Exactly how HARD is it?
- Thread starter muneyd00d
- Start date
razoreqx
Active Member
Going from Fish only to a full reef tank is like a starting Med school in the fourth year ... There is so much knowlege to build on in the basics of saltwater. There is just so much to absorb. It takes time....
If you jump into a full blown reef system as your first attempt you'll be so overwhelmed you'll probably quit after the tank crashes out and you lose all your expensive fish and coral..
I cant tell you, every summer, how much store bought "PETLAND" hardware I see in peoples yards and garages being sold for pennies... stuff from thier failed attempts at raising a succesful Aquarium.
But what others said is right.. if your doing reefs you need some good lighting... If your doing fish with some live rock.... The lights you got with the tank will most likely be fine...
In summery:
Reef = Lots of experiance with disease, water conditions, advanced hardware, lighting... very easy for this enviornment to get out of your control!
Fish and live rock = much more fun for a beginner.. You'll be able to control the enviornment better.. Your fish will love you for it.. so will your wallet.
But its all voodoo man.. Take in what everyone says and use your own common sense..... most folks here speak from experiance and heartaches of their own misfortunes for not listening to the advice of thier peers...
If you jump into a full blown reef system as your first attempt you'll be so overwhelmed you'll probably quit after the tank crashes out and you lose all your expensive fish and coral..
I cant tell you, every summer, how much store bought "PETLAND" hardware I see in peoples yards and garages being sold for pennies... stuff from thier failed attempts at raising a succesful Aquarium.
But what others said is right.. if your doing reefs you need some good lighting... If your doing fish with some live rock.... The lights you got with the tank will most likely be fine...
In summery:
Reef = Lots of experiance with disease, water conditions, advanced hardware, lighting... very easy for this enviornment to get out of your control!
Fish and live rock = much more fun for a beginner.. You'll be able to control the enviornment better.. Your fish will love you for it.. so will your wallet.
But its all voodoo man.. Take in what everyone says and use your own common sense..... most folks here speak from experiance and heartaches of their own misfortunes for not listening to the advice of thier peers...
nacl-man
Member
Live rock is porus (sp?) rock from the ocean which has a ton of cool critters on it. Most people here have a mixture of live rock as their bio-filter, then power heads for water movement, and a protein skimmer. After that all you need is a hood and a heater and you are G2G.
Lighting is VERY important IMO, however it is not a 'must have' from the start. You can always upgrade later. This is what I did.
Nano tanks are complicated to start and keep alive, I would not recommend one for a new hobbyist... however I must say they are a blast to look at! (Nano tank is basically just a really small, 10g-20g, reef tank).
I would recommend going fish only with live rock. It costs a bit to get setup right, but don't worry after the initial pocket book reaming it gets better. Unless you are like me and just buy stuff allllllll the time lol
Read read read. And don't take one person's opinion over another, read and decide for yourself what you want to do.
HTH.
Lighting is VERY important IMO, however it is not a 'must have' from the start. You can always upgrade later. This is what I did.
Nano tanks are complicated to start and keep alive, I would not recommend one for a new hobbyist... however I must say they are a blast to look at! (Nano tank is basically just a really small, 10g-20g, reef tank).
I would recommend going fish only with live rock. It costs a bit to get setup right, but don't worry after the initial pocket book reaming it gets better. Unless you are like me and just buy stuff allllllll the time lol
Read read read. And don't take one person's opinion over another, read and decide for yourself what you want to do.
HTH.
jc74
Member
I agree that it's good to start out with live rock because of its filtration properties which will most likely help your success, but it's not necessary for fish only if you can't afford it. Believe it or not, when I started out all I had was a bunch of cheap sandstone and artificial "live rocks" from my local pet store with a crushed coral bed. It looked pretty good actually. Then again I knew nothing about live rock at the time, so if you have $100 bucks to spare go with that.
reefnut
Active Member
I said quality not quantity. I agree a lot of light is not required for a FO system. Although coraline algae would grow better and some fish keep coloration better under more light.
Even in a FO system sunlight or poor quality lighting can add to and fuel algae blooms... especially in a FO where excess nutrients usually run higher.
Muneyd00d, free... probably not. Watch your local new papers for people selling stuff. You can some times find good stuff cheap.
Even in a FO system sunlight or poor quality lighting can add to and fuel algae blooms... especially in a FO where excess nutrients usually run higher.
Muneyd00d, free... probably not. Watch your local new papers for people selling stuff. You can some times find good stuff cheap.
barry cuda
Member
Another way to save some money without sacrificing water quality or ease of care is to buy base rock (basically just reef rock that has been out of the water for a long time and doesn't bear any life) and "seed" it with a few pounds of live rock from your local fish store. Over time the critters from the live rock will colonize the base and turn it all into live rock.
Base rock can be bought for under $1 a pound shipped to your door - 30 or so pounds of this, seeded with maybe $25 worth of live rock, is probably more than sufficient for a 30-gallon tank if you give everything time to get established and increase the bioload slowly. And it's a lot cheaper than buying all live rock to start out with.
