Should I take the salt plunge? :)

Russ_in_Georgia

Hrm, I thought the only one they build is 34gal... I've seen that one for $750 including stand and 'starter kit' which includes salt, 'sand', test kits, etc plus free shipping a couple of places.

As far as number of fish, I'm more interested in corals and inverts really so I wouldn't plan on having more than a couple of clowns (gotta have nemo for the kids! ) or a few smaller appropriate fish.

Like I mentioned earlier, I'd LOVE to have a 90-120 gal, but we just don't have a good place for anything other than a cube type tank (unless I ditch the 55g FW). If I can part together everything that the RSM comes with out of the box in a 30-40 gallon size for under $700-750 I'd definitely consider it but I think I'd be hard pressed to pull it off without the aid of craigslist and google the way our LFS's are priced around here, so shipping will be my enemy.

Time to fire up the search engines and add a 'scratch built' tab to the SW estimate spreadsheet

Judge

Personally I like building my own system from scratch. Piece by piece and putting it all together but I am a serious addict. I moved the antique piano out of the bedroom in order to have room for my new tank project! So what the heck, do you really need that couch? Just kidding,sort of. Keep us informed we are interested to see what you finally decide. Oh and, need a piano?

Russ_in_Georgia

OK, here's what I've come up with so far... I gain a little more size on gallons going with a 46g bowfront.. without a skimmer I'm already up over 800 bucks and havent added in a skimmer yet... Thoughts?
46 Gallon Sea Clear Bowfront tank $335.00 shipped off ebay
Stand $100.00
Lights $250.00 36" Coralife 2x96 (1 reg, 1 actinic, lunar leds)
100w Heater $10.00
AquaClear Powerhead Model 50 x2 ($35 ea) $70.00
Seachem reef salt (160g mix) $40.00
Test kit $20.00
Skimmer?
Running total: $825.00


p.s. I've got the Fenner book on the way

Judge

All looks really good so far. IMHO I would not use the Aquaclear PH. If you are using them to move some water around, which is a good thing, then I would go with a couple of Koralia's. Their cheaper, move more water and will not eat your watery friends. I have an Aqua Clear PH I now use for mixing salt, after it ate my Pincushion Urchin. For a 46 gallon I would go with a couple of #2's myself. You will also find that having good movement will cut down on all kinds of algae issues, especially red slime, which is not really an algae but is cyanobacteria (cb).
Good for you for getting the Fenner book. Most think it is one of the best, which is important when you can get three different answers between an LFS and online info searches.
I think you are going in the right direction with the bigger tank and as far as a skimmer goes I have not been disappointed with with Aqua C Remora. The skimmer is one area where you do not want to skimp. I found this out the hard way. The cheap one seemed to work ok but fell apart regularly. The Remora will not do that, it is simple to operate, run, and after it gets seasoned a bit it is a work horse. Keep us clued on your progress. Good luck.

Russ_in_Georgia

Still waiting on my book to get here playing with numbers and options. The LFS has a glass 46g bowfront and stand for mid 300's and I'm glued to craigslist looking for a local deal...

Is there a particular sand that's best for a reef setup? Out of options I've seen so far I'm leaning towards either black or pink aragonite. For a 46g I've come across calculators that tell me I'd need about 120lbs to have a 2-3inch base and for economy do 2/3 dead and 1/3 live, am I on the right path on that front?

If I only had room for the *cheap* 120g established systems I keep stumbling across in the area for half what I'm pricing starting up a 46

Russ_in_Georgia

Well I went to another lfs last night and they have a 75g+stand for $100 less than the 46bow+stand at the other one... Evil temptresses! After factoring in more sand and rock, and bigger power heads I'd only be out of pocket another $100 and the Mrs. has agreed to a location for a bigger tank in the living room as long as I can hide all the wires, so why not, right?

My issue now is lights. Is ~3-4wpg going to keep many types of corals happy? My big fave is zoas and I'd be happy with a tank full of as many breeds as I can find. After reading around, I'm no longer sure I want to mess with clowns or at least trying to find them an anemone. I'm wanting to avoid MH if possible because we have cooling issues in our house as it is (hopefully they'll be resolved before next summer!) With a 48" 75g the most power I've come across without insane $$$ is the coralife 4x65 which would put me around 3.5wpg. Am I missing an option in my search?