This.:-)
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Here's a pisser, Steve...
I moved this 90 gallon God-forsaken money-pit here from PA because Lisa insisted. I mentioned the other day that I had had a gutful since this last year's disasters (tanks breaking, floods, general misery). 15 years of this stuff has left me out of interest. Turns out she insisted because she thought I loved it. :-)
So, here I am. I can't let it look like hell because I'm not built that way. So I'm going to continue by learning how to kill corals, and spend money at a ridiculously rapid pace.
Here's the thing, though...
There's a large group/organization here in Cleveland that does frag swaps, etc. It's a good base for me to learn from, something I never had before. So I'm going to see about joining, becoming active, making some friends locally, etc. That might salvage this sport for me.
Today's csualty is my chocolate star Patrick. He's outta here. He's the reason I failed my last coral adventure. I had no idea he was a coral eater, but now I know, so he's on Craigslist.
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Okay, I joined the reef club. So far, I've met 3 of the members, great guys.
I have procured a bunch of live rock I needed to fill out my tank, and I got a few corals.
I got a bunch of powerheads, just picked up another Koralia 1400 today. I have a wavemaker in the mail.
One of the reef club guys came over and gave me a checklist of stuff to unscrewup in my tank and I've done most. I didn't fix a sand pile because he had me clean my skimmers and I cleaned them so good that they just won't make goo very good. The water is getting bad enough, so I'm not gonna make a bad thing worse.
I stopped feeding for now till the skimmers re-break-in. They should come around in the next day or two, we'll see.
I'm really getting a grip on how to get reef water right and keep it right. These are things I needed to learn. Now if I can apply that knowledge on down to my equipment, I'll be in real good shape. That won't take long at all.
Oh, I'm going to a Frag Swap in Cleveland on Saturday. I should be able to get some cool stuff there, I'm excited about that. :-)
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Woah! This is the most crazy awesome thread ever! I had no idea there was such a hobby to this. I had fish growing up, had an albino frog, etc, but nothing since. Crazy!!!

How long will the fish you have live? Will you trade/sell them, or keep them till they pass? Can you insure such expensive fish?
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Reefkeeping isn't so much about keeping fish, it's more about keeping invertebrates. Corals, "bugs", shrimp, snails, live rock, starfishes, sea cucumbers, sponges, things that live in a reef system. Fish are a part of that system, but only a part.
When corals get too big, you "frag" them, which means you cut off pieces and they turn into new animals. That's how you keep your population under control. You can sell those fragments to other hobbyists.
No, you can't insure the stuff, at least not to my knowledge.
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Well said, Scott.
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Can I get the expert opinions on this tank

Its listed locally on Craigslist for $500
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I like it. I would probably go with only the coarse filter or you will be cleaning it too often. My little tank in the bathroom has been working for maybe 12 years with less gear than that one has.
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The RSM is an awesome system. I dont remember what these cost new but $500 seems a bit high. I paid $800 fro my 90 gallon system. I would recommend getting your eyes on it lok everything over make sure the glass/acrylic isnt scratched. One of the biggest things ive seen with these all in one nano tanks is leaking around the bottom seam. This is what mine did.
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Interior scratching of plexiglass isn't that visible when filled with water but looks terrible dry. $500 would not be bad if it came cycled and stocked. Still, you can find great deals all the time from people who are giving up the hobby.
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I believe the RSM is glass though.
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Yep, so it says. I like that. Easier to scrape the coraline off.
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ABSOLUTLEY and you arent afraid to save some time and use a razorblade just remember vertical or horizontal scraping only no diagonals.

Im currently in the early summer algae bloom i get every year. Its the water I use. Only tap water goes into my tank :-)

P.S. I dont recommend anyone to do this. It works for me based on where I live and local water chemistry. The two keys to being successful in this hobby are DO NOT OVERFEED and DO NOT OVERSTOCK. Imagine living with your whole family in a studio apartment.
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Some of the pricing I've seen online are in the $750-$800 range. Apparently this was only used for a month before upgrading to a larger tank.
http://hartford.craigslist.org/for/2281123389.html

However, after reading through this thread a bit last night, my dream of owning a saltwater tank has been a bit diminished.

Is it worth the trouble?
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That depends on how much you are willing to work and what you plan to keep. If you just want some fish with live rock its very easy to keep. Very little to maintain.

If you plan on doing many different types of hard coral small polyp stony, clams, etc there will be more to maintain. The RSM tanks are wonderful all in ones. But at 34 gallons you will be pretty limited on how much you can keep in them.

I have been in the hobby for over 5 years which isnt very long compared to Blueface.

What did you have in mind for stocking your tank?
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Well thats the problem, I love the look of both fish and coral, but I understand they are really two different tanks. I figured with that size tank I would probably be limited to 3 or 4 fish if I went with live rock. Is that correct?
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To add to what Scott said, as far as the fish lifespan goes, many saltwater fish can live as long as 15-20 years in captivity and as long as 30 in the ocean.
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It is not hard to maintain if you commit to setting it up right and staying with your commitment.
To keep both fish and coral there are some rules. 1 is you have to have a sump, a good overflow TO that sump
and a good skimmer. 2 is Not a high population of fish, although depending on your sump and commitment
that is not such a tight rule. All fish do is eat, poop and swim. All three add stressors to your tank. So you
need a good system for dealing with that. You also need to set up a RO/DI water unit in your home, can be
done for 150 at Lowe's.

I recently found out I was not commited properly, and went from a 40 with a great sump to a 40 with no sump.
I was agitated at the power consumption. Enter Aiptasia infestation which spiralled out of control. So I took
all the uninfested rock and coral and kept only my two Green Chromis and went down further to a 20 gallon.
Now instead of a sump or skimmer, I have a kooky surface overflow made out of a plastic bottle and there
is a hose leading from that bottle's neck directly into a plain old waterfall aquarium filter with floss, carbon and
other media. It is working well, but i have to keep the floss changed twice a week. No Aiptasia problem, and
I killed the two hangers'on with Kalkwasser paste. Talk about not a lot of space to work with. But it looks good
again. I should never have cranked up another tank back a few years ago when I re-started. I no longer
felt like spending the money, it was like a zombie walking into the store and getting all the stuff and ordering
even more online. I was not listening to my true inner self. It was crazy. I would not have even moved down
to the 20 were it not for my beautiful purple mushrooms I have, they are freaking gorgeous, and I did not want
to give them away. I figured I would keep a tank just for them, and the rest of the corals are there by the
grace of the purples.
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Moe, to continue that thought I got distracted on, I have SEEN reef tanks SWARMING with fish, but naturally,
they have super systems in place to clean the water. Normal hobbyists should probably do as you said, limit
the amount of fish they keep. The desire for great schools of fish would likely add 3-5000 dollars worth of
additional equipment to deal with their pollution. Like was said before, to ME, the tank is much more about the
creatures that you have that you do not see at first, worms, scuds, tubeworms, sponges tunicates, etc.
Some of the most interesting things in the tank never move. But they do grow.
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Scott, I was wondering about your skimmer. Do you have a way to keep your water level constant?
i.e. a top-off system? Sump? Most skimmers are pretty reactive to water level changes.
Not sure what your setup currently is, but some skimmers are pretty picky
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