Thinking of starting my first tank.

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I've been doing research lately on reef tanks and salt water tanks in general. I'm really interested in the hobby and I am thinking I"ll have my first tank soon.

I really don't know a lot yet though. I want to build up a good base of knowledge before I buy anything. So if I could just start off with a few questions, I'll probably have more to follow.


I was thinking of getting about a 35G tank to start with. Someone at the pet store the other day told me to never try a reef setup in anything smaller than 50G. Problem is I don't really want a tank that big to start with. Can I put together a small reef setup in a 35G tank at all ?? For the first while I'll probably just get some living rock with some coral and then go from there.

He was also saying that with a 35G tank you wouldn't want anymore than 2 fish. I thought that was crazy talk. I would like to have about 5 fish I think.

My daughter really wants me to get a Clown Fish. Will a 35G tank be big enough for him when he is a year old ?? And lastly (for now), do you need a heated tank for a reef setup.

Like I said. I'm super new to this and I'm just trying to learn as much as I can.

 

[Scooterman]

Welcome to RF! This is a great place to come and learn, I wish I would of started out here than from my LFS. Some advise I can give you is to read read & read before you buy anything, spend a few weeks reading here, search treads you will get lots of information & best of all like you already done, ask away. If you want to get a good start please take your time before making purchases, most people here will go out their way to help you get a honest good start, saving you money & live stock.

You can keep even smaller tanks called Nano tanks like 10 or 12 gallons with experience, in general larger tanks are more stable so think about getting something as big as you can if you plan on making the Reef commitment. It would be possible maybe to keep 5 fish of smaller size but you will have lots to consider when it comes to salt water fishes. Last a heater is used to keep water temperatures stable once again but typically heat with high powered lighting will be more of a concern so answer to that is yes.

http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=2

 

[wrightme43]

Your doing the right thing. Glad you are here with us. Welcome.
Well my first salt tank was a 44 and my second was a 29g. So it can be done. It very much depends on the way they are set up and how much work you are willing to do. A 29 with 2x 65 watt compact flor. lights. A hang on the back skimmer, a emperor 280 filter 25 lbs live rock and sand bed will support about 4 small fish. By that I mean a clown, a firefish, a yellow watchman goby, and a royal gramma. Or something similar in sizes. You could also have some green star poloyps, a open brain coral, some ricordia, some zooanthids, a few other lps corals, like a frogspawn, or something similar. You could also keep a cleaner shrimp, and a pistol shrimp to pair up with the goby. In the same tank a brittle star and that would be about all except for a few hermit crabs and snails. Now that is a heavily stocked tank and will require some effort on your part. You will have to keep the glass clean, clean the skimmer cup everyday, wipe the light shield down every week, add top off water every night for evaporation. Every two weeks change the filter media and do a small partial water change.
The way to be succesfull is to just take your time. Get your tank and filters. AND HEATER very very important. Set it up and let it run with saltwater, add your live rock and let it cure for 3-6 weeks this will involve testing the water. When its done siphon out the detrius from the rock and do a water change. Add your sand. and let it settle in for a couple more weeks. Then add your fish that have been quarintined. the clown last. Slowly add your shrimp, star, and hermits. Then after it is completley settled again your first corals. If you take your time it will work. Here is what it can look like

 

[Krish]

Welcome "Madchad"! Like Scotter said this is the best place to start out. I have received a lot of info and help from the guys here and everyone is very patient with you. Just ask away and don't ever think you are being a "pest" or anything because we all wouldn't be here if we didn't care about each other and our aquariums. There is a lot of reading material here, but if it is easier to just ask the specifics then feel free to do so. Like Scooter said, the bigger the tank the better. Less chance of something throwing off the entire system because of the water volume.

The nano cubes are cool because you get a tank, lighting and filtration all in one. The only downside to them is they usually need a little altering to go reef as all of the nano cubes I've seen contain bio-balls which is a big "NO NO" when it comes to keeping a reef with corals (can create high nitrate levels). If it is just for live rock and fish then it would be fine. Hope you find all the answers you need here. All of us here are still learning.

 

[Krish]

Steve, you must really type fast. I figured we started typing around the same time because before I posted, only Scooter did. Now your post is before mine. LOL.

"Madchad" Steve pretty much summed it all up for you. He know what he's talking about (or pretends to know LOL). I'm sure others will join in soon and add their input. Keep bringing the questions.

 

[nasher8860]

wrightme knows how to really reel them in..... Welcome to RF, A lot of useful information here. Feel free to ask ANY question no matter how stupid you think it sounds. Most likely it will be an important one.

 

[[email protected]]

Thanks guys. I love internet forums, hehe. I have over 12,000 posts on another forum out there, but it sure isn't about fish.

