Finally my 140g is up!! Now I am officially Broke for Life!

[Genetics]

Hey guys, I just upgraded recently from my 29g to my new 140g. I'm going to post my tank last 4 years as the tank has progressed; gotten bigger! Now I am only short a calcium reactor lid and this baby will be setup completely!

My tank from 2002-2003 school year. This is a 7g bow front, when I bought this and started to set it up the online community along with the local stores didn't think that this was going to work.

http://img94.imageshack.us/img94/7496/71603tank5nu.jpg

I know it was a little cramped but its all that I could afford while going to school and only have 1 job.

For my tank 2003-2004 I decided to upgrade to a 29g and tried to set it up for under 400 dollars. Most of the money went to the lighting and to the new XM MH bulb.
http://img50.imageshack.us/img50/539/11004full29g4yu.jpg{/IMG}

[IMG]http://img334.imageshack.us/img334/4742/fulltank20g24ba.jpg

For the 2004-2005 year my life changed as I now got paid to go to school for my next degree. I decided that I should upgrade my tank and while at it do my camera also. The new camera I purchased was a Nikon D70. I don't know if you can notice a difference in the photo quality. ;)
Also, this year I decided to buy something called an RO system as it would make my life easier than using Cbus' sewage water.

http://img40.imageshack.us/img40/9528/Setup48-30-04.jpg

http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/9515/fulltank28nt.jpg

http://img172.imageshack.us/img172/7807/06100529gnanofull6ix.jpg

And for the 2005-2006 (Queue drum roll) I went massive! Due to the amazing price of this tank I couldn't pass it up. After a month of having this up and running this is what it currently looks like.

http://img229.imageshack.us/img229/5082/newtank7230527iq.jpg

http://img224.imageshack.us/img224/7939/newtank723053vp.jpg

http://img232.imageshack.us/img232/2931/closeup723056pi.jpg

What do you guys think? I think that I need to find a hobby that doesn't cost as much personally, but what the hay.

[ronc98]

Wow that is great!

Much better then it looked when we carried it in!

[Genetics]

Yeah, honestly I was ready to sell this tank after getting it in the house. It didn't look that great sitting there emply and I wasn't sure if I really wanted to go through setting something like this up knowing that I might have to take it down in two years. Right now I am happy and am wondering how long it will take before the algae starts growing...

[Bcollins111900]

WOW! Looks awesome man. Should have seen it with the orignal stuff in it... Nice rock work, looks realy natural. That clam fits nicely in there as well, that a Derasa? If so how big?

[Dubbin1]

Very nice!!!

[Lincutis]

good stuff. I like it. Hey I keep forgetting to drop off your roomy's cooler bag, but tell him it will bhe there soon.

[CaveManNOhio]

I've seen it in person, and it is sweet. Look forward to seeing it grow. The Blue Carpet and your Zoo's are really awsome.

[cadams]

very nice. great job.

[Genetics]

Originally posted by Bcollins111900
WOW! Looks awesome man. Should have seen it with the orignal stuff in it... Nice rock work, looks realy natural. That clam fits nicely in there as well, that a Derasa? If so how big?

The derasa was a new addition, I actually picked it up from Phishy today. It's 6 inches at least and beautiful!

[Genetics]

Originally posted by Lincutis
good stuff. I like it. Hey I keep forgetting to drop off your roomy's cooler bag, but tell him it will bhe there soon.

I think he was wondering about that the other day......... lol


Here's another pic I forgot to post from back in the day. It's a pic of when I first setup my new 29g for cheap!!

http://img51.imageshack.us/img51/39/GhettoTank.jpg

http://img51.imageshack.us/img51/3700/GhettoTank2.jpg

[SeanTay00]

Kind of a personal questions, but what's a ballpark number at how much it cost you to upgrade from your 29G to your 140G. I'm going to want to go much bigger when I land my first job. Just trying to get an idea of the damage it will cost.

[Genetics]

Well the price was right and that's why I have a 140g instead of the 55g that I had originally planned to setup. The grand total for this tank is $969. So right around 1k which I personally think is an awesome deal to get something like this going. The price includes the 80lb LR, lighting, tank, cast iron decorative brackets, chains, and anything else that was needed to put this together.

I don't know what this would run usually but I think the tank alone is worth more than what I paid total.

[Dubbin1]

LOL I just started looking at the pictures and thought that first one was the 140 with the biggest clowns I have ever seen :)

[ronc98]

When upgrading the tank you also need to keep in mind how much more your Electric bill will be when you get all the lights and pumps on!

I was a little shocked when I got my first bill!

[Genetics]

What are we talking about in price increase? To try to offset increased electricity I changed the bulbs and ballast for this tank. On my 29g I had a 400w DE bulb that I think was pulling closer to 480w. Right now I have two Pheonix DE 250w 14k bulbs running on icecap ballast over the tank and an additional pump. I'm banking on the electronic ballast being more efficient to keep the electricity down. Right now I think the tank will run a little less than 30 bucks a month but maybe my math is off.

[xdusty6920]

looking great great genetics. im really diggin the blue carpet. wered ya get it and how much did you pay for it?

[Genetics]

The blue carpet just hit two years old in my tank. He's been kinda squished in the 29g and gets on the move when the water gets in the mid 80s. Now that he has had room to spread out he's about 10 inches in diameter. I bought him at Jack's for 68 bucks back in the day. He was a special order I put in with them and he's one of the most beautiful carpet anemone I've ever seen.