zondebok Posted January 16, 2017 Share Posted January 16, 2017 Bought a 55g tank with every intention of setting up a FW tank, did hours and hours of research, took my wife to the fish store, and she says "hmm, why don't we do saltwater, the fish are so much better"... Well, here I am 2.5 months later with a successful FOWLR setup (currently figuring out lighting, then will consider corals, etc. in the next couple of months). Current stock list: 3 turbo snails 4 astrea snails 3 cerith snails 1 margarita snail 2 peppermint shrimp 1 cleaner shrimp 3 blue/green chromis 2 black ice snowflake clowns 2 firefish 1 diamond goby 1 tomini tang Future stock plans: 3 bengai cardinals 1 potter's angel corals/anemones (probably avoiding SPS, at least for now) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zondebok Posted January 17, 2017 Author Share Posted January 17, 2017 Oh, I forgot my 2 little hermit crabs! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Z Reef Posted January 18, 2017 Share Posted January 18, 2017 Good to see another Couvie! Sounds like your off to a good start! Any pics of your setup? Lighting can be tricky, lots of options and opinions. If I were you, I'd go try and see tanks in action with different lighting and see what you like and what others are successful with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emerald525 Posted January 18, 2017 Share Posted January 18, 2017 Welcome to the forum and yes you can get so many more cool things in saltwater. Most people will recommend you get LEDs but I'm still a T5 lover and love my ATI! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zondebok Posted January 18, 2017 Author Share Posted January 18, 2017 (edited) Good to see another Couvie! Sounds like your off to a good start! Any pics of your setup? Lighting can be tricky, lots of options and opinions. If I were you, I'd go try and see tanks in action with different lighting and see what you like and what others are successful with. Of course I have tons of pictures, but here is 1 from somewhat recently. Fish were somewhat skiddish and hiding. The tang in particular seems to think that anything new (e.g. the camera) is out to hunt him down and murder him. Obviously I am far from an aquascaping expert, but I really don't know how to re-do it at this point, especially with the goby that will dig around under whatever is there, and even then I don't know that I would do any better job doing it over... I would love to go see some other tanks, but the only people that I know that have any are the LFS, and they are not the least biased people I know... Edited January 18, 2017 by zondebok Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zondebok Posted January 18, 2017 Author Share Posted January 18, 2017 Welcome to the forum and yes you can get so many more cool things in saltwater. Most people will recommend you get LEDs but I'm still a T5 lover and love my ATI! I would certainly be willing to go T5, but they are almost as expensive, and I personally haven't seen many people that find them to be better than LED aside from SPS/Clams (and some people still think LED are better there too). I am hoping to find some used lights to get started, and then look at upgrading later when I really know what I want, or when I get a bigger setup (I feel like I bought a boat here, always need a bigger one...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emerald525 Posted January 18, 2017 Share Posted January 18, 2017 I would certainly be willing to go T5, but they are almost as expensive, and I personally haven't seen many people that find them to be better than LED aside from SPS/Clams (and some people still think LED are better there too). I am hoping to find some used lights to get started, and then look at upgrading later when I really know what I want, or when I get a bigger setup (I feel like I bought a boat here, always need a bigger one...) It's just personal preference for me not a cost issue. I jiust prefer the color. I get good growth too and good color on my corals but in no way do I think I am saving money but for what I am spending already I figured I should get the look I like too. I have had LEDs and so far just haven't been impressed with the color even when I have adjusted it Of course there are many awesome tanks with LED lighting , I'm just an ATI fan. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zondebok Posted January 18, 2017 Author Share Posted January 18, 2017 It's just personal preference for me not a cost issue. I jiust prefer the color. I get good growth too and good color on my corals but in no way do I think I am saving money but for what I am spending already I figured I should get the look I like too. I have had LEDs and so far just haven't been impressed with the color even when I have adjusted it Of course there are many awesome tanks with LED lighting , I'm just an ATI fan. I guess I should see some examples in person... Still seems hard to compare, as every setup is different, and it takes some time (it seems) to acclimate things to new lighting anyhow if you want to compare the same tank... