BowMaster

I've done some more research on this subject and I'm reasonably confident that you can buy replacement LED's for pretty much any light from LED parts suppliers. I figure if the Finnex Ray2 does what it says, I should save about $70/year in electricity costs on this 125G I'm considering. I'm pretty good with a soldering iron and replacement 7000K LED's are only a buck or two depending on the output.

I use RO water so it doesn't leave mineral deposits as it evaporates. Have to refill it maybe monthly, maybe.

I first tried the wood stone method and set it up below the suction of my canister filter and didn't like it. I found many bubbles reached the surface and the bubbles that were pulled into the the filter seemed to build up inside the unit until the pump would cavitate and blast a bunch out of the spray bar all at once, making a loud racket. I through in the towel on that idea and I've been using a Red Sea Reactor for the last 7 years, its a self contained unit that has its own power head. However, they only last a couple years and cost about $75 if you don't run them on a timer. I recently found an inline reactor for the output of my canister filter, so I'm going to give it a shot. I like the idea because it seems nice and simple and keeps everything out of sight. Anyone used one before? http://www.tankscape.co.uk/co2-and-glassware/co2-atomizers/UP-Inline-CO2-Atomizer-12-16mm-(D-508-12)

I'll definately check out the Finnex website, thanks for the recommendation. @ Geophagus, I know in theory LED's are good for 50,000-100,000 hours, but I know a few people who paid dearly for their LED canopies and had individual LED's burn out on them, my brother-in-law had about half of his die after 1-2 yrs with no warranty help and he had to buy a new fixture as a result. Personally I'd be looking at purchasing replacement LED's and getting out the soldering iron, but I don't know the viability of this due to availabilty/difficulty, etc. Where one of these power compact systems, there are tons of inexpensive generic ballasts and bulb options that will keep your fixture alive more or less indefinately. My current Coralife CFL canopy has needed new bulbs 3 times in 8 years and the last couple sets I've purchased generics on ebay for 1/4 of the pet store price and they've worked beautfully. Fortunately I've never had an issue with ballasts, but they are available as well. To make a long story short I want low maintenance costs for my lighting/aquarium, that keeps this hobby enjoyable for me.

Greetings all, I'm considering upgrading my aquarium from my 72G bowfront to a 125G tank. The dimensions will be roughly the same width and depth, but 72" long instead of 48" @ 18"Dx22"Hx72"L. I would like at least as much light as I have now for my heavily planted setup. I currently have a 4x65w Coralife fixture with 6500K bulbs, which does a fine job. I want to use this as a base for my light choice, but I have no idea what the lumen output of it is. Ideally, I'd love to use LED for energy consumption/heat reasons, but longevity seems to be an issue and replacing LED's doesn't really seem viable. Not only that but lighting with enough output to compete with my CFL's seems like it would cost a fortune. Is there any way of figuring out what the lumen output of my fixture would be? I'm considering a 4x80watt T5 fixture which I think is probably a decent way to go as parts/bulbs should be relatively easy/cheap to come by and replace like my existing fixture. However, I'm not convinced 320 watts of T5 is going to cut it and the next step up is a 480watt 6x80 watt fixture which is quite large and would only allow me 4" of access to my tank top, if only there were a 5x80 watt T5 fixture... I'll take any help I can get. Thanks!

Thanks for the reply. My Feeding habits are identical and nothing else has really changed. I remember when I had my last outbreak, the snails were quite small still when the babies arrived, but these snails are 3 times that size and I haven't seen a single baby. Thats why I am wondering about these guys. Lyle

Greetings, I am wondering about some snails that I have in my planted tank. They look like ordinary pond snails, except their bodies are a redish-orange color instead of the normal pale green color. There are a dozen or so that must have come in on various plants. They seem to be thriving in my tank, but don't appear to be reproducing. This seems weird to me, because the last time I had a snail "outbreak", I had hundreds of the little guys in their and they were reproducing like crazy and were devistating my plants. I'd also like to point out that these snails don't seem to be damaging my plants like the others. They all spend a great deal of time on the plants, but don't chew holes in them like the others. I cured the last outbreak with a couple of pea puffers, that I brought in for a few weeks which did a nice job of clearing them out. Truthfully after that, it was over year before I had seen another snail. At any rate, I just wanted to find out if maybe these were a special breed of "good" snail that I have. One that reproduces slowly and doesn't prefer plants. Lyle

$400 for the 75 gal tank, a really nice stand, glass cover and a light. I'd say that qualifies as a good price. Thanks for the tip! not that good of price, i bought a 120 gal (6') with top and a steel stand for less than that. check around if you think ba's has the best price on ANYTHING Where did you buy it from? Was it new or used? Lyle

Big Al's for Aquariums in Edmonton has to be one of the best when they have sales, but probably only then. That's where I bought my 72g All Glass Bowfront. Tank, Stand, Light and Covers for $500 (Half Price). Even Henry at Natures Corner admits there prices on aquariums are hard to beat. Probably why he doesn't sell them. I recommend the Visi-therm Steath Heaters, I've got a 250 Watt for my 72g and I bought it at Big Als in Edmonton. Lyle

I can't remember because it's been so long, but these Soumiknight systems should be exempt from Duty because they are built in North America (NAFTA). There are plenty of competitive priced systems out there no doubt. But I trust this seller and I thought everyone should know they come highly recommended. Lyle

They are located in California I think. Yep, California. Here is another link to the eBay store where there are more types of RO and UV systems. http://stores.ebay.com/soumiknight-store Lyle

I just wanted to post a link here for an excellent online retailer selling RO water filteration systems. I have owned one of his 5-Stage systems for my Aquarium and Drinking water for two years now and it still works awesome. I just wanted to give everyone the thumbs up on this seller for anyone is thinking about buying a RO system but doesn't want to pay insane retail prices. If you have anymore questions don't hesitate to ask. Lyle http://jimstrains.com/?mainURL=/store/cate...d_Supplies.html

Thanks for the replies, I'll definately see what I can come up with. I will for sure take some pics as well, I'm sure this is a pretty common issue for people like me. Lyle

I'm looking for a place that rents (preferably) large food safe plastic barrels or containers. I want to move my 72g tank to another location while we renovate and want to get a couple large (55 gallonish) drums to use for this. Any suggestions? Lyle

Well, I went ahead and bought new bulbs. I decided to go with two Coralife 6700K bulbs and two 50/50, 6700K/ColorMax bulbs to change things up a bit. Not too impressed with [the retail store I bought them from] though. [Their American based Online storefront] sells the 6700K for $25, [the Canadian site of the same store] sells for $60!!!!!! When [another Canadian website and storefront, but not local to us in Alberta] sells for $33 with shipping. What's up with the gouging already??? They priced matched them, but not until after plenty of hassle. They were even so tight to only adjust there pricing to allow for express shipping instead of the cheaper standard rate. Saying that since we got them that day, "it was just like express shipping". Give me a break! I've heard good things about the ultra cheap ebay bulbs. I could get 16, 6500K bulbs shipped for what I paid for the Coralife bulbs. But unfourtunatly they are back ordered right now. I'm going to keep my eye on them though and stock up when they get more. Lyle