Bare Bones

southern wolf

southern wolf

Member
I have been putting off getting into saltwater partly because I am trying to claw my way out of debt. Well the bug is biting again and Im not sure how long I can keep it away. I do have another very long term project that is taking up most of my extra cash but I think if I go bare bones I can probably get my salt tank started. It wont be how I envision it, but at least it will be up and going... and then over time I can get it to where I ultimately want it.
So my question is... what are the bare bones requirements to successfully keep a salt tank?
Here is what I have and I'll need to know what I would have to pick up.
The tank. I will either be using an empty 52g or 45g cube. Depends on which one best fits the space. I hope to figure that out sometime next week.
Lights... Since I will start off with only a FOWLR I will use the lights I currently have available. Just your standard flourscent fish tank lights (will upgrade whenever I can get the money)
I know I have one HOB double bio wheel filter. I think I may have a second. If possible... I'd like to start off the tank with these since I have them. I know I will need to take the bio wheel out of the filter to stop the salt creep.
I have one 15lb bag of Instant Ocean. I believe it will do 50g if I am reading the bag correctly.
I bought this for a fresh water tank and it never even got opened... AquaClear Powerhead. Says it pumps 270gph
Here is what I think I need:
2 heaters (hopefully they will fit inside the filters so they are out of the tank
a RO/DI unit.... I'm 1.5 hours away from a real fish store. Gas would eat me up
Refractometer
SW Test Kit
Then for the goodies:
Base Rock and live rock.... sand
CUC
Fish
What am I missing? What I have not thought about?
 
slice

slice

Active Member
Add an API Master Saltwater Test Kit, cheap stick-on thermometer, an algae scraper, a koralia or 2 and you will have about what my initial setup was like.
 
southern wolf

southern wolf

Member
Question about the Koralia's
The Koralia Evolution 750 gph Water Pump 4.5W is the same price as a Koralia 3 Controllable Wave Pump - 370 to 950 gph. Now I know I would have to buy the wave controller (which isn't exactly cheap) to operater the Koralia 3. Since eventually the tank would be set up as a reef would I need the wave pump? Is it really worth the extra expense?
 
slice

slice

Active Member
That's your call, depending on your ultimate goals. Some folks continue to use the non-controlled Koralias. Personally, I'm a Vortech guy, but I started with Koralias.
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
Ditch the sand and save some money. Paint the bottom of the tank white or black with the cheap spray paint. Barebottom will also help your tank stay clean.
Just get one heater for now. It's corals that need stable temps. I only have one heater for my SPS tank. We are in about the same zone.
Save some money and get a couple maxijet 1200s instead of the koralias. Six years ago, that's all I used in my 55g reef tanks. They are cheap and reliable. When yah get the money, buy an oscellator for em. Also cheap.
Add some clip on lights over your tank and fill it with decorative macroalgaes. A few pounds of live rock is good. But you only need it for the bacteria. The dry base rock is for extra surface area for bacteria to grow on. 25 pounds is plenty. Unless you like that wall of rock look.
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
Flow depends on how clean your tank is and what critters you have to maintain waste and detritus. Maxijets wil do the job.
 
slice

slice

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by SnakeBlitz33 http:///t/390436/bare-bones#post_3457670
Ditch the sand and save some money. Paint the bottom of the tank white or black with the cheap spray paint. Barebottom will also help your tank stay clean.
Just get one heater for now. It's corals that need stable temps. I only have one heater for my SPS tank. We are in about the same zone.
Save some money and get a couple maxijet 1200s instead of the koralias. Six years ago, that's all I used in my 55g reef tanks. They are cheap and reliable. When yah get the money, buy an oscellator for em. Also cheap.
Add some clip on lights over your tank and fill it with decorative macroalgaes. A few pounds of live rock is good. But you only need it for the bacteria. The dry base rock is for extra surface area for bacteria to grow on. 25 pounds is plenty. Unless you like that wall of rock look.
That's not bad advice there, the Maxijets have more potential for re-purposing later. They are, however, the personification of a "Squirt-gun firing squad".
Barebottom MAKES you keep your tank clean...unless you like the look of fish poo...speaking of which, I've been meaning to start a thread about that...stand by...
Anytime you can add macroalgae, its a beautiful thing.
 
