The Boyfriend Comes Through!

aunt kymmie

This morning for Christmas Eve Day the boyfriend looks at me with a big grin and says, "The 200 gal you want? Green Light Go".
I'm now on the hunt to look for the set up I want. My biggest dilemma now is SW or FW. He said, "You can always do saltwater or a chicklid tank". He pronounces cichlid...chick-lid....
Just had to share my joy!! I feel soooo spoiled!

onefish2fish

no no no, no chicklids.






nemos

aunt kymmie

Only if you promise to hold my hand along the way. You'll have to educate me AND answer ALL my questions without losing patience with me!! I also promise to do all my own research but you know me....I'll still need lots & lots of help!!

conger

Awesome kymmie! Will this be your first venture into saltwater? I made the move about a year ago (well, I added saltwater, I still keep a couple freshwater tanks too ). The one thing I'll warn you about up-front, is the initial cost to setting up a large SW tank. I have no idea whether or not money is an issue for you, but just beware that saltwater is much much much more expensive to get going than a freshwater tank. For a 200 gal, be prepared to shell out thousands of dollars in equipment and liverock and sand, and thats before you start stocking it with fish and other critters .

You may have already known that, but I just wanted to be SURE you knew while you're still in the decision-making stage! Saltwater is so much fun, though it tries your patience and opens a whole new world of things to learn about . Let us know what you decide, and I'm sure you'll get plenty of advice and help for your questions as you go!

Do you know if you plan to do fish-only with live rock, or do you want to dabble in corals as well?

Nudist

a big congrats Kymmie, i know you will enjoy your new 200gal tank regardless of which way you go with it.

Merry Christmas,
Steve

Cody

Reef.

Carry on (and congratulations).

Matt

Yes Kymmie, You should go with a Salt tank.
Im setting up this Freshwater tank, then Im going to beautify my Nano.

(Salt costs more so I rather get the fresh tank done so I have somehting to look at while im getting money for the salt haha)

iamntbatman

Get a wolf cichlid! Best pets ever.

CathyJ

Boyfriend???? Why isn't a guy like this your husband???? Congratulations one the nice gift!

200 will make a great saltwater system, but as mentioned previously, it will cost MUCH more and will in fact be in the thousands of dollars. It will cost around $600 for just the live rock, and that is on the conservative side.

aunt kymmie

Very funny, Jim. I just went and u-tubed the wolf cichlid. I wouldn't be able to keep anything else in the tank with them. These are more of a man's man kind of fish. I want a girly tank

I have alot of options. I can always turn my 100g into salt and set up the 200G as a fresh. The 100g was originally a salt but I was NOT ready to attempt salt when I purchased the tank. The 100g was my first tank in 32 years so I dipped my toes in slowly.

FOWLR or Reef...humm...?? I know if you have a reef tank any fish like puffers & parrotfish are out of the question. I love triggerfish, puffers, parrotfish, etc. but am not fond of the bare-looking tanks that they have to be housed in. What kinds of fish are reef safe? Clowns, tangs, wrasses, and....??? Is there a link or site that lists all fish/inverts that one can keep in a reef tank? The colors & shapes of corals, zoas, shrooms, polyps...no way to resist those and not have them in a tank!

When you say a major expense up front that makes perfect sense. Does a SW continue to be a huge expense as you go along? Don't count corals, fish, etc. as part of the expense. Considering the maintenance (ie: hardware, supplies, etc.) after initial set up are we still talking major monthly expense?

Money isn't an issue currently but you never know with this economy. Today I read that unemployment is at an all time high and that BK's are on the rise. Don't even get me started on the government bailouts. It's just not smart business to rob Peter to pay Paul. My 401K has taken a HUGE hit and the sad state of real estate has loped off $250K from the value of my home. Of course, these losses wouldn't be realized unless I tried to cash out tomorrow, which I have no intention on doing. My company is doing poorly as sales have fallen off nearly 60% on the year. If I lost my job tomorrow I would work at the most menial of jobs if I had to. Without my current position & income I'd be on a strict budget and that wouldn't include buying the lastest and greatest of corals.

Now that my personal finances are on the table it's question & answer time:
Would I be still able to afford the basic maintenance on a salt set-up if I was on a strict budget?
If you were me...what would you do? Go w/ salt or stick w/ fresh??

Sorry for the dissertation but I want to make the right decision for me. Thanks for the input!!