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fdc_guy 
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 Topic: Hi, I am Dave.
Posted: August 14 2012 at 9:29am |
Hi there,
My name is Dave. I am 29 years old and am a Systems Administrator during my day job and a very amateur aquahobbyist by night.
My wife and I currently have a 55 gallon african cichlid tank that we love. I also have a 90 gallon glass tank and stand in my garage with no hood or anything else that I am trying to figure out what to do with. I have always wanted a saltwater tank and have been looking all over for something to get us going without spending a whole lot.
Would probably start by buying parts of the setup over the course of a year till I got it all ready.
I would prefer acryllic as it would definitely be easier to manage for us so was even thinking of building my own tank and sump.
Anyways my wife and I are animal lovers, we have 2 cats and 2 dogs and our fish....(She has named every single fish)
Here are some pictures of the setup.
We have since added an additional decoration in the middle of the ship that i dont have a picture of yet.
We have 2 of these yellow tail acei.
Here is another shot of my orange sunburst
And here is our pleco my wife named Beast.
We have changed up the tank quite a bit...it originally came with just a giant koi which we had to get rid of once it decided to eat one of our other fish in one gulp. We got the pleco from petco as an adoption so he was already giant. We have gone through some noobie mistakes already, mixing regions of fish and losing a couple in the process of them getting eaten. We have a red tailed shark also in the tank that we bought as a pair but the one we kept seemed to be wanting to murder the other one so we gave her back.
We also have a Ruby Red that I have not gotten pics of...we thought it was a male but have had it for quite a few months and it has not turned red at all. Most likely a female.
Anyways thats my introduction. I look forward to reading more on here and hopefully soon have my own reef tank to show off.
Thanks.
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saltyjarhead
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Posted: August 14 2012 at 9:36am |
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Welcome to the forum and Salt Water tanks are a lot of work, but they are beautiful. Instead of watching TV I watch my tank now. If I was you I would keep your eyes on the classifieds if you need parts. Or just post up what your looking for and more than likely someone will have it and for a great price.
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Semper Fi
You can live for many causes, but you can only die for one. Pick that one very carfully.
Josh Giles
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builderofdreams
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Posted: August 14 2012 at 10:44am |
Acryllic would be fine for the sump but ya might wanna rethink the tank. Fine Sand and acryllic in my opinion not a good mix. I am sure that some will disagree, but they are very difficult not to scratch.
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It's Not a Hobby It's an Obsession
150&210 Gallons of Madness and. Sanity! 801-850-4915
http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=65135&title=builderofdreams-feedback-post
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CrimsRayne
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Posted: August 14 2012 at 11:47am |
 builderofdreams wrote:
Acryllic would be fine for the sump but ya might wanna rethink the tank.Fine Sand and acryllic in my opinion not a good mix. I am sure that some will disagree, but they are very difficult not to scratch. |
First off welcome to the obsession. I agree with the above. I had an acrylic tank once and hated it for the scratches. Even the tiniest bit of sand under a magfloat would leave huge scratches and it really made me mad. I ended up armpit deep in the tank every few days with an acrylic scrapper to keep the algae off the front of the tank. I'll never have an acrylic tank again.
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"What we know from this hobby is too hard to share with the people who just want to look and not get wet." -Rioreefer
"The Puffer Girl"
Zoo freak :)
West Jordan
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Adam Blundell
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Posted: August 14 2012 at 11:58am |
Great to have you here! Enjoy the ride.... and get a glass tank.
Adam
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Come to a meeting, they’re fun!
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fdc_guy
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Posted: August 14 2012 at 12:00pm |
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I have a glass 90gallon or so tall tank and stand...but nothing else for it. I have yet to put water in it.
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BobC63
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Posted: August 14 2012 at 2:21pm |
Welcome Dave!
Be sure to check out our "Buy / Sell" Forum where you can pick up gently used equipment and supplies for cheap 
You can do a saltwater tank for not alot of $$$... Look into using "Utah Rock & Sand", and if you go 'fish only" you won't need specialized lighting (but for a coral reef tank you do)
Whatever you decide, we hope you will enjoy the hobby as much as we do!
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- My Current Tank: 65g Starfire (sitting empty for 2+ years) -
* Marine & Reef tanks since 1977 *
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fdc_guy
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Posted: August 14 2012 at 2:28pm |
Thanks for the welcome! I have already been reading the newbie guide which has the map to find the rocks and sand. Told my wife about my plans and she is excited, said to keep an eye out for good deals and if its less than 50 I can buy it but anything over she wants to take a look first. I have been eyeing the classified here and on ksl looking for complete setups instead of piecing together a setup for this 90 gallon.
I am not exactly sure what items I need to be successful with that tank...I would like to do coral at some point but would mainly just want a fish only tank so we can get the hang of things and learn as much as we can without too much investment.