southern wolf

southern wolf

Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by SnakeBlitz33 http:///t/390436/bare-bones#post_3457670
Ditch the sand and save some money. Paint the bottom of the tank white or black with the cheap spray paint. Barebottom will also help your tank stay clean.
Just get one heater for now. It's corals that need stable temps. I only have one heater for my SPS tank. We are in about the same zone.
Save some money and get a couple maxijet 1200s instead of the koralias. Six years ago, that's all I used in my 55g reef tanks. They are cheap and reliable. When yah get the money, buy an oscellator for em. Also cheap.
Add some clip on lights over your tank and fill it with decorative macroalgaes. A few pounds of live rock is good. But you only need it for the bacteria. The dry base rock is for extra surface area for bacteria to grow on. 25 pounds is plenty. Unless you like that wall of rock look.
I am kinda stuck on the sand. I really want to have the critters that move around in the sand. I also love the look of a sandy bottom.
I'll check out the Maxijets... thanks for that bit of info.
Care to elaborate on the macroalgaes? Are you saying ditch the flourscent tube and go with this clip on light? Chances are... eventually there will be a sort of rock wall built.
 
southern wolf

southern wolf

Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Slice http:///t/390436/bare-bones#post_3457668
That's your call, depending on your ultimate goals. Some folks continue to use the non-controlled Koralias. Personally, I'm a Vortech guy, but I started with Koralias.
What's the difference between the two. Better yet... what's the difference between the two and the one Snake mentioned?
 
southern wolf

southern wolf

Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Slice http:///t/390436/bare-bones#post_3457675
That's not bad advice there, the Maxijets have more potential for re-purposing later. They are, however, the personification of a "Squirt-gun firing squad".
Barebottom MAKES you keep your tank clean...unless you like the look of fish poo...speaking of which, I've been meaning to start a thread about that...stand by...
Anytime you can add macroalgae, its a beautiful thing.
the personification of a "Squirt-gun firing squad". ????
 
slice

slice

Active Member
I'm afraid I have to ask you to do you own research. Maxijets are inexpensive, Koralias a bit more expensive, Vortechs are stupid expensive.
Chill out, read, plan ahead, make a decision; it will work out just fine.
 
southern wolf

southern wolf

Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Slice http:///t/390436/bare-bones#post_3457709
I'm afraid I have to ask you to do you own research. Maxijets are inexpensive, Koralias a bit more expensive, Vortechs are stupid expensive.
Chill out, read, plan ahead, make a decision; it will work out just fine.
Man you weren't kidding when you said the Vortechs were stupid expensive. Those things are so far out of the budget they cant even see the budget.
 
slice

slice

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Southern Wolf http:///t/390436/bare-bones#post_3457716
I am reading everything I can on here and asking alot of question so I can plan ahead wisely.

A wise plan of attack.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Southern Wolf http:///t/390436/bare-bones#post_3457721
Man you weren't kidding when you said the Vortechs were stupid expensive. Those things are so far out of the budget they cant even see the budget.

I will never, ever let the woman know what I spent on my 2 MP10s.
 
E

eric b 125

Guest
When I first got my VorTech's, the wife asked me how much a VorTech is... I told her $450. She said cool, but didn't realize that that was for one powerhead. I got 2 and the battery backup. She still doesn't know
 
southern wolf

southern wolf

Member
You have an understanding wife

And it looks like my bare bones build may be getting a bit more complicated and expensive thanks to Snake. I would like to say he's a bad influence... but that's probably not even remotely true. He has shown me a huge advantage of running a fuge vs the HOB filters I was originally intending on using. That means I will either have to drill my tank (which scares the crap out of me) or buy an external overflow box. I'll also have to buy some sort of pump for the return.
I've got a 29g that I plan on turning into a macroalgae fuge so at least I wont have to buy that.
Question that this new wrinkle brings up is how much flow do I need for the filter. Can I get by with a 700gph overflow or do I need to go up to 1500gph overflow? The tank will be a 52g DT.
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
A 700 is fine, especially for your tank. A mag drive 7 will give you enough flow, and at four foot of head, it will be under 700gph. If you want to set up a display fuge, there are a couple of ways to do it. You could let the display tank drain into the display fuge and down to the sump and be pumped back up. Or the other way to do it would be to use your one pump to push water to both displays and let them oth drain into your central sump. I like the latter than the former.
If you need diagrams I'll try to get em to you.
Another option is to just drill your display tank and cap it off and start your display tank and add to the system as you go.
 
southern wolf

southern wolf

Member
If I decide to drill this tank does it matter where I put the overflow box (left, right, center)? How far from the top should it be installed? Also... what about the return? Keep in mind this will be on a 4 foot tank.
 
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