New to DMAS and Salt.

[AnonAMoose]

Hi all,


I just wanted to introduce myself. I'm Chris or Moose whatever you want to call me. I guess you could say I'm going through a mid-life crisis early because I'm only 28 and I have a new found obsession with marine tanks. My wife thinks I'm crazy and the money I plan on spending could be used for better purposes.

I live in Mesquite, married and a father of two. I work as a security guard in downtown Dallas. Bryan tower anyone... I grew up in Garland and used to stare at my brothers 100 Gal saltwater setup for hours on end. looking back he did a few things that I wouldn't have done. He didn't cure his tank, didn't have very much live rock and always used a gravel vac and cleaned off as much algae as he could to keep his tank as squeeky clean as he could. It's no wonder he spent $300+ a month on new fish.

I live in an apartment so my tank size is limited to 1000lbs. My ideal setup is going to be a 55 gallon reef tank with a 20 gallon sump/refugium. I have a 55 gallon aqueon tank with a red sea prisim deluxe. I bought the skimmer from one of the forum members "fishtender" off of craigs list. Howard was really cool about the sale and referred me to this forum.

Any help/suggestions for my rig and such are welcome. I plan on becoming a member and attending meetings in the future. well it's 12:30 in the morning. I just got off of work and I'm a bit buzzed from drinking with a friend so I'll cut this short. wish me luck on my new reef!

[ImageX]

Welcome to dmas!! always good to have another member on dmas..

If your running a reef tank setup lighting is crucial... Also setup a tank log so we can see what your doing.. But so far seems like your on a good start... =D

[Derek4real]

Welcome to DallasMAS!!

build logs are pretty fun to watch.

[KJ]

Welcome to the club!

[albert7753]

Welcome

[Mark]

[TankGirl]

Welcome!!! I grew up in Garland...well until I was 4 and we moved to Wylie. My dad had fresh water tanks that he would sit me infront of when I was a baby. I would be lulled to sleep watching angel fish in a 75 gal hex!. I also have a 55 gal. DAS retrofit with a 20 gal fuge, and some sort of skimmer. I'll have to take some pics of it and post it to my album so you can see it. Again, Welcome and Glad to Have you With US!

[waterhog]

Welcome!

[capthlp]

Welcome to DallasMAS, glad to have you with us.

A 55gal tank is a nice size tank to establish especially since your are limited. I got back into the hobby with my 55gal but have now upgraded to a 140g and while I like my 140g my 55g was looking great before the upgrade and I was real happy with it.

I am sure you will find most everyone here very friendly and personable and always willing to share knowledge and experience and even some fish stories.

Welcome,

[AnonAMoose]

I can't believe I could still type at 12:30. Anyhoo I re-read my post and i left a ton of things out.

My Setup is going to consist of a 55 gal Aqueon tank with a 20 gal long sump that will serve as my refugium. I have to take things at a painstakingly slow pace because of budget issues. I am building my stand next week and will have to build the stand around the sump because it's just a little too wide and i wont be able to shoehorn it in there after the stand is built. I am going to make a three chamber sump with custom cut glass from home depot and 100% silicone adhesive that's non toxic. I've spent hours drawing and calculating measurements for everything. Anyone else surprised to find out that a 2x4 isn't really 2" x 4" ?

I plan on using some or garf's gunk for the fuge (heh already learning the lingo huh) and using Caribsea Indo-Pacific black Arag-alive substrate. For my rock I'm thinking of using man-made lava rock that won't leach any toxic minerals into my tank (any other suggestions?) because I like the look of the lava rock. Light wise I plan on getting some T5 Ho lights from Odyssea. I've heard good and bad things about these so anyone with personal exp. can let me know if I'm making a mistake? I need at least one powerhead and I was thinking about one that sweeps back and forth but I dunno. I might just get a Hydor Korilia 1 for now to get things moving.

My tank is not predrilled for an overflow so i'm going to use a hob one from CPR the CS90 and a cheapo 500GPH return pump in the sump. I do need advice on heater wattage and placement. I read somewhere that 5w per gallon is recommended? Should I get two, one in the DT and one in the Fuge?

I plan on starting slow with just the DT and add the sump/fuge after my tank has cycled. I doubt I will even begin to add water to my tank untill next year because of budget restrictions, but I do have a vision of what it will be and it is glorious. sorry I'm strange and its late.

To Do List for Aug/Sept.:

1 Buy sump and glass. Assemble sump
2 Lumber and supplies for stand.
3 Build stand around sump.
4 Buy Test kits, salinity gauge, salt and RO filter.
5 Steal Underpants
6 ............?
7 Profit

Sorry I couldn't help myself.

OH one last thing. If I do splurge for a RO/DI system at a later date, where do I hook it up to my system? Is it strictly for topping off the tank or what? Someone please PM me and 'splain or direct me to the post that does. If you have time that is.