But seriously? Your best bang for the buck will be the books recommended above. Those will help you understand what's going on in your tank and will pay for themselves several times over in avoided mistakes.
Base rock can be bought for under $1 a pound shipped to your door - 30 or so pounds of this, seeded with maybe $25 worth of live rock, is probably more than sufficient for a 30-gallon tank if you give everything time to get established and increase the bioload slowly. And it's a lot cheaper than buying all live rock to start out with.
But seriously? Your best bang for the buck will be the books recommended above. Those will help you understand what's going on in your tank and will pay for themselves several times over in avoided mistakes.
birdy
Active Member
For a FOWLR, NO lights are just fine, I would recommend you get a fixture that is made to go over a saltwater aquarium, usually they have a cover over the bulbs so the saltwater doesn't create a fire hazzard. You will want to get at least a two bulb fixture and get one 10k daylight bulb and on one 03 actinic. This lighting will be just fine for a tank without corals.
I totally agree with using baserock and liverock mixtures a great cost saver, and for a sandbed if you have southdown playsand at your local Home Depot, then use that.
As far as other needs:
1.powerheads- at least two for water circulation
2.skimmer- buy the best one that you can afford
3.hydrometer- get the glass kind they are more accurate
4.test kits- you will want, pH, alk, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and
phosphate
5. A pure water source, like RO/DI water or distilled, no matter
what some people say, the VAST majority of people with
sucessful tanks use some form of purified water.
6. A heater
7. You may want an additional HOB filter to run carbon or
phosphate sponge
This list will get you started, I am sure there are other things you will want.
I totally agree with using baserock and liverock mixtures a great cost saver, and for a sandbed if you have southdown playsand at your local Home Depot, then use that.
As far as other needs:
1.powerheads- at least two for water circulation
2.skimmer- buy the best one that you can afford
3.hydrometer- get the glass kind they are more accurate
4.test kits- you will want, pH, alk, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and
phosphate
5. A pure water source, like RO/DI water or distilled, no matter
what some people say, the VAST majority of people with
sucessful tanks use some form of purified water.
6. A heater
7. You may want an additional HOB filter to run carbon or
phosphate sponge
This list will get you started, I am sure there are other things you will want.
gregvabch
Active Member
most people on this board hate "rule of thumbs", but i'll give you one and explain. for saltwater it is a general statement that you need 5 gallons per every inch of fish. this is true to an extent. what you really need to take into consideration is the needs of the fish, and also how big that fish will get. yeah, i could live and sleep in my closet for my entire life, but i think i would eventually get tired of it. some fish don't mind not having a whole lot of room to swim, where as others, especially TANGS, need a lot of swimming room. it all comes back to doing your research before you go and buy ANYTHING, especially the live things. with a 30 gallon, if i were setting it up, i would look at clowns, blennies, gobys, chromis, dartfish, jawfish, and basslets. if you want email me and i'll send you some links to different sites and info that i've collected. gregorygampfer@yahoo.com
muneyd00d
Member
I've been reading alot, and that 5 gallon per inch limits me a tad. But that's fine, no big deal. If anyone has AIM it'd be great to talk person to person. Thanks everyone for all of your advice, i've learnd alot in this one day.
SN - MunkeyPBPunk
MSN - Megapat99@Yahoo.com
SN - MunkeyPBPunk
MSN - Megapat99@Yahoo.com
scirdan
Member
I set up a 30G tank in october, I used the following: a hang on filter, crushed coral, 8 Lbs LR on top of 10Lb base rock, a SG meter, test kit, a 50/50 light, salt, 2 small powerheads. I dont have a skimmer (yet). Now I have 3 fish, an urchin,a starfish, some hermits, a shrimp, and some snails (not to mention some cool creatures in and on the live rock, I see more everyday). I think probably my goal is to have 4 (maybe 5) fish in my tank when all is done. Its actually not too tough to maintain, I do 2 G of water change every 2 weeks and things stay really clean and everything looks healthy. Do things very slowly and you will be successful, I have been so far.
cheapfish1
Member
hey glad to know someone else my age is getting into it. I just bought my first tank ever, a 30 gallon saltwater tank. It cost me about 350 without fish to set up. I found out after i bought when i came online all of mine was wrong but it seems to me that it is always in the writers opinion so im opting out of changing everything. Good Luck, it seems fun so far
mrsdorothy
Member
There is always someone upgrading their system. You may be able to buy most of the equipment in the classifieds on this sight and save yourself some change. HTH
Dorothy
Dorothy
diane4
Member
RazorEQX said:Going from Fish only to a full reef tank is like a starting Med school in the fourth year ... There is so much knowlege to build on in the basics of saltwater. There is just so much to absorb. It takes time.... QUOTE]
Razor, you make me laugh, your statements are so true
Everything you say is so true, the reef hobby is more addicting that the worst drug and it is defenitely like taking a crash course on becoming a surgeon and your first patient is waiting. And you better have a fat wallet filled with money.
But, as crazy as it is, I wouldn't trade it for the world.