crushed shell sand

#22
Barb..why make yourself crazy

Barb said:
Yes i can get premixed water weekly, or monthly if i get larger quantities of it. I to would rather start out bigger, but i'm afraid its all i can afford. The stock lights on my five is an 8w fluorescent tube, 6500k. Where the tank is now it get about 4-6 hours of sunlight hitting it a day (aslong as its not overcast) so i guess i should beable to get some type of mushroom for it then.

Here it is..in a nutshell..
If you can swing a hundred bucks..
there are JBJ nanos on ebay..
The beauty of these nanos is
12g , lights, fans pump and if you pull out all of the filter media and fill it with live rock your water levels will happen quickly
live sand..live rock and away you go..
add a few snails a shrimp and ONE fish
watch it for 4 to 6 weeks closely and you are on your way to a easily managed pretty reef tank and the cubes are pretty self contained!

Just a thought!
 

1979camaro

Ultimate Fish
Oct 22, 2002
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#26
the relative costs of starting anything under 30 gallons are so close it makes better sense (at least in my opinion) to start larger...plus she already has the 29 and presumably a filter which she could use for water flow...definitely cheaper than buying an entire new setup and definitely easier than using a 5g

plus, if she wants a tomato clown she is definitely going to need something bigger than 5 or 12
 

Luvi

Medium Fish
Feb 23, 2005
85
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#27
wayne said:
I personally don't like beginners to start on such small tanks as they are pretty high maintenance, but if it's what you'vedecided on so be it. If I was to do such a thing, and I'm considering it but with a bit bigger, I'm looking to change most of the water once a week. If you think you can consistently make decent water, or buy it, it's a trick that can get you out of a lot of hassles with filtration.
why smaller tanks are "high maintenance" - I don't understand, can u or someone explain this? Thanks.
 

1979camaro

Ultimate Fish
Oct 22, 2002
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#28
sure, higher tanks = more maintenance because it is harder to maintain water quality and generally you can't skim

we are talking weekly 50% w/c versus monthly 20% plus much more attention to temp, light overkill, evaporation, toxin buildup, etc
 

phOOey

Superstar Fish
Oct 31, 2003
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#29
wtf camaro, who said i was a she !?!?!?!?!?!?!? :D

hmmm those 12g nano cubes do sound quite good, i'm not sure at the mo, will have to go do more research into it.
 

phOOey

Superstar Fish
Oct 31, 2003
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#30
:( well they dont seem to have any of those JBJ nanos over here yet, are they a fairly new product?

i am going to colorado later this year in august so i may beable to buy one new. how much would a 12g one be?
 

Jan 9, 2005
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#31
I would suggest going with the 29 instead, you've already got it so that might cut some costs. And from experience i have a 10 that i'm going to convert to atleast a 20, maybe a 30 i dunno. Either way i want a bigger display, that i'm able to pay less attention to things like light and salinity from evaporation.

If you can afford it, which you may or may not. I'd say it's probably around 50-100 more, depending on how much rock and substrate you want. maybe another powerhead, but who knows. I'd go with the 30.
 

#32
JBJ

I really like the all in one unit
But for the tweaker and mod out there it would hardly do it for you..
I have a skimmer on mine made of a cassette case works really slick..

Small JBJ
pro
all in one, clean design, ebay has them for 100 bucks, no fuss or muss
con
must go slow, to control amonia and nitrates
most who get in the hobby eventually get the bug and want to go bigger..
go figure!
jerry rigging you current tank
pro,
you have it, need a skimmer and misc other stuff..
heater? return? is it fitted? do you have a adequate pump, lighting

For me.. I liked having it outta a box!
But I have a 70g begging to be converted into a reef
GO FIGURE! *twirlysmi
 

1979camaro

Ultimate Fish
Oct 22, 2002
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#33
barb: sorry, i think i made "barb" short for "barbara" rather than short for "tiger barb"...

the 12g JBJ is probably about $200 in the LFS...way more than it will cost you to set up the 29

wishworks: the con of "have to go slowly" is just a fact of SW life (no matter what tank he/she/it choses to set up)
also: how in the world did you make a protein skimmer out of a cassette case? this i want to see!
 

#34
skimmer

Well I thought that this system would get your attention!

The return on the JBJ is on the upper left corner,
I took half of a cassette case and cut the edge off, placed it over the return and the top water skims off into the return.
The force of the return water keeps the box in place..
pretty slick! *crazysmil


A JBJ, 12g sold on ebay today for 99 bucks! *twirlysmi
 

phOOey

Superstar Fish
Oct 31, 2003
1,741
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#37
lol camaro, barbara :D, i need to change my name to Mr. Barb or something :p.

Wow sounds like i'd be best just converting my 29g, it would probably be cheaper and i'd have abigger tank in the end :p