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Sailingeric

Beer. Now there's a temporary solution
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I have gotten in fish keeping, I have a 75 gallon filled with different tetras and some cory cats and over the weekend picked up a couple tanks real cheap, a 55 gallon to hold a couple big goldfish i have had for about a year and a 29 gallon that I am going to turn into a salt water tank.
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So if you have tanks let's see them. Even better if you drive or own a real tank. The last one is just after put the water in and it stirred up the sand.
 
I am not able to keep a nice aquarium at the moment, but aquarium keeping is my second passion next to brewing, after hurricane sandy i lost all my fish and all my tank pics, i had a 125 gallon amazon biotope with 8 caribe piranhas and a 75 gallon with a gold oscar that was about a foot long, a monster and was like a dog would greet me when i waked in the room..i miss fish keeping
 
I keep a 90g reef. It crashed hard during the last hurricane (lost power for a week, temps went into 90's). I lost all corals and all but one fish (yellow tang is a survivor :) ).

I'll post up pics later.
Its devastating bro, i put so much money,love,time to raise these fish and boom sandy shuts off the power and my fish died by cold rather then hot..it truly sucked, sorry to hear about your fish, i feel you bro
 
I had a 180 gallon reef ready tank for 20 years. It has seen the gamut of many different setups over the years. From schools of African Cichlids of many beautiful colors, with a reef of rock that ran the whole 7 foot width of the tank which looked like a salt water aquarium, to the graceful majestic Arowanas, fresh water stingrays, to then later schools of tropical varieties. The wife wanted to remodel the family room and the tank was not in her plans (you know how that goes) so she wanted it to go. I ended up donating the tank to a teacher at a local high school that has a passion for the hobby and has many tanks. He was thrilled to get it and has it setup in his classroom now. At least the wife lets me indulge in my brewing and still supports me in that hobby!

John
 
I had a 180 gallon reef ready tank for 20 years. It has seen the gamut of many different setups over the years. From schools of African Cichlids of many beautiful colors, with a reef of rock that ran the whole 7 foot width of the tank which looked like a salt water aquarium, to the graceful majestic Arowanas, fresh water stingrays, to then later schools of tropical varieties. The wife wanted to remodel the family room and the tank was not in her plans (you know how that goes) so she wanted it to go. I ended up donating the tank to a teacher at a local high school that has a passion for the hobby and has many tanks. He was thrilled to get it and has it setup in his classroom now. At least the wife lets me indulge in my brewing and still supports me in that hobby!

John
Sucks you had to give up the tank. My wife actually supports my hobbies and she was the one who found the two tanks on Craigslist. The seller wanted $75 for the $55 gallon with stand and $40 for the 29 gallon but I got both for $100. :rock:
 
Arowanas are so cool. I shared a college apartment in Denver with a guy who had a Silver Arowana cruising around a ~10 foot long tank. Such a beautiful animal...

Cheers!
 
Sucks you had to give up the tank. My wife actually supports my hobbies and she was the one who found the two tanks on Craigslist. The seller wanted $75 for the $55 gallon with stand and $40 for the 29 gallon but I got both for $100. :rock:

You got a great price for both tanks! Lots of luck on the saltwater setup!

John
 
Awww, I',m a sucker for the clowns. I've got two oscillaris. They used to be such a nice couple in the magnifica heteractis anemone I had, but it melted (last time I'll do that) and now just one of them has hosted in a nearby goniopora. The other for some reason has been ostracized.
 
I love clowns too. That's what got me into salt water in the first place. Started keeping fresh water tanks when I was 10 and I got my first salt water tank when I was 12, way back in 1976. Got some clowns and I was hooked! Which of course lead to another tank with a panther grouper, a trigger, and a tang. Was very hard to keep salt water back then and I learned a lot, as they didn't have reef tanks back then (for hobbyists anyway). That was back in the undergravel filter and power head days. If you over fed your fish the tank chemistry would spike and you could loose your fish. Live rock, sump filters, protein skimmers, etc then evolved later and it was much easier to keep the fish alive for a few years. I would get a pair of clowns also, and later when your tank is balanced a sea anenome.

Good Luck,

John
 
I love clowns too. That's what got me into salt water in the first place. Started keeping fresh water tanks when I was 10 and I got my first salt water tank when I was 12, way back in 1976. Got some clowns and I was hooked! Which of course lead to another tank with a panther grouper, a trigger, and a tang. Was very hard to keep salt water back then and I learned a lot, as they didn't have reef tanks back then (for hobbyists anyway). That was back in the undergravel filter and power head days. If you over fed your fish the tank chemistry would spike and you could loose your fish. Live rock, sump filters, protein skimmers, etc then evolved later and it was much easier to keep the fish alive for a few years. I would get a pair of clowns also, and later when your tank is balanced a sea anenome.

