lduncan Posted June 21, 2006 Report Share Posted June 21, 2006 If you could get back all the money you have spent on your tank so far, and put it all into setting up your ideal tank, how would you do it? What animals would you keep? ASW or NSW? What sort of lighting and how long would you run it? Skimmer / no skimmer? Needle wheel / venturi / beckett / air driven ? DSB, vaccumed sand, no sand? How would you maintain water chemistry? Kalk / two part / calcium reactor? What would you use for flow? Streams / closed loops / surge devices / sea swirls? How much live rock? minimal / average / great wall of china? Would you run chemical media? iron based phosphate remover / aluminium based phosphate remover / carbon / zeolites ? UV? Ozone? Would you use bacterial cultures? prodibo / zeobak ? What additives would you use? amino acids / vitamins / fatty acids / strontium / iodine / iron / fluorine / potassium / other magic potions ? What would you feed? frozen / flake / coral food? Would you grow macro algae? Would you have a refugium? Layton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cookie extreme Posted June 21, 2006 Report Share Posted June 21, 2006 you missed a question! "would you have started a reef tank if you know how much it would cost you once finished (if ever)" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lduncan Posted June 21, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 21, 2006 :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef Posted June 21, 2006 Report Share Posted June 21, 2006 I am pretty happy with my set up. it has everything i want . only think i would change is my lighting would remove 4x400w and change to 8x250w or 150w. spread of light would give better results. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted June 21, 2006 Report Share Posted June 21, 2006 you missed a question! "would you have started a reef tank if you know how much it would cost you once finished (if ever)" Hmm...No. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef Posted June 21, 2006 Report Share Posted June 21, 2006 one thing i would change is my iks computer as i want a updated controller, harry up layton. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted June 21, 2006 Report Share Posted June 21, 2006 Or I should say, No, if i'd known everything would inexplicably die and never recover... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted June 21, 2006 Report Share Posted June 21, 2006 interesting, i'll answer that one by one What animals would you keep? all different size fish, but lots of different coloured smaller fish in schools and fewer large fish ASW or NSW? saltwater nsw of course, purely down to extra cost What sort of lighting and how long would you run it? same as what i've upgraded to now. massive difference already. 400W with lumen arc reflectors. still experimenting with photoperiod Skimmer / no skimmer? Needle wheel / venturi / beckett / air driven ? same skimmer as now, deltec ap902. kicks arse! DSB, vaccumed sand, no sand? vaccumed sand. much finer grain than i currently have. probably something like what cracker has. How would you maintain water chemistry? Kalk / two part / calcium reactor? calcium reactor and two part for top up, but i wouldnt buy the model korallin i have again its a crap design IMO. What would you use for flow? Streams / closed loops / surge devices / sea swirls? same as now, streams, closed loop and seaswirl. main difference is you would not see them. How much live rock? minimal / average / great wall of china? minimal/average. i'd have the pillar like i have now but have it as a feature on it's own in the centre with a small wall of rock going around and behind it creating a valley Would you run chemical media? iron based phosphate remover / aluminium based phosphate remover / carbon / zeolites ? no comment UV? Ozone? dont think i've found the need? never really tried so dont know. Would you use bacterial cultures? prodibo / zeobak ? dont know What additives would you use? amino acids / vitamins / fatty acids / strontium / iodine / iron / fluorine / potassium / other magic potions ? still playing/learning What would you feed? frozen / flake / coral food? all of the above Would you grow macro algae? no never again Would you have a refugium? yes, but LR only, no sand and NO macro algae! thing i'd change (and which i am going to change later on) is the size of the tank. more deeper front to back. new tank will be 1metre x 2metres by 650. any bigger i'll need 6 foot arms to reach in :lol: interesting topic layton, even though its not specific, it'll certainly get some questions going about why people choose yes or no eg: no to macroalgae, it's a PITA!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasp Posted June 21, 2006 Report Share Posted June 21, 2006 I would not have started at all had I known the full cost. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cookie extreme Posted June 21, 2006 Report Share Posted June 21, 2006 What animals would you keep? something more challenging like food dependent corals, stuff that lives in caves, lots of small hardly noticeable fishes and other interesting critters. ASW or NSW? i will stick with NSW in the summer and ASW in the winter, its just to damn cold to collect it in my swim suit during the colder months. but it does save lots of money getting NSW even with the high fuel cost. What sort of lighting and how long would you run it? well if money wasn't really an object (not taking tens of thousands here either) i would get some of the newer pendants with 250 watt and t5 in it. otherwise i am quite happy with my 150 watters as it looks so much tidier then before with all the "rubbish" sitting on the tank. (light fittings) and i really like to look into my