QuoteReplyTopic: Beginning Posted: December 22 2010 at 6:11am
I am interested in starting a saltwater fist tank. The only problem is... I don't know where to begin. I have browsed the forums looking over what everyone is saying, and I gotta say I'm a little confused (cause of my beginnerness lol). Could someone recommend a website to help me understand what is needed for a decent size fish tank, 25-55 gallons. I am constantly reading what people post for their equipment, so if any1 can explain what is needed or show me where to find out, I would greatly appreciate it. I understand that one would need a tank (duh), but I havent a clue what a protein skimmer is and such, and what filtration system to use, and yada yada yada. Thanks to all who respond. I will google most of this, but I just wanted to post something lol.
Where are you located? The best thing you can do is drop by someone's house to see their aquarium and talk about your plans. There is likely someone close that would love to have a visit to talk fish! They can give you an idea of what it tanks to maintain a healthy SW aquarium in terms of time, money and knowledge.
This will also give you a chance to see the equipment, learn the names and functions and see the size of everything. This becomes important when you begin choosing a location for you tank.
A short visit will save you hours of internet posting and likely hundreds of dollars in unnecessary purchases. Of course, you can always visit the local fish stores - they will have a variety of tanks set up - from smallish (nano) to very large (300 + gal).
I myself am a non-fiction book guy and I love to read manuals (I know, kinda weird). I was told to go out and buy the Conscientious Marine Aquarist by Fenner and Aquarium Corals by Borneman. The first one helped me out a ton when trying to get familiar with this hobby and I would recommend it to any beginner. The second one helped me identify and get a broad idea of the different husbandry needs of coral.
Shane's idea is a great one too. However, everyone has there own way of doing things so try and go to a whole bunch of peoples house and if you think us reefers will be uncomfortable with it, think again. Most of us love showing off our systems!
Like was said, there are lots of ways of getting started. If I were to start all over again I would probably try to start off with a simple setup just to get used to caring for a marine environment. There's lots of good deals on biocubes right now and they're a great set up to start with. Eventually you'll want to upgrade, but it's easier to start small and go big.
I Disagree with Starting out with a small tank,, A Larger tank is WAY More Forgiving To A Beginner,, My Sugestion is<<<
75--to---90 Gallon, Very Forgiving for the beginner, gives you more time to deal with Salt Water (science) Issues, a nano tank up to a 55 in my opinion is a lot Harder To Adjust Perimeters than A Larger Tank, And also, YOU WILL Be Addicted to this Beautiful Salt Water hobbie!!!,, so in the long run, you will have already set up the right size tank for a long time,, You need to read all the Posts you Can, and figure out which lighting system you want,, (YOU WANT), what kinda base (substrate) be it sand,, (my opinion Would be Sand), or crushed coral, OR>>>,,, get your 75--or--90 Gallon Tank Set up Where you Want it(CAUSE THEY ARE HARD TO MOVE ONCE SET UP) ADD SUBSTRATE (SAND) Add Water (salt mix) get your self an In exspensive hydrometer, (refractometer) Adjust your Salinity (salt Mix Ratio to water) 1.021---1.024 Reading on the hydrometer,, Add 1 Piece of Live rock (small) and start reading on the tank Cycles, For you Have Approx,, 8--10 Weeks with a boring Aquarium setup, BUT!!!! This is part of the Hobby!!!!!
Patience Patience--- PATIENCE!!!!read all you can,, Make this Hobby Fun,, OR,, You will Kill Beautiful Critters, And Waste Lots Of Money,,,This is my opinion, There Are lots of people on these sites With Lots More Information,, I Have been Doing Salt Water For 13--16 YRS!!, And im still learning Everyday,, SO,, If you Have Any (SPECIFIC Questions ) Email Me or Pm me,, I would love to Help
REMEMBER
PATIENCE PATIENCE IS KEY To this Hobby IF you want to be successful!!!!!
