Petco for $169 (stand, tank, hood, and lights. I've replaced the light.

hmmm... wrong picture... weird.

The tank is a 44g pentagon. I've got a 96W dual 10k actinic PC light on it. I'm hoping that will be enough for zoas and mushrooms.

There's a Hagen Aquaclear 70 for filtration and a powerhead to be named later for movement.

We're planning black aragonite sand.

That's as far as we've gotten so far.

Sounds like a plan to me. $40 is worth it to me.

Well, my wife actually talked me into going back to SW. I wasn't really sure I wanted to, but she loves the color. OK, we'll try it.

My setup is going to be pretty cheap... unfortunately. I've got a slightly used 25g eclipse system (25g tall tank). The lights are shot and the pump is crap. SO, I'm ditching the hood. My lighting is going to be extreme overkill. I'll be using a Coralife 36" PC fixture with twin 96W bulbs (10k and actinic) That might be enough for just about anything I could want. The weird part is the fixture extends over the edges of the tank. Ah well.

I need a filter and found a neat little unit at Dr. F&S. It's cheap (and I know, you get what you pay for), but it's the only HOB filter I've seen with a surface skimmer. It's rated for a 75g tank and costs $27. It's got two bays. I figure I'll fill one bay with LR rubble and the other with a sponge. Mechanical and biological down. I can always stick a carbon sock or something if I need to.

Since it's so small, I'm just going to get water from a LFS. I can't stand making salt. I never could get the salinity correct. Horrible experience.

I will be finding, buying, building an auto-top-off system. Maybe a powerhead connected to a float switch and a RO reservoir. Give the fish a thrill a few times a day. Another powerhead just for flow. In my old 46g bowfront tank, I had two koralia 1s, an Aquaclear 50 and a Maxi-jet 1200 (skimmer pump), so I had about 1200gph flowing in that tank. The tang loved it, until Ike caused a four week power outage.

So that's about it for now.

AWESOME! I know him. He sold his LFS in Beaumont (which its where I got most of my stuff from there). LOL.

I haven't been to the new store (and I was in the area today). His store in Beaumont was great though. He had two gorgeous SW display tanks. Great guy to work with.

Me and the missus and small-fry will try to be there. He's 2 and loves goats... yes, he's odd...

If I'm lucky, I'll have my tank setup and ready for some rock.

Would anyone like me to bring a pan of brownies?

P.S. Would anyone have a cup of mature livesand to help get me going?

Hi, I decided to go ahead and get back into saltwater. I'd like to set-up an auto-top off system. I'm hoping that some of you know where I can find an inexpensive float switch that can turn on a pump connected to a RO water reservoir.

Any thoughts?

Crap, I misread the topic. Not an emergency. Mod, please move... thanks.

PM sent

skimmer sold

do you have a pick of the long gripper? Or perhaps a link to it online. I'm interested if it looks like:

Long handled grippers

Sorry, the grippers are gone.

Koralia's gone...

Heater and grabber - sold

Koralia's are requested.

BTW: I've got a bucket of calcium and a buffer solution ansd a few other odds and ends as well (small pipe fittings, hose, syringe, etc) Make offer.

I'm fairly new to the Austin area. My wife, child and I moved here after being hit by 4 hurricanes in 3 years. Rita, Humberto, Gustav, and Ike. Evacuations suck. Gustav killed my first SW tank and I rebuilt it just in time for Ike.

I had a 46g bowfront and it was pretty nice. I got rock from TampaBay Saltwater and had some great stuff. If I do salt again, I won't use their rock because I'm more of a control freak and want only what I want. Though the black urchin was very cool!

Anyway, I've got about 4 years experience in FW and 9 months in SW. I'm a scientist (sort of) so I get into the deep levels of the hobby. I also like to wargame, read sf, and play with my little one.

I'm going to try to get back into aquariums, but I want to go big. 55 was really too small for the kind of things I wanted (no, not oscars), I prefer LOTS of smaller fish to one big one. I'm kind of looking for a 110 or 150.

Anyway, that's about it.

See ya

Kev

Hi everyone, I'm new to the Austin area. I had to break down my two tanks to move and I'd like to move to one larger (fw) tank. The following items come from my SW tank and are all in working condition. They came from a 46g bowfront that didn't make the move.

$100 Coralife 3ft PC fixture

-- newish (about 1 month) 10k 92W bulb and dual actinic 92W bulb

-- 2 blue LEDs

(each light (and the LEDs) are on a separate cord and switch, there is one fan, also comes with mounting legs)

$100 Remora Aqua C HOT skimmer -- includes surface skimmer box and maxi-jet 1200

$20 2x Koralia 1 ph ($10 each)

$10 Finnex 200W titanium heater (with external temperature control)

$75 Coralife Pureflow II RO filter (25g/day) - Will need new RO membrane!

$30 for everything below

magfloat

2x partial SW testkits (most of the ammonia tests are used up)

Pair of elbow length heavy gloves

algae brush

long handle gripper with scissor attachment

python squeeze bulb

aquastik coral putty

Package deal: everything above for $275 if you take it all at once.

Alternately, I'm will to trade everything for a largish tank, stand, light, and decent filter unit (Rena for example). If you can help me get the tank here, I'll throw in some pork ribs for lunch (offer good 4th of July weekend only

e-mail or pm

Thanks

Kevin