Back again with smaller ambitions

[ReefDave]

Hey all,
A few of you might remember me from a couple years ago. Reef Keeper, trash talker, general trouble maker.

Now, 3.5-4 years later my son just turned 5 years old and informed my wife yesterday that he wanted "a pet". She told him we already have a dog and he said "no a REAL pet, like a fish or a rabbit". I don't know where he got the idea that a fish is a "real" pet and a dog isn't, but it was music to my ears.

Several years ago I sold my 60g sps tank and almost all my equipment because we were planning to have another child, remodel and sell our home, and build a new one. Well the daughter is 2, and we've been living in the new house for 1 year today. I had told my wife that I wouldn't start another reef tank until one of the kids was old enough to show and interest.

Now, the wife contends that "I want a fish" might not exactly be "an interest", but if I play the "nemo card" I should be reef keeping again in no time.

So, the plan is smaller scale this time around, just to get my feet wet (maybe I should reword that). The local LFS has a JBJ 24 for 99 dollars, including a light (though the light looks undersized for the tank, maybe off a smaller cube?). I'm probably going to go with that, LR and maybe a few softies, the prerequesite occ and 2 or 3 smaller fish/inverts.

I'll be poking around a bit now and then until the build starts, but just wanted to stick my head in and say hi.

RD

[hng]

Welcome back to TRT! Can't wait to see your new tank up and running.

[Wiskey]

Welcome back!!! See? You never really leave this hobby,.. It's in the blood

Good luck with the new tank, and the "nemo" card

If you don't mind a suggestion, I would find a way to put a skimmer on that tank if you can,.. I think that will be a big help for water quality,.. even if it's performance is sub-par, something is better than nothing

Whiskey

[ReefDave]

Yeah I fully expected to put a skimmer on, or at least plenty of extra water changes.
I'm going to start it off as FOWLR for several months, as this will appease the 5 yr old, and allow me to get re-aclimated to keeping water params in check. I'm a big nerd and in the past have been obsessed with test, testing again and double checking water quality so the 24 will be a bit more challenging than the 60, however getting away from sps and FOWLR should compensate that change some.

[Loverotties]

You are right water quaily does change faster in a smaller tank.

[Wiskey]

Originally Posted by ReefDave

Yeah I fully expected to put a skimmer on, or at least plenty of extra water changes.
I'm going to start it off as FOWLR for several months, as this will appease the 5 yr old, and allow me to get re-aclimated to keeping water params in check. I'm a big nerd and in the past have been obsessed with test, testing again and double checking water quality so the 24 will be a bit more challenging than the 60, however getting away from sps and FOWLR should compensate that change some.

Sounds like a good plan That would also be an exelent softie tank, especially since they like slightly dirtyer water,.. by the time you are ready to add coral, I'm sure the tank will be more than ready for it.

Whiskey

[ReefDave]

Well, I was looking at a 24g nano (jbj) at an lfs here in town. They want 100 dollars for the tank, and another 60 for a light that, to me, doesn't appear that it goes on the tank. on JBJnanocube website they have the tank, stand and hood (the one at the lfs is tank and light only no hood, no stand) for 220 with bulbs. It would be 280 shipped.

Anyone know anything about the lights on the nanocubes? Are the adaquate for leathers and shrooms? I'm not interested in putting anything stoney in this tank. Seems to me that 160 for the tank ro 280 for the tank, stand and canopy, the 280 wins hands down.

Opinions?

[[WDT]TardFarmer]

From what I have read these skimmers are great, I want one for my NC12dx. http://www.sapphireaquatics.com/stor...83771e78b5cddc

[ReefDave]

Well, I'm back to the drawing board on the tank. I checked back at the LFS today and talked to the owner about this jbj24. While looking at it she mentioned that her husband had fiddled with the light fixture but couldn't figure out how to mount it. As soon as she pulled it out of the box it was obvious. the fixture was for a 12g nano cube and far too narrow for the 24. The 24 doesn't have the canopy, but I didn't think to ask why not.

Long story short I'm in the market for a tank again. I prefer and all-in-one at this point, but since I've built a couple different tanks and sizes I'm comfortable going another route. The main thing is preventing the wifey from flipping out. If I start talking about stand building, and she sees plumbing parts coming into the house I'm a dead man.

[ReefDave]

Well, I'm a step closer. The base-rock, RO-Membrane and filters arrived today. UPS says my Tank, stand, salt and test kits will be here tomorrow. Not sure where the sand is, or when it will be here.

Tomorrow is my daughters 2nd birthday, so I probably won't make much progress tomorrow, and I work Saturday and Sunday, but I imagine at the very least I will be getting some water made up and a lot of pictures taken.

[Wiskey]

Sweet! What did you end up going with for a tank? Were you able to avoid bringing plumbing in the house?

Good idea skipping the tank with the wrong hood,.. unless you wanted to buy that JBJ nano cube then spend more money for the 150W HQI MH fixture that goes with it.

Whiskey

[ReefDave]

Yeah, the wife bought me a 24g aquapod for christmas. She was going to wait till it showed up and suprise me, but I got a 29g with stand from a buddy and she had to let the cat out of the bag before I set it up.

So, I ended up with the 24g with the standard PC lighting, which for my purpose should be fine. I'm thinking more and more about having this be a zoanthid dominated tank, maybe one or two ricordias but specifically hard to find zoanthids. Also, with the zoanthids the FTS might start filling out before the end of the 08 nano build off.

[DarthOcellaris]

Cant wait to see how this progresses