Picked up some new goodies today!
 

so this morning i put my hip out...couldnt walk or anything. i got it put back into place, then decided, "hey, i want to go to the reef store!".

i only wanted to get a small algae scraper and some new pellets...well...that failed.

i was going to go to another LFS to check the price on the 50 gallon breeder tank that im going to get. this place is lousy though, the staff are surly and their livestock are usually in pretty bad shape, so i dont like to give them my business unless absolutely necessary. i was quoted 116$ from the "other" store. so i go to my favourite LFS. while im picking up some live phytoplankton from the back fridge, i ask the head honcho, "hey man, do you have any 50 gallon breeder tanks?

"ummm...yeah. i think i saw one upstairs. yup we have one."

"nice...how much?"

"umm...$118."

"well sh*t...pack her up for me!!"

it's an AGA 50G breeder (36" x 18" x 18"). VERY nice tank IMO. much better quality than the one i was going to pay 116$ for at the other store.

so i went and looked in the fish and coral section. i saw some nice small pieces of moon coral...i know it's aggressive and stuff, but ive wanted some for a while. so i bought some ($30). beautiful colours. i already have a great place for it, but right now it is chilling on the bottom of my tank well away from anything else.

so as im leaving i ask one of the guys about the larger tunze skimmers (i have the nano). he says, "man, for a bigger tank like the one you just got, i wouldnt recommend them. they are fantastic for smaller tanks, but not so much for bigger ones. then he checks and says, "nice. i have one euro-reef left. i have one RS80 and one RS100." i was going to just go for the smaller one, but decided to take a step up and possibly save having to buy ANOTHER skimmer if i ever get a bigger tank. it ended up 4$ more expensive than the tunze, but the tunze is only rated up to a max of 100G (but most likely under a very light load!), while the RS100 seems to be more effective.

so there i was...buying both a new tank AND new skimmer in one go. im psyched, but at the same time i dont like spending that much money at once. (i guess saltwater has started to change my spending habits.lol)

now it's time for pics!!

http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w...80310_0381.jpg
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w...80310_0384.jpg
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w...80310_0382.jpg

http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w...80310_0394.jpg

New Moon Coral. as you can see there is 2.5-4" of space around it.lol
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w...80310_0390.jpg
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w...80310_0391.jpg
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w...80310_0392.jpg

Pics of a couple of things i didnt take pics of last time. new green palys and bluey/grey palys
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w...80310_0378.jpg
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w...80310_0379.jpg

no picture update is complete with out at least one fish pic. in this case, my clownfish yawning.
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w...80310_0380.jpg

i noticed one other thing today. my clown has started hosting the frogspawn! she/he/it continually swims around the base of it, hides under it, and shimmies through the top. pretty cool IMO. it took it long enough to do!lol

Nice new tank and skimmer!!! Good choices! You'll love that skimmer. I'm pretty sure I saw that nice Favites coral on my trip to Vancouver (I stopped at 7 stores lol), so I think I know where you went shopping! I have a Favia that is the same colors. Favia and Favites are fairly aggressive. Keep an eye on the sweepers...mine regularly puts out 4" sweepers. It put them out more often when it was new to the tank, but it settled down a bit after awhile. :)

thanks for the info myka!

i gave it about 2.5-3 or 4" all around it because i heard that they put out tentacles at night. i was told roughly 2", but i gave it a bit more. when i get home later i might check on it and move it if appropriate

im deciding where to place it. i have a spot right up at the very top of my tank, but im not sure if that would be TOO much light.

in the full tank shot it is the are to the right of the GSP, up on that top rock. other than that i would have to do some major moving!lol

but ill hopefully be setting up my 50 gallon soon, so once that is cycled i can get some of my shrooms out of my good display tank!

i moved two HUGE green striped shrooms to the fuge today to make room for the moon coral.

have to say that tank looks awesome. Gonna set it up and give us some pics?

it will be set up in due time. i have some pieces, but still need to buy a couple more. then i will be set!

next in line is the lights. 6x39W Tek5.

No problem! :)

What kind of lighting do you have? If you decide to try it out up top then you'll have to shade it for a few days, and slowly make it brighter each day. Use egg crate to lay a dozen or so pieces of fly screen on top of eachother, then remove one screen a day. Works like a charm. After a week, you'll know if it's too much light or not!

Wow that moon is nice I like it good score.

well it is on the substrate right now. im leaving it there for at least a week. then i will see how it goes. it is under a 150W metal halide, so it is a lot of light for a favia. one thing i did read was that the more colourful ones can usually tolerate higher light. that said, i dont want to rush it!!

thanks for the tips! i might set up a piece of eggcrate at a slightly higher level and move it up there over time. then to the top if possible.

i gave it a good feeding today, some mysis, and i squirted a small amount of live phyto at it (not sure if it would even eat phyto, but i was feeding a lot of things with it, so figured i might as well try!).

34$ im pretty happy with it :) i saw some guy selling 4-5 heads for 15$ on another site! i would say i have between 30 and 40+ heads on this piece!

Good price! I paid $60 for my Favite, but mine is a bit bigger I think.

HAHAHA....
Great posting, I have to say though that given your description of the lfs' here in and around vancouver it is near impossible to know which one you are talking about.
Surly employees seems to be a staple at most lfs' around here, though some much more than others.
I can't count the number of times I've woken up much like you and with 2 good hips decided to head out to any one of the lfs' only to get there and have the employees level of customer service be so low that I just can't muster up the conviction to force one of them to sell me something and so I leave empty handed with a full wallet.

There seem to be key individuals at each lfs who go above and beyond (or at least meet the bare minimum level of customer service I expect from any sales staff) and if you catch them its great, if not or if they are very busy helping everyone else who knows they are their only hope of getting any help you just wasted gas and time....

I will say the ONLY LFS i have gone to multiple times and been helped out every time to my satisfaction is OA in Delta...

Oh boy, sorry for the early morning rant, I think maybe I'm just jealous of your great skimmer....:wink: