Best Setup?

[the puerco]

I want to set up a new tank And set it as a living reef with some fish and some invertebrate species .. 75 GL or 100 GL... I need to know in your expert opinion what is a good filter,Skimmer Lights ETC for this set up... I am reading some Books and also going thru this message board but i still do not know what is best and more "Maintenance Free" to say and as a novice i want to make sure i do not throw my money away... THanks for the advice.

 

[tlk]

Not sure what you are asking for based on the poll you set up. Are you asking for the BEST brand to buy or the most important piece of equipment? I don't the way you have your poll set up will give you the answers you are looking for.

 

[zanemoseley]

well you can start off with not so much lighting and just have inverts, fish and Live rock and upgrade lighting later to add corals, a skimmer is very important on a reef tank so plan on spending about $200 on one wether it be in sump or hang on back, circulation is also very important in a reef tank get several maxijets and they should do the job well, If you get enough live rock and live sand you should be able to keep your tank without using any kind of power filter I'd say about 1.5 pounds per gallon of fiji or something like it, also if you don't have the money to do a 75 right I'd downsize and do a smaller take best as possible, so to answer you question not one is more important than the other so just but as you go and do it right the first time

 

[elan]

i think you need to first figure out what you want in your tank (FOWLR, REEF, Just Fish, Species, etc) and then figure out what is best to keep those.
Very hard to be general in this answer.
if FOWLR, then filter
if Reef, then lights
if Species, then depends on what you get
Other than that, as general, get as large a tank as you can afford... keep about $20-50 per gallon for overall setup.. it may also cost much more than this, or less... all depends on how much patience you have, and if you are willing to keep the tank for a while before adding anything. The longer you wait, and the more patient you are, the closer to the $20 mark you will be.

 

[beaslbob]

I recommend and voted for tank size. Get the largest possible tank you have space for and can afford. Everything else is secondary. For instance say you could afford a 100g and skimmer or a 200g and no skimmer, get the 200g.
Sure you will need some filtration, sand, salt, water, and a source of light. And you will probably want to decorate the tank. But you don't have to pay hundres of $s. play sand from home depot, lowes or wall mart will work. Porous cheap commonly available rocks will work. I do recommend that you establish a growth of macro algae/marine plants, either in the display or in a sump. that will complete the cycle, filter out all types of bad stuff, buffer the ph and generally make for a stable balanced system.
Finally, whatever you decide, I highly recommend that before any fish are added, the system run for at least three weeks. that will allow fish borne parasites (ICH) to die off from lack of a host fish. In my experience, the first three weeks are about the only time I had no fish in the system.