bigkamp
Active Member
What’s up, Kamp here... newb to salt anything... freshwater,brackish experianced. 42 years old, been keeping critters since I could get out of my parents sight long enough to catch something lol... three kids oldest (son) literally just left for the MarinesOOH-RAH two daughters 17 & almost 4 so we are getting baby dory and Nemo... lol a couple variant pairs just a single baby dory, every dragonet I can find in any variant I can get a hold of(yes I know expert) sea horses probably 4(posting pics of everything I’m planing and have) a harlequin shrimp or ten lol so cool looking some colorful snails, not sure if I’ll do any other fish for awhile as the original plan is spend as little as possible and build the most color popping tank ever done lol. For the startup I’m using the tap water( I know I know I know lol) like I said trash can budget lol this is a total experiment I’m willing to gamble a couple hundred to prove I can do to salt what I do to fresh and create a natural eco that self sustains and cleans all in display will using no name, used, repurposed everything( like i do with everything at my house lol it’s awesome tho seriously lol) ok I’m rambling back to the build... equipment dum dum duuuummmm... y’all are rich AF ain’t yas lol omg not doing any of that nope none of it no sump no refug notta... I have two bio mechanical cans knock off sunsuns Amazon special lol pry match up so they are literally exact matches just less money probably better customer service since I only ordered one it came with the mounting whole broken for the UV light transformer still worked but asked for a new one the said keep it and still sent a new one...score! So I’m gonna continue to run them. I have a line on aquatic life t5 72” 8bulb blah blah blah... BUT for like a 100$ but it’s far and seller is slow responding and I’m inpatient so I order two eBay specials 36” full spec led like 70$ just now(tank cycled dry rocks come 2mro fish shopping woooowho! Where Nemo NEEEMMMOOOO! lol) for now my heater handles the tank 77.7 steady always been steady it’s old and survived until it dies it rides! I check my temps with a good thermal cam lol seriously work stuff...I’m what else oh I got the live “Hawaiian” black caribsea (Hawaiian rock doesn’t leave Hawaii it is said if u do take it u send it back with in a month cause U’ll be cursed...it all stays on island google it lol) anyway where was I oh yeah dry live rock off eBay started with 15lbs of purple 10lbs of black all smalls and meds gonna put my artsy side to work and make something cool pop of color from the jump... gonna seed copepods and their buddies to feed the dragons. Oh yeah so I said no refug but I ment like a sump I don’t like that if it grows it show in my house so I’m gonna build a garden on one 1/8-1/4 of the tank depending on how I control flow so I can have two different sections low flow mid flow high flow... I picture the left side the seahorse garden with a structural rock protection with grasses and macros chillin. The other side will house what every crazy odd but bright colorful anything’s but I’m not doing any fillers I used black sand and blacked the back of the tank out so the light illuminates the life alone highlighted... I’ll give the clown pairs each a divided by rock anemone hole(I can see it in my head you’ll have to wait for pics lol) the dragons all about as many as I can find in pairs(praying to breed them) and if I ever come across one I will have either a dwarf or blue dot octopus( yes I am crazy I had a pet gator, a pet muskrat, a couple water moccasins and I have a mesh lid and eventually making a canopy top not just for the octo either) idk what else alive I pick things I like looking at oranges blues purples greens...and the odder the better lol as I add fish and corals I’ll add more rock and scape accordingly... so yeah I think that’s about all I got so far oh yeah the refug I already said the garden thing for the horses so there’s Marco and grasses, I picture also two red mangroves about 5’ tall out the tank roots adding visual awesomeness like all those discovery channel shows snorkeling them what else I guess since stuff eats it I’ll let brine and other foods grow in the display too like I said I don’t want equipment I’ll be dosing by hand and teaching my daughter the math and all they love this stuff... so here’s a list to make it easier for anyone who wants to steal my swag after I post up that it works and cost a million dollars less lol pics too might even have prices on them... here’s the list of equip:
2) sunsun knock off 75 gallon bio mech can filters $60ish
2) 129 led 36” full spectrum white and blue dimmer eBay special $75ish
Aquatic life 72” 8 bulb lunar ho(100$ used if it happens they are far)
Cariblife live sand 20lb sacks 100lbs total (came frozen full refund petco) $101ish
25lbs dry agro live rock black and purple addictive reef is the eBay seller $110ish
An old heater tryd and true $???
An old bubbler wall & airpump $???
A free used 135g glass aquarium $00000!
