Richard Reynolds
July 12th 03, 01:41 AM
> Well, now my situation has changed and my budget for the big tank just went
> right out the window. I am still determined to do SOMETHING though,
> however, money is now an object.
been there doing that
> I am picking up a used 75 acryllic tomorrow with a huge wet/dry, built in
> overflow, with two returns drilled in at the top corners. (the overflow is
> in the center of the back wall...pretty neat looking) and a nice stand. The
> woodwork needs to be refinished but hey, for $200, what the heck!
sounds alright to me
> The canopy has flourescent lights built in (I think they are VHO but I'm not
> sure)
> My plan for right now is to go FO to start with. For that, I should be able
> to use the wet/dry and a hang on protein skimmer right? Or, will that be
> too many nitrates from the wet/dry? Is that not so important since it will
> be FO?
you can and should use a wet/dry in a FO, as long as its going to stay a FO i wouldnt give
it a second thought. as for HOB skimmers it depends on which one you get, but generally
most of them are not worth there time, and definately not worth your money unless you
really wanna be cheap, the thing is you can run any tank w/o a skimmer just fine, so you
could get a $100 skimmer and get by just fine, its just much easier to run a skimmer.
inverts and corals are the things that cant handle moderate nitrates, fish on the other
hand can handle much much higher nitrate levels, so a wet/dry isnt too much.
> Also, is a RO/DI unit NECESSARY for a FO tank? I will definately get one
> before I add any LR or inverts but for now, I am eager to set this up (on a
> tight budget unfortunately)
I ran my FO off of conditioned tap water for a long time, i didnt have the problems that
reefs have including my own, less light, and less sources for funny algaes and less places
for them to grow, keeps them under control much easier than any reef.
> Eventually I will go FOWLR as I can afford to upgrade down the road and
> slowly add the components needed to do a reef.
> Does my plan sound feasable or should I take a step back and rethink the
> whole thing?
the catch is you may end up spending a lot of time converting that FO to a reef, you will
have to do many many massive waterchanges to lower things like nitrate, phosphate .....
things that will doom a reef wont make a FO skip a beat. if you think you can handle it go
for it, if not buy something now as a FO, and plan on getting a reef later down the line.
>
> TIA
>
> ~Mort
--
Richard Reynolds
> right out the window. I am still determined to do SOMETHING though,
> however, money is now an object.
been there doing that
> I am picking up a used 75 acryllic tomorrow with a huge wet/dry, built in
> overflow, with two returns drilled in at the top corners. (the overflow is
> in the center of the back wall...pretty neat looking) and a nice stand. The
> woodwork needs to be refinished but hey, for $200, what the heck!
sounds alright to me
> The canopy has flourescent lights built in (I think they are VHO but I'm not
> sure)
> My plan for right now is to go FO to start with. For that, I should be able
> to use the wet/dry and a hang on protein skimmer right? Or, will that be
> too many nitrates from the wet/dry? Is that not so important since it will
> be FO?
you can and should use a wet/dry in a FO, as long as its going to stay a FO i wouldnt give
it a second thought. as for HOB skimmers it depends on which one you get, but generally
most of them are not worth there time, and definately not worth your money unless you
really wanna be cheap, the thing is you can run any tank w/o a skimmer just fine, so you
could get a $100 skimmer and get by just fine, its just much easier to run a skimmer.
inverts and corals are the things that cant handle moderate nitrates, fish on the other
hand can handle much much higher nitrate levels, so a wet/dry isnt too much.
> Also, is a RO/DI unit NECESSARY for a FO tank? I will definately get one
> before I add any LR or inverts but for now, I am eager to set this up (on a
> tight budget unfortunately)
I ran my FO off of conditioned tap water for a long time, i didnt have the problems that
reefs have including my own, less light, and less sources for funny algaes and less places
for them to grow, keeps them under control much easier than any reef.
> Eventually I will go FOWLR as I can afford to upgrade down the road and
> slowly add the components needed to do a reef.
> Does my plan sound feasable or should I take a step back and rethink the
> whole thing?
the catch is you may end up spending a lot of time converting that FO to a reef, you will
have to do many many massive waterchanges to lower things like nitrate, phosphate .....
things that will doom a reef wont make a FO skip a beat. if you think you can handle it go
for it, if not buy something now as a FO, and plan on getting a reef later down the line.
>
> TIA
>
> ~Mort
--
Richard Reynolds