Reef Noob Please Let Me Barrow Your Expertise

[Fish Eat Fish]

what is base rock? im assuming its just "dead" live rock and its cheaper? I just want a tank that has a wall of coral in the back and has a few cool fish and inverts. Im ok with the work needed and everything but price is my issue. Room is also a problem so a 30 and a sump is not doable.

How much will the 30 be for this type of setup?

[holyscoly]

on a 30 gallon it really depends on what type of rock you get i really like haitain rock
its light weight very porous has great shapes and best of all u can probably get it like anywere from 3.50-5.00 bucks a pound if you go with the haitain you can probaly put like 15- 20 lbs and it will look awsome

[dobejazz]

Originally Posted by Fish Eat Fish

what is base rock? im assuming its just "dead" live rock and its cheaper? I just want a tank that has a wall of coral in the back and has a few cool fish and inverts. Im ok with the work needed and everything but price is my issue. Room is also a problem so a 30 and a sump is not doable.

How much will the 30 be for this type of setup?

yes thats it I'm not sure on the prices but alot of people lately have said they are happy with www.marcorocks.com

I would still suggest the 30 even if it's sumpless over starting smaller. I started with a 24g and it worked out great as a starter tank for me

[Fish Eat Fish]

what if i did like a 30 tank with a 10 gal reef fuge? then i could have "bigger" fish in the 30

[dobejazz]

Originally Posted by Fish Eat Fish

what if i did like a 30 tank with a 10 gal reef fuge? then i could have "bigger" fish in the 30

Not bigger for the most part but possibly more smaller fish. The problem with big marine fish is they require lots of swimming room and they tend to get really big rather quickly

[Fish Eat Fish]

well would that work out well? i wouldnt need to buy tons of live rock and i would have the extra water to help keep things stable. or would it not be enough live rock to filter that water? Im just trying to figure out the best solution for my $$ problem.

[Fish Eat Fish]

also if i dont do the epensive lights will any flo lights work? the more light the better?
Is it just the amount of light or the type of light?

[Fish Eat Fish]

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[Fat Tony]

as far as lighting goes. it is the type of light, amount of light, temperature (in degrees Kelvin) of the light . for a 30 gallon, i would look into a smaller T5 HO fixture (you can probably get one for 150-200 for complete setup. For Rock, i would just order a few pieces of Marco Rock, and and get a piece of cured live rock to seed it with. i'd go with a shallow sand bed (1-2") and a powerhead with at least 400 gph of flow. you don't need a fuge, but i would go with at least a 10 gal sump (20 gal would be better) to put a smaller protien skimmer in (like the Octopus HOT http://www.marinesolutionsinc.com/ca...products_id=89 or AquaC Remora) and a small return pump (like the Eheim1048 http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_ViewIt...ct~EH1048.html ). go with a Lifereef HOT overflow (or prefilter box as they call them the 600 gph will work fine in you tank). Hope that helps

[Fish Eat Fish]

Thanks alot for all the info guys. What about a Oceanic Bio Cube? At first i figured these were just kind of goofy and expensive but after seeing how much the lighting will cost they look alot better. There is a 14 Gal Bio Cube at my LFS for $170 which is very reasonable. do these work? It seems like it would save me alot of money and with some modifications be a nice set up. What do you guys think? Do these work alright? Good mods? Will the light support much for my reef?

[tony0980]

I have a 24g aqua-pod and would recommend it to anyone wanting a smaller tank. I have had good luck with it, and you can get it with metal halides or PC. I think you should be able to get one for under $300, even for the MH version

[wyliecoyote]

i ran a 30 for five years with a three inch sand bed maybe twelve pounds of live rock, and a ten gallon for a sump that was about half full of a mix of sand, crushed coral and shells. I had two 175 watt halides centered side by side. I kept a sailfin tang, regal tang, coral beauty, six line wrasse, algae blenny, and a neon dottyback. I had a ton of circulation and skimmed with a prism. I had a lot of macro in my sump and kept it lit 24-7. In the five years I probably only did a half dozen water changes. I fed less than once a week. I grew clams and sps. I would absolutely not suggest that you do any of what I just said. oh, I fogot to mention that I topped off with tap water. Anyway, I would not run anything smaller than a 30 and I would not put the extreme fish load into it that I did. When the tank finally crashed it was sudden and extreme. I was in the process of setting up my 100 gallon at the time and was very lucky. Anyway, you can buy base rock for less than 2 dollars a pound here. It will work just fine. Power compact lighting is probably the best way to go if you are looking for the most bang for your buck. I prefer the look of vho to pc, but it's a little more expensive. what is your budget? I have done a lot of dyi lighting projects in the past including vho and mh. Good luck.

[Fish Eat Fish]

im very much into DIY so if anyone knows away to get good light cheap with a little elbow grease let me know. My buget depends on how cool it looks and how stupid I am on the day of the purchase ha ha. What do you guys think about the bio cubes though? With the stock lighting and an extra skimmer modded on? Maybe a nice powerhead? 10 lbs base and 5-10 live? Would that let me get my feet wet for a low price while still letting me have some good options on what i keep in there? I dont want all that many fish. A clown and maybe some other tiny little thing and then some cool small crabs and the rest coral and anemones. Does that seem like it would work to you guys?

[Fish Eat Fish]

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[Fish Eat Fish]

would these grow lights work?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Compact-T5-FLUOR...QQcmdZViewItem