Anyways.

Although I will also be doing a bunch of reading, if someone could fill me in on what I"ll need to get going, that'd be great. Now I understand that the bulbs in standard tanks are crap and you need to buy better bulbs if you plan to keep living rock around. So I know I'll need some new bulbs. Also, a heater. And I've seen a lot of debate on types of filters. Now, I plan on having living rock, and if I can afford it living sand as well, unless that's over kill. What do I want to run for an external filter though. And please, if avoidable could you avoid jargon cause I don't know a lot of it yet.

The way I see it, I will need:

35G Tank.
New Lights.
Heater.
Filter.
Living Rock (maybe some sand too).
Janitors.
4 (1-3") fish.
Water Testing Kits.
Salts.
Filtered Water.

Does that sound about right ??

I found a website called http://www.saltwaterfish.com/ . They seem to have some really cool Inverts and corals. If it proves difficult to get fish in my area, is ordering them online alright?

Lots more questions to follow....

 

[wrightme43]

Well I havent had any good experince with that company, I hate to post that but most live stock I have recieved from them has been either almost dead upon reciept or dead in a few days. Also they seem to sell alot of fish that dont belong in a reef as reef safe. This is only my experince. Ok lights, coralife makes a 2x 65 watt bulb light system that will do what you see in my first post. The filter I would use is either a emperor 280 minus the bio wheel, or a rena filstar undertank with no bio media. heater I recomend a ebo jager 150 watt. Rock 25 lbs of quality rock. Dont skimp here. It sets the whole feel of your reef. Test kits I recomend Salifert. We have alot of sponsors on this site. Look thru them, they will take good care of you. Marine depot takes good care of me, and I have a place I order livestock from but since they stopped sponsoring the site, I dont wanna post it in public. I dont think its fair to the sponsors who help pay for this place. One more thing. The spammers will grab your email addr. I would be careful with that if I were you.

 

[[email protected]]

I can't seem to see the settings to just have a user name without an email address. Do I need to pay to do that ??

Thanks for the reply. I'm just trying to get a sense of how much money I will need to start up. Also, with the Coralife 2x65 watt light you mentioned. I'm assuming that would be the whole hood assembly ?? If so, will I need to consider what size the tank I am getting is in terms of measurements?

 

[Jiddy]

wELCcome to RF, dont worry, the tech support at night is as good as in the day, they have smarties we have Ken and Clayton, they have Linkii we have me, so rest assured we can help you at 1am!

You can change your name to whatever you like, you dont HAVE to pay to get a cool name like JIDDY, you just put it in the same way you put in the crazy one you have now, lol!

Your question about lightin is confusin.... the coralife is not a hood, but its a whole lightin assembly, it has legs (sold seperatly) that raise it slightly above the tank, or you can set it on the glass top if you have one. Its a decent starter light setup, i almost had them, that way when you get rich and buy MH's you can use those PC's for your sump, PC's will just limit what you can keep, but will work out good

And about how much money you need, roflmao. The more infomation you find out about this hobby, the more you learn about gadgets you want. I dont have any money anymore..... About the only way you can really figure is to make a list of what you need

Lights
Skimmer
Tank
Stand
Rock
Sand
Heater
Sump
Overflow
Pumps
Misc
Test Kits

And the likes of that, then go shoppin around onLine to get a bargain and look on the sellers market to see if anyone willl selll you discounted used stuff, i know of some spots so just ask when you are lookin for something in particular

Jiddy

 

[clayswim]

Welcome to RF Madchad!

I guess I'm reporting in for night duty. The Coralife setup is pretty nice; in fact I have one running on a 20 gallon nano right now. You should figure out what size tank you want first, and then buy the lighting to match it. If you go with fluorescent you'll need to know the length to buy; and if you go with halides you'll need to know how many to buy. Shop for a tank that's a little wider and little shorter. The width helps with aquascaping the rock, and the shorter tanks are easier to reach into and require less light to keep corals alive.

I think maybe the best way to go about this is to start with one thing and work our way through; and feel free to ask whatever questions that pop into your head. That's how Jiddy ended up with over 1,300 posts in eight months, lol

The tank is usually the first thing to discuss. Everything else tends to revolve around the size and shape of the tank. That includes livestock, lighting, filtration, additives, you name it. It really depends on what you want to keep in it, besides the before mentioned Clownfish. It also depends on the amount of money you want to spend. Very small tanks can actually cost almost as much as larger tanks, and of course giant tanks can cost a small fortune. I have a 5 gallon nano reef that has cost me who knows how many hundreds of dollars to setup; which brings up something else up. Very small tanks are generally harder for the beginner to maintain. The larger the capacity, the more water to absorb your mistakes. Speaking of Jiddy... (Just joking Jid, lol)

Some things are pretty much universal, regardless of tank size. Salt, heaters, test kits, etc.

