Starting a Saltwater tank. Need Advice

Alkiazer · Mar 10, 2009

Hey all, I Have been wanting to start a small saltwater aquarium for some time now. I'm hoping some experts in the field could point me in the direction of some good beginners guides, and some personal advice.

My idea is to have something in the tall 20-30g range. Mainly really pretty coral and interesting colorful things like zoa, and anemones, peaceful shrimp, a couple clowns. anything peaceful and really beautiful. Not too big since its my first saltwater tank though.

I Would appreciate if some of you would post some pictures of your reef tanks, how you started off. anything anyone would need to know for what i'm gonna start.

Should be a few months before i have enough to purchase everything I need/want so i will have plenty of time to research it and get your guys opinions =D *SUNSMILE*

BalaShark · Mar 11, 2009

Hello. Seeing that you have plenty of time to research, I strongly suggest reading all the stickies in the beginning of the forum. That should keep you going for a while as there is very usefull information.
Here are some of my opinions: Do not start with a small tank. The bigger you can handle the better, as it is much more forgiving. Whatever you buy, research and by the best you can afford, otherwise you'll end up with a basement full of crap once you realise what you have is not good enough. Don't use tap water, invest in a RODI unit if you want to keep anything alive and growing. Good lights are expensive, but you need the best to grow coral.

GlaringToast · Mar 11, 2009

If you are handy, you can cut costs by do it yourself projects but you must thoroughly plan these through because if you don't you will end up spending 2-3x more than buying the piece of equipment outright. There are plenty of DIY projects in this hobby, lighting, filtration, overflows, reactors, etc. Just do extensive research and better judgement if this is the route you want to take with things. Quality and efficiency are extremely important in this hobby when planning for the big picture.

Then the biggest factor in this hobby, patience. If you don't have it now, if you stick with this hobby, you WILL learn it. Another VERY useful tool is comparison of information. Don't take your first answer to a question ever. Most local fish shops can smell a noob from a mile away and will try to make more money off of you.

This is my advice, hope it helps!

Lorna · Mar 11, 2009

Glaring Toast is correct there are many diy projects out there that can save you a lot of money in this hobby. My advice to someone starting out is to plan very carefully and fully understand what the goal and job of every single piece of equipment is. Research all these different parts and if at the end of the day you feel you can make the piece or create your own to accomplish the deed then fly at it. There are certain areas and items that should not be short cut or you could end up spending much more trying to perfect the piece than it would have cost you to buy it outright. Some things such as light fixtures and sumps and refugiums etc are easily put together but other pieces are more difficult and require fine tuning such as skimmers etc. good luck, do your home work, ask on the various forums and above all have patience.

Alkiazer · Mar 11, 2009

thx for the advice guys. I've been reading the stickies and what really attracts me is a Nano reef. Something small so I don't have to have all that heavy equipment. I would love to do a huge saltwater tank DIY project in the future as well. but I will need to move into a bigger place. which will probably happen in a year or two.

For now I think i'm gonna keep reading this forum.

http://www.myfishtank.net/forum/nano-saltwater-discussion/34054-nano-reef-step-step-guide.html

And don't worry guys I know how them LFS guys are lol worse than car salesmen.

If anyone has a Nano-Reef around a 20-30g range please post some pictures so i can get an idea of what i want mine to look like =D and let me know anything i should watch out for that you have experienced in your tanks.

GlaringToast · Mar 11, 2009

The minimum tank size I would suggest is what I'm running, a standard 29 gallon tank with a 5 gallon sump. Anything smaller is going to be more difficult for a beginner. I won't say that nano tanks are more difficult because I don't believe that at all, they just take more understanding. Something I remembered from the first time I read it pertaining to this hobby is, "Dilution is the solution to pollution" and it holds very true. I would rather be in a warehouse with a chainsmoker than a linen closet.

Even my setup is smaller than I would suggest for a beginner but it is doable to see how things go getting everything established. If it's space restrictions you're dealing with you could simply get a 29 gallon tank with a 29 gallon sump, the added water volume alone would make all the difference in the world and if you have the standard 29 gallon wrought iron stand you can fit another 29 below perfectly and plumb it easily as you have no real space restrictions and tons of openings.

MAN!!! I can't believe how much this hobby makes me ramble. If you keep opening your mouth and realize that no question in this hobby is a dumb one (within reason) you will learn at an incredible rate.

