Well, after visiting Manhattan Aquariums I now feel more determined to make an aquarium work. :-) I'll just take my time, read a ton, be sure to invest in some battery operated pumps (thanks for the advice, Blueface), and hopefully do it right the first time. If I discover along the way that it's just too advanced and/or expensive for me, perhaps I'll scale it back and go freshwater, as Ray has suggested.

Ray - I entered into this thing thinking freshwater. Everybody says start with fresh. But when I walk into a place that stocks both, it's really tough for me to keep my eyes on the freshwater tanks. Know what I mean? I don't want to bite off more than I can chew, of course. It's just that now I keep hearing that if I really like salt, it doesn't have to be as complicated as it sometimes seems. Which brings me to today.

There was a nice gal at MA who recommended a forum to me called Manhattan Reefs. It's all New York state folks so that's nice for me. They seem like a friendly bunch. We'll see. They get together, exchange coral frags and whatnot. Maybe I could introduce a 'fiver for a frag' type trade. Get those guys into cigars. :-)

Here's a couple questions for you CA reefers:
From what I gather online, seams on glass tanks eventually fail. I know acrylic scratches easier than glass, and I'd really hate to have any scratches, but I'd prefer that to having to replace a glass tank every handful of years. Anybody have an opinion on this?

Also, for your enjoyment, regarding total cost on a saltwater set up, I found this article. <== You may or may not want to click on that, or at least wait until your spouse is outta the room. :-) If you look at those numbers (for 2010), does that more or less sync with your experience? Being budget-minded -- I can't believe I think I can afford a saltwater aquarium hobby on top of my cigar hobby -- I'm going to try to cut these costs by buying used equipment wherever I can. Perhaps I can find a bunch of quality used gear on the Manhattan Reefs forum. Any thoughts?

Aaand here we go.
:-)
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If you're leaning towards reef tanks start it out as a FOWLR and if you watch your fish selection, you can add some easy corals here and there. As far as the type of tank, I would do glass unless you get a pretty big tank. Acrylic tanks are nice because it doesn't take 6 guys to carry them lol, but otherwise glass is perfectly fine and will last many years. If you hate scratches, don't do acrylic, because you WILL have scratches lol.

I've heard good things about Manhattan Reefs, and you may also want to check out reefcentral.com, which is also a great forum.

If cost is a concern at first, you can make impressive set ups work with a very simple equipment list, as I have done in the past. Plenty of live rock (which is also not cheap) for natural filtration and good water movement alone can support a lightly stocked tank very easily. I've had a 29 gallon tank and a 340 gallon tank with nothing but live rock, powerheads, and a power filter for mechanical filtration. Both worked very well. I had lots of liverock, a light stock list, and kept up on water changes. I had corals in those setups that thrived as well. It's a viable option until you can afford to go hog wild on equipment, which you will want to do eventually lol. If I do a salt tank again, that's the way I will go.
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VICTORY OVER the mantis shrimp!!!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chupatelpie/4435336541/
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Were they delicious?
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YIKES!!!!!!!

http://blog.aquanerd.com/2014/03/fis...wn-disney.html
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LOL!!!
That looks super familiar.
I'm still hoping to get rid of all my salt water crap. I want to change to fresh water and grow real fish that I catch out in the wild. I really enjoyed that in the past and I think it'll get me back in the swing.
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I just posted all my saltwater stuff up on C-SEA. It's the local enthusiast's site.
Hopefully somebody will come by and take it all away!!! :-)
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Wish I was closer I am really wanting to set a reef tank again.
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Dude, you're only in Indiana. I've got 90 gallons worth of stuff. Only about a gazillion aiptasia. But I also have an aptasia zapper, so you could have crazy fun frying them!!! :-)
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Never heard of a zapper for them. My last reef tank was a 150 tall tank used elegance coral and pepppermint shrimp to control them. I want to move into a 300 to 400 gallon acrylic tank next. Wife says when the kids are grown.
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Michael, if you go back around page 43 we posted a bunch of stuff about the zappers. Axeman even made one. I just bought one of these.
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Scott is dropping out, I tried twice and was TOO much of a compromiser to pull it off.
Reefs are about numbers, both chemically and how much numbers you gots in da bank.
If you are not ready in time and money to obsess overnumbers, its best to leave the
salt alone. EVERYONE starts out thinking they are going to really be on it, not to let
anything slip. But almost everyone does slip, and it is the fish and coral that suffer.
SO I had to just give that crap up.

And Cold Cuts, I have been messing with aquaria for 25 years and never had a tank burst
on me once. Not saying it doesn't happen, but that is a hell of a lead-off comment in terms
of what give you pause. if your tank is level and properly supported, I doubt you will ever
have a tank burst a seam. Make yourself a nice planted fresh water tank and enjoy near worry-
free entertainment. If I had all the money back that i wasted on salt water aquaria, I would
own a house now. MONEY PIT. A beautiful money pit, but a money pit.
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A couple weeks ago I cleaned all my saltwater stuff up, gave the tank, stand, and everything else to my brother that he'd need for freshwater.
19 or 20 years I spent nursing that livestock across 4 tanks.

I have to say that it was insanely fun at times. Like feeding starfish to clown shrimp and watching the male feed his mate first. So, so many insanely cool things along the way.
It's time to be done was about 5 years ago. I just lost desire to deal with it after I had a freeze and a couple tank-split floods and a couple crashes.
It took the spirit out of me.

I waffled on starting a new freshwater tank for about 6 months, and decided that it's time for me to take a break. I've been caring for a fish tank for at least 30 years. I'd say that's a reasonable run.

Still, to this day, the most fulfilling fish I ever kept were indigenous species.
A pair of Crappie, one white and one black were the prettiest fish I've ever kept, hands down. Absolutely stunning under the lights floating in crystal clear water.

Brad mentioned the money. I shudder to think. But it's a hobby. An expensive one as hobbies go, but way cheaper than sitting on a barstool, and far less expensive than any of the women I've dragged home over the years.

They have those little biocubes now. They work well with minimal intervention.
If it trips a guy's trigger, then he can pick up and learn from there and go bigger.
That kind of thing wasn't available back when I started. You went big or went home, and it cost an arm and a leg just to start. And it took 6 months before you could put a fish in the tank.
I'd suggest to anyone to give the hobby a try. The sky is the limit and it's easy now.
Personally, I'll just put the savings into more reef dives. :-)
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Let’s give this one fat bump lol
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How about bumping it with some content or pics since you're the new reef guy, Chayse? :-)
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Wow! Nobody left here in this hobby?
Out here in my locale we had a serious wildfire, the CZU lightning complex.
We were forced to evacuate for a week but we were out of power for two weeks plus. I have a generator but I was not allowed to come back and maintain it. I came back to a 120 gallon tank of pure death. I had to wear a complete respirator to empty it and get it out of the house. It took a week to air out. Hottest time of the year. I sold the whole $3000 worth of setup to a young guy who was intense into getting it set up. I could have got it back up again but I figured I put in my time. I am now more into plants and music and being creative. But I really miss the sailfin tang. Those fish are damn smart and have great personalities.
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Chayse (The camaro show) is into it for fun and profit, but we can't get him to post any pics in 18 months. :-)
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:-) I was curious if Brad or Scott would trip across this.
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That sucks, man! Sorry that this happened to you (and the fish, especially!). Our fish are in an outside pond, but if we lost power to the pump for 2 weeks in the summer, then it would all be cat food.
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