Recent content by SW Beginner

Best thing to do, IMO, is save the money. Before you holler out and yell in protest let me explain. 1. Books will be among your most important investment, among them The New Marine Aquarium by Michael Paletta and The Consciencist Marine Aquarist by Robert Fenner. Buy used if you can but this...

As for cost, I'm at $36 a gallon for my 10G-working-at-becoming-a-nano-reef tank. Lighting and live rock are probably going to be your two biggest costs, ironically enough. A good protein skimmer will also be up there. No idea how hard the fish are to keep but I was surprised when I went home...

I know. It's about time. ;) One thing I have come to realize in this hobby is things tend not to go fast nor as well as you think they should. The tank has been up and running now for almost two months. Started off with 10 lbs of beautiful Fiji rock and the following week added another five...

Congrats! You'll have to buy the guy a case of beer as a thank you. :D

Glad I could help you out! :)

I would use mostly Southdown and then add a couple pounds of LS from you LFS and try to get a cup or two off fellow reefers.

Why not get some base rock (hirocks.com) and then add live rock to it? Should help cut down the cost. FFExpress, Marine Depot, and Tampa Bay Saltwater have good prices on LR. The LR and LS will act as your main filters. Another option could be DIY LR.

No longer have to worry about that. Bought a refractometer. :)

Don't know if I agree with that one. Latest school of thought: Fish lack the brains to feel pain Concerned anglers and PETA should rest easy because, writing in the London Telegraph, Rajeev Syal reports that fish cannot feel pain. This was the conclusion of the largest study into piscine...

As well I have heard bad things about them. Could look into getting one from LifeReef for not much more.

Figure $201 total. For that you should be able to go with the Euro-Reef ES5.2. Of course, you may try to find a good used skimmer at either Ebay or Reef Central.

What sort of budget do you have to work with? You may want to look at one fromLifeReef, Euro-Reef, or Precision Marine as well.

Go for the Remora skimmer. If not, the CPR Bac Pak II would be worth looking into. If you are going to have a sump, look at the Euro-Reef ES 5.2. Additionally, if you are looking at moving before the end of the year, why not stock up on dry goods for now? For example, you may decide to buy a VHO...

A poster on Reef Central said he found some Southdown Playsand at a Home Depot in North Carolina. It also may be under the Yard Right or Old Castle brand names.

Being in New Jersey, you should be able to find some Southdown, Old Town, or Yard Right tropical playsand at your local Home Depot.