farewell!

yeah, i could buy an RO-DI unit now (or whenever i start getting paid anyway), but i figured it would be a waste of money since i'll be moving out shortly anyway... just save the money for a better unit than spending it on a lower quality unit, and buying another unit in the future...

as bad as my LR and sand started smelling (i had hundreds of bristleworms piled up on the sand), my dead lawnmower blenny, and blue damsel, i just thought it best to chunk it all out in the woods... still have all my equipment, but the rock, sand, and water is gone... i'm sure i could have bleached the LR and cleaned it real good, and used it as base rock in the future (it had a few great looking shapes and sizes), but i didn't think about it at the time, and i don't feel like going to pick up the pieces...

and about using tap water, last time i used tapwater in my SW setup, nitrates jumped from 40 to 80, or something like that... HEAVY on the nitrates and other stuff...

but seriously, don't think for a second that i'm leaving the hobby for good! i'm just taking a break and going for a simpler freshwater community setup...

i'm a firm believer that saltwater is better than fresh, because of all the little surprises you can get with liverock, colors of fish, and just plain overall attractiveness... with freshwater, you pretty much get what you pay for... and the tank stays the same day in and day out, unless you have breeding fish or something.. but no hitchhikers..

my plan for the time being is to go a somewhat cheap/simple route... to enjoy freshwater fish for what they are, in a subdued environment..

but as i've said, i'll be back when the time is right..

 

same thing happened to me and when i just got rid of the tank i couldnt had been sader went out got a nano no problems ever since ur ganna miss it i say 2 weeks and ull b planing a new setup

 

yeah, i hate drsfostersmith.com... when i ordered my t5 lights from them, they started sending me a catalog, and i got a new one in the mail the other day, and i saw a fish in it that i love... if anybody gets the catalog, its the one that has the big gorgeous blue coral on the front cover (methinks its an acropora?) anyway, on page 124, the lyretail wrasse... also, on page 4, whatever kind of tang it is... looks like a blue hippo tang with a yellow underside, and orange stripes on its top fin.. its just hard to find such beauty in freshwater.. the funny part (in my opinion anyway) is that as far as freshwater goes, my favorite fish is a bottom-dweller... either a clown loach or corydoras catfish.. but yeah, i'm done with SW for now... as much as i hate to say it.. i just can't make my 55 look nice enough... in my previous setup, i had about 80 lbs of LR (which is what was recommended to me), and about half of that would have made it look nice... bigp, i hate you! its only been 3 days and i'm already planning! lol... j/k about the hate part..

i have found one thing i would consider at this time...and its actually something i'd really like to attempt... nano cubes and the such are too expensive for me, but what about one of the 3 gallon picotope? or a Deco Kit? both about 40 bucks from the doctor's.. both include a powerfilter (picotope has 40gph, deco kit 80gph Rapids)... oh, and the lights are included in both of them.. i'm sure i wouldn't be able to have any fish in there, but maybe a mantis shrimp... or maybe i could just use it for practicing with corals and stuff... i mean, 3 gallons, it wouldn't be a problem at all buying that much water from wal-mart per week or whatever... and if it happens to go haywire like my 55 gallon did, i wouldn't have invested near as much money as my big tank...i'm figuring about a hundred dollars including the tank itself... and water changes should be simple... with such a small tank, a dixie cup would be enough for a complete water change... maybe 2.. but, would the powerfilter be enough to simulate water movement from a powerhead?

 

I KNOW!!!! OMG I HAVE LIKE 5 of the same copy!!!

 

no, i didn't mean it like that! i just meant that i was determined to go with a freshwater theme, and saw all those nice fish and pictures, that i want to go back to being a salty! that's all... i love the doc's, cheapest prices i've seen online... for pretty much everything.. the majority of my livestock and supplies will be coming from them, just because of the LFS's around here, but i won't go into detail about that..

 

y'all have made me do something i didn't wanna do! should i try one of those Deco Kits, re-setup my 55 for freshwater, or just hold off for a good long while until i get my own place?

 

was it something i said? did i offend people about the picotope? hehe...

 

ahhh man you cant leave I have a 55 gal as well and trust me have my ups and downs with it.An considering i just bought my house huh i have no money whatsoever but yet i manage to scrape by.Trust my if anything take a quick short break read lots you already got the basice down but as far as maintenance read up keep the 55 its a good size not to big but not to small you think that 55 a prob to maintane those nanos are beautiful and the water chages arent much but they are more often, just stick around man dont go

 

Ahh the complications of the deadly 55 gal tank...not big, not small...just right for problems hah.

 

That 55 gal will make a perfect sump on a 180 or 215 gal tank. I had a 55 before I stepped up to a 265 and never had a problem with it. It housed 94 lbs of LR and about 5 fish.