The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread

[md4958]

Originally Posted by Wolfgang

The RSM is an awesome system. I dont remember what these cost new but $500 seems a bit high. I paid $800 fro my 90 gallon system. I would recommend getting your eyes on it lok everything over make sure the glass/acrylic isnt scratched. One of the biggest things ive seen with these all in one nano tanks is leaking around the bottom seam. This is what mine did.

Some of the pricing I've seen online are in the $750-$800 range. Apparently this was only used for a month before upgrading to a larger tank.
http://hartford.craigslist.org/for/2281123389.html

However, after reading through this thread a bit last night, my dream of owning a saltwater tank has been a bit diminished.

Is it worth the trouble?

[shilala]

Originally Posted by md4958

Is it worth the trouble?

It's like earning a law degree and never making a dime for it.
If you love law, the answer is "absolutely". If it's just a passing fancy, I'd suggest a nice painting.
Moe, in the last 15 years, I've easily spent 14 years of them in saltwater. Most times I don't even wash my hands anymore. Some days I look at the thing and rue the day I ever met a fish tank.
Some days, I very much enjoy it.
Other days, Lisa and I enjoy it very much together. The smile on her face is priceless.
When friends and family come over and there's six or eight kids and four or five other grownups and we're all looking at it together, and the kid's eyes are as big as saucers, that makes it become a true God-given blessing.

When I moved out here, I had made up my mind that I was all done. Lisa made me stick with it. She made the right call.

Oh, one more thing...
That page about the tank and how it makes things easy, blah, blah, blah?
Utter bullsh1t. The best way I can explain the commitment is that it's exactly like getting a dog. It requires just as much work time, if not more. You can't leave it for any amount of time without being in care of another reefer, and it ties a brother down.
Think about the things you do for your dog, checking to see if he's sick, looking after his health, etc. If that's okay with you, go get it.

Now, that's a reef tank.
A marine tank, or fish-only tank isn't near as hard. You can make it hard and some guys do, but it's not remotely as hard as a reef tank, in my experience.

Interior scratching of plexiglass isn't that visible when filled with water but looks terrible dry. $500 would not be bad if it came cycled and stocked. Still, you can find great deals all the time from people who are giving up the hobby.

[Wolfgang]

Originally Posted by BC-Axeman

Interior scratching of plexiglass isn't that visible when filled with water but looks terrible dry. $500 would not be bad if it came cycled and stocked. Still, you can find great deals all the time from people who are giving up the hobby.

I believe the RSM is glass though.

Originally Posted by Wolfgang

I believe the RSM is glass though.

Yep, so it says. I like that. Easier to scrape the coraline off.

[Wolfgang]

ABSOLUTLEY and you arent afraid to save some time and use a razorblade just remember vertical or horizontal scraping only no diagonals.

Im currently in the early summer algae bloom i get every year. Its the water I use. Only tap water goes into my tank

P.S. I dont recommend anyone to do this. It works for me based on where I live and local water chemistry. The two keys to being successful in this hobby are DO NOT OVERFEED and DO NOT OVERSTOCK. Imagine living with your whole family in a studio apartment.

[Wolfgang]

That depends on how much you are willing to work and what you plan to keep. If you just want some fish with live rock its very easy to keep. Very little to maintain.

If you plan on doing many different types of hard coral small polyp stony, clams, etc there will be more to maintain. The RSM tanks are wonderful all in ones. But at 34 gallons you will be pretty limited on how much you can keep in them.

I have been in the hobby for over 5 years which isnt very long compared to Blueface.

What did you have in mind for stocking your tank?

[md4958]

Originally Posted by Wolfgang

That depends on how much you are willing to work and what you plan to keep. If you just want some fish with live rock its very easy to keep. Very little to maintain.

If you plan on doing many different types of hard coral small polyp stony, clams, etc there will be more to maintain. The RSM tanks are wonderful all in ones. But at 34 gallons you will be pretty limited on how much you can keep in them.

I have been in the hobby for over 5 years which isnt very long compared to Blueface.

What did you have in mind for stocking your tank?

Well thats the problem, I love the look of both fish and coral, but I understand they are really two different tanks. I figured with that size tank I would probably be limited to 3 or 4 fish if I went with live rock. Is that correct?

[Blueface]

Originally Posted by OHRD

Woah! This is the most crazy awesome thread ever! I had no idea there was such a hobby to this. I had fish growing up, had an albino frog, etc, but nothing since. Crazy!!!

How long will the fish you have live? Will you trade/sell them, or keep them till they pass? Can you insure such expensive fish?

