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New member (me) Jim

Jim123

Jim123

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Hi my name is Jim.

I am a new member and new to saltwater.
I do have a 150 gal freshwater planted tank that is doing well.
I want to start a reef tank and I need some help.

I am having trouble figuring what equipment I need, where to put it, and how to
hook it up. I do have a tendency to try to try to do things differently which can be
a problem. : )

I plan to come to the next meeting. I would like to meet some people. Get some
help and have people to share this hobby with. It would be nice to have someone over to
my house to see what I have and talk about what to do next. I would also like
very much to see other peoples setups. I can't totally get a feel for things with just
the web and youtube.

Anyway, for your interest here is some info about where my project is currently at.

I have a TruVu acrylic tank 220 gal.
With the top bracing I can't figure where to put a overflow if I want a sump.

This is what I want for my setup;
Reef tank
Lower maintenance
Lots of soft coral
Lots of macroalgae (No Caulerpa)
Lots of live rock
A few easy, fairly peaceful fish.

My current proposed fish list;
6 Pajama Cardinals
2 Ocellaris Clowns
1 Coral Beauty
1 Royal Gramma
1 Yellow Watchman Goby
1 Pinkbar Goby
3 Greenbar Gobies
1 Bicolor Blenny
1 Orangespot Blenny
17 fish, 4.4 gal per fish inch

Attached is a photo of my tank so far;
(I hope it shows up, I have not done this type of link before)

The cat's name is Antwerp.
The decor is from Ebay.
The pictures on the tank show the proposed fish.
The foam pad is because the tank stand is not flat enough.
Maybe you can see the gap on the right back corner (Ughhh!)
The acrylic boxes in the tank will be filled with sand to create different levels.
(Just something I do) Lots of coral rock will be built up and added.

Looking forward to the meeting.
Any comments are welcome. Jim : )





 
Welcome Jim.

I agree that your best bet is to go and look at systems that are already set up. See what you like, and what you don't like and get a much better understanding of the basics of flow, light, filtration, etc. Let us know what area you live in so those that are closest can help you out.

Your stand is gonna give me a heart attack! LOL!

Please post pics of your freshwater tank. Sounds nice.
 
Welcome Jim. Welcome to the saltwater side of the hobby! Lots of great people and information here at BAR.

I would get to work on a new stand first.
 
Here are picts of my freshwater tank.
It has just been trimmed back above the waterline.
The plants flower and develop runners with leaves that overhang the
top and extend down to the floor!

Clearly I have not quite figured out how to do aquarium photography, so well.
This is an additional area I could use some help...

The last picture I am just showing (off) some of the art stuff I have around my house.
I do need paint that white pipe brown and move it to the back of the aquarium. That
is the canister filter output pipe.

Jim : )









 
Hi Mike,
I think I answered you. I live in Mountain View.
I don't know how to use Forums very well.
If I answer someone does it show up on the main thread?
If not how do I follow it and see what I have answered?
 
Hi, Erin;
I like art and designing and building things.
The stand is intentionally designed to look sort of casual structurally.
It is very very sturdy.
I live in Mountain View.
I am not sure if I answered you already, I don't understand how to use forums so well yet.
(1000 gal in the back yard, does that make it a pond? A reef pond? Cool !!)
 
Hi Kris!

The stand is intentionally designed to look structurally... casual. : )
It is very very sturdy
It is bolted to the wall.
The top is made of two layers of 3/4" ply and 8 -- 2x4s
The concrete blocks are glued together with construction adhesive
The floor is reinforced from underneath.
I like the look of it, knowing how it is built.
Thanks for your suggestion,
I posted some pictures of my freshwater tank.
(Similar stand).

Jim : )
 
Hey! Welcome! If you're wanting to see other people's tanks to get ideas, there are 2 great opportunities coming up. June 9th is the South Bay tank tour and then July 14th is the east bay tank tour. The tank tours will involve a group of club members going to several people's houses to see their tanks. If you participated in these tours you'd get a chance to see quite a few local tanks and get ideas.
 
Oh and here are the links to the threads with the details for the 2 tours.

South Bay Tank Tour
http://www.bareefers.org/home/node/15507

East Bay Tank Tour
http://www.bareefers.org/home/node/15750
 
Hi Jim,

Welcome to BAR ! You might want to get The Coral Reef Aquarium by Tony Vargas. It shows some of the most beautiful tanks in the world, how they were put together from inception, plumbing, filtration, lighting, flow, rock scaping, stocking, etc. To bad you missed our last speaker Gary Parr, he gave a very informative talk on aquarium photography. Craig Bingham will speak on chemistry and how it relates to reef aquariums on June 8th.

You might want to consider becoming a member to take full advantage of what the club has to offer...it's the best $30 you will spend in this hobby. ;)
 
+1 to joining BAR, the $30 is well worth it.
The stand does look shaky but you've done your homework, good for you doing it differently while keeping it strong enough. You have space under the tank for a sump and a refugium, which you could make into a display if you wanted since you have some talent at growing out your planted tank.
 
Thanks for your comments.
A sump would be a good idea, however, I can't figure how to do an overflow.
The tank is acrylic and has a 5" rim all the way around it.
I might be able to use a hang on overflow like a CPR which would only require a 2"x 10" slot in the top.
But in addition I was hoping to use a ultra quiet overflow with a tuned and a emergency siphon, if you know
what that is. I can't see how to adapt something like this to my tank. I'm stuck, I really would like it to be quiet.
 
Give Gen at Kritter tanks a shout regarding drilling the tank and building you a overflow. I would not recommend a after market overflow (they tend to fail).
 
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