Hey what's up everyone!! Well after long hours of looking around and procrastinating about a setup, I have decided to start it up by the end of August. I went to The Fish Store and More today and was pretty psyched about the entire setup, but was also a little skeptical due to the vast amount of things needed for a setup. I am looking to start up a FOWLR, and hopefully it'll be between 90-125 gallons. Besides the tank, can someone on the forum give me a list of what will be needed for my setup? Also, would it be smarter for me to purchase used or should I just by everything new? If it doesn't matter, does anyone have anything that I would need that I can purchase off of them? Thanks for any input you all and I look forward to hearing what everyone has to say!!
Starting up by end of this month!!
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808 Posts
im a used buyer for most things mainly non-electronic items.
you need:
money
tank,stand
lights. depends on what type of tank and inhabitants for what kind of lights
heater, dont skimp here. i reccomend ebojager at the minimum
power strip, gfi protected
money
pumps
filter or sump of some sort
skimmer, dont skimp here either, agood new one will cost allmost as much as the tank
sand
rock
inverts
more money
that should get you started
hope this helps
Brandon & Kelly
you need:
money
tank,stand
lights. depends on what type of tank and inhabitants for what kind of lights
heater, dont skimp here. i reccomend ebojager at the minimum
power strip, gfi protected
money
pumps
filter or sump of some sort
skimmer, dont skimp here either, agood new one will cost allmost as much as the tank
sand
rock
inverts
more money
that should get you started
hope this helps
Brandon & Kelly
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1,688 Posts
i have done both new and used setups new is always more fun . but if you are the patient type you can watch ebay and the classifieds here and on some of the other bulletin boards and get some fantastic deals on reef related products. i have seen 120s with all the equipment go for 1000.00. my advice is take your time and buy all your pieces seperate. buy the best products you can afford. talk to other reefers who have the kind of set up your looking for. watch out for advice from eager fish store employees . you will need a good skimmer there are plenty of good ones out there one of the sponsers here makes a great one www.myreefcreations.com you will need a sump and a return pump for the sump. you would also be wise to get a decent light setup because if your like any of us you will want to try your hand at corals before your done adding fish. shop around for the best buy on live rock. fish store and more ussually has pretty nice rock. some of our sponser fish stores could probably help you out and give you the club dicount once your a member.
Thanks for the advice yall. Right now I'm looking towards the FOWLR. If anyone on here has a complete setup in the 90-125 gallon range, please email me at [email protected] or send me a PM. Time to go to bed. Thanks again yall!!
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2,679 Posts
Actually, and Seriously, Joe,
You can get into a setup fairly inexpensive and put it together piecemeal if you the funds are hurting. I personally put my first tank together for under 400 bucks but not one the sizes you are talking about.
YOur first investment is obviously going to be the Tank and the Stand and probably come kind of cover. I am assuming that it will come with NO lighting. Which is fine for Fish. However I would bet you would want more for aesthitic reasons and if you decide to go with any corals.
Go to www.garf.org. They have a bulletproof reef calculator. Just put in your tank size and they will tell you the corrrect amounts of sand, live rock, flow, heating, etc. Take this with a grain of salt and I would run it by this board to be sure.
After you figure out how much flow you should have (I wouldn't neccessary go by their recommendations but close and maybe a different arrangements of powerheads) and how many watts for heating (like brandon said , do not skimp. Heaters have a shorter lifespan and the cheaper they are, the shorter it is, I prefer EboJager, but I have yet to try the new titanium style heaters).
The other thing I would consider is Water. You will want high quality, RO/DI water. I prefer buying a 100 dollar unit from Aquasafe, or Water, Air and Ice (Ask for walter the water guru). But you can decide to buy your own water from publlx, LFS..etc. A lot of beginner mistakes IMHO can be avoided if you start off with good water.
Filteration will be handled by your live rock and live sand (bacterial) and you can get a small HOB filter for your carbon, but a very important part of your filter will be a Protein Skimmer. Don't skimp on this part. Especially if you are going with meat eating messy fish. One one or two of my tanks, The only mechincal filteration device I have is the one protein skimmer in a sump.
Ray
You can get into a setup fairly inexpensive and put it together piecemeal if you the funds are hurting. I personally put my first tank together for under 400 bucks but not one the sizes you are talking about.
YOur first investment is obviously going to be the Tank and the Stand and probably come kind of cover. I am assuming that it will come with NO lighting. Which is fine for Fish. However I would bet you would want more for aesthitic reasons and if you decide to go with any corals.
Go to www.garf.org. They have a bulletproof reef calculator. Just put in your tank size and they will tell you the corrrect amounts of sand, live rock, flow, heating, etc. Take this with a grain of salt and I would run it by this board to be sure.