Originally Posted by shilala

Reefkeeping isn't so much about keeping fish, it's more about keeping invertebrates. Corals, "bugs", shrimp, snails, live rock, starfishes, sea cucumbers, sponges, things that live in a reef system. Fish are a part of that system, but only a part.
When corals get too big, you "frag" them, which means you cut off pieces and they turn into new animals. That's how you keep your population under control. You can sell those fragments to other hobbyists.
No, you can't insure the stuff, at least not to my knowledge.

To add to what Scott said, as far as the fish lifespan goes, many saltwater fish can live as long as 15-20 years in captivity and as long as 30 in the ocean.

[OLS]

It is not hard to maintain if you commit to setting it up right and staying with your commitment.
To keep both fish and coral there are some rules. 1 is you have to have a sump, a good overflow TO that sump
and a good skimmer. 2 is Not a high population of fish, although depending on your sump and commitment
that is not such a tight rule. All fish do is eat, poop and swim. All three add stressors to your tank. So you
need a good system for dealing with that. You also need to set up a RO/DI water unit in your home, can be
done for 150 at Lowe's.

I recently found out I was not commited properly, and went from a 40 with a great sump to a 40 with no sump.
I was agitated at the power consumption. Enter Aiptasia infestation which spiralled out of control. So I took
all the uninfested rock and coral and kept only my two Green Chromis and went down further to a 20 gallon.
Now instead of a sump or skimmer, I have a kooky surface overflow made out of a plastic bottle and there
is a hose leading from that bottle's neck directly into a plain old waterfall aquarium filter with floss, carbon and
other media. It is working well, but i have to keep the floss changed twice a week. No Aiptasia problem, and
I killed the two hangers'on with Kalkwasser paste. Talk about not a lot of space to work with. But it looks good
again. I should never have cranked up another tank back a few years ago when I re-started. I no longer
felt like spending the money, it was like a zombie walking into the store and getting all the stuff and ordering
even more online. I was not listening to my true inner self. It was crazy. I would not have even moved down
to the 20 were it not for my beautiful purple mushrooms I have, they are freaking gorgeous, and I did not want
to give them away. I figured I would keep a tank just for them, and the rest of the corals are there by the
grace of the purples.

[OLS]

Moe, to continue that thought I got distracted on, I have SEEN reef tanks SWARMING with fish, but naturally,
they have super systems in place to clean the water. Normal hobbyists should probably do as you said, limit
the amount of fish they keep. The desire for great schools of fish would likely add 3-5000 dollars worth of
additional equipment to deal with their pollution. Like was said before, to ME, the tank is much more about the
creatures that you have that you do not see at first, worms, scuds, tubeworms, sponges tunicates, etc.
Some of the most interesting things in the tank never move. But they do grow.

[Wolfgang]

If it's anything I've decided that I am going to be setting up a reef in my apartment. Prepare for photos galore in the next few weeks.

[Ahbroody]

Florida and Apartment you better be prepared for high power bills. Lighting and keeping it cool either AC or a chiller is going to add up fast. May want to look into LEDs right off the bat.

[Wolfgang]

I'll be using LEDs that will cut back on both heat and power consumption. Last summer my electric bills were only $80 should be ok.

[Wolfgang]

I'll be using this http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.co...9&pcatid=21599

[shilala]

Originally Posted by Wolfgang

I'll be using this http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.co...9&pcatid=21599

Marc, How do you convert the wattage of led's to standard wattage?
For instance, my t5 light is about 450 watts over my 90 gallon reef.
If you have led's, you'd only be able to get maybe 150 watts out of two fixtures over my tank.
So what does that equal in "standard" wattage? Is there a formula, calculator, or does each particular light tell you "Our 75 watts is like 750 watts of t5 lighting", etc.
By the way, I just saw the new led's for the first time a couple days ago. I still haven't recovered from sticker shock. The ones you posted are a lot more reasonable, but that's without comparing them performance-wise.

[Wolfgang]

I don't know the exact formula I believe it has to do with how efficiently they penetrate throughout the water. I'll pull up some info when I get home.

They are more expensive but imagine the cost of replacing bulbs every 6months opposed to being set for 10 years. Plus the lowered electricity bill, and no need for a chiller or blasting AC. These will be on a 14 or 29 gallon tank as well maybe the 50 if I can get my buds to help me move it from 60 miles away.

[Wolfgang]

Thought Id share a picture of my 90 gallon in its current state.

[shilala]

Looks great, Marc!!!
I went to a frag swap today and spent a bunch of money. Came home with some real nice fast growers and a clam. It's my first throw at a clam, so I'm a bit nervous.
I've got the house wrecked and I'm covered with salt water again.

[Wolfgang]

Thank you, its a bit sparse currently.

Do you know what kind of clam you got? Corsea, Dersea, Maximus, gigas, squamosa?
Pictures when they are all happy and extended.