bhcaaron

I can't stand waiting till I can do everything LATER when I have the money and time to set it all up.. SOOOO

Since I have an extra 10g tank laying around... I'd like to set it up NOW!

Suggestions please! What to have in it? I don't care if its saltie or freshie. It doesn't even have to be fish! Even if its just slime I'd be happy just to know I'm setting something up! Maybe phytoplankton? hmmm? anyways! whatever's clever! What would you do with it?

bhcaaron

What's the cheapest place on-line for power heads? (those are the one's for water current, right?) I'm thinking of setting up all three for curing rock. LoL, won't that be funny! I'll have cured rock and no main tank to place it in ahahahahahahahah! Maybe I'll buy some white shrimp to start raising them to be harvested later. Whatcha'll think?

COBettaCouple

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produc...fm?c=3578+4585 is where we'd get a power head.

if you want to go with fish in the 10g, how about dwarf puffers? if you went that route, you probably would just need a HOB filter instead of a power head.

bhcaaron

COBetta, would the cheap Azoo be worth it for a temporay set up? I don't care to buy an item that will become trash in a week. If it can at least last me 6 months to a year, that would be great.

COBettaCouple

well, we've never used a powerhead so i can't say from experience on the Azoo powerheads, but we have a bunch of their little palm filters since the 1st one we got to try worked so well. It's still running fine after about 6 months of continuous use & we've never had any trouble with it.

bhcaaron

Thanks! I like good news!

COBettaCouple

np.. we'll be trying other Azoo products in the future. I'm really happy with how good a filter they make for a pretty cheap price. Let us order a stack of them so we can just break one out anytime we need to setup a new temp tank or just want some extra filtration on one of the tanks.

if you order the powerhead, let us know how it works.. hopefully all their products are as good as the palm filters.

bhcaaron

I'm pretty sure I'll be ordering it. It just sucks that I still have to wait... Don't you just wish that when you wanted something you could have it that same instant? Ugh! I guess reality bites sometimes lol. But, yeah, I'll be letting you know

Aaron

bhcaaron

OK, so I went to my LFS and bought an API master test kit, a bag of live sand, a bag of salt mix (phosphate and nitrate free), a hydrometer (I think I want to exchange it for a more precise one), and now I've spent $10 more than what I had set aside for this lol. UGH, "me" shopping gets me in more trouble! SO, I'll have to wait till next payday to order from live aquaria. I'll be ordering two 180 model Azoo power heads and two azoo model 3500 air pumps.

Once I have that, then I'll have to make a decision on what to do with the tanks lol. For now I get to play with the API test kits lol.

bhcaaron

So now I've done tests for pH, ammonia, and Nitrate for both our drinking water and tap water. (I forgot to pick up a test kit for chlorine, that'll have to be next payday, sigh). So with the drinking water there were no surprises. The PH was a tad bit higher than the tap water, but, nothing measurable with the kit itself (slightly darker yellow but not enough to bump it up to the next color on the strip). As for the Nitrate... Eeeew! Our tap water has around 40ppm Eew eew eew!!!!

purple_phoenix

Wow, Aaron... gone mad?

Good luck with the whole thing. If it doesn't work out, you could always try harvesting algae or something....

bhcaaron

evenutally i plan to

Gozer_1

This 10 gal setup is only gonna make you wish for more. I promise. Save the money and buy a 55 kit at Walmart. With A couple powerheads and the kit you could get a nice display going. You could cure your rock right in the display. Just a thought. As you saved you could add on the stuff you need. The power filter included in the kit will suffice for awhile. So, get the kit, save and buy a light, then save and buy a skimmer, then your sump setup (the 10G you have will be a nice starter DIY), then when you have it all you can add livestock to a well cycled and mature tank. Don't waste money you could be saving for your display.

bhcaaron

So I just read on the other thread. Ugh.. but, I want, I want, I want (insert smiley of kid thrashing about, here)

COBettaCouple

fish club auctions and craigslist are a good way to pick up tanks with less

bhcaaron

I've checked craigslist out. Same as with eBay, there isn't anything close by for me to be able to pick up. This area has no fish clubs or anything similar. Unfortunately there aren't that many enthusiasts in the area, and those few aren't in such a big hurry to get rid of their tanks. I'll have to keep an eye out, but, after my experience with the 145G tank, I'm thinking new is better.

COBettaCouple

yea, that was the problem in the city we just moved from. we did pick up a 5g & a 10g at yard sales cheap and a friend gave us a 29g tall but the other tanks we got there all were bought new.

bhcaaron

Yep. The three tanks I have now were all cast-aways from an acquaintance at work.

Gozer_1

Classifieds in the paper can lead to some good deals. The 55 setup at Wally is about $170. I first had mine setup on a large dresser otherwise the stand is another 70. You can then spend more on your skimmer and such. You can always upgrade to a larger tank in the future. I know you want a huge tank but think about 20% water changes every week. For the 180 you mentioned in the other post you would be looking at 36 Gallons a week. One typical bag of salt mix makes 50 Gallons of water. At $13 or $14 bucks a bag you're looking at almost $40 a month just in salt mix. Add on to that topoff water which you have to buy or filter. Large tanks come at a bigger price than just the glass. It takes forever to drain 30 Gallons of water from my 150 Fresh. Its a lot of gravel to vacuum too. Plus the amount of live rock you'd need would be quite pricey. I have 70Lbs in my 55. It cost me $200 and I got it pretty cheap. Also, think about the light. The bigger and brighter the more they cost and man can they cost. I have a lower end light and it cost over $200. For a tank of that size it would cost you a lot more like $500+ for the same light level I have (Low light by the way 4watts per gallon). I just think you'd be better off getting your feet wet with a regular setup on a smaller scale. After you run a smaller one for awhile a large tank would be cake to maintain just expensive and labor intensive. Oh and another thing, think about how deep that tank is. I can't reach the bottom of my 150 unless I drain out a bunch of water or dunk my head. Makes it very difficult to replant what the Oscar pulls up lol.

Anyway, I don't know how far you are into the 10G idea so if you're already into it I'd say go ahead and get 10 Lbs of rock and a bigger power filter. Like a 30Gal filter so you have good flow. I don't think you need any power heads just yet. A nice sized filter is gonna give you enough flow. Atleast you could scrath the itch while you save for a bigger setup. Like i said though, this 10Gallon rock tank is eventually just gonna make it itch even worse. I know, I've been there.

bhcaaron

I know, I know. After all of the effort you put into writing this, I'm almost thinking twice. I suppose if I can't find a third job within the next month or so, I'll give up on the Idea of the bigger tank. It would be nice though.

Peterpiper

Hey Aaron
You got a larger SW tank havent you? Why not get some LR form some other LFS so you have some different colours etc then add to your main tank.

Peterpiper

Ok Now I Feel Realy Stupid
Only Read Page 1 And Posted A Reply
Now That I Have Read Page 2 Where My Reply Is.....
Please Forgive

COBettaCouple

Don't worry, a lot of us have done that one.

bhcaaron

Yes, PeterPiper. COBetta is right. I have done that too... many times lol. No apologies necessary. But, I will be doing that eventually. I have thought of mixing rocks for colors and for diversity in bacterial colonization.