MASVC

Would you like to react to this message? Create an account in a few clicks or log in to continue.

Marine Aquarium Society of Ventura County

Search Query
Display results as : Posts Topics
Advanced Search

You are not connected. Please login or register

Log in

Navigation

Home
Forum
Memberlist
Profile
FAQ
Search
Mission Statement
Constitution of MASVC

May 2024

Search

Number of site visitors

free website hit counter code

+4

sisterlimonpot

MxReEfEr92

dwolson2

TheShark

8 posters

Hello everyone - Joe

TheShark: Posts : 8
Join date : 2013-03-13
Location : Camarillo, CA

Post n°1

Hello everyone - Joe

by TheShark Wed Mar 13, 2013 4:42 pm

Hey everyone I'm a beginner to any kind of reef system. I've been doing some research online when time has permitted. I was possible wondering if anyone had any references they could suggest for a newbie looking to get into this hobby (books,guides,LFS)? I would like to be able to attend one of your events in the future (Noticed I already missed this months).

I live in Camarillo and work in Ventura so I'm open to travel around the County.

Thank you all for your input
-Joe

PS- Are your events kid friendly? I would love to get my daughter involved me she's 12.

dwolson2: Admin; Posts : 2356
Join date : 2011-08-07
Location : Where ever I am told to go

Post n°2

Re: Hello everyone - Joe

by dwolson2 Wed Mar 13, 2013 5:05 pm

Welcome, most of the events are teen friendly. I also live in camarillo and can help you out if you need help.

TheShark: Posts : 8
Join date : 2013-03-13
Location : Camarillo, CA

Post n°3

Re: Hello everyone - Joe

by TheShark Wed Mar 13, 2013 5:16 pm

Sounds great! At this point any help would be great. This of course would be a first time build for me and everywhere i've read has said the bigger the tank the better for a beginner. Do you find this to be true? Can you recommend any local stores for live stock and equipment? Or maybe some personal experiences that can help me get started?

Thanks again.
-Joe

MxReEfEr92: Admin; Posts : 1727
Join date : 2012-02-21
Age : 32
Location : Simi Valley

Post n°4

Re: Hello everyone - Joe

by MxReEfEr92 Wed Mar 13, 2013 5:44 pm

I think a good beginner size tank is around 75 gallons. That said you always want to go as big as you can afford because it will give you less of a reason to upgrade sooner.

MxReEfEr92: Admin; Posts : 1727
Join date : 2012-02-21
Age : 32
Location : Simi Valley

Post n°5

Re: Hello everyone - Joe

by MxReEfEr92 Wed Mar 13, 2013 5:44 pm

Ohh and By the way WELCOME!!!

TheShark: Posts : 8
Join date : 2013-03-13
Location : Camarillo, CA

Post n°6

Re: Hello everyone - Joe

by TheShark Wed Mar 13, 2013 5:53 pm

Thanks for the Welcome! 75 gallaon is a little bigger then what I was thinking but for the right price I can find a spot for one. What do you guy's think about looking on Craigslist for a tank? Or do you know of a better place to check out?

-Joe

sisterlimonpot

sisterlimonpot: Admin; Posts : 1576
Join date : 2011-07-25
Location : Oxnard

Post n°7

Re: Hello everyone - Joe

by sisterlimonpot Wed Mar 13, 2013 5:53 pm

Welcome. You can definitely get lost in this hobby. It is fun as well as rewarding, but on the flipside it can make you pull your hair out. The rule of thumb use to be bigger is better just for the fact that there is more water volume so if you had a problem or introduced something into your tank that was harmful, you would have more time to react and it may not be such a big problem based solely on the amount of water you have (The solution to pollution is dilution) these days with all the products on the market and all the better equipment to handle high phosphates and nitrates you can easily get away with having a smaller tank (20-50gallon).

As far as equipment goes, there are products out there that will break the bank, and there are some affordable ones that will do the job just as well but without the bells and whistles. There are certain ones that you want to stay away from and to make things less overwhelming for you I think we should limit a list of good products verses bad products and if you have a question about a certain product we will gladly give you our opinion (keep in mind most of the time it is just that… our opinion) But we can definitely steer you in the right direction. And I’m sure that if you’re serious about the venture we can supply you with a few things that may be collecting dust.

