New Member Introduction

[ejthomp]

I've been lurking here for about a month now and I'm moving closer to getting back into this hobby. I'd like to get my first saltwater aquarium and want to do it right. That's why I'm here. I'm sure you all will be great mentors for me. Here's some background info that may help you understand where I'm coming from.

44, married with teenagers, decent house in Vancouver, WA, have a few bucks to play with an aquarium, but budget isn't unlimited.

I've had freshwater aquariums on and off since I was 12 so I know they are work. I know an aquarium is like a dog and requires daily attention. I'm not moving into this without careful consideration!

I have a degree in Chemistry and I've been selling industrial valves and fittings for over 10 years. I realize I currently don't know a thing about saltwater aquariums, but I think I can get up to speed with some study and practice. With the business I'm in, I may actually have a few original ideas on the plumbing side of things.

We go to Hawaii every year and I love to snorkel! I'd like an aquarium so I can enjoy a little of this everyday! My ideal tank would be tons of colorful coral with a few complimentary fish. I'm not quite sure how big of a tank I want or where in the house it is going to go though I have my eyes on a corner near the front entry so everyone will see this tank. It needs to be something I can be proud of.

So...... where do I start? My first question is about choosing a suitable tank. New or used? Best features to look for? How much electricity am I going to need? What load? How many outlets?

Anyone know of any good stores down my way? I'm always up in Olympia, Tacoma, Bremerton, so I can shop there too.

 

[Jan]

Hello and welcome.

I found a couple of books really helpful to me and those were "The New Marine Aquarium" and "The Conscientious Marine Aquarist." They both discuss some of the setup steps and decision points you mention.

One bit of advice I didn't listen to at the beginning when I was shopping for an aquarium: bigger is better as it's easier to keep your water parameters stable. I started with a 40 gallon and it wasn't long before I was upgrading.

2nd bit of advice I didn't listen to: research every purchase before you make it. I've had to sell/give away several animals that turned out to be incompatible in my reef. They were impulse buys. Same thing for ill-advised equipment purchases.

Good luck

 

[szidls]

Welcome to RF and Psas EJ.
Jan told you about a couple of great books to start reading. I will echo her comments about research. There is much to be learned here from fellow reefers accomplishments and mistakes. You need to really decide which type of corals, hard or soft you wish to keep. This will also help you decide on compatible fish/livestock. Then research the setups for each.
As for local fish stores you seem to be close to Portland stores Waves, Upscales. In Tacoma there is Indoor Reef and in Bremerton/Silverdale there is Shark Reef and Ocean Reef Aquatics in Paulsbo. There are some great Seattle area lfs so check out the sponsor list here at RF.
Scott

 

[plack]

Hi,
I am 43 with 2 teenagers and on a tight budget as well I can relate !!!!!!!

I would get a 6 foot long tank for some fish

Also for coral growth on a budget get a Mini Lumenarc reflector 250 or 400 watt is up what you are going to grow and the depth of your tank but one light covers a 2 foot square section.

I would place the tank where you have Really easy acess to change lots of water often. and the sump /refegium/and equipment easily accessable and preferably near a drain on the floor or be prepared for the ocassional minor water on the floor . also a good spot for a 20 gallon long Quarantine tank

Buget the cost of replacment lights/ salt( most stick with Instant Ocean or Reef Crystals)/ replacement pumps/

Build a good DIY Ø6" Calcium Reactor and Ø8" x 30 " needlewheel skimmer.
it can be all pvc or square it doesnt have to be the expensive clear acrylic tube but it is nicer to be able to see with using clear tube ! Check out the DIY Section of this website for help

Also you may wanto use this sponser or at least look into it! as it keeps expenses down !!
http://www.twopartsolution.com/

Get a seaswirl for the sump return and sompthing for random flow: some use maxijets on a timer circuit some use ocean motions units in a closed loop others use Tunze streams still others use seio's and a wavemaker they have.
the Maxi mod's are great but I've not been sucessfull with getting them on a timer to always start in the same direction or easily hold them where I wanted but some have !


Plan for 2 dedicated circuits 20 amp each for most 150-240 tanks even though you wont use it all that way you can also have some redundancy should one circuit fail/trip on you.

