And the addiction begins....

[planereefer]

I hereby claim this thread as my 50G cube build thread!!:excitement:

So I just picked up my 50G cube today, thanks to another member on this site!

I'll get some pics up in the next day or so and start to detail my build.

Anyways....let the addiction begin! :.

 

[Tone]

Can't wait to see the progress...lots of pics...

Sent from my T-Mobile myTouch Q using Tapatalk 2

 

[THE WOOKIE]

kiss all spare money goodbye you have reef fever. lol

 

[s_kelley]

Let the empty wallet syndrome that we all suffer from begin! Take a ton of pictures!

 

[P-Nut]

Have a plan and stick to it. I started deviating from my mushroom and zoa only and now I'm stuck buying a 2 part solution. : D
But I did stick to half my plan which was to have hardy corals.

Anyways, whatever you get make sure you have some xenias. They tend to be the first to die when something changes, so it's a nice warning system.

 

[STiTCH87]

+1 on xenia being a good warning sign, BUT keep in mind also, xenia along with other corals like green star polyps can be extremely difficult to 100% permanently remove from a reef tank once they've been added.
I had pom pom xenia that kept spreading everywhere in random spots throughout my old 29g and right as I kept up with it and managed to keep it only where I wanted it, I had green star polyps completely engulf two large ~10lb each rocks. Lol.
Looked kinda pretty though. Traded them in.

50g cube is a great place to start!

And what is this people are saying about spare money? Lol. That can happen? I thought it was a myth!

Welcome to BRS btw!

 

[Flame Angel]

Welcome Aboard! Good luck with your build. You are in the right place to ask questions.

Check out the forum header often. We have monthly meetings with guest speakers on different topics all over the area, which are open to paid and non-paid members.

Check out the other areas of the forum as well. Paid members have other perks that are available to them. Such as use of a lightmeter etc.

See you around.

 

[planereefer]

I plan on it. I checked out the meeting schedule, I'd like to go to the January meeting but Newburyport might be difficult depending on how my schedule goes, but the one in Taunton, Framingham and others I will definitely be attending. So will my fiancee who I'm trying to get her addicted as well

I'm looking to keep a little bit of everything, so I'll be asking tons of questions soon enough. I'll definitely be putting this sites search function to the test

Thanks again everyone for the warm welcome!

 

[STiTCH87]

Believe me, not hard to get the fiance addicted. Mine is, lol. Just don't tell her how much money you're spending on things. And if you do, slowly ease into it lol. Mine is now over the whole money thing with it as long as I only spend my own on things, but she still buys me stuff here and there.

Hell, she bought me a Triton 100GPD 4-stage RO/DI for xmas randomly without me even mentioning I wanted one for $250 so it's deff possible for a fiance to become addicted to reefs lol.

By PVD, does that mean Providence? If so you and I are fairly local and if you ever need a hand with anything lmk.

 

[planereefer]

Believe me, not hard to get the fiance addicted. Mine is, lol. Just don't tell her how much money you're spending on things. And if you do, slowly ease into it lol. Mine is now over the whole money thing with it as long as I only spend my own on things, but she still buys me stuff here and there.

Hell, she bought me a Triton 100GPD 4-stage RO/DI for xmas randomly without me even mentioning I wanted one for $250 so it's deff possible for a fiance to become addicted to reefs lol.

By PVD, does that mean Providence? If so you and I are fairly local and if you ever need a hand with anything lmk.

Lol, thanks Stitch, I'll keep that in mind. Yeah, PVD is Providence...careful, I might just take you up on that.

 

[P-Nut]

Best way to get your girl to support you is to get a few corals she likes and let her tell you were to place one or two corals ( as long as they can be placed there, dont kill them). It worked for me, she likes the tank and likes the corals I get. She has her two favorite corals, finger leather and toadstool.

 

[mchartier]

I let the kids and wife pick the fish within reason of the tank size and other inhabitants that we have, and I pick the corals.

 

[THE WOOKIE]

i pick the coral, fish, equipment, and the time to beg the parents for it

 

[STiTCH87]

Lol good call on letting the lady pick things. She owns a royal gramma, a frogspawn, fruitloop zoas, and an acan. Makes her feel like she's a part of my hobby you know?

Just don't expect her to do your water changes, lol. That's the kinda girl you marry quickly and forever if you can pull that one off...

And no i'm serious on my offer, you need a hand, lmk. I love setting up new tanks.

 

[planereefer]

Alright, so while I work from home today I figured I'd start cleaning the tank and wiping everything down before I move it into my livingroom. I need to clean the tank and overflow of some salt and calcium buildup. I've read people using vinegar to clean their tanks with and then rinsing with tap water. Can I use the type of vinegar you find at Stop & Shop or is there a specific brand or kind of vinegar I should be using. Also, what is the best way to clean the silicone without ruining it?

Here's some pics so you can see what I'm talking about.





I don't mind the elbow grease, I just want to make sure I don't break what I just bought

 

[GobyWanKenobie]

Buy the gallon jug of vinegar from stop n shop or Walmart. You can mix it with water or use it straight on the pieces that are really bad. You might have to let things soak over night. A new toothbrush is nice to have around too. No soaps or cleaning products of any kind. Bleach is ok, but vinegar is nicer. You can use a razor blade on the glass, but don't cut or scrape the silicone.

 

[planereefer]

Sweet, that's what I thought. I'll pick up some white vinegar, some toothbrushes and some new razor blades.

Off to Walmart I go.

Thanks Goby!

 

[STiTCH87]

^+1 he just said everything I was going to answer with.

You can use bleach though? Never knew. IDK how i'd feel about that?

 

[planereefer]

Just got back, time to do some cleaning. I happened to pick up more than just vinegar, razor blades and toothbrushes.


What isn't pictured are 3x 5 gallon buckets with lids and a 24"x24" foam insulation board to put under the stand.

Time to get dirty!

 

[planereefer]

I'm also keeping track of my costs. I originally got a quote from a LFS in Warwick for a 60G cube with everything to get up and running minus livestock. They quoted me roughly $2800 not including tax.

I'm curious how much less it will cost me to do pretty much the same thing, I know it's not an apples to apples comparison, but I don't really think 10G difference will make much of a difference cost wise.