How to Start?

[burmtic]

Hi

I Have Always Been Fascinated by Reef tanks, but the money has never been there for me to actually go through with setting up a tank. I've never really had the Best of luck with Freshwater, But could i get some Pointer's on how to start up a Nano Tank? I know the Basics about Salt water, but What would be some good tips?

Thanks

Blake

 

[smoothie]

What are you starting with? What are you goals with that tank? We need to get this ball rollin

 

[brianjfinn]

In addition to what Smoothie said, what size tank were you thinking and what's your budget?

If you want to go cheap, your best bet is to keep it as simple as possible and stick to a tank 10 gallons or less, with Power Compact lighting and a hang-on filter. Keep the bioload small, with only a couple fish and some soft corals like Zoanthids and Xenia.

Maintenance will be the kicker. You'll need to be religious about water changes and not overfeeding.

 

[straydog]

The cycle of the tank is the first step . Aquarium , saltwater,rock (be sure to not rush picking out rock look for something you like as it will be the main thing to look at till the coral starts to grow) , sand, hang on back filter (buy as large a filter as you can, this will give you a place to put the heater and other items so they do not distract from the look of the reef) and start the cycle.

 

[jef4y]

budget is a big starting point... and something to keep in mind, a nano tank can be far more difficult to maintain and keep healthy than a larger tank because everything happens fast in a small water quantity. Quality declines fast, temperature changes fast, etc etc. With more water you have more 'wiggle room'.

If I were spending your money, I'd start with something in the 50 gallon range. Most of the time you can get entire setups used and fairly cheap.

Just my thoughts... Give us some more info and we can narrow things down for you.

 

[gnashty]

read, read, read....research lots and ask tons questions. your decisions will impact your ability to keep certain species of both corals and fish.

Just know that if you have a dream of keeping tangs or other large fish that get rather large you will need to adjust your "vision" on tank size.

know that if you want to keep clams and sps that your lighting needs will be very different than if you just plan to keep softies.

overall just take it slow, if you had freshwater and didnt have much success that you will have a challenge keeping a Reef tank.

Also think about the little costs that are going to impact your budget, <u>good</u> test kits being one of them....test kits cost the same wether you have a 10 gallon tank or a 500 gallon tank..

$55 per gallon would be a great starting budget in my opinion.

 

[crew]

for a beginner the best plan is to find a successful system, go look at it, and ask tons of questions while you are there.

whats the point of having a skimmer if you don't know what a skimmer does and thus you use it incorrectly?

 

[brianjfinn]

Crew;583206 wrote: for a beginner the best plan is to find a successful system, go look at it, and ask tons of questions while you are there.

whats the point of having a skimmer if you don't know what a skimmer does and thus you use it incorrectly?

+1! There are tons of people on here that are willing to help out. I'm sure you can find one in your area.

 

[raisedonnintendo]

Would b honored to help u thru your first time. Please feel free to pm me. I may even b able to come by n help u setup. That's really the most important part

 

[burmtic]

Thanks for all the Replys, I really Appreciate it. I would like to have a decent size tank, I was thinking somthing like a 55 gallon would be good, but then that would require more sand and rock which would be more money then a smaller tank. Mainly i was going for somthing colorful with atleast a clown fish and a anenome of some sorts. I was told by some guy at a local petco that the Biocube kits where that best thing you could get to start off with, i was also thinking about investing in one of those too.

 

[hiimsean]

im still a noob and i;ve been researching for months. these are the steps i've done...

1) research
2) decided on a tank and equipment
3) research equipment
4) decide on what corals you want
5) research coral requirements
and so on. my setup has changed quite a few times even before getting wet. i want to do it right the first time so on most things you don't want to get the cheap stuff but used always helps same some money

 

[morganatlanta]

I just started a year ago, so I can't give you the wisdom of years of experience, but I can give you the perspective of someone who just went through the startup learning curve. So, being conscious that I am ignorant...

Read "The New Marine Aquarium" by Michael Paletta and follow his advice.

Read the forums here regularly.

Avoid anything overly complicated (various reactors, ultra-low nutrient systems, etc).

Buy everything used for your first system. That way, if you change your mind about something you can sell it here and probably get most of your money back. If you buy new and change your mind, you'll probably only get 50% back.

Buy mature live rock from a member here for roughly $2-$2.50/lb, including some rocks covered with polyps. That will give you a head start on having a mature-looking tank and give you some immediate gratification.

Stock fish lightly.

Don't buy API test kits.

People on this board will ask you "what are your goals for your tank"? My opinion is that you probably don't know enough to really have specific, reasonable goals for your tank, or to be able to make appropriate trade offs, so your real goal should be to get some experience and to have fun assembling, maintaining and playing with a tank-- without mis-spending a ton of money, or not putting together a naturally stable system and having it crash on you, or giving up before getting through the "new tank syndrome" stage.