 

[Krish]

Welcome to RF! Hope you enjoy it here

 

[dailydriven911]

Welcome to RF! You found a great forum where you can find a ton of good info and people who share the same addiction as you I also go to Hawaii every year and snorkeling got me into reef keeping as well. Now when I go I can identify almost all the fish/corals I see around me because of all the knowledge I've gained both on the forums and other sources. Make sure you keep us updated on the tank you decide to setup as well.

-Jayson

 

[ejthomp]

Thanks for the input. I will visit the stores mentioned and read those books. My first decision will have to be where to put the tank because the best place for the tank isn't very large. I don't know where I could put a couple hundred gallon tank.

What would be your recommendation for the minimum footprint I should have available for my first tank and all the accessories?

 

[jnarowe]

Hello! Think creatively about your install. Tanks don't "have" to be viewed on the long side. Access is absolutely critical as mentioned before. If it isn't easy, it won't get done.

My suggestion is to visit lots of aquarium installs before you even come up with a plan. I am still amazed every time I see a new tank because everyone has a little different spin on installs and youcan find some very clever ideas to help in the planning stage.

Take a tour or the Portland area and visit tanks. Take a tour of the Seattle area too. Most aquariasts are more than happy to have visitors and chat tank stuff. And my recommendation is don't plan for your "first" tank. Plan for the tank that you can handle in the space you have and the budget you can afford. Decide if you are capable of building equipment yourself, and willing to employ used equipment if needed. Figure out a monthly budget for electricity, salt, food, tests, animals, etc.

HTH.

 

[szidls]

Thanks for the input. I will visit the stores mentioned and read those books. My first decision will have to be where to put the tank because the best place for the tank isn't very large. I don't know where I could put a couple hundred gallon tank.

What would be your recommendation for the minimum footprint I should have available for my first tank and all the accessories?

ej, What is the size of the area you have in mind for the tank? Do you have a basement or an adjacent room you could use for remote equipment? Try and not place the display tank in an area of direct sun as this will cause excess heating and algae growth. Please do look at other systems to gain info on how you can set up yours.
Scott

 

[ejthomp]

No basement so unless I'm going to punch a hole in a wall, I can see space is my primary limitation. If I was really serious about this, I suppose I would put the tank in the living room wall so I could have full access to the back of it from the garage.

I think my wife would freak if I started this hobby with a hammer and flying drywall!

I've been eyeing a 70 gallon corner tank that I think would look nice in our entryway. I wouldn't put it in a corner so I'd have access to all but one side against a wall. I envision a 3' square footprint. This location is tiled and also is across from a toilet so I'd have easy access to water and sewer. I'd need to put some kind of shade over the front door window to keep out the afternoon sun, but my wife has been begging for that anyway.

Because this area is in the front of the house, everything really needs to fit nicely in a custom cabinet. I'm willing to spend money for this. I just hate visible clutter. I'll give up quantity for quality. My last freshwater aquarium was my best and it only had a single species of fish and a few varieties of plants.

If this tank looks so nice that the WIFE wants a bigger tank...then we'll break out the hammer and get after that wall!

But, all this is subject to change if I figure out something better! I'm going to a store this afternoon.

 

[ejthomp]

BTW... I'm not in any kind of hurry here. This research portion could take months. I'm sure I will have tons of dumb questions and hopefully you will stop me from making some of the rookie errors.

I went to a Portland store and after about an hour walked out with a book. Read a good portion of it last night and decided... I can do this! I think I can be happy with a nice 50-70 gallon tank with a 20 or so gallon sump.

 

[IAP Brian]

Anyone know of any good stores down my way? I'm always up in Olympia, Tacoma, Bremerton, so I can shop there too.

If you travel to the Bremerton area The Shark Reef in Silverdale is well worth the trip. Eric has some of the best pricing around. Plus it is only a little further to Poulsbo and you can visit me and Mario @ Ocean Reef Aquatics. (We are in the same business park) In the Tacoma area Indoor Reef is the only sponsor of RF as well of the PSAS, so I would skip the other stores there.

