saltwater tanks

I had a few saltwater tanks for about three years until recently. I gave them away / sold them because I was just not as interested. I don't know of any shops in Miami, but there is supposed to be a huge place around Lauderdale somewhere. I would recommend at least buying a few initial supplies at a place local to you so they know who you are when you need something in an emergency. I had a pretty nice 72 gallon bow front setup. I would recommend getting the largest tank for the space / budget that you have as they are more stable than the nanocube tanks. The nanocubes look really nice and are a complete setup, but when something dies or the water gets out of whack, things go bad quickly.

BT

 

Aquariumart. The number is 305-667-1075.
These guys are excellent. Ask for Ricky Ruiz,
the owner. Tell him Sindo from the homeshow
gave you the number. I've seeen the work they do,
beautiful.

 

Look for one used! They are a crazy amount of money when new, and when people want to sell them they are willing to give them away..............

 

True what Fred says. I had about $4-5k in the 72 gallon tank I just sold. I sold it to a friend for $500, including everything. Crappy cell phone pic of the setup.
BT
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If you are looking for a custom tank call Gerry @ seavisions in Weston. He built my tank when he first opened and it looks as good today as it did when it was installed.
http://www.seavisions.com/
954-385-2899

 

I have a 60 gallon acrylic with a maple stand, and canopy. The stand and canopy =600.00
twin 175 watt halides Lighting kit =450.00
quad 96 watt power compacts included
a 1/5 horse chiller cooling unit for the tank= 790.00
sump and skimmer =250.00

1000.00

This tank has been shut down in my living room, since I fired up a 175 gallon reef tank 3 years ago.
considering selling the 175 as well, but that has significantly more money dumped into it. Makes the Ferrari practical.

Email me if you're interested in photos

 

I think you are correct. It is true curved glass instead of acrylic. I stayed away from acrylic because I was afraid it would scratch and get hazy. I really enjoyed my tank when I had it, but for me it was time to move on.
It is a fun hobby. I had one fish (hawkfish IIRC) that seemed to be bullying everyone else in the tank early on. He was always stealing the shrimp from the brain coral. Finally I saw the remains of a emerald mythrax crab floating and decided that was enough! I trapped the hawkfish using some shrimp as bait in a net, and then post execution, fed him to the brain coral! the next day I saw the mythrax crab crawling around and realized he had just molted his shell. Justice (or lack thereof) is swift in the tank!!!

BT

 

If this is a serious interest of yours, dont look at anything smaller then 180 gallons.

Reason?

Small changes to parameters in the water, even as an experienced reef hobbyist and could could crash your tank.

The larger the volume, the more "forgiving" the small mistakes can be.

The ***** is in the initial expense, but hey, this is south florida. you will want a genset, a chiller, and the biggest skimmer you can afford.

If you go small, all you are doing is prolonging the inevitable.

Lastly, reef keeping is worse then taking care of kids...its more expensive and very frustrating...

dont forget about 10% water changes...and zephyrhills has excellent DI water...my buddy has 100 gallons delivered a month.

try marinedepot.com and ffexpress.com for good online sources...some of the miami vendors are good, some buy poor specimens...

lastly, the reefs are the last of the natures beauties...you should buy acqua cultured or farm-raised reef and coral specimens wherever you can.

my .02 cents.

 

Conversely, I did not find the reef / fish setup too time consuming or finicky. I just fed a cube of frozen food 5 days a week, and added some plankton about once per week. Top off the water with fresh R/O and it was stable for the last year and a half. the only time I did water changes was after the hurricanes when everything died from no light / filtration. I bought smaller coral frags online for $15-45 each and they grew nicely within about 6 months or so. Once I got the tank stabilized after the hurricane, I populated it with fish and coral, and then added no new fish for fear of ick or other disease.
The old saying of "If it aint broke, don't fix it" really applies in my experience. YMMV.

BT