ONE more thing before I apply the duct tape to my own mouth. Everyone will tell you to do your research, do your research, do your research. This is great advice but remember that learning and gaining experience is also hands on, you can't learn everything from a text book or a forum. I'm not saying to jump into it but try to find a balance, sometimes you have to take risks, when I started saltwater it was a huge risk and I still feel like I didn't get enough research in before hand (I did about 6 months of researching) but chances are if you do nothing but read about it, you will lose interest. You have to have fruits of the labor otherwise the labor is well....fruitless!

GlaringToast · Mar 12, 2009

Did i ruin it? Haha

quaddity · Mar 12, 2009

Alkiazer said:

If you can try to get a 40 gallon breeder. Great size for a reef and shallow so you don't need a lot of lighting.

Here's mine coming along:
http://www.myfishtank.net/forum/sal...ion/56065-40-gallon-breeder-build-thread.html

GlaringToast · Mar 12, 2009

I would agree fully. 40 gallon breeders are awesome tanks! I believe they are all drillable, even on the bottom (correct that if it's wrong?) They are a great amount of space and make for great displays! I have never personally had one but now I want a breeder!

quaddity · Mar 12, 2009

GlaringToast said:

Mine is glass and drilled through the bottom. The size is really perfect for setting up a small reef. You'll wish you started bigger if you go 20 gallons for sure.

Whiskers · Mar 12, 2009

not to hijack thread but is a 40gal better than a 55gal for a starter. im thinking about using my 55gal with a 20gal long for sump(i also have a 29gal available to use for sump). would lighting suffer for the diff between the heigth of the 40 and 55? i have both 40gal long and 55gal. any suggestions for noobs on which would be better?

Alkiazer · Mar 12, 2009

Alright so I have been thinking about getting a 26g Front bow that I found at my LFS. Looks great i'm gonna start saving to get it, an RO/DI system, some Aragonite sand, Instant Ocean, A hydrometer, a couple power heads, a heater, a HOB filter, Fiji live rock, some decent lighting for some soft corals like mushrooms, zoa, polyps, xenia, gorgonians. maybe a couple leather corals like devils hand. and for the fish i think 2 Ocellaris Clownfish would be awesome because i'm more interested in the Corals but i want at least 2 little fishies

.

According to ~ http://www.myfishtank.net/forum/nano-saltwater-discussion/34054-nano-reef-step-step-guide.html ~ this set up should require no complicated plumping, no sump, no overflow. and even take it easy on the Electricity bill.

I want to thank everybody for there earlier posts and I'd like everyone to tell me what they think of my set up idea so far?

quaddity · Mar 12, 2009

Whiskers said:

55 Gal is a nice size you can do a good longer reef in that tank. Plus you get that extra volume of water over the 40. Lighting wise it's 16" vs 19" in height so not enough to matter really if you are going to use T5 or halides.

GlaringToast · Mar 12, 2009

As long as you know neither those clowns or any coral can go into that tank until it's fully cycled sounds fine.

Alkiazer · Mar 12, 2009

lol of course. according to the guide it will be a few months before I can even get a snail lol

Lorna · Mar 13, 2009

I have a 26 bow that is housed in my bedroom. It is a nice size and I see you mention an HOB filter. This is not necessary if you have sufficient live rock and powerheads. You may consider a protein skimmer in stead though not essential on this size tank it will go a long way to improving overall water quality especially if this is to be a reef.

GlaringToast · Mar 13, 2009

I would try to find someone you can get a cup or so of sand from their tank to seed your sand. Toss a cocktail shrimp or a cube of frozen fish food in the tank and let it go for a bit. My tank cylced in about 3 weeks. I cycled it with 2 Green Chromis though. Some people say it's cruel but, they we're fine and still are. As far as HOB filters go they are only useful if you maintain the heck out of them. Otherwise you're just building nitrate factories that will hinder your endeavours more than aid them. Are you planning on doing an overflow with a sump? If not, a worthwhile investment would be a surface skimmer that hooks up to a powerhead and keeps the surface crystal. As for snails or hermits, I have never lost one due to tank perameters, I don't even know if it's possible to kill them due to harsh living situations! hahaha! I threw about 10 of each in about a week after starting my tank and haven't lost one since, other than a couple snails that became dinner because my hermits decided they'd rather have a larger mansionshell. I'm sure someone will say otherwise and that's fine, I'm just saying what my experience has been.

GlaringToast · Mar 25, 2009

What's the status on this? Haven't heard any new word.

Starting a Saltwater tank. Need Advice

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