I'm a Rookie - I need some Tank setup pointers

Best plug and play for you.

Is there much of a difference between the C series and the 130D  

I see a used Red Sea MAX 130D is available.

A tank up to 40 gal is easy. Because it's the Live Sand, Live Rock, coral, algae and Live Water that filter the tank, a simple "box of water" needs no other outside means of filtration. Honestly. So that makes a reef tank very affordable. Look at this simple setup.



Powerheads to move the water and a light to help when the sun isn't shining. See the Reefkeeping Tips link below for more helpful information about setup.

Aloha,
Mark 

I agree with Adam, go visit some members homes and look at a few set up tanks, my opinion is that if you go too small as a rookie (under 30) you can run into problems fast, for example something dies, the water has less buffer to deal with it (dilution is a solution to pollution), when things go bad in a small tank they can go bad fast, the smaller water volume is less forgiving and can be more difficult to maintain optimal water parameters for certain corals . My 65gallon has been much easier than the two smaller tanks I had, this being said, a lot of it depends on the types of corals and life you want in your system, If you like macro algae, soft corals, lps, zoas, etc., then I think you can set up a pretty low maintenance system without a lot of fancy (aka expensive) equipment,  no fancy lights, no reactors, get by without a ro/di water filtration, get by without an automated dosing system, or even a skimmer but if you want a low nutrient sps dominate tank without macro in the display, it's a lot harder without some of the things I mentioned and thus the maintenance aspect goes up as you need to clean, change, test, monitior, and maintain all that equipment, so look at some systems and that can give you a great idea of what kind of system you want to end up with long term.

Edited by Bryce - June 23 2014 at 11:49am

I'm opposite of Bryce I have always loved my small tanks and hated when I had larger tanks. Granted you can run into trouble faster in a small tank.