So I will be researching and trying to learn about the different items people have in their FS threads as most of what people are selling does not make a whole lot of sense to me...mainly cause I do not know what the terminology means.
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Jeremyw
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Posted: August 14 2012 at 4:40pm |
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Welcome Dave! Glade your here!
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Nails12
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Posted: August 14 2012 at 8:51pm |
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Welcome and ask lots of questions.
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This is more than a hobby; its a lifestyle.
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fdc_guy
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Posted: August 14 2012 at 9:05pm |
Thanks and I plan to, first of all I would like to start acquiring items to put to use on my 90 gallon tank...however I may not want to use it for my salt water setup because it is very tall and sort of skinny....Any thoughts on that? Is it better to build a reef on a deeper tank with a shorter height? or is the tall one best?
Do I really need a sump on a saltwater setup or does it just make life easier having one?
My wife said I could spend about $50 dollars a paycheck acquiring items on my own without asking her...anything more expensive and she would like to discuss it.
So anyone have a canopy/lights for around 50 bucks that would fit my 90 gallon tank? I can get dimensions of it tomorrow.
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Jeremyw
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Posted: August 15 2012 at 9:27am |
What are the exact dimensions of the tank? Some like tall and skinny .... I personally love more sand space for my brains....
You should really have a sump. Makes life easier, you can do a refugium. You can put a skimmer, UV, Carbon etc in it. There is a lot that can be done with it.
Sorry dont have any lights or canopy's for you. But post in the Classifieds here that you are looking for them.
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fdc_guy
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Posted: August 18 2012 at 8:35pm |
So we purchased a 55 gallon reef tank with everything we need (That we know of) and just finished setting it up and placing the corals and stuff in it. The water has cleared up so we can finally see how horrid our rock placing skills are.....We have no clue how to place these things to make sure they grow properly and to make it look good. We still have 2 buckets full of rocks/coral(Maybe coral not sure though) that we have no idea what to do with....Would anyone in the Riverton area maybe want to come by and help us arrange the rocks and stuff in the tank and maybe give us some newbie tips and tricks? We usually get home monday - friday around 6pm.
Will post pictures soon.
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jaschall
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Posted: August 19 2012 at 10:54am |
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Hi Dave and welcome to the hobby and forum. Moving a tank can be very difficult if not done right. I'm sure you have done some research and planed it out. If you can post some pictures of your tank and corals we could help you with identifying them and placement. Also make sure you test your water today for the basics like ammonia, nitrates, nitrites. These are things that are going to spike with moving a tank. Be ready for a water change. Other things that will get out of specs will be salinity, and ph, also make sure you check temp. From there I would check calcium and alk. An other thing is make sure you have some carbon on your sump, I place mine next to my pump in a small mesh type bag. I would use a a good cup of it. Oh one more thing if you don't already have some macro algea get some. Glad yo see ya here.
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rwgoose
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Posted: August 19 2012 at 11:01am |
welcome Dave. like others have said, yes salt is a bit spendy, but i have realized buying from this forum you can save tons!! i have 90 with a 55 sump, retro fit hood with halides and t5s, pumps and all that jazz.. and still under a grand!! you can do it!! just do it!!! Roy
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getting fishy??
8016348673
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fdc_guy
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Posted: August 19 2012 at 11:16am |
Here are 2 pictures of the setup before we moved it.
And here is the shot of it in place at our house
Some type of Leather coral Some other type of coral And here is the picture of the Maroon Clown with his buddy the Yellow tang who sadly did not survive the move.
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fdc_guy
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Posted: August 19 2012 at 11:27am |
Here are some other shots I just took
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jaschall
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Posted: August 19 2012 at 11:45am |
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Ok first thing I would change is the power head on the right side. Move it down to mid tank and point it up some so that it causes the water on top to make a ripple effect.
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mermaidcamille
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Posted: August 19 2012 at 11:47am |
fdc_guy wrote:
So we purchased a 55 gallon reef tank with everything we need (That we know of) and just finished setting it up and placing the corals and stuff in it. The water has cleared up so we can finally see how horrid our rock placing skills are.....We have no clue how to place these things to make sure they grow properly and to make it look good. We still have 2 buckets full of rocks/coral(Maybe coral not sure though) that we have no idea what to do with....Would anyone in the Riverton area maybe want to come by and help us arrange the rocks and stuff in the tank and maybe give us some newbie tips and tricks? We usually get home monday - friday around 6pm.
Will post pictures soon.
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I am just in South Jordan if you would like me to stop by sometime this week just let me know  (note: I do not claim to be an expert, but I apparently know a little bit as my tank is still alive and happy)
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fdc_guy
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Posted: August 19 2012 at 11:49am |
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Ok moved the powerhead like suggested, thanks jaschall.
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