 

[plack]

A 24 inch cube is a small tank that looks very nice You can build a canopy and tank and keep Most of the equipment in it then maybe a small cabinet to house/hide a pump and maybe a reactor or two and misc. test kits supplies food etc. that could be designed to say hold the mail on top of . And still look nice and cost alot less to start and keep up.


The corner hallway idea will work fine. I was just suggesting a larger tank for some fish that many people end up wanting/needing a 6' length . Also Generally Larger tanks are a bit more stable.

Is there any way you could route plumbing to a sump in the garadge from there? Maybe thru a crall/wall space to the garadge ? Again you dont have to it's just easier that way.

I have mine in my living room and the #1 thing I would change if I started over would be the location as I am on a cement slab on an add on room so there is no where to go except up :-(

 

[plack]

Hey for that 24 gallon cube you could also have a refegium in the bottom of the side cabinet that showed off the plants where you could see them. But thats alot more settup work. But you might like the idea
Paul

 

[ejthomp]

It just so happens that I've been looking at a 24" cube and wondering what would be wrong with starting there. Put it on a nice tall cabinet so it is eye-level and I'd have lots of room down below to put things. One of those Biocubes sure would be an "easy" start.

I need to study up on a refegium... I don't quite understand the need/importance.

It would be over a crawl space so I suppose I could do anything from there.... I don't know if I want to go that far though. My house is only a few years old so I'm not into punching holes just yet.

 

[Damsel13]

I may be mistaken but I believe Elmo18 has a cube as does returnofsid. I think Elmo's tank is pretty dedicated to anemones where as return's is a more mixed envirnoment.. Maybe somebody could help me out an provide links to the appropriate threads. I am not very good at working a computer yet...

 

[NC2WA]

ejthomp,

First, welcome to RF !!

Second, when I made the move from freshwater to saltwater 10yrs ago, I research and read everything I could for at least 4-6 months before a tank saw a drop of water in it. I read The Conscientist Marine Aquarist cover to cover. I still to this day refer to it. Excellent book. BTW, this book does discuss the role of a refugium.

Since time is on your side, I would visit as many places with tanks to get an idea of the exact setup you want. Once you have decided on your setup, I would make a list of inhabitants and then see if they will co-exist. Once this is determined, research everyone of them before you purchase them.
For fish selections, I might also suggest, Marine Fishes, 500+ Essential to Know Aquarium Species by Scott Michael. This is also a book I refer to often.

HTH,
Kirk

 

[ejthomp]

What would be the disadvantages with starting with something like this 34 gallon Red Sea Max? It would fit my target area perfectly and has a nice external appearance.

Red Sea Max
This 34 gallon, glass aquarium system comes compete with all the equipment necessary to maintain a healthy reef aquarium. This system features a built-in professional turbo protein skimmer with 320 gph pump, 3 stage filtration, 150 watt thermo-stat controlled heater, and two 145 gph circulation pumps with adjustable direction outlets. The fan-cooled hood features two 55 watt 50/50 power compact lights with electronic ballast, blue LED moonlights, and aluminum reflector. The hood control panel has 24 hour programmable lighting timer with an on/off switch, and additional on/off switch for the LED lights. The main control panel has water-proof power switches for all the aquarium components. The power center has five individually switched power outlets with splash cover for all aquarium components that has a single cord for you to plug into a wall outlet. Aquarium dimensions measure 24” x 19½” x 24”, and the stand measures 37” high. Stand sold separately.

 

[Jan]

One issue with this setup is that 34 gallons will be harder to keep stable (the water paramets) than would a larger system. PH and temperature swings etc. become more of an issue. I started with a 40 gallon tank and it was only a month before I knew I had to go bigger. I wished I had started bigger.

Welcome to ReefFrontiers, by the way.

 

[ejthomp]

I think I understand the size disadvantage, but I'm not willing to devote that much space to a large tank. I'm a patient guy and if it takes me six months to get my system stable before I introduce anything, I'm okay with that. I don't need a big aquarium. I was perfectly happy with my 20 gallon freshwater tank that I had for five years. It was full of healthy plants and just a couple fish. That's how I envision this tank.... very healthy reef... with a complimentary fish or two.

My fear in buying an all-in-one setup is that the components could be junk and then getting a quality replacement to fit in the alloted space becomes impossible. Has anyone seen this setup or know the components?