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New to SW from Park City

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bfisher88 View Drop Down
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    Posted: June 09 2012 at 9:00am
I'm in the process of picking out a SW tank, in fact may buy a 29g biocube from someone here today to get to work on. Have been reading over the last few weeks on everything I'll need to get started. If I pick up this tank today, where is the best LFS to purchase LS and LR in Salt Lake? In the past when I kept cichlids i visited Fish4U and The Aquarium. 

I haven't started to pick out what corals I'd like as I am still teaching myself that part of things but would probably like to house a few clowns and whatever else can go along with a 29g setup. Would love any help/advice I can get. 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote DLindquist Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 09 2012 at 9:32am
Welcome aboard.
 I would suggest not bothering with live sand from a local fish store (or anywhere else for that matter). Start with brand new sand, washed well and then add some live sand from various reputable members right here on this forum (myself included). I do prefer live rock and acquired half of mine from The Aquarium and the other half hand picked from Hawaii. Keep up posted on your progress.
A government strong enough to give you everything you want, is powerful enough to take everything you have.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote bfisher88 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 09 2012 at 9:58am
Thanks for the tips. If I pick it up today I'll probably go pick up some sand, salts, test kit, and a few other necessities. My brother runs a window cleaning business and has large DI tanks. I'm assuming I can fill the tank up with it, and have spare 5 gallon buckets of DI water to last through some water changes correct? After I get it running with sand I'll hopefully pick up some LR and more LS from somewhere and get things started. 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote DLindquist Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 09 2012 at 11:30am
I would make certain none of his tanks have been used in conjunction with any chemicals or cleaning agents.
A government strong enough to give you everything you want, is powerful enough to take everything you have.

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Mark Peterson View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Mark Peterson Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 09 2012 at 4:47pm

I agree with Dave.
Use new sand with some local LS added to it. Small amounts of LS are easily obtained for free from other hobbyists here. Some of them probably live very close to you. Just start a topic in the b/s/t section asking for who lives close to you that wouldn't mind donating a little LS and possibly selling a few pieces of good LR. I know one good hobbyist here that lives in a log cabin up in the mountains to the north of PC. I just looked it up in the Memberlist. His name is jpiotrowski/Jon Piotrowski and he lives in Tollgate Canyon. The Memberlist says he has an email address.
Another of my friends lives very close to Fish-4-U. His name on this MB is seti007. His tank is awesome and he has a downstairs Refugium that is also to die for.

A cup of LS from an established reef tank has more life in it than a bag of Arag-Alive sand from the LFS. I mean no disrespect to the sand company CaribSea. Arag-Alive is a good thing for people that don't have access to all the friendly, helpful hobbyists here in the WMAS.

Your research on starting and keeping a reef aquarium will be complete only after you read the WMAS Reefkeeping Tips linked below in my sig line.
Enjoy
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote bfisher88 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 09 2012 at 4:51pm
Thanks for the tips and connections Mark! Will definitely do just that. At this point still debating on doing a 29g bio now, or waiting til I move to a more permanent place and getting a tank I really want around 90g plus. Don't want the hassle of establishing a tank and moving it constantly though a cube would be manageable enough. 

If I decide to jump on it I'l start setting things up this week and looking for some live stuff. DI water is just fine and I can keep spare for water changes in buckets correct? 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Mark Peterson Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 09 2012 at 5:56pm
I'd set up whatever works now and transfer it to a larger tank when the time comes. Moving small tanks less than 15 gal, is a one man job that is very simple.
Step 1 - siphon 1/2 - 2/3 of the water to buckets
Step 2 - Move LR and coral to the sand before it gets exposed to the air as the water level drops
Step 3 - leaving everything in it, fish and all, pick it up, put it in the car, drive to and set it in it's new home.
Step 4 - Pour water back in and re-scape.
Smile

DI water is more than good enough. Less expensive RO water is what most of us use. Water can be stored in buckets but I would not recommend letting it sit stagnant for more than a month and would leave the lid ajar.

10% monthly water changes are more than enough, so a small tank really takes very little pure water for evaporation top-off and water changes.

FYI, I don't use heaters except in the winter where the tank temp might go below 70.

* Here's something the books say not to do and most people don't do because they don't know how well it works. All my reef tanks are in sunny windows where possible. The power of the sun is amazing as it grows everything like crazy and even purifies the water similar to a UV sterilizer. Algae control is no problem when enough snails are added before nuisance algae gets a start.


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote bfisher88 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 10 2012 at 5:38pm
Ughh, really really want this:  http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=218&ad=20779054&cat=&lpid=&search=aquarium

If I were in a more permanent place I'd get it in a heartbeat. 72g will be too much to move more than once!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote bfisher88 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 11 2012 at 4:11pm
Picking up a 29g Biocube HQI this week. Will be filling with LR, buying reef sand and seeding with some LS as well then running for a week or two to get water correct. Will start a tank thread soon!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Mark Peterson Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 11 2012 at 6:33pm
Fun.

The water is actually "correct" from the start and only gets polluted if the hobbyist doesn't use the technique of adding Macroalgae and the other 3 live components as described in the WMAS Reefkeeping Tips below.
"Filling the tank with LR" is the worst polluting way to start a tank, unless that rock was kept submerged all the way from it's home aquarium to the new aquarium. Read more about that in the Tips thread.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote bfisher88 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 11 2012 at 6:43pm
Thanks Mark. I'll definitely be adding some macroalgae along with the rocks as well. Haven't decided on whether I'll buy all live rock or get dry to go along with the LR I am getting from the person I am purchasing the tank from. Have read every thread on it here as well as on RC that I can find. Everywhere I read says it's beneficial to use live rock in setting it up? Can you clarify? 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote tfmreefs Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 11 2012 at 9:53pm
Yay! Finaly some one who lives closer to me!:) Not to creep you out or anything. but i havent met anyone else on the forum that lives closer to park city/heber. I live in heber, but welcom to the forum!
"The early bird might get the worm, but only the second mouse gets the cheese."
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Akira Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 11 2012 at 10:44pm
As far as setti007 is mentioned .......I would never miss an opportunity to view his set up !!!! He has an amazing collection of corals etc .......
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote bstuver Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 11 2012 at 11:01pm
I would use as much pest free live rock as possible. I think that's way easier than waiting for a month of the tank to cycle.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote DLindquist Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 11 2012 at 11:55pm
Love live rock myself. When upgrading our 90G to a 265G, half the new "live" rock was from a LFS (not submerged in water for the ride home). Within three days, I had all coral and fish moved over to the new set up.
A government strong enough to give you everything you want, is powerful enough to take everything you have.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote bfisher88 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 12 2012 at 7:11am
Thanks for all of the suggestions. Picking the tank up this morning and will be running by Fish4u probably to get some media, salts, and anything else I need for it. DI water going in it this afternoon. 
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