Looking for used equipment

[caseyjaydarling]

why would i have to do a water change? wouldn't that just slow the cycle down?

[x1fstsolx]

i thought that also i was always told NOT to do a water change until done. i waited about 5 weeks to do my first water change

[Jrmass]

I'm not really sure why you need too.. That is just what I had heard... I know that MYSELF PERSONALLY I didn't do a water change until it was completely done (or VERY close to being done). I was just passing on second hand info that I had once heard lol.

Also, changing the water shouldn't slow the cycle down much as the bacteria that create the denitrifying bacteria are not in the water (some are but, less than 2% of them) they are in the rock as well as the sand.

[caseyjaydarling]

well i bought a turbo snail today. he's been busy sucking up all the brown slime. I figure if I lose a snail due to levels of ammonia or nitrites, i'm not out much. Plus it adds to the bioload...ok not much, but at least something is moving in the tank
I still haven't aquascaped yet. maybe this weekend I'll get to that. Right now the rocks are just in a big pile..

[caseyjaydarling]

Well, I got some aquascaping done and my clean-up crew has increased to 3 turbos and 4 hermits. I'm gonna have to get some coral or a fish soon before my clean-up crew runs out of stuff to eat.
I visited EWOF in rochester this last weekend. Very nice looking store. Their tanks and livestock looked very clean and healthy, but stuff was pretty expensive. 100 bucks for a black and white occ! Most of their coral colonies were 69.99, is that normal for around here?

[Jrmass]

A lot depends on the rarity of the item. I personally have picked up colonies in the $150 range already but, it was for something that no one else had or could get easily. You would have to tell us what they were offering up to give you an idea if it was an o.k. store price or not. BTW if you are looking for corals I would personally start with another local reefer as you can pick up multiple frags of corals for the price you would pay for one larger piece from a store.

Jason

[caseyjaydarling]

these were not rare corals.....decent sized colonies of trumpets, zoas, brown palys, pretty common stuff. i didn't mean to rip on the store or anything, it was definately one of the nicer looking lfs i've been too, i would just never pay that much for that stuff. hopefully i can make it to the next meeting and meet some people and maybe pick up some frags. i have a bunch waiting for me back in nd, but it might be awhile before i can pick those up. i am very interested in picking stuff up from people in the club. helping other people out is one of the best parts of this hobby!