12G Aquapod aka "Ballatopia X12"

[MrBungle]

haha so yeah, finally got my LS and LR. Got 20 lbs of Caribsea ocean direct sand in there and about 14 pounds of tonga. Took me a little while to get the scape like the way it is but I think it can't get any better than this. Theres so many caves! As for livestock, I would love to get a fire shrimp, and a different and unusual fish. Tank hasn't finished clearing up but heres a quick pic just to get a sense of the aquascape.

 

[big54bob]

Nice bungle. Just watch out for them pest anemone thingy.(Can't think of the name )

 

[MrBungle]

Nice bungle. Just watch out for them pest anemone thingy.(Can't think of the name )

Aiptasia. I have joes juice on hand just in case.

 

[Cichlid-Man]

Nice! And awesome name. "Ballatopia"

Rockwork looks really good. Did you get the MH version? I can't remember.

 

[MrBungle]

Thanks! nah no MH. But it seems like plenty of light for the corals I would want anyway.

 

[ram man]

Nice bungle. I like the name too.

 

[Mushroomman]

Sweet stuff. Ballatopia, eh? this tank must have some balla plans

 

[MrBungle]

Little bit clearer *twirlysmi

 

[MrBungle]

nitrites are at 5ppm woo! cycle cycle cycle!

 

[Katie217]

Looks awesome Bungle! Gonna be balla

 

[shift_9k]

Hey did you take out all the sponges and things yet? I noticed the water was cloudier with them out.

 

[dbleoh7]

if you don't mind, how much has everything cost you so far to start up your aquapod? i plan on setting up a saltwater cube this summer and am curious as to how much it would cost to get the essentials. also, are you keeping everything stock that came with it?

 

[MrBungle]

In the back I have the sponge, some rubble, temp probe, heater, and coming on friday is Chemipure Elite. I got the aquapod from drsfosterandsmith for about $150 shipped and the stand on ebay for $60 shipped. The live rock and live sand from the LFS was about $140. I guess if you were to start a SW with nothing, you would need a hydrometer/refractometer, salt mix/premade, Prime/RO unit, SW master test kit, digi thermometer, and thats all I can think of as of now. So lets see, after adding up everything, you get a price around $400 depending on where you get the stuff. could be more could be less.

 

[jessey]

ballatopia is looking very balla so far!

... one word of advice, dbleoh: although it's good to know what you're getting yourself into (and thus helpful to ask others what they've spent), try not to keep a running total along the way if you don't have to... when i think about what i've spent on everything it makes me cringe.

 

[Lotus]

A lot of people quote $50 per gallon for a saltwater tank. I guess that's somewhere in the area of what you should expect to spend (including fish, corals, equipment, etc.).

 

[shift_9k]

Where did you put the rubble? Right or left? Is it bagged? And finally how often will you take it out to clean it?

 

[MrBungle]

well, I'm pretty sure the back is reversed in the 24g, like my left is your right. my leftmost chamber(farthest away from pump) has the sponge, next is the rubble(not bagged, dont clean it), next is the heater, then the pump. I will be putting the chemipure elite with the rubble.

 

[shift_9k]

I heard to let it run open for improved flow, thats why I havent jumped in with the rubble yet. I got some cured LR left over that i dont know what to do with, ya think I just just take a hammer to it? What do you think of a phosphate sponge?

 

[MrBungle]

I guess it is possible to run without the sponge. I really just needed it in the beginning with all the floating junk. If you're gonna get a phospahte sponge you might as well get chemipure. I hear good things about it and it has a phosphate remover only in the Elite version. Aquarium Chemical Filtration Media: Chemi-Pure Chemical Filter Media

 

[shift_9k]

I've heard you shouldnt keep carbon in unless there is something you do want to pull out of the water, phosphates, scilla, etc... Heard it from 3 reef stores, cuz I went out lookin for it. I could only find normal chemi-pure.