New to saltwater

[eguiyab]

Hello everyone. I have been reading info on this great site for sometime now and I figured that it would be best just to join the wonderful community. I have been fasinated by fish most of my life and have kept freshwater well for many years. I have gone through a few tanks, 10g, 20g and now 33g. My tank measures 36long x 12deep x 18tall. From what I remember that is 33g... if not please correct me.
I currently have some live sand, a fluval 301 powerhead and an emperor biowheel filter. I also have the usual florescent light strip and heater. I recently a few months ago tried to keep some fish in this tank to no success. I have one clown fish and a yellow tang which died about a few weeks later. I assumed it was to my inadequte filtration and lighting.
I am looking to start up again and do it properly but my big question is should I stay with my current tank or upgrade to a 90g???? I will be getting some PC lighting and looking into a protein skimmer regardless of tank size. And slowly building up some live rock. Will there be any significant issues or limitations that I will encounter by staying with the smaller tank ? I would like to keep some coral's and fish in the tank.
For someone starting slow what is the best advice? What first??? I figured

1. Live Rock - How many pounds? Any specific type??
2. Lights - How many watts?? 2x96 or 1 x 55/65/95 enough?
3. Protein skimmer - Completly necessary? What kind?

[skeety]

First off...a very sincere WELCOME!!!

You've just taken the most important step to a healthy tank! you joined TRT!
hehehe

Seriously, you're gonna love it here...everyone is SO nice and helpful! Glad to have you with us!

now...on to your questions.

First...I'd always recommend a bigger tank. Get the biggest one you can afford! hehe. Funds and location/room should be the only limitations to the size of your tank.

The more water volume, the easier this will be (or the longer it'll be until you have problems..heheh)

the 33 will be fine...but you'll find in a few shorts months, that you'll wish you had a bigger tank. however, there are a lot of people on here who have AMAZING nano (small) tanks. So it's purley a preference thing. however..I do suggest that anything else you buy (lights/skimmer/etc), you keep in mind that someday (sooner than you think), you'll end up with a bigger tank. So instead of buying a skimmer rated for a 33 gallon tank, maybe buy one rated for much more! (you can't over skim).

Now...as for Live rock...general rule is .75-1.5 pounds per gallon. It depends on how pourous the rock is. The more porous (bumpy/grooved), the less you need. Generally, I tend to just shoot for a pound per gallon.

Lights...hard question to answer. This depends ENTIRELY on what you want to keep in the tank. If you don't want any corals (fish only), then you're regular florescent lights will be fine. If you do want corals...then what type? Some of the SPS/stonies require very intense lighting, so you'd want to go with Metal Halide lights. If you want the LPS/soft corals, then you won't need as much light, but still somewhat intense. So you could get away with PC (power compact) or VHO (very high output) lights.

Skimmer...another hard question to answer. Suffice it to say that THIS is where you do NOT want to skimp. My suggestion (and many to follow), is to get the best skimmer you can buy! The better the skimmer, the easier everything will be in the long run. Crappy skimmer means very frequent water changes, algae problems, melting corals, etc. One of our sponsors has what are considered to be one of the best line of skimmers available. Check them out: My Reef Creations

My biggest suggestion, is to buy and read this book: Aquarium Corals (even if you just plan on Fish only, there is some excellent information in this book) and look at our suggested books for more.

Read, research, and ask lots of questions on here. Everyone is very helpful, eager to share information, and help your tank.

Welcome again!! Glad to have you!

[skeety]

Also...it's gonne be hard...but try to learn from our mistake.

Almost everyone on here, tried to be patient, but broke down and bought something/added something/changed something without waiting or doing the proper research, and has either killed something, screwed something up, or wasted lots of money.

It's a rite of passage in this hobby.

I'm sure you'll do the same at some point...but please fight it as best you can.

Do the research and ask the questions PRIOR to taken any steps.

Once you've decided on your tank size and initial equipment, before adding ANYTHING, do a search on here for "Cycle" or "Cycling". It takes the tank a considerable amount of time to become ready for actual livestock, and you'll need to understand everything behind the initial cycle of the tank.