By way of a disclaimer, I've only been in the hobby for a year so I'm certainly not an expert. Take what I say with a grain of salt. I agree with dmcrete in that starting with a larger tank is more forgiving. I started with a 90-gallon and I'm now on my second one (my wife says I have to get rid of one so let me know if you are interested). I also agree with Shane H. that visiting people's houses to see their tank is helpful. As Sculpin recommends, I found Aquarium Corals by Borneman to be very helpful. I would also recommend starting your reading with Marine Aquariums by Jeff Kurtz and David Boruchowitz. It was recommended to me by Shawn, the owner of Aquatica in Orem, and I found it very readable and helpful. You are welcome to borrow my copy if you're interested.
One other piece of advice, be cautious of what you read on forums. I have found this one to be very informative and helpful but I've become very cautious of what I read on other forums, especially the non-local ones. I would also suggest visiting some local stores and getting to know them. For what it's worth, I've had very good experiences with Aquatica in Orem, Marine Aquatics in Murray and Aquatic Dreams in Clearfield. You're welcome to PM me with any questions and you're welcome to stop by and see my tanks if you want.
It would be good to know what your budget, time and space constraints are. We can suggest a 90g tank (maybe the perfect size tank for a beginning fish/reef tank) but if you are renting upstairs in a studio apartment on a student budget and recently married - well, we could steer you into all sorts of trouble.
Mark Peterson has a thread he's linked through his signature on all his posts. Excellent information covering the critical basics of understanding the hobby.
My other advice:
Buy used to start. New equipment (especially the tank) will be double if not more of what you can get used. This also limits the "hurt" if you change your mind about something. www.ksl.com is good to watch in the classifieds.
There is no perfect system. There are many ways to keep a successful tank - dont' be confused or discouraged by the variations, but instead choose a path that fits your time, space and financial resources and make it your own.
Take Mark's advice on the Utah Sand and Utah Rock. It'll save you and absolute fortune.
Enjoy the journey. SW and reef tanks aren't a destination. They are a process and a continual project if you let them be. If you lack patience and want a showpiece next week, this is the wrong hobby. Slow and steady. Only bad things happen fast in the reef world.
Come back often. If you throw out ideas about what you want to do 24 hours before you do it, you are almost guaranteed to get a half-dozen valid, helpful responses that may help you refine your idea - or even avoid disaster.
Sarting. To even start, you have to own:
Hydrometer
SW Test kit (Nitrate, Phosphate, Calcium, Alkalinity)
Thermometer
digital camera (phone camera or whatever)
When you come here for help, you will invariably be asked to provide your water parameters and to post a picture of your setup and/or your specific topic of concern. I'd say 80% of the questions posted have their answers delayed because they don't include the basic troubleshooting data required. People here are extremely helpful, but they can't give good answers without good information.
I agree that a 90 gallon is more forgiving with changes in the system, but it's also more demanding in upkeep, equipment and supplies. For someone just getting involved in the hobby, it's very easy to get burned out on a large system, which is probably why you do see a lot of turnover in this hobby as well.
I think a biocube is a great set up to start with because:
1- You have all the equipment included in the system so you can start out without having to worry too much about what pieces of equipment to buy or not to buy. With so many differing opinions on equipment, it's really easy for someone new to the hobby to get confused.
2- Plug and play. Instead of worrying about learning how to plumb or rigging up 10 pieces of equipment without shocking yourself, you plug it into one outlet and let her rip.
3- Easily upgradable. Want to try new LED tech.... go for it. Want to try MH? Go for it. Want to convert the back to a refugium... go for it. Fairly simple to do and also fairly cheap to do.
4- Size. Yes, smaller tanks can have bigger swings in water quality generally but smaller tanks are easy to correct. You can also keep quite a few critters and corals without problems.
