im new here, hi guys!

[nitrofish]

I have been looking at this measage board for a while and just had to join. im in the boston area (worcester) and am just begining to get into reef keeping. I have a 180 gallon salt water tank that im trying to complete. right now I have only 45lbs of live rock from my old tank, and 2 fish (blue hippo tang and yellow tang) and some snails.
im trying to learn as much as I can before I buy a single piece of coral. right now im working on buying equipment and live rock.

right now my equipment is as followes:
wet/dry filtration filled with base rock along with a rena xp3 canister filter filled with more base rock.
a turboflotor multi skimmer
for lighting I have a fixture with 3 250w 10,000k halides and 2 96w powercompacts.

my next purchase will be a calcium reactor and tunze streams, both which I know very little about.

 

[littlep93056]

Welcome aboard ! ! ! ! ! ! you've come to the right place This is a great group of people who are willing to help each other , so ask away about things , someone will always answer In fact if your free on July 31 come to the meeting / cookout & become a member it looks like about 40-50 people will be there ,it will be a great time

 

[DLCanuck]

Hey welcome, littlep93056 took the word right out of my keyboard . Very soon I be set up my 210 AGA tank. Feel free to ask any question; we will do our best to help out.

Good luck



Remember it a hobbies to enjoy and learning process, be patience.

 

[Ray]

Welcome to the board!
You might want to replace that wet dry with the biggest tank you can fit in its place so you can get more water volume. Also why not move all that rock in the filters up into the tank. Then you can use the canaster filter to run carbon when you need to.

I am sure you will be able to find frags to fill your tank on this board when you are ready

 

[Moe_K]

Hey, Welcome!

Dang, you sure did your lights right! Sounds great.
Ca reactor and Tunze streams? You won't regret either.

What do you want to keep? Sounds like the makings of a great SPS (small polyped, stony coral) tank.

The meeting on the 31st is down in Woonsocket, RI; just over the MA line.
Should be fun, hope to see you there.

 

[Moe_K]

Oh, by the way I'm gonna move this thread out of the off-topic area, and into the main discussion.

 

[nitrofish]

Hey, Welcome!

Dang, you sure did your lights right! Sounds great.
Ca reactor and Tunze streams? You won't regret either.

What do you want to keep? Sounds like the makings of a great SPS (small polyped, stony coral) tank.

I like the way the soft corals look such as polyp's but I also like some of the hard corals like brain coral and candy cane coral.im not really into stoneys though, I may have a couple for dirversity, but not a lot.

 

[nitrofish]

also, why would I need carbon? I had the understanding that carbon removes colors,odors and chemicals. when would I need that?

 

[Groove]

Welcome aboard, please leave your check book and credit cards out because in this hobby, well money goes fast.

If you are on a limited budget, I'd say hold off on the calcium reactor and put the money into rock, tunze streams, possibly a larger capacity skimmer(I'm not familiar with the turbofloater. It may be a great filter. I'm just saying if you skimp here, you may not enjoy reefing.) Also, with that lighting, you may need to run a chiller to keep the temp down.

 

[Scuba_Dave]

To Boston Reefers Society!!!

 

[mikestod]

Welcome from another Central Mass reefer! (Rutland here) This is club/board is a wonderful resource. I know I wouldn't be where I am now it it wasn't for them/it (and ReefCentral, can't shun the past now can we). PM me if you're ever in the neighborhood, I'd be glad to hook you up with some goodies and/or give you a hand!

If you're concentrating on softies, I wouldn't worry as much about the calcium reactor at first (as Groove said). IMHO natural filtration (live rock/sand) is the way to go and probably what you should focus on. Work on getting more rock (dead rock is fine...it'll become live in time), and swap the wet/dry for a sump in which to put the rest of your goodies. Tunze would be great additions for a tank that size too, as they provide copious amounts of flow for the principal of natural filtration. Save your pennies too, the information/idea overload you get on this board can overwhelm your wallet! Research and do it right the first time, and you'll be able to save a few bucks. The marketplace here will help you save a few more.

Good luck and happy reefing!

 

[Adam Stone]

welcome dude

 

[Tstone]

also, why would I need carbon? I had the understanding that carbon removes colors,odors and chemicals. when would I need that?

Welcome Nitrofish



Some people run carbon 24/7 others run it for shorter periods of time. There is some amount of chemical warfare waged by corals. Especially softies against stonies.

If and when you frag something it will release toxins.

When you add a coral to your tank it will release toxins because of stress.



I also would get rid of the wet/dry, you may be able to just remove the bioballs and put live rock in its place. Or do as others suggested and get a sump that will fit in its place.



The Tunzes are awesome, a little pricey but I think worth it.



Best advice is do a lot of research before you spend a lot of money. You will be repaid with an absolutely beautiful slice of nature






Read, Read, Read.

 

[jackie]

Hi, welcome to the BRS! We're a pretty decent bunch (especially us NH cousins ), we've toned down a little since this new website started up. Not as many flame wars as there was on the BRS forum on RC (damn...... j/k!!!!). I have a couple frags you can have to get you going when you're ready.

 

[littlep93056]

I have a ton of books if you want to do some reading I will let you borrow some , let me know

I see you met John at SCA , he'll take good care of you, he can get you anything you need ! !

 

[ggomez]

Welcome to BRS!
I'm also a newbie, and this is the best place to learn about the hobby.

 

[nitrofish]

so I could just get the live rock before the tunze streams and they would be fine? if so maybe ill work on that next. im thinking of ordering from tampabay saltwater and getting a package.

my wet/dry sump is a 35 gallon filled with "dead rock" instead of bioballs.

it looks like I may need a chiller, but they are pretty expencive, my water has gotten to 84/85 on the hot days here. any advice on a drop in chiller?

 

[mikrok]

any chiller is gonna suck the heat out of your tank and put it right into your room...
any way an A/C would work for you?

btw welcome, im from worcester too

 

[mikestod]

Buying dead or dry rock will usually save you money. If you have some live rock in your tank now, it will all become live eventually. Marco67 has really good prices on rock as well, check out his sponsor forum "Fishy Business". As Mike said, keeping the room cool will keep your tank cool. If you can throw in a window AC unit, it will do the same as a chiller plus keep you cool as well.

 

[nitrofish]

any chiller is gonna suck the heat out of your tank and put it right into your room...
any way an A/C would work for you?

btw welcome, im from worcester too

cool we should get together sometime.


an ac won't work effeciently because this tank is in my dineing room, if there was an ac in this room it would be cooling 3 large rooms with no doors. maybe a lot of fans? I don't know, I got to do something . its freaking hot