[Doug1]

Ditto what Skeety said, the Nitrogen cycle in saltwater gets more complex and critical than with FW tanks, take the time to understand it all as well as pH/Alk, calcium, etc

Patience is the key here, You have to have patience

A large tank is nice but smaller tanks can be kept successfully if you have patience

My advice is st plan what you want to keep, then figure out what it will take systemwise to keeep them healthy

Plan Plan and replan before committing to a course of action

[pnkpanther]

if you dont upgrade size of tank, NO TANGS

just too small.

and WELCOME to TRT

[VWD]

Welcome !!!

[tims]

Welcome to TRT!

you have good advice so far!...
here is something to wet your mind while you think over what you want to do

[eguiyab]

Thanks everyone for the quick replys. I just came from my local fish store also and been asking around. They had a beautiful 40g tall tank with corals and fish. after talking with one of the sale reps he seemed to know what he was talking about. He said I could start out with just some live rock and a protein skimmer. That would be enough for some fish once things were settled and then if i upgraded the light later corals would be an option. I think as a begginer this is the way im gonna go. Save some money on the start up and as i get better move onto the larger tank. once i get a hang of monitoring and taking care of this new marine tank ill move on. Im so excited.... cant wait to get this tank up and clean and ready to go!

[mapster]

Originally Posted by eguiyab

Thanks everyone for the quick replys. I just came from my local fish store also and been asking around. They had a beautiful 40g tall tank with corals and fish. after talking with one of the sale reps he seemed to know what he was talking about. He said I could start out with just some live rock and a protein skimmer. That would be enough for some fish once things were settled and then if i upgraded the light later corals would be an option. I think as a begginer this is the way im gonna go. Save some money on the start up and as i get better move onto the larger tank. once i get a hang of monitoring and taking care of this new marine tank ill move on. Im so excited.... cant wait to get this tank up and clean and ready to go!

Sounds like an excellent plan! Welcome to TRT and good luck.

MAP

[Phishnoob]

I would call up marine depot and see if they have any of those closeout PC upgrades for your standard tube laying around. We kept anenomes, softies and the tank looked great under those things.

However, if I was in your position I would figure out how much rock is needed and cure it all at once and spend any money left on a protein skimmer. If you are going sumpless an Aqua C remora pro with a mag 3 pump is 140 bucks or so from some of our sponsors. If you get a sump or external skimmer folks can help you out.

Ditch any bio balls or external filters and put in the rock then just wait and read..trust me it builds character along with the profanity waiting an eternity.

Go slow and post before you whip out the credit card is my advice...and not from research as I learned a lot from doing stupid things.

Welcome to TRT!!!!

[eguiyab]

So I just finished building a new stand for my tank and this is what I've got going on so far. Got a new protein skimmer from saline solutions. getting my water all setup and i just found someone who is selling off a compact florescent 2x55w light fixture near my area. Also he's got a 250w metal halide retro kit he's letting go for cheap. So looking to pick those up. Now would just the metal halide do ?? or both would be better?
i got a stupid question and it always confuses me - whats the diff between power compact and compact florescent?? are they the same thing?? interchangeable terms?? What should i be looking out for when buying used lighting equipment???

[johnc]

For a really cheap system go to www.aquatraders.com they have really good prices. What I know is that they are the same. T-5's may be considered power compact.

[johnc]

You don't need halides if it's going to be a FO (fish only) or FOWLR (fish only with live rock)

[reef_noob]

Now would just the metal halide do ?? or both would be better?
-- 250w mh would be fine, but you might end up wanting to supplement with actinic fluorescent if you get a low kelvin bulb as they tend to be pretty yellow.

whats the diff between power compact and compact florescent??
--same thing

What should i be looking out for when buying used lighting equipment???
-- Find out what temperature the bulb(s) are (most likely 6500k, 10000k, 14,000k or 20,000k). Find out how long the bulbs have been run, you'll probably want to replace bulbs that have been run regularly for more than a year. Look at the condition of the fixture, check for salt creep and corrosion in the connections.

[Loverotties]

Welcome to TRT and Like people are saying go slowwwww!!!