NEW TO HOBBY

[dun2run]

Hi, everyone. I am new to the site and the hobby. Lately I've been more and more interested in starting a saltwater aquarium and have been doing a ton of research, mainly visiting different forums. Finally found one with local folks. I want to go with a 75-100 gallon setup, not sure where to start. I have a "beginners" idea of the cost and maintenance factors but only from reading different articles and such. So, with all that said, if anyone can give me some info on where to start, what type equipment to use, anything will be greatly appreciated.

[Phisher]

Welcome to the hobby. Where to start depends on what you plan to keep, a fish only tank requires much different equipment than a reef tank with corals. Decide what your livestock goals are first, generally a reef tank is more demanding, time consuming and expensive than fish only or live rock. Let us know which way you plan to go and we can help you from there.

[Neuticle]

I'd recommend starting smaller, if you're anything like me, you won't grasp the actual cost of a 100 gal reef tank until you're two grand into it and you need another grand to get it to a normal operating zone. As much as I love my tank, if I had to do it over I would have gone smaller.

Just to give you an idea, some of my big expenses were:
Used 100g tank/stand/hood - 300
Return pump -100
Lights - 600 (and counting)
Skimmer - 300
Sand - 150
Rock - 300 (using cheapo base rock, won't recommend this)
Salt, Buffers, etc - 150
RODI system - 170

That's just off the top of my head, and mine is a no-frills reef tank. There really aren't many shortcuts except for buying used equipment. I've gotten a bit of livestock locally, MBRK members are awesome hookups for coral, most of the more common corals can be had for a fraction of retail price from the folks here.

[strout]

My advice: Research somemore and then somemore. Learn about the differant kinds of SW tanks that you can go with, You Tube can be great for this, the idea here is to find out which type of tank you want to go with in the long run. Doing this will keep you from getting side tracked along the way while you are working your way towards the tank that you want to ultimately end up with, have a game plan right from the start before buying the first thing for your tank, getting side tracked in this hobby is an easy thing to do. Say you want to end up with a SPS reef tank, that means you can only have reef compatible fish, and those fish can't grow to large for the size tank that you are going to have. To ultimately end up with a reef tank you don't want to have to many fish in your tank, IMO, lots of fish means high nitrate levels which means thats is an issue that you will have a running battle with. If you want a reef tank with lots of fish you need to get one of the larger tanks. Having a reef tank is not cheap but you can work your way towards it, with the tank, live rock ( LR ), sand, simmer, sump and some T5 lighting you are set up to start working your way towards a reef tank. You can then start the process of cycling your tank and then buy a few fish here and there, then down the road getting your MH lights that your corals will need to thrive, while you are working your way to this point you will be learning how to matain your tank and water. JMO here on tank size, if you have decided that a SW tank is something that you just can't live without, lol, if you want to have a reef tank, here it comes, I am going to get blasted here, buy nothing less than a 180 gallon tank. Yes, that sounds like a large tank and it is, belive me when I say they fill up fast, and in two years if you buy something less and you are still in the hobby you will be starting over in a larger tank, a 180g tank will get you to the 5 year level, lol. Say you don't want a reef tank and you want to have the pretty angle fish, these fish tend to be big and you will need the larger tank for them to grow in, say you want to have aggressive fish in your tank like lion fish, trigger fish and such, these fish also tend to grow large and you will need a larger tank for them. People get out of this hobby all the time and people in this hobby upgrade to larger and smaller tanks all the time, you can find nice used tanks for sell and that will allow you to save money by buying used instead of buying new. Just my 2 cents worth, and in this economy, worth about 1 cent, lol.

[dun2run]

Actually, I have kinda focused more on the 100 gallon as far as cost and space goes so I'm sure thats the size I'll go with. After reading alot more articles I think a FOWLR will be the best route for me to go right now because of a lacking experience in the hobby, BUT, I plan to set it up with interest for a reef tank in the future "just in case". Any ideas or thoughts I need to be aware of as far as equipment goes? Oh, thanks for the help and the good info everyone.

[Phisher]

There are a lot of methods of thought here. Are you planning to run a sump of some sort? If so, I would recommend investing in a decent protein skimmer, Reef Octopus and ASM both make affordable skimmers for tanks that size. Don't cut corners on your skimmer, get something good or you will be upgrading sooner than you think.

There are no lighting requirements for this type set up but good lights make everything look better IMO. T5 retro kits and fixtures are inexpensive and produce good light.

Water movement is often overlooked in non-reef tanks but is something you should still consider, it will help prevent algae blooms to to dead spots and detris buildup.

[dun2run]

Yes, I am planning on running a sump and skimmer. What size sump would be best and what type filter? Is the wet/dry trickle filter a good way to go? As far as lights go I would like some good ones, some to really show off the fish. I assume using a sump, the return pump will be creating the flow in the tank, right?

[Phisher]

Generally make sure the sump is large enough to to fit your skimmer and whatever other equipment you plan to use. The sump also needs to have enough volume to handle however much water will drain down when your pump is off (maintenance, power outage, etc.). If you plan to use your return pump as your primary means of flow in your display, make sure the sump can handle the flow as well. I had a 120g set up with a 900gph return pump and it produced very little flow in the tank but made my overflow and sump loud with all the water being pushed through.

