[Helenblay2005]

Hi
I m looking into starting a marine tank. I'm a complete beginner and have only kept goldfish in the past. I am fascinated in the marine environment. Would you recommend starting with marine fish. I understand it isn't as hard as people make out if you follow the rules. Can you recommend a tank make? and what size to start with? Do I start small or bigger? I would like reef and fish .
Thank you
Helen

 

[JDP1988]

Well Helen for starts depends on your budget and how much responsibility you want for maintenance. Bigger tanks of 55 gallon or more is recommended because evaporation and raise in salinity gravity. So how much work you wanna do is one question you ask yourself and how much I want to spend because this hobby does get expensive.

 

[Helenblay2005]

Thanks. I'm all in for the hard work. I would like a big tank was looking at Red Sea max 250 but seeing mixed reviews on them at the moment.

 

[JDP1988]

If you going all in make sure you do it right the first time far as choosing equipment and setup. After the setup its all about the maintenance from there on. Research before final decision. Dont do the newbie mistake like I did where I went in head first and not researching everything. So now I just see it as a learning experience and not thinking about how stupid I was and could of done better. That's that and on to subject. Craigslist best to start try to find someone getting out of the hobby and selling a full operational system or just see if you can find tanks for less then spending thousands on a big setup. Just some thought.

 

[SaltyBiker]

Well Helen for starts depends on your budget and how much responsibility you want for maintenance. Bigger tanks of 55 gallon or more is recommended because evaporation and raise in salinity gravity. So how much work you wanna do is one question you ask yourself and how much I want to spend because this hobby does get expensive.

There again we are talking about budgets and money but auto top offs fix that little problem. Its all about how much you wanna spend and to spend more in the beginning will pay off later instead of going the cheap route then having to re-buy something better later.
I dont recomend a 55 for a reef, they are too narrowand hard to work around rock work during cleaning. If you want larger but not huge I suggest 75 gallons. 50 gallon bow front tanks are nice as well.
I recently sold a 50 gallon bow front and now currently have my 30 gallon tall tank and a 4 gallon pico tank. Set it up right, have a good spacious sump, and stay on top of maintanence and any size tank will thrive.

 

[guitarherowanab]

i would start by reading the thread linked in my signature. it is a long read, but it explains a ton of things you will need to know. after you read through it, you will get a good idea of more specific questions to ask. :thumbup:

when i was first researching, i looked at the red sea maxes, as well. they seemed like a nice, neat, easy package. as i researched more, though, i discovered some shortcomings of these systems. the biggest being that they dont have a sump. granted, there are reefers out there keeping grat tanks without sumps, but imho it takes more effort. a sump is a tank that is usually placed in the stand below the display and it holds all the equipment like heaters and skimmers or any other things yo may want to add, but most importantly, provides additional water volume to the system.

i think as recently as a year or so ago, most recommendations wer that a 75g was a great beginner tank, but i have read a few threads recently where peole are loving a 40g breeder. that is what im starting with.

a ro/di unit is the first purchase you should budget for. (www.spectrapure.com is the gold standard. the maxpure 90gpd is the one ya want) this is gonna ensure you are starting with pure watr and not adding any nitrates, chloramines, phosphates, or other nasties to your water.

i know it is a lot to take in, but just keep askin questions and eventually itll sink in. it is definately good that your here asking questions before buying and setting up anything.

 

[Helenblay2005]

Hi All

I bought a aqua reef 275l cube. so any ideas the best way to set up? I want to drill holes in back of cabinet to stop condensation but after that has anyone got any thoughts or ideas on best way to set up?

Thanks

 

[guitarherowanab]

ok, read a few descriptions of the system. couple things jumped out.

1. the only circulation seems like the return pump so you will probably want a powerhead or two. hydor koralias are good.

2. you probably dont want to use any filter media in the sump. the only thing you need down there for filtering is the skimmer.


i did a quick search and pulled up some threads on a few different forums talking about these tanks and some setup issues. didnt appear as if there were any major issues.
other than that, i havent heard of them before(there is probably a lot of stuff i havent heard of before......lol). it seems like its only available in the UK?

good luck and post some more questions when ya get it and see what ya have!

 

[Helenblay2005]

Your a star! I have already bought some power heads to circulate the water and was thinking of live rock in the sump which is already purchased too! I'm looking forward to Sunday and will let u know how I get on .

