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Salt water reef tanks.

would you guys advise against a fish newbie going saltwater for their first tank?

Nope. Do your research and start with easy fish like clowns or damsels.

Anyone know where I can get macroalgae(besides cheato) locally? I'm about to take all the coral out of my tank and do macro/plants and fish.
 
Well hopefully there are people still into the saltwater stuff. I just picked up a 180 gallon Oceanic bow front tank. Going to assemble it over the next couple weeks and start up my first reef tank. I've had a salt water fish only tank for a while so hopefully lots will carryover.
 
Somewhat new to tanks. I've wanted then my whole life and I spend at least an hour a day watching them. I have 3 tanks totalling 100 gallons but all freshwater. The current plan is to get a 90-100 gallon tank for the fish that will get big in the next six month, a 175 gallon saltwater setup in 12 months and make my current 65 gallon tank into an octopus tank.

Here is my 65 gal tank:
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Stocked with 6 Veil Angelfish
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A 10" common pleco
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An African Feather Fin catfish (he's camera shy)
And my Black Ghost Knife fish
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My wife's 30 gallon tank
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Stocked with creamsickle and dalmatian molly's, Mickey Mouse Platies, a barb and a clown pleco.

My daughters 10 gal tank with a male and female beta and 4 mystery snails.
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Sorry to spam the saltwater thread but it's the only aquarium thread.
 
Finally got the Ok from the wife for a salty tank. Looking for something less than 30 gallons (preferably cube) and ready to go or close to it for cheap. Anyone?
 
Nice. You'll enjoy the switch to saltwater. I'm still building my reef tank. I had a 75 gallon freshwater tank and had a red tail catfish before I switched. Anyway have you looked into the
Oceanic cube for a saltwater setup? They make nice smaller tanks. Or sign up for an account
With a saltwater forum. I got my 180 gallon set up for cheap that way.
 
I got a 40, 20 and 10 gal tank plus a couple hundred pounds of random equipment (almost nothing useful) for $20. I picked up a tall 29gal tank to use as a sump. Still need to find a RODI system before I can start cycling.
 
right on. Glad your getting it started. So far I have an RO/DI system that I got from thefilterguys.com which processes at 75 gallons/day. They have systems that process more than twice that though.
 
Nice pic. I wanted some of those in my freshwater tank but they would have eaten my other fish at night.

Can I see what you are using for lighting? Do you have LED lighting on your tanks?
 
Nice pic. I wanted some of those in my freshwater tank but they would have eaten my other fish at night.

Can I see what you are using for lighting? Do you have LED lighting on your tanks?
My angels don't sleep on the bottom. They already tried to mess with the pleco, the catfish and the ghost knife, none of which put up with any crap. Lol

My current light Came with the tank and was used for coral. I will use it on my reef thank that's in progress. It has 8 blue LEDs, 2 95w actinic cf bulbs and a 250w De metal halide bulb (currently using 6500k for plants but I have a 14000k I will put back in for the reef tank).
 

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Thanks for the light info. I'm still deciding which way to go but I like the color from your picture with the mini lobster.

Anyway I've done enough talking and need to post photos:
My current/old setup. Fish only saltwater tank. 75 gallons.
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And my new set up. 180 gallon oceanic bowfront tank. I have about $800 in it at this point with purchase and plumbing and buying lumber to reinforce the floor.
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And a picture of my sump I built.
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I'm already getting tired of piecing my system together. Lack of funding (and people not paying for holsters I built for them) is increasing the frustration. Not to mention, the wife is getting tired of seeing empty tanks everywhere.

I'm about ready to look for someone selling a ready to go or established system that will trade for firearms.
 
Do you have a dual TDS meter? reason I ask is because I had mine in backwards and while hoping the TDS would drop I was really reading the water intake instead of the output.
 
I have a handheld meter.

The rock adventure begins. I now have 100lbs of dry Fiji rock and 300lbs of mixed rock that is curing.
 
Got an RO unit today. $60 on craigslist. Hooked it all up and my tds readings haven't budged. Dammit.

Have you changed the membrane? Did the guy that sold it to you change it? If it's clogged up your TDS will stay the same.
 
I found out that the unit sat outside for a few months and wasn't hooked up so bacteria probably destroyed the membrane. I bought a new RO membrane, new flow restrictor and new di resin. Should be here in a few days.
 
I have a few pieces of equipment for sale.
Two Coralife aqualite 150w ballasts - $100 for the pair
A 48" (can extend to 60") Marineland Double Bright LED light.
 
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