Good Luck,

John

I want to get some coral but I will need to get better lighting and if I spend too much more this soon I will be getting dirty looks from the wifey.
 
Yea, hold off on the coral. You might get away with some mushrooms (which fall into coralimorphan), aren't true corals, but can be colorful and low maintenance. The rest of it will require a significant effort to make happen. I don't doubt your dedication and ability, but best to think hard first. Take a look at reefcentral and you'll see what it takes. It's a deep hole, probably more than brewing.
 
I've had tanks my whole life. This was my 55 gallon planted tank from a couple years ago.(all live plants) Still have all the stuff broken down in the basement.Love the hoppy but its time consuming. I had a nice salt water tank years ago but really like the natural look of the planted tank...miss my tank
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BTW, many people paint the back of their tank black. Might be a little late for that for you, but you could probably slide something back there.

I am going to do like I did on my 75 gallon, use colored poster board either black or dark blue, just tape it down, easy to remove down the down.
 
I want to get some coral but I will need to get better lighting and if I spend too much more this soon I will be getting dirty looks from the wifey.
I never did coral but Pretty sure you can use led lights that's are dirt cheap now. A couple hanging 300W weed growin lights might work. I bought one from amazon for like $80 I think
 
I never did coral but Pretty sure you can use led lights that's are dirt cheap now. A couple hanging 300W weed growin lights might work. I bought one from amazon for like $80 I think

I run a mix of LEDs and metal halide lights. Once you get that going, the algae will get out of control unless many other things are in place (skimmer, biological filtering, happy rock and sand bed, etc). It's quite a dance really. BTW, those LEDs aren't cheap.
 
I run a mix of LEDs and metal halide lights. Once you get that going, the algae will get out of control unless many other things are in place (skimmer, biological filtering, happy rock and sand bed, etc). It's quite a dance really. BTW, those LEDs aren't cheap.
I was thinking something like this...$170 doesn't exactly break the bank in the scheme of a coral tank setup...Again never done coral but The lighting shouldn't be the expense that stops someone from doing a live coral setup I wouldn't think. Arent coral tanks mixed with fish where you would already have the correct skimmer and filter?
How big are metal halides for a tank? I had a 400w back in the day for "something else" and the electric was a killer

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct...261534468394&usg=AOvVaw0msnRgpbpbwiH0DXbIkj1-
 
I had a 20 gallon tall set up as a reef for a few years, then I got rid of everything when we moved overseas. I kinda miss it. This thread makes me really miss it. IMHO, that was a more expensive hobby than brewing. I'll dig out some pics and post them. A buddy of mine got me into reef keeping, when I was ready for corals he gave me snippets of this and that, eventually everything spread and filled in nicely. I had a nice sized colony of pulsing xenia, they are great barometers of tank health; if your temp/salinity/etc. was out of whack they would stop pulsing. Mushroom and button corals are easy to take care of, if you pick up a colony, snip off a few buds and toss them in a blender with a few cups of tank water and pulse for just a split second. Turn off pumps, filters, etc and dump it in the tank. The tiny bits will lodge themselves all over and sprout whole heads again. Corals are the coolest things. I had a few fish and sea star, but the corals themselves were really more interesting. Fish and especially sea stars tend to tear things up sometimes. Best to have a tank full of small inverts and corals. And I never had an anemone, they have a tendency to move to a bad spot ruining your layout, or just die suddenly in a nuclear meltdown that can wipe out all your healthy stuff. Or so I've read. Getting one to host a clown is cool tho.

Edit: BTW I never ran a skimmer or a sump filter, instead I had a large box filter hanging on the back that was set up with its own lighting and smaller fragments of live rock as a refugium, a clump of seaweed floating in there hosted a colony of copepods that did a stellar job of keeping the water clean. I ran activated carbon in a mesh bag but other than that, there was zero mechanical filtration. If you have enough liverock, you'll have plenty of chemical filtration and shouldn't experience protein overload unless you overfeed. I had a 70W metal halide, very bluish daylight spectrum, plenty of intensity for soft corals and some hard corals, and it made the colors pop! 70W isn't that expensive to run, and I think LEDs are still way overpriced.
 