As far as local fish stores there are a few in the area, Fins is there in camarillo they seem to have a selection of fish. I personally go to extreme marine for most of my stuff. When/if you start and you’re ready to have a reef tank we have quite a few sponsors that deal in selling coral. You can find links to them on our home page.
Once again welcome. Hope to see you at one of the meetings.

sisterlimonpot

sisterlimonpot: Admin; Posts : 1576
Join date : 2011-07-25
Location : Oxnard

Post n°8

Re: Hello everyone - Joe

by sisterlimonpot Wed Mar 13, 2013 5:57 pm

Joe,
I sent you a private message, you can view it by looking at the top of the page, there should be a box with bold red letters "new message"

MxReEfEr92: Admin; Posts : 1727
Join date : 2012-02-21
Age : 32
Location : Simi Valley

Post n°9

Re: Hello everyone - Joe

by MxReEfEr92 Wed Mar 13, 2013 6:05 pm

There are so many good deals to be had

TheShark: Posts : 8
Join date : 2013-03-13
Location : Camarillo, CA

Post n°10

Re: Hello everyone - Joe

by TheShark Wed Mar 13, 2013 6:09 pm

PM sent back at ya Smile

Smile

bshow24: Posts : 35
Join date : 2013-01-27
Location : Thousand Oaks

Post n°11

Re: Hello everyone - Joe

by bshow24 Wed Mar 13, 2013 7:20 pm

Craigslist can throw you some good deals. Now that my tank is setup i will browse cl or other forums and see deals and think to myself "what was I doing buying retail"

I am sure everyone here will be of good help, and if you end up having any questions just ask away. Everyone here, except for Me, is very knowledgable when it comes to saltwater fish Laughing

Laughing

nikecivic: Moderator; Posts : 1672
Join date : 2011-11-09
Location : Camarillo, CA

Post n°12

Re: Hello everyone - Joe

by nikecivic Wed Mar 13, 2013 8:33 pm

Welcome! Ask lots of questions and we can help you out.

MxReEfEr92: Admin; Posts : 1727
Join date : 2012-02-21
Age : 32
Location : Simi Valley

Post n°13

Re: Hello everyone - Joe

by MxReEfEr92 Wed Mar 13, 2013 11:57 pm

bshow24 wrote:Craigslist can throw you some good deals. Now that my tank is setup i will browse cl or other forums and see deals and think to myself "what was I doing buying retail"

I am sure everyone here will be of good help, and if you end up having any questions just ask away. Everyone here, except for Me, is very knowledgable when it comes to saltwater fish

Hello everyone - Joe Youdontsay_zpsdbdd49cf

dwolson2: Admin; Posts : 2356
Join date : 2011-08-07
Location : Where ever I am told to go

Post n°14

Re: Hello everyone - Joe

by dwolson2 Wed Mar 13, 2013 11:59 pm

If you can keep it simple, get around a 40-50 gal tank, drill it and put in an overflow. Put about a 20 gal sump (small tank underneath for equipment) in the stand. Add a protein skimmer and possibly a small carbon/gfo reactor on the tank and you should be good to go on filtration. Lighting, t5 has a cheaper start up cost and the corals react well to it, but the cost of bulbs can be expensive. Led's are more expensive to start, and people have mixed reviews on them, but the operating cost and lower electricity make them growing in popularity. You will need some internal flow, a good pump that can be found for a fair price are tunze 6025 or 6045. A pair of them is a good amount of flow for a 50. As you progress in the hobby, you may end up getting controllable pumps like the 6055 or ecotech mp10 or mp 40(what sisterlimonpot, nikecivic and I have)
The Rock can usually be found for 1-2$ a pound, and dried out live rock is fine. You can have or choose not to have sand.

Just a quick intro. Also if you want, I think I still have a simple guide about saltwater stuff. I made it for a class. If you want it, send me a pm with your email address. If there are any typos, I'm sorry, I'm on my phone Smile

Smile

TheShark: Posts : 8
Join date : 2013-03-13
Location : Camarillo, CA

Post n°15

Re: Hello everyone - Joe

by TheShark Thu Mar 14, 2013 12:37 am

Hmm drilling a tank sounds above my experience level but willing to learn Smile

Smile

. I'm sure after some more research most of what you said will make sense to me lol

thecoralreefer

thecoralreefer: Posts : 28
Join date : 2012-11-30
Location : Simi Valley

Post n°16

Re: Hello everyone - Joe

by thecoralreefer Thu Mar 14, 2013 12:45 am

Hey how's it going Joe? I know how it is when you jump into the hobby... If you have any questions I can help you out. Just send me a message anytime! I can guide you through the process if you need any help! Just started on the boards here recently too.

