High Tide Aquatics

Hello from the n00bster!

denzil

denzil

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Hello BAR members!

I recently became interested in setting up a nano-reef tank due to my girlfriend's (goldielocke76; Brandie) severe interest in aquariums. There's definitely a lot of information that I need to learn/read and I look forward to putting together an awesome nano-reef setup. I'm also interested in doing a frag tank as well to help offset the costs of running our tanks.

Would anyone be able to direct me to any additional resources to aid my learning? Also, is there some sort of magical comprehensive list of corals that I could read through so I know what I want to set up my tank with?

Thanks in advance!

Denzil
 
There is a 3 part big book called corals of the world, forget who by. It is expensive, but maybe somebody has a version you could browse through?
I would wait until later to setup frag tank, after main display is going well and you guys are having succes with some corals.
Any idea what you nano tank will be? Size etc...? I'd go one I two ways. Small 10-20 gal plain glass tank with hang on skimmer or power filter, or one of the all in one tanks like biocube etc... They aren't amazing as far as equipment etc, but will get you going pretty easy and often can be found used for pretty cheap. You could find a small acrylic and drill it for an overflow and set it up with a sumo and everything too, but more work for sure.
 
Hi Denzil,

Nice to see Brandie got you in the hobby hook line and sinker. ;)

The nano reef handbook by Chris Brightwell is good book to look into. The Coral Propogation Handbook by Anthony Calfo is another good read if you want to set up a frag tank. The author of Corals of the World (that Mike recommended) is by C. Vernon.

Shoot me a pm if you have any other specific questions.
 
Kensington Reefer said:
D
Welcome to the show, and thank you for splurging the $20.
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Certainly! Anything to help support the costs of running the servers supporting this forum. Please let me know if there's any other way I can help (I'm a Computer Engineer :)).
Coral reefer said:
There is a 3 part big book called corals of the world, forget who by. It is expensive, but maybe somebody has a version you could browse through?
I would wait until later to setup frag tank, after main display is going well and you guys are having succes with some corals.
Any idea what you nano tank will be? Size etc...? I'd go one I two ways. Small 10-20 gal plain glass tank with hang on skimmer or power filter, or one of the all in one tanks like biocube etc... They aren't amazing as far as equipment etc, but will get you going pretty easy and often can be found used for pretty cheap. You could find a small acrylic and drill it for an overflow and set it up with a sumo and everything too, but more work for sure.
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Wow, you weren't kidding about that multi-volume book being expensive. I'll have to think about it, LoL.

Yeah, I definitely planned on getting the display tank up and running first. I had no intentions of getting ahead of myself; I'm going to take things really slow. :)

I haven't quite decided yet but I was thinking of something at least 20 gallons or maybe a 29 BioCube. I wanted something a lot larger so it was more forgiving on me if there were any spikes in the chemistry of the water. Plus who knows, I might eventually have a very large tank some day. I think the only thing I worry about with the BioCube is really if what's built into that unit is sufficient as far as lighting and supplemental filtration. I'm very much a DIYer so I would never shy away from doing some manual work for the almost-perfect tank setup.
eldiablosrt8 said:
Welcome from Diablo Corals
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Thanks! I may have to make a trip out to you guys to pick up some corals when I'm ready! :)
gimmito said:
Hi Denzil,

Nice to see Brandie got you in the hobby hook line and sinker. ;)

The nano reef handbook by Chris Brightwell is good book to look into. The Coral Propogation Handbook by Anthony Calfo is another good read if you want to set up a frag tank. The author of Corals of the World (that Mike recommended) is by C. Vernon.

Shoot me a pm if you have any other specific questions.
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Haha, it's all her fault! :p

Thanks for the reading material suggestions. I did a quick Google on Anthony Calfo... sounds like he has a bad rap sheet. Regardless, I hope the information in that book is much better than what Google has shown me. I'm sorry but in any hobby, I don't support the bad apples (unless he really isn't?).
Kensington Reefer said:
Modern coral reef aquarium by fossa and nilsen
Reef aquarium vol 3 by delbeek and sprung
Aquarium corals by borneman
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Noted! Luckily for me, Brandie already has The Reef Aquarium, Vol. 3. :)
 
denzil said:
gimmito said:
Hi Denzil,

Nice to see Brandie got you in the hobby hook line and sinker. ;)

The nano reef handbook by Chris Brightwell is good book to look into. The Coral Propogation Handbook by Anthony Calfo is another good read if you want to set up a frag tank. The author of Corals of the World (that Mike recommended) is by C. Vernon.

Shoot me a pm if you have any other specific questions.
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Haha, it's all her fault! :p
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Not all my fault; Jim had a hand in it too. Denzil's eyes were as round as silver dollars after seeing Jim's DT and FT. LoL
 
goldielocke76 said:
denzil said:
gimmito said:
Hi Denzil,

Nice to see Brandie got you in the hobby hook line and sinker. ;)

The nano reef handbook by Chris Brightwell is good book to look into. The Coral Propogation Handbook by Anthony Calfo is another good read if you want to set up a frag tank. The author of Corals of the World (that Mike recommended) is by C. Vernon.

Shoot me a pm if you have any other specific questions.
Click to expand...
Haha, it's all her fault! :p
Click to expand...

Not all my fault; Jim had a hand in it too. Denzil's eyes were as round as silver dollars after seeing Jim's DT and FT. LoL
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:D

*Calfo may have some questionable husbandry methods, but the book is worth a read.