tank from above not just the front. Skimmer / no skimmer? Needle wheel / venturi / beckett / air driven ? again a Q. of $. i am pretty happy with the 2 berlin classic's i run as i belive that some people overskim their tank (JMO) but would like a skimmer that takes the overflow water directly (which due to design is not possible with the berlin) DSB, vaccumed sand, no sand? this would inter link with the first question. i would run a very DSB in a separate tank not as nutrient export but in trying to get a better micro fauna How would you maintain water chemistry? Kalk / two part / calcium reactor? would keep my little calcium reactor which would be more then enough after loosing all those SPS What would you use for flow? Streams / closed loops / surge devices / sea swirls? would do similar design as i have at present. i can't stand the look of pumps, pipes, all all the other horrible looking stuff people have in their tanks. it looks unnatural. would try to do closed loops (which would be pretty hard to do as my tank is 3 sided and only on side panel is against a wall. (room divider). would try a wave box which i believe would be very benefical in keeping soft corals. How much live rock? minimal / average / great wall of china? again i am very happy with the little rock i've got. i would say got more weight in corals now then rock. this also gives more flow to tha tank with less pumps. i think rock piles "great wall of china" is a poor excuse for not being pro active in designing something a bit more challenging. (no offence to all the rock pilers out there :lol: ) Would you run chemical media? iron based phosphate remover / aluminium based phosphate remover / carbon / zeolites ? would still run carbon and some of the zeovit products (most likely different ones as the set upo would be different. but thats hard tell at present. UV? Ozone? never have, so can't really comment. uv maybe? ozone most likely not! Would you use bacterial cultures? prodibo / zeobak ? yes What additives would you use? amino acids / vitamins / fatty acids / strontium / iodine / iron / fluorine / potassium / other magic potions ? amino acids for sure as i have seen great improvements, would say yes to most of the above if it makes an improvment (if its good = use it) What would you feed? frozen / flake / coral food? yes to all the above Would you grow macro algae? Would you have a refugium? most likely yes because of the corals i intent to keep and grow. would not have macro algae in a SPS only tank, fuge maybe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puttputt Posted June 21, 2006 Report Share Posted June 21, 2006 ok so how do I do the "quote" thing :oops: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lduncan Posted June 21, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 21, 2006 It's similar to posting images. You would type: The text you want to quote goes in here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lduncan Posted June 21, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 21, 2006 which would display as: The text you want to quote goes in here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puttputt Posted June 21, 2006 Report Share Posted June 21, 2006 ok so how do I do the "quote" thing Thanks CE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puttputt Posted June 21, 2006 Report Share Posted June 21, 2006 What animals would you keep? SPS, SPS, and a few more SPS - love them. Oh and some fish. ASW or NSW? ASW What sort of lighting and how long would you run it? Love the arcadia series, but would like 4 X double 250s (8) Skimmer / no skimmer? 902, or 1004 DSB, vaccumed sand, no sand? Bare bottom - no hesitation How would you maintain water chemistry? Calcium reactor, make up differnec with CaCl etc as I do now. What would you use for flow? Combo streams and closed loops - new icecap one once flaws sorted out Would you run chemical media? as little as possible, carbon and maybe phospahate remover UV?Ozone? no Would you use bacterial cultures? prodibo / zeobak ? no What additives would you use? amino acids / vitamins / fatty acids / strontium / iodine / iron / fluorine / potassium / other magic potions ? none What would you feed? frozen / flake / coral food? yes, all 3 Would you have a refugium? definitely If I had unlimited budget, I'd copy Steve Weast, minus the sand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted June 21, 2006 Report Share Posted June 21, 2006 minus the sand argh, yuck! all you need is a glass bottomed ocean to make your tank look more realistic :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lduncan Posted June 22, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 22, 2006 We're not trying to replicate and ocean though. Were trying to replicate a small part of a reef. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted June 22, 2006 Report Share Posted June 22, 2006 argh, yuck! all you need is a small glass bottomed reef to make your tank look more realistic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puttputt Posted June 22, 2006 Report Share Posted June 22, 2006 with the amount of coraline now growing on the glass on the bottom of my tank, it will looks like a flat ledge soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puttputt Posted June 22, 2006 Report Share Posted June 22, 2006 and my tank is BB now, and I don't consider it yuck, each to their own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skippy Posted June 22, 2006 Report Share Posted June 22, 2006 Must admit I much prefer the sandy bottomed look. I reckon there is just something missing with BB tanks but as Puttputt says - "each to their own" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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