Dollar general flat black spray paint 1.35 bought three $5ish
5gallon bucket instant oceans $37ish
TAP WATER i know but not everyone can do ro/di in an apartment or have space to store or afford extra water bill cause that $#it wastes soooo much water and I’m against that and water bottles fight me lol here’s the best part $00000000 F’n dollar just prolong acclamation times according to sensitivity(I can hear the rich guys yelling at their wife’s “uFn hear this slub” lol)
Left over dechlor $0
I have 5 tanks so cleaning stuff $0
Total build prelife(no animals) but cycled:
$287ish (no t5)
$387ish( plus gas or shipping of 6’ long t5)
This is what I want to prove so people like me who waited till 42 and could have been enjoying all this time over a 37$ can of salt and a bunch of big words and stuck up salesmen! Seriously I’m a Scorpio I still hate people from when I was like 2 years old for being douchey to me for zero reason... lol anyway I’ve talked enough crap now it time to see how many corals I ruin running these forbidden can filters that just so happen to keep the same exact tank pristine with out salt... just saying I’ve been in other forum groups not related to this cool place I’m talk that cesspool fakebook and those Horrid groups ran by all bad dna clones lol tried to embarrass me for mentioning cans or keeping dragons and seahorses and black sand with purple rocks lol so I posted a bunch of poop postings and left the groups and came here lol hi guys! This oughta be fun! I’m excited I’m 99.99997771 percent sure I got this I might have missed something but I will add as I go or remember. And I’ll follow up/new thread the monthly up keep $ numbers too
(FYI at any part you were not sure if I was being an @$$hole or just hilarious just laugh it’s not that serious lol) hashtag jersey legalized it lol holla at ya boy for fresh water advice I been round that block since day one or just copy this thread same thing basically lol if it’s in nature out it in the tank even terrariums some extra pics of my fresh water work too brackish cold fresh tropics fresh easy small hang in filters a lil over clocked per gallons longer time between carbon pad swaps...
2) sunsun knock off 75 gallon bio mech can filters $60ish
2) 129 led 36” full spectrum white and blue dimmer eBay special $75ish
Aquatic life 72” 8 bulb lunar ho(100$ used if it happens they are far)
Cariblife live sand 20lb sacks 100lbs total (came frozen full refund petco) $101ish
25lbs dry agro live rock black and purple addictive reef is the eBay seller $110ish
An old heater tryd and true $???
An old bubbler wall & airpump $???
A free used 135g glass aquarium $00000!
Dollar general flat black spray paint 1.35 bought three $5ish
5gallon bucket instant oceans $37ish
TAP WATER i know but not everyone can do ro/di in an apartment or have space to store or afford extra water bill cause that $#it wastes soooo much water and I’m against that and water bottles fight me lol here’s the best part $00000000 F’n dollar just prolong acclamation times according to sensitivity(I can hear the rich guys yelling at their wife’s “uFn hear this slub” lol)
Left over dechlor $0
I have 5 tanks so cleaning stuff $0
Total build prelife(no animals) but cycled:
$287ish (no t5)
$387ish( plus gas or shipping of 6’ long t5)
This is what I want to prove so people like me who waited till 42 and could have been enjoying all this time over a 37$ can of salt and a bunch of big words and stuck up salesmen! Seriously I’m a Scorpio I still hate people from when I was like 2 years old for being douchey to me for zero reason... lol anyway I’ve talked enough crap now it time to see how many corals I ruin running these forbidden can filters that just so happen to keep the same exact tank pristine with out salt... just saying I’ve been in other forum groups not related to this cool place I’m talk that cesspool fakebook and those Horrid groups ran by all bad dna clones lol tried to embarrass me for mentioning cans or keeping dragons and seahorses and black sand with purple rocks lol so I posted a bunch of poop postings and left the groups and came here lol hi guys! This oughta be fun! I’m excited I’m 99.99997771 percent sure I got this I might have missed something but I will add as I go or remember. And I’ll follow up/new thread the monthly up keep $ numbers too
(FYI at any part you were not sure if I was being an @$$hole or just hilarious just laugh it’s not that serious lol) hashtag jersey legalized it lol holla at ya boy for fresh water advice I been round that block since day one or just copy this thread same thing basically lol if it’s in nature out it in the tank even terrariums some extra pics of my fresh water work too brackish cold fresh tropics fresh easy small hang in filters a lil over clocked per gallons longer time between carbon pad swaps...
