"Christopher" wrote:

I can start off with carbon, I purchased like 5kilos of carbon from drs.
foster and smith online before I read up on the fact that I shouldn't be
using it at all. I've noticed that after a month of no carbon there is a
slight odor to my tank, but only if I put my nose on the water line, and
even then its not that detectable. That was a good deal of money wasted.

Don't kick yourself too hard over the carbon. While generally it seems
that most experienced aquarists consider it unnecessary for regular
use, it can come in handy to remove chemicals from your tank, should
you ever have to medicate for example.

But I'll grant that five kilos is *plenty*

I also spent a good deal of money on a UV steralizer, inline heater/chiller,
and pump to run the setup, total price about $600, I'm not sure if it is
worth it yet, but it would be nice to have the peace of mind that if my room
gets to 80F my fish won't fry due to the extra heat from the lights.

A chiller is certainly nice to have if you don't have reliable air
conditioning, or if you've got cool water fish.

The UV sterilizer is one of those things that keeps problems from
occurring in the first place, rather than fixing them, so you'll never
have an "ah-ha!" moment where you know it was worth the price. Figure
anything that kills pathogens and algae spores and such is a Good
Thing. I know if I ever put together a serious filtration system, a UV
sterilizer will definitely be a part of it.



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