Personally, if I had to do it again, knowing what I know now (which still ain't that much), I would buy a complete 50-75 gallon system used from this site, including tank, stand, lights, skimmer, pumps, sump, plumbing, etc. Then I'd buy live rock with some zoas and palys. Buy some colt, leather and kenya tree (all less than $20 on here), hermits and snails (10 for $10) and some easy fish like grammas and watchman gobies. All in I'd be around $1000, have a really nice "starter" setup, and be able to get most of my money back if I wanted to. Note when I say "starter" setup, I mean that relative to the members' tanks here-- the casual non-fish person who sees the tank will be like "wow! that's cool!". I'd run that for a while and then start tweaking and adding as I learned some things and wanted to try other things.

 

[brianjfinn]

Morgan, that's some of the best advice anyone can give!

Burmtic, the all-in-one systems are definitely not a bad place to start. You can get a decent one new or used for a fairly decent price. A 55 would require a little more, but would give you more stability, and would also give you more options in the future. However, you'll find a number of smaller cubes on this site that will make your jaw drop. Shop around and keep your eyes on the for sale section. I noticed you don't have enough posts yet to post in the classifieds section, but a good way to get your post count up is by asking any questions that come to mind. Basically, keep doing what you're doing!

 

[brianjfinn]

Speaking of...

 

[superclown]

Just remember a 55g is goingto take a lot more to add stock to than a nano if you get your tank goin i will frag you some yellow polyps no charge that spread fast

 

[crew]

it's better to save $ and start your tank in a year then go cheap on equipment and start it today.

if you are worried about cost, don't trade time for money. Example: you could buy a tetra 100w heater for roughly $10-$15 to heat your 30 gallon tank or you could get a stealth heater with a ranco temperature controller for around $100... clearly the tetra heater is much cheaper and its just a heater right?? whats the big deal?

In 6 months when the tetra sticks on and cooks everything in your tank you will be wishing you spent that $100.

Don't save money now and have it bite you in the butt later

that isn't to say that you can find deals all over the internet as well as through members here Just start with the basics of what you need (heater, skimmer, tank, sump (which you can build easily) etc etc) ask questions and watch videos from this guy..http://www.youtube.com/user/LimpitsReef">http://www.youtube.com/user/LimpitsReef</a>

he is kind of weird, but hey, we all are in some way. He knows his stuff.

 

[kemmer]

Crew;583317 wrote: it's better to save $ and start your tank in a year then go cheap on equipment and start it today.

+1 We all know how exciting it can be to first get into the hobby.

Do your best to resist the urge to make impulse decisions when you're new. Every reefer will make some impulse buy (be it fish, frag, or colony) at some point.

I'd also second the above thread about the 24G JBJ for sale. It's a great deal, esp. if you cannot drop the $1000+ to start a 55gal setup.

 

[cbj25]

if you really want to get something like a 55, I would start with something like a 20 long (a tank that you could easily turn into a sump after an upgrade) so you know if this hobby is for you and will hold your interest. if it does, you will soon become addicted like the rest of us and at that point you will have done a lot more research and know what corals you like with a better mind for planning your ideal 55+ gallon display. I started with a 29 gallon, now have a 65 and am plainning a 120 build currently. I continually try to set tanks up with equipment that I know I will be able to use for my next tank if i choose to do so.

 

[raisedonnintendo]

JeF4y;583176 wrote: budget is a big starting point... and something to keep in mind, a nano tank can be far more difficult to maintain and keep healthy than a larger tank because everything happens fast in a small water quantity. Quality declines fast, temperature changes fast, etc etc. With more water you have more 'wiggle room'.

If I were spending your money, I'd start with something in the 50 gallon range. Most of the time you can get entire setups used and fairly cheap.

Just my thoughts... Give us some more info and we can narrow things down for you.

+1 a 55g even new u can get for 55$ at that super mega store. Buy a hang on the back filter like aqua clear 100. I bought a viper mh for mine used it need a new bulb though for 100$. N u r already doing better then a bio cube. Not to mention it's more stable with more water that's very important to when u r starting off. Also u can pick up rock for it at 1$-2$ a pound all the time keep your eyes open.

 

[raisedonnintendo]

Oh n here's 1 very important choice to make b4 u start. If you don't mind pests n love thy bristle worms. Aptasia, star fish etc. Then start off with live rock n by large colobus of corals. It will help jump start your system. But if your the other side of things there is very specific orders to do things. Like never use live rock or frags on it spend the time to remove frags from there rocks and attach to yours. Dip dip dip everything. Also think about critters u want know b 4 u even add water. Trust me this really helps if u want something like a engineer goby n the future. You would want to place your rock on the bottom of the tank b 4 u add sand. Or he could have a cave n latter. 20+ years exp has taught me a lot o tricks but I still learn so much here on arc just keep doing what your doing n asking. But always try n get some facts if u can remember we all have our opinions