For salt I usually use either Instant Ocean or Reef Crystals. They both work fantastic, and neither one is very expensive.

When you compare reliability and price no heater can touch Ebo Jager in my opinion. I've used dozens of them in the years I've been keeping fish, and I've only had one fail on me. They keep a stable temperature, they're made out of quality parts, they have 2mm thick Pyrex glass to prevent breaking, and the price is under $20 (USD) at most online shops.

For test kits I use Salifert most of the time. The price isn't bad, and the accuracy is similar to the expensive professional kits. Seachem and Tetra aren't bad either. For outstanding accuracy LaMotte and Hach are two of the best around, but are also the most expensive.

You also want to figure out where to get your water, since you certainly don't want to use straight tap water on a reef tank. There are a few ways to do this. The first is a natural source of seawater, such as purified water from a public aquarium. That usually works great in the summer months, but when the rains start the water can get rather contaminated. You're about five hours from Vancouver, so that's kind of out of the question anyway. The second option is a good source of distilled water from a local company. If you buy in bulk you can sometimes get a good deal. The third and most popular option is an RO/DI system. For $100-$200 you can get a system that will produce completely purified water from your own tap.

Clayton

 

[Jiddy]

$86 AquaSafe RO/DI unit on Ebay

There you go again clayton, imply'n stuff about me again! I just read somewere to go as big as you can at first

I use salifert test kits, they are ok, worth the money i guess, i found a online vendor that gives free shippen when you order 5 kits, which is nice when you are startin out, tell me if you want a link

I like Won Bros titanium heaters, they have LCD temp readings on them and cant shatter in your tank

As already stated, you can always just post away on here and get smarter, i also bought, New Aquarium by M.Paletta and Conscientious Marine by R.Fenner

 

[clayswim]

I have to warn about Won Bros. though. The thermostats have a tendency to fail, leaving your tank either too cool or way too hot. The heaters themselves work well if you plug them straight into a decent controller. I've tried a few of them and two failed. Fortunately I had an Ebo as backup, lol

Clayton

 

[Krish]

Think about this MadChad, you could live in the Bahamas like me and have to pay customs duty (up to 70% at times) on anything brought in. So for instance, my first sump I bought last year (which I sold) costed me $300 US dollars. By time as it got here it costed me $575.00! I don't know how it is with bringing stuff into Canada, but my setup so far has costed me $3500.00. Shop around...The sponsors provide good prices and good customer services.

I personally don't use a heater, but thats because I live in the Bahamas. A chiller would be more up my alley. As for the power compacts, I had them on my old set up and for the price they do a good job. I had coralline growing like mad...along with algae LOL. Right now I'm just using 2 of the regular flourescent lights, but I changed the bulbs out for 50/50 bulbs. They say that some corals can grow under these conditions, but I wouldn't suggest it for you as you are planning on going reef. I'm only using them because it is a fish only setup with a little bit of LR. One thing no-one has mentioned which a good investment for a small fee is some sort of phosphate remover like a phosban reactor. I have one and it made a difference for me. It costed me around $100 and it basically reduces phosphates from your aquarium which high levels of phosphates can in turn contribute to nuicance algae growth. Also, a uv sterilizer could reap benefits, by eliminating algae spores, parasites etc.

 

[clayswim]

You just have to keep rubbing it in that you live down there don't you? lol

I do want to mention that coralline algae doesn't really like light; so if you have heavy growth of dark coralline it can actually mean your light isn't very intense. Eventually it will adapt to higher light levels and begin growing, but it certainly prefers it on the dim side.

Clayton

 

[Krish]

You just have to keep rubbing it in that you live down there don't you? lol

I have to brag about something...You'll got tanks that make mine look like a joke LOL.

Oh MadChad, if going reef with invertebrates and all, I've never had one, but a calcium reactor is something you might have to add to your list or some other means of adding calcium to the tank. I use to use the bottle stuff and measure it out daily, but there are much easier ways of going about doing it. Others on the forum should be able to help you out in that department, but calcium, from what I understand is very important in a reef environment.

 

[[email protected]]

Thanks for the replies again. I'd stick around and post, but I have to get going for work. I'm also moving this week, so if I all of sudden drop of the forum I haven't left, I just won't have internets for a bit.

 

[Jiddy]

I didnt know canada had the internet, wow! All you have to do is use RF at work like other people i know!

 

[clayswim]

Jid, that's awfully big talk for a guy in SD

Clayton

 

[Jiddy]

I know I know, i have to hook up my laptop to my global cellphone,lol!