 

[Princess_of_Power]

How exciting! Have you any ideas of what fish you would like to keep?
Helen

 

[guitarherowanab]

live rock in the sump .

you can do this, but remember it will be one more thing to keep clean. it will just make the sump harder to siphon out than if it was empty or just had the skimmer and heater. you really dont need all that much rock. about 1lb per gallon. then more if you want purely for aesthetics.

if you are really patient, id see if there were anywhere to get dry base rock. thats what im using to start my tank. some pros are that you will not get any bad hitchhikers such as aptasia, mantis shrimp, or fireworms. you can take your time aquascaping and really get it right before you put any water in.

cons would be that itll take longer to get the bacteria colonies established and to cycle your tank. you wont get any cool hitchhikers.

most of the cool things that come on live rock can be added later though. www.ipsf.com has a bunch of cool things, along with the coralline booster plates to get that going.

 

[Helenblay2005]

Not sure about fish yet! My Lfs is great and have a wide variety. But I'm hoping you guys can point me in right directions too!

 

[SaltyBiker]

if you are really patient, id see if there were anywhere to get dry base rock. thats what im using to start my tank. some pros are that you will not get any bad hitchhikers such as aptasia, mantis shrimp, or fireworms. you can take your time aquascaping and really get it right before you put any water in.

cons would be that itll take longer to get the bacteria colonies established and to cycle your tank. you wont get any cool hitchhikers.
quote]

Unfortunately you risk hitchikers good and bad anytime you add anything. Coral frag? They can have aptasia, crabs, and things all nestled in them and you may never know. Some people dip their corals but personally I like hitchikers of the good nature. I had rather take the risk and deal with the bad accordingly if they come. Just my ways and thoughts on it.

 

[guitarherowanab]

Not sure about fish yet! My Lfs is great and have a wide variety. But I'm hoping you guys can point me in right directions too!

check out www.liveaquaria.com they have good descriptions of a wide variety of fish and inverts with a compatibility chart. they list the min tank size, care level, aggressiveness, and the degree to which an animal is reef safe. itll give ya a general idea of what will be compatible.

 

[Geoff]

sorry i am late to the party, but,

Welcome to TRT!!

:wavey:

have you read through the Reefkeeping made Easy thread yet?

G~

 

[Cleverbs]

if you are really patient, id see if there were anywhere to get dry base rock. thats what im using to start my tank. some pros are that you will not get any bad hitchhikers such as aptasia, mantis shrimp, or fireworms. you can take your time aquascaping and really get it right before you put any water in.

cons would be that itll take longer to get the bacteria colonies established and to cycle your tank. you wont get any cool hitchhikers.
quote]

Unfortunately you risk hitchikers good and bad anytime you add anything. Coral frag? They can have aptasia, crabs, and things all nestled in them and you may never know. Some people dip their corals but personally I like hitchikers of the good nature. I had rather take the risk and deal with the bad accordingly if they come. Just my ways and thoughts on it.

Rethink that because wait till you have a 75g tank and have to kill all your rock because you didn't dip corals and have a coral eating pest. It is the worst don't risk it. Hitchhikers suck there's nothing good about them and there's nothing you can get as a hitchhiker that you can't buy for a few $$. I will never use live rock or not dip my corals again. Also I remove corals from frags now if all possible.

 

[SaltyBiker]

Rethink that because wait till you have a 75g tank and have to kill all your rock because you didn't dip corals and have a coral eating pest. It is the worst don't risk it. Hitchhikers suck there's nothing good about them and there's nothing you can get as a hitchhiker that you can't buy for a few $$. I will never use live rock or not dip my corals again. Also I remove corals from frags now if all possible.

Been in the hobby 15 years and largest reef tank ive had was 120 gallon showcase tank and have had all the good and bad happen over the years. I understand where your coming from but to me and my opinion its the nature of the beast and the risk you take if you want LR over dry rock. I am very trusting of my supplier for LR and they havent done me wrong yet. Granted I wouldnt just throw any piece of LR from any LFS or private tank in my tank, I am OCD selective of my stock. I am however a fan of dipping certain coral for sure. It is just safe and if anybody has lost an expensive piece over a pest I am sure you agree it is worth a dip.

 

[Helenblay2005]

Get my tank on Sunday get a bit nervous now. As I've read people have had a leak as they have set up tank differently and it's noisy

 

[Princess_of_Power]

I'm sure it will be absolutely wonderful...the only downside of the tinternet is that people will always write about a bad experience...and rarely write about the good ones! Good luck!