just getting started

[abudzo]

well me and my wife are just looking at starting a salt water tank but we cant seem to find much info out there. we are scuba divers who have visited cozumel a few times and would like to bring some of that to our home. we have a 50 gallon tank we cn have but we dont know if thats a good size or if we should look for a bigger one and then the next is the whole system that we need if anyone could help guide us through the start up or has links to good articles that would be great.

 

[beth]

I would suggest getting a book, "The Conscientious Marine Aquarist". It is a good starting point for learning the basics of a marine tank.

Here are links to topics you might find helpful that are on this site.

https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/264597/a-list-of-extremely-helpful-threads-for-all-hobbyists

 

[geridoc]

Welcome to the site. Beth is right - take a look at Fenner's book (The Conscientious Aquariast), then begin to ask specific questions. You will find the folks on this site are knowledgeable and helpful - two very handy traits.

 

[abudzo]

perfect thank you i was looking for something along those lines but there are so many you dont always know which one to go with and since there is no one near here to my knowlege or searching i turned to here.

 

[geridoc]

You said you have a 50 gallon tank already on hand. This is not a bad size, depending on your goals. What is the history of the tank - has it ever been treated with copper? Are you thinking about a reef, with corals, inverts and fish? Or a fish-only tank. The rule of thumb (at least so far as we tell our wives/husbands/significant others) is that larger tanks are easier to maintain since changes occur slowly in a larger volume of water. The most difficult tank I ever had was a 12 gallon reef - I had to work on it every day to keep the water parameters good. My 220 gallon fish-only is easy - just periodic water changes and everything remains constant. But I think your first, and most important action must be to define the goals for your tank.

 

[abudzo]

we are looking to start with a reef tank and then after we get that established we would like to add the corals inverts and fish. we found a place that tailors to saltwater fish and is ranked in the top 30 stores in the us its one of 2 that i can find in minnesota but is about a 2.5 hour drive from my house so we are thinking of headding down there today to start gathering the equipment and we would possibly be getting a bigger tank. and the 55 gallon has been previously used as a fresh water tank and has been un used for the last 10 years or so but that is why we are considering buying a new tank.

 

[beaslbob]

Whatever you do I highly suggest you start the tank with macro algaes (in a refugium preferably) right from the start. That will balance out and stabilize operations making it much easier to maintian.

my .02

 

[saxman]

Quote:
Originally Posted by beaslbob http:///t/396877/just-getting-started#post_3536098
Whatever you do I highly suggest you start the tank with macro algaes (in a refugium preferably) right from the start. That will balance out and stabilize operations making it much easier to maintian.

my .02
Live macro is da bomb...great stuff.

 

[abudzo]

well me and my wife were out looking at the equipment and we found the Red Sea Max S series 650 witch is a complete setup and we are wondering if anyone has experience with them and if the equipment they provide with it is a good setup.

 

[geridoc]

Reading about this system, it looks great. The only concerns I see online are 1) Red Sea skimmers are not generally considered to be smoking the best in the market, 2) I wish it had LED lights, but it does have lots of T5's, and 3) the ATO topoff reservoir has to be filled manually. IMHO none of these are serious problems for what looks like a great one-stop solution. Online, everyone who has one seems to be happy with their system.