-Chasen
Facebook.com/TCReefer

TheShark: Posts : 8
Join date : 2013-03-13
Location : Camarillo, CA

Post n°17

Re: Hello everyone - Joe

by TheShark Thu Mar 14, 2013 12:59 am

Wow.. all that coral looks amazing. I would love to come check out your shop sometime.

calistyle: Posts : 42
Join date : 2012-10-01
Age : 42
Location : Simi Valley

Post n°18

Re: Hello everyone - Joe

by calistyle Fri Mar 15, 2013 11:53 am

I was in your same boat a little over a year ago. My step-son and I wanted to build a reef tank and thought it would be a fun project.

As our first tank ever, I wanted a huge tank, so I could get any fish I wanted, however it came down to best bang for my buck. I didn't want to initially invest too much incase the hobby wasn't for us.

1.5 years later, I still love our tank and the simplicity of it. I don't have a sump (wish I did) and I'm limited on the fish I can add.

That said, I would recommend thinking about what you want to do with this tank, loaded with fish? fish too large for smaller tanks? coral galore? certain spot in house for it?

Once you decide on that, I'd search craigslist or even SoCal RC (http://reefcentral.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=50) for someone getting out and you can try and get a nice package deal, saving some cheddar.

Welcome, Good Luck. We're all here to help!

TheShark: Posts : 8
Join date : 2013-03-13
Location : Camarillo, CA

Post n°19

Re: Hello everyone - Joe

by TheShark Sat Mar 16, 2013 6:27 pm

So I happened to be getting some chicken feed at Theresa's in Simi and out of curiosity I asked fish guy's how much they want for live rock per lb.....The answer I got was 5 bucks a lb... Please tell me there is somewhere cheaper in the county for live rock

nikecivic: Moderator; Posts : 1672
Join date : 2011-11-09
Location : Camarillo, CA

Post n°20

Re: Hello everyone - Joe

by nikecivic Sat Mar 16, 2013 7:52 pm

TheShark wrote:So I happened to be getting some chicken feed at Theresa's in Simi and out of curiosity I asked fish guy's how much they want for live rock per lb.....The answer I got was 5 bucks a lb... Please tell me there is somewhere cheaper in the county for live rock

Who's fish guy?

Btw, Most local fish shop (LFS) will sell live rock from $4-6 per pound. That's common pricing but you can find it cheaper from local reefer looking to get rid of their rock. RCA SoCal forum or SoCalireefs you can find a good deal at $2/lbs.

MxReEfEr92: Admin; Posts : 1727
Join date : 2012-02-21
Age : 32
Location : Simi Valley

Post n°21

Re: Hello everyone - Joe

by MxReEfEr92 Sat Mar 16, 2013 10:28 pm

TheShark wrote:So I happened to be getting some chicken feed at Theresa's in Simi and out of curiosity I asked fish guy's how much they want for live rock per lb.....The answer I got was 5 bucks a lb... Please tell me there is somewhere cheaper in the county for live rock

Never ever ever ever ever ever ever ever buy ANYTHING from them... overpriced on everything and bad quality.

TheShark: Posts : 8
Join date : 2013-03-13
Location : Camarillo, CA

Post n°22

Re: Hello everyone - Joe

by TheShark Sat Mar 16, 2013 10:37 pm

Thanks for the heads up. I did notice a few fish that were half upside down.

Hey MX did you ever get my pm?

MxReEfEr92: Admin; Posts : 1727
Join date : 2012-02-21
Age : 32
Location : Simi Valley

Post n°23

Re: Hello everyone - Joe

by MxReEfEr92 Sat Mar 16, 2013 10:58 pm

ohh yea sorry for the non response.
Starting off with FOWLR is a great idea that is what how I started.

TheShark wrote:Hey Cory,...