**I'm sure Erin (our web mistress) could use some help. She's been doing it a long time.
 
I know I said I wouldn't get ahead of myself but it hurts me to see this deal on Craigslist. As a responsible aquarist, I won't be following up on this deal. However, someone else better! :O

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/fod/3160123679.html

I'd be really sad if not one of us doesn't pick this up. It seems like a really good deal to me but maybe there are some catches that I'm not seeing?
 
No lights, you don't want a hang on back overflow, find one with a hole drilled or a real built in overflow if you wanna go with a sump, craigslist sucks. Yellow tang in the 20 too?
 
Yeah, I was wondering why that Tang was in there... definitely too small for him/her.

I did manage to find a 20L on CL for $40 in Fremont. It's very much plain/stock but I plan on doing some work on it. I looked at a lot stands too and I haven't quite found one that aesthetically and functionally pleases me. At this point in time, I'm steering in the direction of building my own stand for the 20L, if I get it. I'll probably use the other 20 that Brandie has for the fuge/sump. Not entirely sure yet what skimmer I'd put in or on that 20 though.
 
Comprehensive list of corals to stock your tank? Whatever happens to be in your gf's tank! ;) Welcome to the show. You'll learn the most by seeing what other people have done and talking with more experienced reefers. Reading sets you on the right track but the conversational knowledge share is priceless. There's a million ways to do things in the hobby but do what's comfortable for you.
 
Having started with a 28g nano cube. I would suggest going with a setup like the one you found on craigslist. Reason being, is after awhile, you want to mod your all in one, try and fit a small skimmer on it, try and set it up to a refugium, etc. It is harder to do that with an all in one, because of the false wall. If you find a nice tank in the shape you want without the false wall, you can do more with it. I eventually gave up on trying to make it work, and just upgraded to a larger tank, which is another way to go. But I may not have upgraded if everything I was trying to do was easier on the all in one.
 
iCon said:
Comprehensive list of corals to stock your tank? Whatever happens to be in your gf's tank! ;) Welcome to the show. You'll learn the most by seeing what other people have done and talking with more experienced reefers. Reading sets you on the right track but the conversational knowledge share is priceless. There's a million ways to do things in the hobby but do what's comfortable for you.
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Thanks! Yeah, i definitely plan on going to meets to chat with folks and what not but I figured I can do as much reading as I can beforehand so I can ask more detailed questions. :)
Erick said:
Having started with a 28g nano cube. I would suggest going with a setup like the one you found on craigslist. Reason being, is after awhile, you want to mod your all in one, try and fit a small skimmer on it, try and set it up to a refugium, etc. It is harder to do that with an all in one, because of the false wall. If you find a nice tank in the shape you want without the false wall, you can do more with it. I eventually gave up on trying to make it work, and just upgraded to a larger tank, which is another way to go. But I may not have upgraded if everything I was trying to do was easier on the all in one.
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Yeah, I thought about going that route but I'm now convinced that I want a 20L tank that I'm going to mod by putting an overflow and holesawing the holes for the overflow kit (can you build these yourself or is it cheaper to just buy those kits online?). As for my stand, I didn't really like a lot of the stands that were out there so I figured that I'd attempt to build my own. My woodworking experience goes only as far as one semester of woodshop in high school but I still remember a lot of things from it. It was so fun building stuff in that class. I think I still need to figure out what skimmer I'm going to use if I'm going to use a standard 20g tank for my fuge/sump combo.
 
I have a 10" miter saw you can borrow indefinitely if you are looking to build your own stand. It's more fun to DIY, but my challenge has always been to make it aesthetically pleasing in addition to being functional. There are also a few expert woodworkers in the club who are able to build stands at a reasonable price, your imagination is the limit!

JEN Veron's "Corals of the World" is quite comprehensive - the problem is that IME not all the corals he describes are available in the trade. If I'd known you were looking for some kind of reference I should have let you look through them while you were over here! There are a couple sites with photos that are far from comprehensive, but could be helpful in narrowing down what you are looking for:
http://www.thecoralvault.com/vault
http://www.coralpedia.com/index.php?module=Gallery2
 
Welcome!
#1 tip is take your time, and #2 DIY is super fun. If you make a stand, be sure to add some lateral support so it won't topple!
 
lattehiatus said:
I have a 10" miter saw you can borrow indefinitely if you are looking to build your own stand. It's more fun to DIY, but my challenge has always been to make it aesthetically pleasing in addition to being functional. There are also a few expert woodworkers in the club who are able to build stands at a reasonable price, your imagination is the limit!

JEN Veron's "Corals of the World" is quite comprehensive - the problem is that IME not all the corals he describes are available in the trade. If I'd known you were looking for some kind of reference I should have let you look through them while you were over here! There are a couple sites with photos that are far from comprehensive, but could be helpful in narrowing down what you are looking for:
http://www.thecoralvault.com/vault
http://www.coralpedia.com/index.php?module=Gallery2
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Oh, yeah, when I'm ready to start working on the stand, I may have to borrow it from you if my friend in Fremont doesn't have one. I plan on taking my time on spending a lot of time planning out the build of the stand, based on other people's builds and the needs of the setup. Thanks for those resources, that's a good jump start!
houser said:
Welcome!
#1 tip is take your time, and #2 DIY is super fun. If you make a stand, be sure to add some lateral support so it won't topple!
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Yeah, definitely plan on making it structurally sound. If I don't and it fails, I'd be one really sad and embarrassed engineer (even though I'm not a Civil Engineer), haha.
 
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