Sf05's Slow And Steady

[Siamese Fighter05]

Hi Everyone

I'd always thought of a saltwater tank as miles too hard and costly for me to give it a try. When this sub-forum opened up i was amazed by some of the members beautiful tanks and realized you don't have to have a 6mile long tank to make it a success. So after starting a thread bombarding SH with lots of questions and then researching the net and other forums i've decided to give it a go.

I Have Drawn up all the costs of EVERYTHING i can think of that i will need to get my nano-reef Ready for fish. Please mention anything else i have missed...
Here Goes:

basics
18g Tank - Got already
100W Heater - Got already
Powerhead - £24 (Ordered)
Lights (Enough for most corals) - £157.50 (Ordered)
Digital thermometre - £7 (Ordered)
Refractometer - £40 (Ordered)
Master Kit - £35
8kg Salt - £20

Water Changes
Fill tank +RO Drum - £20.10
Mixed Powerhead - Got already
Mixer heater - Got already
2.5 gal bucket - Got already
Weekly water change - £1.10

Then

10kg (22lbs) LR - £75
20lbs Live arog sand - £22
Cleaner Crew - £40
Fish Food - £10

Hopefully that is EVERYTHING i need to be able to house some fish and then later on - corals.

Total (Estimate) -
Total - £451.70
Total Left to pay - £223.20

A bit nasty looking When it's in black and white but when everything comes together it should look good. I've got another £120 coming on the 27th January and about £90 more just before. After that i'll have to save up weekly while paying for driving lessons and a phone bill

Hopefully Livestock will be a true perc and maybe a firefish. Trying to get Samsung to send out a replacement installer disc for the Digi-Cam

Thanks Dan

Ps: This will be a slow nano-diary but hopefully it will be another great tank to add to the great collection we have here already

 

[fish_keeper2]

good luck. are you going to use a skimmer. i would suggest one but im in the us and i dont know what available to you in the uk.

on thing i want to add. qarantine tank. as ive learned quarantine your fish and only get fish from lfs that you trust and always has good healthy fish......i didnt do this ONCE and it brought ich into my nano.

 

[Siamese Fighter05]

Thanks Fishkeeper

I'm going without a skimmer for starters as i'll be doing 10-15% water changes weekly and see how that goes. I trust my LFS completely but i will take your advice and pick up a 10gallon quarentine just incase

Thanks Again
Dan

 

[Fish Fingers]

Looking all good so far! You've pretty much got the same thing goin as I've got going with my nano. How much circulation are you going to be having?

 

[steelhealr]

That's always the best way to start...read, research, design a plan. WTG. There is only one thing missing from your list......a digital camera. Should be standard marine equipment because WE'LL NEED SOME PIX!! lol. Welcome aboard. SH

 

[Siamese Fighter05]

Looking all good so far! You've pretty much got the same thing goin as I've got going with my nano. How much circulation are you going to be having?

The powerhead is a maxijet 1200 and kicks out 1200lph or 317gph, which will give me a 17.5X (I think) turnover...
I'm on my way to your thread now i must've missed it!

That's always the best way to start...read, research, design a plan. WTG. There is only one thing missing from your list......a digital camera. Should be standard marine equipment because WE'LL NEED SOME PIX!! lol. Welcome aboard. SH

I've meant to be ringing samsung for days now to get a replacement installer disc sent out for the digicam but i've been too busy messing around with Xmas presents I've got a few people in the catfish section annoyed with no piccy updates on my fry )

I had an e-mail from Aquatics-online today saying they were having problems with my card details, so i rang them up and got that sorted out (Wrong number) So hopefully things should be here by Tuesday latest

I was going to get the lights from surrey pets online for £20 cheaper but when i went on the other night they had bumped their price up £25

 

[Siamese Fighter05]

Lights and powerhead arrived this morning!
Have to say the lighting unit looks smart and gives out a nice colour. I'm a bit unsure about how safe it is when you hang if off the back of the tank but other than that everythings good. LFS haven't rung about the refractometer so i'll pop down tomorrow if not.

Dan

 

[Fish Fingers]

What lights did you get(I beleive you got a t5 unit, saw it in another thread, but how many)? If they don't seem safe hanging it off the back of the tank then maybe you could hang them from the roof or get stands for them??? GOod luck with the refractometer

 

[Siamese Fighter05]

Hi Fishfingers

I got 4 24w tubes on the overtank luminaire. I'm happy with the way it attaches to the tank now
It's just my DIY skills are so poor i couldn't even screw the screw in properly
So my mum did it for me and the unit is nice and secure now

Dan

 

[Fish Fingers]

Lol well I'm glad you got it working alright. That amount of light sounds good too! I wish I had better lighting...Any corals you got your eye on?

 

[Siamese Fighter05]

Hi fishfingers

I think its mainly going to be a softie tank perhaps with some LPS. I really like zoos and mushrooms so hopefully my LFS will have some nice varieties in. I really like open brains so hopefully i can get my hands on a nice red one!
Other than that i guess i'll just have too see something i like and then research it and hope it's nano safe

Dan

Ps - Keep up the goodwork on your nano, it's coming together nicely. Gotta say it again though - I love the shape of the tank!

 

[Fish Fingers]

Yeah thats the way to go if it's your first time keeping corals. Thanks are the compliment, I'm glad someones actually reading my journal! (no one ever posts ).

You gonna get us some pictures soon?

 

[Siamese Fighter05]

I got paid £225 today! So saturday i'm going to go and pick up everything apart from LR, so i can get used to how much salt per bucket i will need. I also need to nick my mates 100w heater to put in my fry tank until they are old enough. Then i'll go grab the LR and cycle begins! Me and my mum are going to bomb the house saturday to find the camera if we have no luck we'll ring samsung and get the replacement sent out!

Fishfingers - Lol, nano section isn't very big atm but the way it's growing you'll be complaining that too many people are replying in your thread

 

[Clownfish11790]

Yea, you need a digital camera for your pics, because people will look at your site more if you do. CF

 

[Siamese Fighter05]

Hi everyone

Picked up my Salt, Test Kit, Digital Thermometer and Live-Arog today! My refractometer should be here by friday lastest (Hopefully on wednesday though!)

My LFS doesnt sell LR after all so its a trip down Merry Hell to the FS there!
Hopefully live rock will be in next weekend. was too lazy too search for disc so that a job for tomorrow (I promise!)

Damn this is coming together faster than ever! Not that im planning on rushing into it all though!
My LFS has ugly as hell corals so it's down to merry hill for them also! (When the tnak is ready in a few months of course!)

Dan