Most people have gotten away from trickle filters. With a FOWLR set up the live rock will act as your biological filtration. Some people ass a deep sand bed for denitration, if you go this route do plenty of reading, DSB come with their own set of concerns. Live rock and a good skimmer can handle most of the load, you can add some mechanical filtration via filter sock on your drain into your sump and some way to run carbon and you are set.

There are many schools of thought (I'm sure you have already seen) on how to run your tank. This is basically how I run mine. Find what you are comfortable with and go with it. Best advice I can give you is:

A. Don't neglect water flow if you are using live rock as your primary bio filter (or anytime IMO). Good water flow really promotes a healthy tank.

B. Your initial investment will be large but don't cut corners on your equipment. I made this mistake getting started and ended up buying everything twice. Cheap stuff is cheap for a reason, its unreliable, noisy and can even be dangerous (I've had cheap powerheads shock me!). See what brands people are having success with. Read reviews on the websites where you are shopping. Look at the Used Gear Selling forums on Reef Central and see what gear people are getting top resale dollar for.

HTH

Joe

[Fishfood]

The skimmers already mentioned are good ones but there is another brand I'd suggest for you to check out.. Read up on it on RC.. There is a big owners thread on the Equipment section.. It is called Vertex. I bought one of the first models they came out with. It had one issue in the beginning and that was that they didn't clean the Impeller properly and it wore uneven because of dust that was left in the pump. I got a free replacement. The skimmer has been good on my tank but many other people love them. I think I got one a little to big for my system so thats why it isn't always pulling the gunk. I only have a 30gal tank and mine is rated for 150 or something like that. Anyway they came out with an new and improved model and it is also getting good reviews. This line of skimmers is cheaper than many in its class. Mine is out performing the ASM that I use to own.

[Crustman]

I have the Vertex IN-100 and recently got a new impellar and now it works great.

[rkelley_10]

Cannot stress enough as others have said before.....Don't buy in cheap!!! Buying the right equipment first will save you money and heartache in the long run. If you read enough online you'll see all too often, "Can I keep a clam or SPS under power compacts? Will two types of clownfish fight? Will a mandarin do fine in my 10g tank?". The short answer is: only in a few random success stories. Every tank and every animal is different. You do however, owe it to yourself, the natural reefs, and the hobby in general to provide as close to the right (or more) requirements as possible for any animal you acquire. Buy the right lighting, Live rock/sand, skimmer, powerheads, and other equipment from the get-go. Also, don't think of a FOWLR or reef tank as a perfect slice of the ocean. There is no way any of us could replicate is small volumes what the ocean does naturally. As soon as the hobbyist realizes that every tank is always on the verge of collapse and the everything will die, the better. Not trying to scare anyone but even the best conditions, hobbyist, and equipment cannot plan for every problem to be encountered. Research, research, and research some more. Local hobbyists are a wealth of information but everyone has their own opinion and soon you will have yours. Welcome to the hobby and just remember: go big or go home --- this is an expensive hobby and cutting corners is only bound to come back and haunt you. Good luck and let us know if you have more questions or need some help.

[dun2run]

Update on what I have so far since i was on here last time. 125 gallon tank with two overflows, 55 gallon sump (no baffles yet), Mag12 return pump, & Reef Octopus 150 skimmer. Trying to decide on lighting. Anybody with opinions on T5 or power compacts? I'm kinda lost in this department.

Also, the tank and stand came with all the aragonite sand that was in the tank. Would it hurt to mix half of it with new live sand or should I just get rid of it?

[Neuticle]

I'd skip the "live" sand, and the used sand all together. Used sand will likely be full of dead organics and be a total headache, "live" sand in a bad is a waste, it's not any more live than a bag of gravel can be, which isn't much.

Dry bagged aragonite sand is probably going to be the best for the $$$, if you want to make it live, just mix in a couple pounds from someones tank after you've cycled the new sand, live rock will do the same thing.

[Phisher]

Yea wet sand typically isn't worth the trouble. Try to find something not too fine and powdery.

T5 seems to really be the lighting of choice right now, I don't think you can go wrong with metal halide either. Personally I think pc light is garbage, I would not go that route. A good T5 set up by Aquatinics, TEK or ATI will pretty much handle anything you would want to keep in most tanks. I have a TX5 fixture by Aquatinics, really well build fixture with build in fan and individual reflectors. Reflectors is really what sets a good T5 set up from a cheapo, reflectors are really critical in T5 set ups. I've said it before, don't go cheap here if you want to get the max light per wattage.

[rkelley_10]

I agree. I do T5's with MH supplement. I have (4) 48" individually reflected T5's that I run from 11a to 11p. (2) UVL Super Actinic+ bulbs and (2) UVL 75.25. I run those on an IceCap 660 ballast which overdrives the bulbs from 54w to 85w. The ballast runs cool and the UVL bulbs are T5 V-HO or very high output bulbs so the bulb shouldn't hurt from being overdriven. In addition I have (2) 150w MH retrofits burning 15000K bulbs from 4p to 8p. I keep mostly SPS particularly acropora and have had good growth and color at all positions in the tank. Just my setup but I hope it helps.