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emerald525 Posted January 18, 2017 Share Posted January 18, 2017 I guess I should see some examples in person... Still seems hard to compare, as every setup is different, and it takes some time (it seems) to acclimate things to new lighting anyhow if you want to compare the same tank... It definitely helps to see other tanks to see what you like and then of course not all LEDs are equal either! We have a meeting coming up Jan 29 and you can see a really nice set up with LEDs Here is the information: http://www.pnwmas.org/topic/39515-january-2017-meeting-at-hollys/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zondebok Posted January 18, 2017 Author Share Posted January 18, 2017 It definitely helps to see other tanks to see what you like and then of course not all LEDs are equal either! We have a meeting coming up Jan 29 and you can see a really nice set up with LEDs Here is the information: http://www.pnwmas.org/topic/39515-january-2017-meeting-at-hollys/ Unfortunately Sundays don't work for me, but I hope I can make it next time there is one on Saturday. Sent from my LG-H820 using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zorroreef Posted January 18, 2017 Share Posted January 18, 2017 Welcome to the forum, combination led-t5 best of both worlds, good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HyphyMike Posted January 18, 2017 Share Posted January 18, 2017 Welcome. Always happy to see people from the same town. A couvie huh, Blue Z Reef? I kinda like that. My preferred lighting is T5 with LED. I like LED only as well, because the flexibility and things you can do with them are exceptional. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zondebok Posted January 18, 2017 Author Share Posted January 18, 2017 Welcome. Always happy to see people from the same town. A couvie huh, Blue Z Reef? I kinda like that. My preferred lighting is T5 with LED. I like LED only as well, because the flexibility and things you can do with them are exceptional. I'd love to go with a hybrid setup, but I unfortunately do have to keep costs to a spouse approved level... [emoji1] Sent from my LG-H820 using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HyphyMike Posted January 18, 2017 Share Posted January 18, 2017 Totally feel you there. If you go T5/MH make sure she doesnt see the electricity bill My electricity bill just doubled due to my new tank. Oops. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zondebok Posted January 19, 2017 Author Share Posted January 19, 2017 Totally feel you there. If you go T5/MH make sure she doesnt see the electricity bill My electricity bill just doubled due to my new tank. Oops. Yeah, I think I've ruled out MH for now, haha. Sent from my LG-H820 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zondebok Posted January 19, 2017 Author Share Posted January 19, 2017 Here is a pic from tonight, with the cardinals I added last night. A little cloudy/dirty since one of the new guys died and I had to move some rock to get to it. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LadySaber Posted January 19, 2017 Share Posted January 19, 2017 Welcome..when you're ready for some coral just give a yell.. I'm starting to have to thin out some of my softies my tank is being over run with leathers, and so as...Lol making it a pain in the butt to clean my sand Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zondebok Posted January 19, 2017 Author Share Posted January 19, 2017 Welcome..when you're ready for some coral just give a yell.. I'm starting to have to thin out some of my softies my tank is being over run with leathers, and so as...Lol making it a pain in the butt to clean my sand Much appreciated. I am actively looking for lights, but I tend to over-research everything, so who knows how long it will take me to pull the trigger... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LadySaber Posted January 19, 2017 Share Posted January 19, 2017 Lol no worries I do the same... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zondebok Posted January 20, 2017 Author Share Posted January 20, 2017 Well, I'm picking up some used ocean revives from a member here today. I figured it would cost less to try, and not hurt as much if I decide to try something else later. Excited to get into corals! Sent from my LG-H820 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Z Reef Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 (edited) Good choice! Lots of people here use them successfully and the vendor is local. Are you running a sump? Skimmer? Edited January 20, 2017 by Blue Z Reef Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zondebok Posted January 20, 2017 Author Share Posted January 20, 2017 Good choice! Lots of people here use them successfully and the vendor is local. Are you running a sump? Skimmer? I know the fans go out on them (and he said one of the fans is out, actually), but I contacted OR, and they gave me prices on replacement parts (super reasonable, BTW). I do not have a sump. My stand doesn't have room for one, and my tank is tempered. Originally this was going to be a FW tank, so I hadn't planned for it. I won't make that mistake again. I do have a HOB Reef Octopus skimmer (BH-2000, should be oversized, supposedly), and it works great, with some tweaking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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