These are some things I have on my list (Things may change depending on the size of the tank. Also I have no idea what are good makes/models)

• 1lb of live rock per gallon of water. Possibly mix with man made rock I would go with Marco or Bulk Reef Supply Fiji
• Use live sand for substrate possbily 3-4 inches (Argonite, Crushed Coral). See if I can find someone that can spare a couple of cups.Again I would go with Fiji pink sand or something similar and only 1.5''-2'' max (personal preference).
• Protein skimmer rated for a step larger tank (Remora).Remora or aquamax skimmers are the best HOB but if you go in sump I would look at cadlights or some type of cone skimmer.
• Lighting depending on setup (T5’s or LED’s)I had this discussion with Bogdan (bvysochin) if you have 48'' or less of space to cover T5s are the absolute best way to go, but that is only a personal opinion but our tanks can back up our opinion.
• Heater rated for proper tank size (Fluval or Eheim) Eheim Jager 200w is again the best IMO
• RO water used for making the saltwater and water changes An RODI filter is a must have to be successful but for FOWLR store bought will suffice.
• Setup old tank as a quarantine tank Thats a great idea I do not QT and am paying the price right now
• Refractometer or Hydrometer to measure Salinty levels (Gravity). Spend the extra money and go with a Refractometer, worth every penny
• Water test kitSalifert for Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, Magnesium, Calcuim, and Ph. Hanna Checker for Phosphate and Alkalinity Again just what I would recommend.

Please let me know what you think about this list. As far as fish go i'm trying to find some that are non-aggresive and reef friendly.

Where do you think I should start shopping around for this equipment? Any online retailers or LFS you suggest?
I personaly love Bulk Reef Supply, Marine Depot, Premium Aquatics, Reef Geek, and Air water Ice (RODI filter).

LFS Extreem Marine, Tats for emergency situation, Vivid Aquariums.

Sponsored content

Sponsored content

Post n°24

Re: Hello everyone - Joe

by Sponsored content

Next meeting date

The next meeting is scheduled for Saturday, March

28, 2015 from 8:00am @ Crusty Old Shellback's house in Oxnard, CA there will be a field trip to Garrett's Acropolis afterwards

pm nikecivic or MxReEfEr92 for address and any questions

Latest topics

» 2015 meeting ???
by Saybng Wed Nov 08, 2017 2:54 pm

» Need help setting up my tank
by DannyG Sun Sep 17, 2017 1:00 pm

» Newbie reefer, Experienced FW Aquarist!!
by Reefer805 Thu Aug 03, 2017 2:31 pm

» Anybody have an Apex classic display module I can borrow?
by 805reef Tue Jul 25, 2017 8:06 pm

» ⭐️3Q Specials ⭐️Free Shipping⭐️Free TDS⭐️$10 off
by airwaterice Thu Jul 06, 2017 3:53 pm

» FS: Gyre 150's, Tunze Nano ato, tank, misc
by 805reef Sun Apr 02, 2017 9:30 pm

» 2nd Q Special: Free TDS meter or Free Shipping!!!
by airwaterice Sat Apr 01, 2017 11:31 am

» Free Shipping (orders >$150) exp 3/31/17
by airwaterice Mon Jan 02, 2017 8:26 pm

» ENTIRE SETUP FOR SALE...
by Nano-mex Thu Dec 01, 2016 11:43 pm

» 58G Aquarium with cabinetry FS
by craigsyoung Wed Nov 30, 2016 4:04 pm

» Free TDS meter and 10% OFF
by airwaterice Thu Oct 06, 2016 2:30 pm

» Chaeto
by Saybng Mon Oct 03, 2016 5:06 pm

» Jedi Mind Trick Frags available again
by ericpkeith Tue Sep 13, 2016 9:43 am

» Rose Anemone FS
by DannyG Thu Aug 04, 2016 11:43 pm

» For Sale, 130 G Glass bow front system
by Crusty Old Shellback Thu Jun 16, 2016 9:49 pm

Who is online?

In total there is 1 user online :: 0 Registered, 0 Hidden and 1 Guest

None

[ View the whole list ]

Most users ever online was 274 on Sun Apr 11, 2021 11:32 pm

Poll

The 2014 MASVC Secretary should be:

Sean: 50% [ 7 ]

Jarren: 43% [ 6 ]

None of the above: 7% [ 1 ]

Total Votes : 14

Statistics

Our users have posted a total of 16067 messages in 1897 subjects

We have 289 registered users

The newest registered user is K.I.N.G

Current date/time is Fri May 17, 2024 3:13 am