5- Ease of maintenance. I've seen people crash 100+ gallon tanks just as much as smaller tanks. But for someone that's new, you can easily do a 5-10 gallon water change vs a 20-30 gallon change on a larger system. You don't have to have a fish room. If you find you need to start dosing it doesn't cost you as much to dose 10-30 gallons of water as it does 75-90 gallons. You rarely need specialized equipment like calcium reactors just to keep things in check. And cleaning the tank will only take a short amount of time.
6- Cost: Heck, you'll save quite a bit of money with just the cost of salt. What about cost of LR and sand.... Decide you need more flow? There are koralia nanos here on the board for $15 vs $40 that you'll need for a used Koralia 4. You'll always pay about 3-4x's more for equipment, additives, etc for a 90g tank than you will for a biocube.
7- Value. A biocube that is well maintained will hold it's value better than your typical 75-90g tank. Like was said, you can buy a used 90g tank for about 1/3 of the cost of a new tank. Try selling your 90g system for what you put into it and people will just laugh at you. Biocubes generally sale a lot closer to their purchase price than most tanks I've seen. Or try Red Sea Max.... They retain value very well.
You're new to the hobby. It's easy to see large systems and go, "Whoa.... I want that." But let's face it. People are investing thousands of dollars into those systems. Anything bigger than 100 gallons and you will be spending tens of thousands of dollars.
Why not start off simple and get used to reef-keeping. See if you like it. Then if you decide that a biocube is too small, it's always easy to spend more money and upgrade in the future. Plus, you're more likely to know what you want in the new large system.
Let's say you decide you don't like the hobby... at least you can get out without getting completely hosed if you go with a biocube.
*P.s. I am not affiliated nor do I receive compensation from my expressed views by biocube, red sea max or any other all in one system manufacturers. Heck, I don't currently own one... I have a 90gallon*
I Disagree with Starting out with a small tank,, A Larger tank is WAY More Forgiving To A Beginner,, My Sugestion is<<<
75--to---90 Gallon, Very Forgiving for the beginner, gives you more time to deal with Salt Water (science) Issues, a nano tank up to a 55 in my opinion is a lot Harder To Adjust Perimeters than A Larger Tank, And also, YOU WILL Be Addicted to this Beautiful Salt Water hobbie!!!,, so in the long run, you will have already set up the right size tank for a long time,, You need to read all the Posts you Can, and figure out which lighting system you want,, (YOU WANT), what kinda base (substrate) be it sand,, (my opinion Would be Sand), or crushed coral, OR>>>,,, get your 75--or--90 Gallon Tank Set up Where you Want it(CAUSE THEY ARE HARD TO MOVE ONCE SET UP) ADD SUBSTRATE (SAND) Add Water (salt mix) get your self an In exspensive hydrometer, (refractometer) Adjust your Salinity (salt Mix Ratio to water) 1.021---1.024 Reading on the hydrometer,, Add 1 Piece of Live rock (small) and start reading on the tank Cycles, For you Have Approx,, 8--10 Weeks with a boring Aquarium setup, BUT!!!! This is part of the Hobby!!!!!
Patience Patience--- PATIENCE!!!!read all you can,, Make this Hobby Fun,, OR,, You will Kill Beautiful Critters, And Waste Lots Of Money,,,This is my opinion, There Are lots of people on these sites With Lots More Information,, I Have been Doing Salt Water For 13--16 YRS!!, And im still learning Everyday,, SO,, If you Have Any (SPECIFIC Questions ) Email Me or Pm me,, I would love to Help
REMEMBER
PATIENCE PATIENCE IS KEY To this Hobby IF you want to be successful!!!!!
One thing's for sure.. theres no one correct answer. vadryn said time, space and budget. Think very very hard about everyone of those (except space) you can always through the kitchen table out!!! I myself have a... awe who cares... no influence. If I could offer one word of advice it would be to listen to people on this fourm. They have helped me through the phase of "just through the whole ##!$%$$#@!@@#$$ in the trash i'm so frustrated".. Don't worry you'll cross those roads also. (RSM 130 and loving it)
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dmcrete wrote:
