tt101

Hello,

My name is Tai and I am 23 years old, I have been a member here for quite a few years now but I don’t really post at all. Just wondering if there are any local clubs in Edmonton, I’d love to meet some people closer to my age who love the hobby as much as I do because to be honest all my other friends don’t care for the hobby whatsoever so it would be cool to meet people who I can actually talk about fish with haha. 

I had a 1400 gallon outdoor pond at one point but had to shut it down and I also had a saltwater tank running with the same stock for over 6 years as well but sadly had to shut that down too. My current aquarium is a 90G freshwater tropical community tank that I am hoping to convert to a planted tank (talk about $$$$) and has been running for almost 5 years with the same stock as well. 

Nice to meet you all in advance and I look forward to getting to meet some fish people! 

Buy smaller heaters, so if one malfunctions, it cannot overheat your tank.

Totally agree!

I have always been told to get 2 smaller heaters to heat up a tank rather than one large heater. If one malfunctions, it won't over heat the tank, if one randomly stops working, the other one will still work. It is also quite rare that both would malfunction at the same time so its some added security but definitely some sort of controller would be ideal.

For twelve buck I might get one just to see wth?

If you do, let us know how it goes!

Ummm.....actually I used to work at a Petstore and yes, they did pay $5 per bub because that is what I paid with employee discount. Mostly anything that you can buy at a hardware store is marked up 500% at a Petstore. I am not one to complain about prices all the time, but $120 for 4 bulbs seems like straight up highway theft to me. If you are fine with paying the first price you see, cool, good for you, I like to shop around first and make certain I am getting my money's worth.

For the record, I try and buy anything I can from local businesses even if it costs a little more, I try as much as possible to support the little guys because I do not see the big chain stores closing up anytime soon.

Ummm....actually they don't pay $5/bulb, I get wholesale lists all the time and I've never seen a pet industry brand bulb that cheap. So If you were getting $30 bulbs for $5 each, that's over 80% off...that is the best employee discount I've ever seen. Didn't Petcetera close up shop?

That is what I paid via employee discount, if you believe it, cool, if not, still cool. Yes petcetera did close up shop, I credit that to the inability to compete, (I recall) generally more expensive things, poor store upkeep, and unfavorable market conditions. I was talking about petsmart when I mentioned never closing down.

Regardless, this thread has been taken off track and I no longer wish to go into this any further. Thank you for sharing your opinion and I have found the answer to the original question so thanks to all who have helped and prior members who asked the question and gave me the idea to go look at that place mentioned above.

I wish that was here, I would totally buy a couple kits

Haha yeah there is a store just south of yellow head on fort road. Great owners great light deals

Yup! That is the store I am talking about

be careful of the light spectrum. You could cause algae blooms.

I am getting bulbs that are rated at 6700k so I should be ok.

Stick to 6000K range and your fine. Common is 6400k and 6700k.

Will do!

AGREED!!

I found a hydroponics store (via other members on the forum with the same question haha) and they have 48' sunblaster brand t5HO bulbs for $13.....the god damn petstores want $30 per bulb!!! I don't think so!!

.......besides, this guy likes to give it and NEVER take it

Pet stores need to add their margin, it's not like they buy these bulbs for $5. Complain all you want about their prices but don't complain if they have close up shop and you don't have a local pet shop anymore.

Ummm.....actually I used to work at a Petstore and yes, they did pay $5 per bub because that is what I paid with employee discount. Mostly anything that you can buy at a hardware store is marked up 500% at a Petstore. I am not one to complain about prices all the time, but $120 for 4 bulbs seems like straight up highway theft to me. If you are fine with paying the first price you see, cool, good for you, I like to shop around first and make certain I am getting my money's worth.

For the record, I try and buy anything I can from local businesses even if it costs a little more, I try as much as possible to support the little guys because I do not see the big chain stores closing up anytime soon.

Don't touch pet stores for bulbs they will make you bend over and take it. Go to garden centers or hydroponic stores. I can get a great 48" T5HO for $15.

AGREED!!

I found a hydroponics store (via other members on the forum with the same question haha) and they have 48' sunblaster brand t5HO bulbs for $13.....the god damn petstores want $30 per bulb!!! I don't think so!!

.......besides, this guy likes to give it and NEVER take it

I'm looking for 48" bulbs. I should have done a search prior to asking the question....turns out there are quite a few hydroponics stores here in the city and I found one that wants less than half the price as the pet stores and also better bulbs. Also for me the best part is that it is a private store, not some money hungry chain!!

Hello,

It is time for me to change my 4 T5HO bulbs and most stores want $30 per bulb......$120 for bulbs seems a bit steep to me and I would MUCH rather spend that on fish and plants. Anyone know the best places to buy bulbs, online even?

Thank you

haha you got me!, your welcome. i love the layers and the plants work together to give a great effect.

the tank is looking AMAZING mearco!!!....do you know who this is?

thanks hal. thats what i was planning on doing

i thought about that too....there always seems to be some that get through and them being so small im sure many could get through unharmed and for the ones that do get harmed they might still be eaten by the dragonet

you won't find much in a good skimmer for under $200. I have a 90gl salt and do not run a skimmer on it. water is fine! other wise I am sure I can find a hang on the back coralife skimmer in my basement for you for $75

thats what im also wondering about....people seem to stand by skimmers like they are the golden rule to salt water aquariums yet many people who keep salt water aquariums don't even use a skimmer. with that being said is your tank a reef, fowlr or fish only tank and how often do you do water changes because i know that effects it a lot.

i have a rsm one that needs a new impeller for a sedra 3500 worked for me ill sell cheap it fits in the sump

thanks for the offer but im not running a sump on my tank {unfortuantely not enough space}

I have a Hydor Slim Skim that I am fairly happy with. It is an in tank unit though. I do not have a sump or have the tank drilled. Running a Fluval 305 filter. It is on a 35 gallon tank. Paid $140. I think it is rated for up to 65 gallon

Hal

thanks hal, i looked into thoise quite a bit...might go with it if i can't find anything better.

The problem with the canister is that it will become a detrius trap and you will have to clean it out weekly. If your willing, you can use either or. Just make sure you shake the filter material out in old tank water with each cleaning.

For the pod idea, they will end up getting chopped up pm their way out so it won't help your mandarin. How about you just take some live rock, sew some cross stitching material around it and use that as a breeding ground for your mandarin. If your tank is not established for more than 6 months, I wouldn't bother buying the mandarin as it will starve out.

you know i never thought about it like that.....im going to do the rock rubble and a couple bags of carbon idea. seems to be working the best and makes great sense to me. thanks for your input and i totally forgot about the impeller chopping up the copepods......i will just have to seed the tank for 6 months before adding the madarin oir i may be able to find one that has been trained to take frozen or dried food....could be hard to find though lol.

We just converted to salt on a 36 gallon. I was told to ditch the Bio rings,floss, and replace all media with live rock rubble. In my Fluval 305 I have the long foam pieces, charcoal and the rest of the filter crammed with rubble. I was told the same thing that Fishtankboy said that all the other filter material can have a negative impact on water quality especially if you are going reef. We are running 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 5ppm nitrate. Water is crystal clear. Keep in mind though we are running an in tank skimmer, this helps pull the waste out of the tank.

Just my opinion and what we have done, seems to be working.

vitaminz is a good person to ask about questions you may have.

Hal

thanks a lot hal, your idea is great and im going to go with that....i have a kinda newbish question but here goes. is rock rubble just broken pieces of live rock?

thanks

hey everyone,

i need some input on good skimmer brands that are also economical. i don't want to drop 200 for a skimmer...but i don't want to go super cheap and get something crappy. i have a 65 gallon and am looking for something that will work decently and will still be affordable.

thanks

hi,

im wondering if filling a canistar filter with live rock would work better then filling it with filter media? would it help to filter things out better? could it serve as a safe place for copepod development for when i want to add a mandarin dragonet?

thanks

what if the rays sting the turtles....is that a possibility? and you could go with a school of bala sharks or tinfoil barbs? but they may get eaten by the turtle.....this is a pretty hard choice to make....you don't want anything too big because it would take up the tank but anything smaller would get eaten. what about arowana? that would fit the bill i think. not too big and not too small and stays near the top half of the tank

hey guys,

i just want to say that im excited to make new friends on here and share some knowledge as well as learn something new from everyone here. i have been keeping fresh water tanks for 10 years now and i still learn a lot of new things all the time im just starting a salt water tank and am in the process of learning as much as i can. i am far from an expert but i hope to help and be helped as much as possible.

thanks