My 3ft rag and bone tank

[gift05]

hey guys, finally letting the eyes of the world peer into my bedroom and have a look at my 3 footer. I got my first tank exactly a month after i joined this forums. and thats after many many months of reading and trips to the library cuz it seems to state in almost every beginner's book to marine aquairums, that you can never get enough of reading and researching.

everything i bought 2nd hand, was bought here.

all kinds of advice i've gotten from all kind of pro reefers, were from here.

made many friends along the way, some of which i still think are heaven sent

Before i begin, i must say my tank is a modest, homey kinda tank. All within the means and budget of a ns man earning $900 a month. thats exclusive of the power bills i pay to pacify my mum =) nothing close to reefers like acid jazz (who's tank is has set the benchmark for my goal in reef keeping), yiling's zoo tank and many many many more whom i just gaze in awe and magnificent splendour.

so without further ado, here's the tank when it first came in, all nice and clean and plastic wrapped from the 1st owner whom i bought it from.

[gift05]

basically there were a few personal criteria that must be met.

most imptly was cost therefore,

whatever i could get 2nd hand, must be bought 2nd hand.

patience in each step or process (this evidently get quite difficult after awhile)

and lastly was to gather as much feedback and advice from fellow reefers cuz you can only read that much, and in marine books, there is only that much info they can provide. nothing can compare to the unexhaustable pool of valuble information other reefers obtain thru trials and experience.

so here i am, and pls, shower me with as much constructive criticism. since i don't really have a "ideal" look or a particular "desire" on how i want my final tank to look like, any sorta suggestions are welcomed. i'm just looking for more things to do to my tank =)

here's my tank all nice and washed and clean

[gift05]

so then came the question of location. quite easy actually, since i wanted it in my room, just clear the old wardrobe that used to occupy the corner of my room!

and being typical of guys, stuff just gets pushed round the room and not really cleared

[gift05]

the spot where it shall lay

[gift05]

here's the point where i fast forward all the kanging that had to be done to bring the tank up to the 3rd floor. also had to balance the tank etc etc.

so here it lays, in all its glory, being filled up with water from a hose from the toilet tap, evidently too short hence secured but lotsa scotch tape.

[gift05]

as long as it works

[gift05]

then it all halted cuz i had completely no idea what should go in the sump and which compartment it should be in. thats where i met gerald! haha in the clementi shop where i was lost looking at things i had no idea were for. (u must understand reading ang moh books on marine stuff and finding the equipment they recommend in sg is quite impossible.)

he thought me everything that was needed, and i bought everything from the shop which gave a nice discount.

filled up my sump and thrown in some uncured LR to start my water cycle.

note the weipro 2012 is in. the left hose is my return while the right 1" hose is from a ibox i bought off a fellow reefer here. had some probs with it at the start but now its working like a charm.

[gift05]

the ibox =)

[sunny03]

your stand will rust in no time take note of it ..

and is your floor made of wood ??

[gift05]

and this is where it begins... every reefer here would know... this very familiar feeling.

to get only the best for the tank, and the huge surge in spending haha.

mine came in the form of rocks. 20kg of figi LR from the shop that is no more; sentosa marine.

landscaping can be such a B*tch btw. had to redo redo redo redo....ahhh all settled. then a lil wave comes and topples it. so used aqua medic reef construct epoxy.

[gift05]

yes sunny! tho its made of wraught iron it'll still rust. didn't take this into consideration when i was scouting around. but apparantly its holding up fine...for now

and yes! high quality parquet as my mum claims. and yes, after the purchase of a equipments that DID flood the floor b4. its quite jia lat actually. but make sure you wipe dry, and mop with fresh water after each spillage.

[gift05]

finally got the LR to stay. thats my seio m800

[gift05]

so bought my first fish... a maroon clown. folowed by quite a huge array over a period of 2-3 weeks. was supposed to only get LS to aid int he cycle, but by this time (which was about 3 weeks after i started) my parameters all showed the green light.

so went on to buy a

long nosed hawk

rabbit fish

blue lobster

boxer shrimp

7 chromis

another maroon (which the ambition of mating them, how naive haha)

2 three striped damsels.

some of which are not in the pic.

[sunny03]

guess you better mop that area every day as you will get salt spary and stain ur parquet floor

Mean time e"njoy" your set up and it will reward you with a ocean in ur room

[gift05]

heh side track abit, went off to holiday in NZ for 2 weeks.

came back to see most of my LS ki chia thanks to the expert care of my bro.

left with 7 chromis

2 maroon

the pair of 3 stripe damsels

and the blue lobster.

so thats me in NZ's fox glacier with me dad.

[gift05]

lol sunny i've been thru hell moping trust me.

but its all worth it, and now with my current setup, salt srpay is limited due to new sump. but wait for future installments to see more!

i guarentee a BIG surprise in my room lol

[gift05]

ok guys so what do we do when a bulk of our prized LS boards the big lorry? gals get retail therapy, we guys just go out there and get more lean mean equipment

so here it is, spending over a grand in under a week of returning to sg, my new setup =)

8" beckett skimmer

waste collector for the above

reef relief .5hp chiller

3ft 150w MH lamp with 2 PL blues

arcrylic sump to combat the micro bubbles from the beckett

all items 2nd hand cept for the waste collect =)

[gift05]

yup! this is my current setup so lets the comments roll in!

[riot]

looking good!

Nice work on the scaping!

[Oceandeep]

the heat from the chiller will kill u .... my 5 cents thot

[Travy]

Welcome to the NS guys "budegt" grp. On the bright side. at least u earn more then me. 500++ nia....

Nice looking tank btw. and u might want to tank extra caution with the metal stand.

[loster]

didn't know you like to enjoy "fire place" (inspired from your NZ trip) and the beauitful music from your beckett in your room good! worth investment on the equipments. save you from doing "replacing" your fishes and corals

[Reefbum]

Nice set-up. Agree with ocean deep.Mine in living room also cannot tahan liao.Feel like shifting my chiller to balcony.

[ervine]

wah... got becket how to consider it as rag and bone tank?? u should see mine... almost everything I could DIY I DIYed...

[gerald28]

look solid bro and also nice knowing u keep the solid equitment up man