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I was thinking something like this...$170 doesn't exactly break the bank in the scheme of a coral tank setup...Again never done coral but The lighting shouldn't be the expense that stops someone from doing a live coral setup I wouldn't think. Arent coral tanks mixed with fish where you would already have the correct skimmer and filter?
How big are metal halides for a tank? I had a 400w back in the day for "something else" and the electric was a killer

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=5&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjI2KTwtpDZAhVtx1kKHXYWDEEQFghtMAQ&url=https://www.ebay.com/itm/MarsAqua-Dimmable-300W-LED-Aquarium-Light-Full-Spectrum-Reef-Coral-Marine-Lamp-/261534468394&usg=AOvVaw0msnRgpbpbwiH0DXbIkj1-

That looks pretty good. I'd recommend something that's tried and tested by the community though, even if it cost more. These are being used by the enthusiasts.

https://www.reefbreeders.com/new-photon-v2/
 
That looks pretty good. I'd recommend something that's tried and tested by the community though, even if it cost more. These are being used by the enthusiasts.

https://www.reefbreeders.com/new-photon-v2/
Mars is a trusted name. They've been around the weed growin community forever. I have a Mars 300w light I use to start my tomatoes from seed. I'd feel more than comfortable using them for coral tank...endless positive reviews.
I suppose its like a brew pot. The link you posted would be a Blichmann and the Mars would be a Concord. They'll both get you to the same place but one has the cool factor
 
Mars is a trusted name. They've been around the weed growin community forever. I have a Mars 300w light I use to start my tomatoes from seed. I'd feel more than comfortable using them for coral tank...endless positive reviews.
I suppose its like a brew pot. The link you posted would be a Blichmann and the Mars would be a Concord. They'll both get you to the same place but one has the cool factor

That's good, that they have a good reputation. The real measurement is PAR, which is a measurement of the light spectrum that is usable for photosynthesis. Legit light sources will map the PAR readings in a tank of some depth so that you know you're getting the right light spread evenly on the bottom of your tank. I'd look for that.
 
I use to have a 90g saltwater with 30@ sump. But sadly, with too many hobbies and 2 Young’s kids I had to give it up. But here are some photos from when I was rocking it. They were deleted from my phone so I had to grab them from my IG
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^^ I love the mandarin. Mine was shy for a long time, but as he got older he got bolder and was always out on display. I had mine for several years, but it died in Irma. Mine was pretty chunky from a thriving copepod population (that also might have succombed to the hurricane). I re-seeded the tank with pods, but haven't checked to see if they are thriving yet. Maybe tonight.
 
^^ I love the mandarin. Mine was shy for a long time, but as he got older he got bolder and was always out on display. I had mine for several years, but it died in Irma. Mine was pretty chunky from a thriving copepod population (that also might have succombed to the hurricane). I re-seeded the tank with pods, but haven't checked to see if they are thriving yet. Maybe tonight.

Yeah I use to keep my copepods in the sump so they could thrive without harm and they would get sucked up into the tank. Worked pretty well.
 
Yeah I use to keep my copepods in the sump so they could thrive without harm and they would get sucked up into the tank. Worked pretty well.

I got tired of the sump noise a few years ago and plumbed the overflow/return through the walls of my house to an outside shed. It was one of those things that I thought about for years and finally did. So awesome! My tank is almost completely soundless now, and I have tons of room and easy of access that I didn't have before in the sump.

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I got tired of the sump noise a few years ago and plumbed the overflow/return through the walls of my house to an outside shed. It was one of those things that I thought about for years and finally did. So awesome! My tank is almost completely soundless now, and I have tons of room and easy of access that I didn't have before in the sump.

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Nice. I never had that option. But I do have that filtration system which turned into a great ROI system for my beer water :D
 
That though wall setup is the real deal and the way to go...Are tank was near our TV couch...the wife hated the noise but put up with it to support me which is nice
 
That though wall setup is the real deal and the way to go...Are tank was near our TV couch...the wife hated the noise but put up with it to support me which is nice

Yep, it's near the TV. I'll get a pic at some point. It's not that impressive. Like I said, it crashed hard a few months ago and I'm dealing with the fallout still (though the new fish and corals are growing). I think the live rock died off because though I get no algae on the sand and the glass, but it keeps growing back on the rocks.
 
Got a second clown, they appear to be best buds. Also got the sump and protein skimmer up and running. Will either get a blue green chromis or a couple cardinal fish this weekend.
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I've had this set up since August 2017 and used to be a lot more into it but lost interest slightly. All I do is fill it with water when it gets low and haven't done a water change in months! All parameters are perfect surprisingly, probably because of my plants. Highly recommend the SunSun filters
 
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