Jack-the-reefer

32 minutes ago, Knuckledragger said:

Looks like someone else took the test kit. It was gone when I got there.

Nope. I still have it for you. Just a miscommunication. 

You can do anything you want as long as total volume doesn't exceed 5g. I'll be putting a sump on the betta falls. 

1 hour ago, Kingfisher said:

Just so i understand, 100$ applies to new equipment? You can use whatever you have lying around? OR do we factor in cost of all of it?

It only applies to new equipment. Anything you already have is fair game. 

29 minutes ago, Taylorhardy1 said:

Could the tank be larger than a 5g? Like maybe a 10 or 20g with a max of 5g of water? 

Sure. 

5 minutes ago, Flash21 said:

This ought to be fun! 

I have one question on the equipment of under 100$.  Would equipment be considered materials? Or is equipment lighting filtration heater tank? 

Curious as once you posted last week on entertaining this...I had my plan and we’ll I build my tank already 😂 

Equipment is just the tank, lighting, heater, filter. 

Anything that goes in the tank (livestock, rock, sand, etc.) isn't counted in the budget. 

Here we go!

The thing that got me back into this hobby 6 years ago was a contest very similar to this one. I didn't participate, but I loved following the builds and seeing what was possible in small tanks. The goal of this is to see how creative people can get with their builds. It's really fun to take something that was definitely not designed to be used as a reef tank, and figuring out how to make it work. 

I'm only going to put 2 strict rules on this:

1- Total volume must stay under 5 gallons. This is the total system volume. No, plumbing a .5 gallon cube into your established 10,000 gallon system doesn't count. 

2- The budget is 100$ or less for the equipment. This is going to force you to get creative. You can use anything you already have on hand, or borrow from a friend who hoards supplies. 

- Other than that, everything is fair game. The budget applies to equipment only. If you want to keep a 1000$ trachy in your Cuisinart mixer reef, you win. 

If you want to play, all you need to do is make your first post by next Saturday (3/17). Your first post simply needs to be an equipment list, along with pictures and a cost breakdown. After that, you'll just have to post a tank update, with a full tank shot, every two weeks. So, posts are due by 5pm on 3/17, 3/31, 4/14, 4/28, 5/12, and 5/26. If you miss any of these, you'll be publicly shamed, and removed from the contest. The final posts will be due on June 2 at 5pm. I'll post the final pictures and throw it out there for the community to vote on. 

I want to start by giving a huge thank you to Saltwater Harmony (Holly), and Cuttle Fish and Corals (Jeff), who have paired up to donate a pico appropriate prize for the winner. The winner will get a pre-quarantined yasha goby and pistol shrimp pair. 

Finally, I'm going to be playing along, but I want everyone to know that I'm not going to be in the running for the actual contest. Weird pico tanks are kind of my jam and I really just want to help everybody else see how much fun these can be. If you have any questions or need advice, don't hesitate to pm me. Also, this is my first attempt at running a contest, so go easy on me. 

Players:

1- Bubbles (out)

2- Oregonic (out)

3- Flash21

4- Jack-the-reefer (quitter)

5- Kingfisher (out)

6- Rdavis (out)

7- Gil&fin

Everything spoken for. 

Still have the mg kit up for grabs. Who needs it?

. 

9 minutes ago, lewisriverfisherman said:

I'll take the uv sterilizer 

Done. Pm me and let me know when you want to come get it. 

Sea swirl pending. 

5 minutes ago, Manny Tavan said:

Was hoping for actual crap. Never mind...

Give me a few minutes. 

I just found this stuff from my old tank that I'm probably never going to use. 

There's a 1/2" sea swirl, a coralife turbo twist uv sterilizer (could probably use a new bulb), and a salifert mg test kit that I only used a few times. Everything works, and it's all free. 

If you want any of it, let me know. I live in downtown Vancouver. 

5 minutes ago, LadySaber said:

If jadams7 doesnt have any I do your welcome to. Im starting to shutdown all my tanks.. so I will be posting my all in one this weekend

Cool. I'm going to see Jase this weekend  anyway. I'll let you know after that. 

19 minutes ago, jadams7 said:

I think I have some as well, remind me to check this weekend when I get ya the Sunny D's if you dont find any before then. 

Thanks! That's almost too convenient. 

12 minutes ago, LadySaber said:

I think I do I will check when I get home

Thanks!

27 minutes ago, Flash21 said:

Someone is looking for nano build off stuff 😁

Ha! I was waiting for that. 

This is for a different project. I'm already planning my next 2 tanks. 

Does anyone have a partial bag of black sand left over? I need just enough for an 8" cube and I don't want to buy a bag and only use a handful. 

I'll start an official thread at the end of the week. Then we'll get it rolling. 

Is everybody happy just doing this for fun and bragging rights? Does anyone want to do a buy in to sign up, then prizes for the winners? 

Just for a little inspiration. This is a 1.5 gallon vase with only a heater and airstone for water movement. 

Google maritza reef vase if you want to read more on it. 

I think I'm going to keep it under 5. I want to see how creative people can get. 

I'm going to make an official thread at the end of the week. It looks like we have enough people that are interested. 

I'm going to say definitely no on the store bought. 

And probably under 5 gallons total volume. It's too easy to just plumb it into a bigger tank. 

Your clownfish might have a very short future. Just mentally prepare for him to disappear on you one day. 

It's not eating frozen, but it it awesome. I would have brought it home with me today if I want afraid it would eat my wrasse. 

9 hours ago, spectra said:

Dang have not found a growler yet that will accept live rock...........................I am out

You just have to use tiny pieces and glue them together. Like building a ship in a bottle.