After you figure out how much flow you should have (I wouldn't neccessary go by their recommendations but close and maybe a different arrangements of powerheads) and how many watts for heating (like brandon said , do not skimp. Heaters have a shorter lifespan and the cheaper they are, the shorter it is, I prefer EboJager, but I have yet to try the new titanium style heaters).
The other thing I would consider is Water. You will want high quality, RO/DI water. I prefer buying a 100 dollar unit from Aquasafe, or Water, Air and Ice (Ask for walter the water guru). But you can decide to buy your own water from publlx, LFS..etc. A lot of beginner mistakes IMHO can be avoided if you start off with good water.
Filteration will be handled by your live rock and live sand (bacterial) and you can get a small HOB filter for your carbon, but a very important part of your filter will be a Protein Skimmer. Don't skimp on this part. Especially if you are going with meat eating messy fish. One one or two of my tanks, The only mechincal filteration device I have is the one protein skimmer in a sump.
Ray
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808 Posts
yeah ray is correct. let me tell you what i have invested in my 135 and you (and everyone else) probably fall over.
135 tank= FREE
stand and canopy i built myself=$200
2) 6' vho ballast=free old
29 gal refugium=$20 used may go 30 acrylic soon
20 gal sump=$20 used and leaky but i resealed it may upgrade soon
little giant 3mdqx=$20 brand new
little giant 4mdqx=$40 used
aquanetics 15 watt inline uv=$40 new bulb and seals
magdrive 5=free the guy thought it was burnt but it only had a rock in it
mag drive 3=free same guy
500 lbs of southdown for this and several other tanks=$80
dead coral decor=lfs credit from livestock trade in= +- $100
some more decor from the home store=$20
for a total of about $400.00
if you want to talk frugal then thats it right there! i still dont have any rock or a skimmer yet but thats because ive 2 other tanks ive fidddling with.
let me know if you need some help!
Brandon
135 tank= FREE
stand and canopy i built myself=$200
2) 6' vho ballast=free old
29 gal refugium=$20 used may go 30 acrylic soon
20 gal sump=$20 used and leaky but i resealed it may upgrade soon
little giant 3mdqx=$20 brand new
little giant 4mdqx=$40 used
aquanetics 15 watt inline uv=$40 new bulb and seals
magdrive 5=free the guy thought it was burnt but it only had a rock in it
mag drive 3=free same guy
500 lbs of southdown for this and several other tanks=$80
dead coral decor=lfs credit from livestock trade in= +- $100
some more decor from the home store=$20
for a total of about $400.00
if you want to talk frugal then thats it right there! i still dont have any rock or a skimmer yet but thats because ive 2 other tanks ive fidddling with.
let me know if you need some help!
Brandon
Woooahh!!!!! That is awesome!! I'm still debating on whether to purchase new or used. A used tank is a possibilty for me if I can find the right size. The other stuff I may go new. If anyone has a tank just "sittin" around and no used for it, send an email my way and maybe we can do a deal!!! [email protected]
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808 Posts
wasabi was correct also here. new is funner used is exciting too though cuz youre surprised at what you can get for meerly pennies. i would go with a new tank though for the warranty sake. you never know what exactly the tank has been through when you buy used. keep in mind too though, this is advice from a person that has never bought a new tank in his 15 years of keeping fish.
everyhting else could be bought used to save money from the new tank purchase. just remember that used pumps can be sketchy if you dont know the buyer. my 4mdqx is about twice as used as the description on e-bay. so be careful!
nate,
live rock and skimmer. the skimmer i want seems to be going for $200 new and i hear good things about it. rock, after buying some rock lately i may never buy rock again the way ive been getting it
i do know one person that is selling his setup soon and i may snag some from him. beautiful setup hes got!
oh, JOEJOE
if youre going to but a particular item used then you may have play the waiting game to get what you want
used is exciting too though cuz youre surprised at what you can get for meerly pennies. i would go with a new tank though for the warranty sake. you never know what exactly the tank has been through when you buy used. keep in mind too though, this is advice from a person that has never bought a new tank in his 15 years of keeping fish.everyhting else could be bought used to save money from the new tank purchase. just remember that used pumps can be sketchy if you dont know the buyer. my 4mdqx is about twice as used as the description on e-bay. so be careful!
nate,
live rock and skimmer. the skimmer i want seems to be going for $200 new and i hear good things about it. rock, after buying some rock lately i may never buy rock again the way ive been getting it
i do know one person that is selling his setup soon and i may snag some from him. beautiful setup hes got!
oh, JOEJOE
if youre going to but a particular item used then you may have play the waiting game to get what you want
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