Thinking About Taking The Plunge...

[seffieuk]

Whilst sourcing some of the stuff id need to get for the rio 125 plan - ive run into some stuff im unsure about.

1) Too good to be true surley??

No, it's a knock off boyu - probably do the job just fine

2) ive seen some recomendations on this forum, for using an Arcadia T5 bar ? I cant find a price anywhere for upgrading the to teh juwel ibar, any ideas for cost?

Yes you can buy one of those - just google them light unit arcadia

[URL="http/www.charterhouse-aquatics.co.uk/cat...-c-194_199.html"]http/www.charterhouse-aquatics.co.uk/cat...-c-194_199.html[/URL]

[URL="http/www.charterhouse-aquatics.co.uk/cat...49_158_354.html"]http/www.charterhouse-aquatics.co.uk/cat...49_158_354.html[/URL]

one other thing, have you ever run copper medications in the tank? If so it is not suitable for marine

Seffie x

 

[wackystarfish]

Hmm... i have run interpets fungus and finrot, no copper snail remedies though. TBH, im more leaning towards upgrading, i have had the tank four years, so maybe its time to move on...
Finlay

 

[wackystarfish]

Yikes cheeky bid got the hand bitten off me! xD! Ah well, its always worth a try, you never know your luck!

 

[seffieuk]

Go for a £250 bid that is if you have £250, which I think you have

Seffie x

 

[wackystarfish]

Haha, i wish!!! Hopefully il get a job sometime soon then the cash should start rolling in! Got another £20 from my aunt and uncle for doing well in my GCSE's BTW, you can buy this tank new without the stand for £200...

 

[wackystarfish]

Waah! You must weird telepathic powers! Haha! He just sent me a pm on UR saying its mine for £250 if i can stretch that far... unfortunatley i cant! xD Especially with having to pay for a courier to take it from Liverpool to St.Annes Maybe it just wasnt to be.

 

[seffieuk]

Waah! You must weird telepathic powers! Haha! He just sent me a pm on UR saying its mine for £250 if i can stretch that far... unfortunatley i cant! xD Especially with having to pay for a courier to take it from Liverpool to St.Annes Maybe it just wasnt to be.

ah that's a shame - how far away is it? No parent or mate willing to travel a bit for you?

Seffie x

 

[wackystarfish]

Its a whole hour away, and the guy cant deliver Hmm... looks like i need a plan B!

 

[wackystarfish]

Does anyone know of a good ten gallon or there about, had a brain wave and thought, for the time being until i get a job, would it not be more affordable in terms of water, live rock, tank cost etc... that i could start out with a ten (ish) gallon nano and when im ready and sure of the grounds im on, move on from that? I know i wouldnt be able to keep the mandarin i have always wanted but would it work until i got a bigger tank?

Ok some questions for the revised plan

1) What kind of stocking could you have in a ten (ish) gallon tank?
2) Is there a recommended one that is easy to upgrade the lighting and include a skimmer with
3) Is this a good idea or not! xD

BTW, the insparation for this is xweegtx's ten gallon

This would help me get used to keeping corals and salt water parameters and give me time to save! After saving this tank would be used as a hospital /quarantine tank...
Thanks
Finlay

Light at the end of the tunnel???

 

[wackystarfish]

Update!!!!
There is a guy on Aquarium classifields selling his orca 450 for £80 :::
PM sent to Seffie

 

[wackystarfish]

Ah, just read some other peoples opinions on this tank, not really good I would have wanted the pair of clowns, and i presume its too small for a mandy aswell. Okay so thats a no go
Hmm i just feel like im on a bit of a yoyo here, i just wish i could find the right tank for a reasonable tank.

Any ideas?

 

[wackystarfish]

AAAAH head is so full of marine tanks and deals lol im practically having a meltdown over a tank!
Really confused as to what the options are that are open to me
Seffie come sort me out!!!!

 

[xweeqtx]

Haha, you're in exactly the same position as I was. We spotted a betta lifespace tank for £300, then other second hand bargains, or had the option of buying a tank and starting from scratch. Now, the general opinion given to us that the smaller the tank, the harder it is to keep levels stable. So strangely, with marine life, the bigger the easier!
But, we really don't have the space for another large tank(however, we now think this one is too small LOL), so opted for the 10 gallon(tank, btw, is aqua trend 418). Anyway, I spent a few weeks researching everything thoroughly, knowing the size we were going for which was between 10 and 20 gallons. We looked at the Boyu's quite a lot, but soon learned that a lot of modifications had been made by people who had bought the "plug & play" set ups. They did the job, just not as well as they could have if that makes sense? So by the time you take into consideration spending £2-300 on a supposed plug & play tank, then another couple of hundred(possibly!) on mods for it, we were well decided on just putting everything together ourselves.

Take you're time over it and it won't cost you as much as you think. The tank cost me £50 itself(t5 lighting & with the stand), the skimmer was brand new in the box from someone on UR for £20(somewhere around £60 to buy off the shelf), heater I have loads of spares so wasn't a problem, Moonlights were £13 from fleabay, Powerhead(Tunze nanostream) was £20 barely used. Then add Live Rock @ £83 altogether, and coral sand was £20 because I wanted the smallest size, so it had to be the biggest bag LOL(don't buy live, it'll soon become live itself.. just another gimmick to make money!). So in total I've only spent £206 for everything. I could do with adding another powerhead, a smaller one and will be doing that in the next few weeks but for now it's just sitting happily

Forgot, I was £42 on the test kit so £248

 

[wackystarfish]

Thanks for that Im glad im not alone in my confusion! Having looked at the critiscms of the orcas, and also at the foot print of the tanks, im starting to sway towards converting my rio 125. This way i can slowly accumulate parts as i get the money in, and the actual tank will have a bigger volume, and more room for live rock, AND the inhabitants i want to look after

 

[Morri]

The Orcas are very good tanks imo but a lot of people who buy the 450 quickly want to get a bigger tank

I paid £180 for my 550 from fleabay with LR sand + some livestock.

I have modded only the return pump this was not really needed I just wanted to improve the water turn over through the back filter.

Added to this a Korialla K2 and replaced the bulbs as I did not know how old they were, to start with I only used ammonia nitrite nitrate and PH test kits for just under £250.

Also added a blue LED strip these are cheap as chips from china on ebay.

Other things can be added at a later date like a make shift chaeto refeg around £15 not needed but a good addtion.

Rowaphos £10 a very useful addtion to remove phosphate if like me you brought second hand you wil lmore than likely need this.

Calcium Magnesium and KH test kits are quite expensive I have started using these 3 months down the line.

This is only from my short experience upgrading the rio is also a good option but could work out as expensive so might be worth doing the maths on the rio upgrade

UR has a good classified section for second hand parts