New with questions

[casper1969]

Hi I am new here and am in the consideration stage of setting up a reef tank.
I currently have a 55 gal with 6 african chilids in it. so my plan is to move the chilids to a twenty gallon and buy all new accessories for the 55 gal.
My goal is to stay with in a budget of 500.00 to 700.00 dollars for initial setup not including fish.
So after reading for hours on this forum I decided I need to ask the obvious what is accually neccasary to set up the tank as far as equiptment goes.
next question i read a bit about using base rock with live rock and the base rock will eventually form its own colonies is this correct? and if so what is a good ratio of live to base rock? does the same go for live sand? If I mix 30-40 lbs of regualr sand with 20 lbs of live will the colonies of microbes spread or will mixing the live with regular kill of the colonies that make it live?
I am patient and don't mind waiting for the dead to become live ( God sounds like a horror flick)
Any how I plan on picking up a couple of books this week and settling back to read. But I much prefer the forum lets face it when I get the I'm a moron look on my forhead the book won't tell me to take a deepbreath and explain it like I was three LOL. live answers allways seem better to me.

 

[jmick]

Ok, first live sand is not needed at all and IMO is a huge waste of money. All you need is some live rock to seed your entire tank and patience, which you seem to have. As far as the ratio between live rock and base rock I'd probably go 50/50. Live rock is critical and the more you start with the better to help seed your tank and cycle it.

 

[wattsupdoc]

Welcome to the boards!

You need to decide if you want a FOWLR or a Reef setup. Personally, with a 55 your going to be somewhat limited for fish only with LR. Though you can have a pretty nice FOWLR setup with inverts. If you want reef, your going to need to spend a good chunck of that budget just for lights. So you'll need to probably double that just for a good basic reef setup. LR you can order online and use base rock to help fill it up. The standard is about 1 lb. to 1.5 lbs per gallon. I'd do about 35 lbs of both if it were me.
Really the only thing you have to have for a FOWLR is a tank, some powerheads to increase flow, a NO florescent light. Some substrate of some kind, some rock/decor and a filter. But you will WANT alot of other things. You'll be much better off, with less maintenace, healthier animals, better water quality, and a much nicer display. You can use a good canister filter, some maxijets(good power head), some dry aragonite sand, 50/50 split on rock, and a decent HOB skimmer. To get a good start. Also you can use you existing HOB powerfilter if you like, but I would recomend enough filtration to accomdate double the tank size. So if you HOB power filter is rated for 55 gallons, add a canister filter rated for atleast 55 gallons. Or just use a canister filter rated for 110 gallons ish.
If you plan on having a sump/refugium (which IS the way to go) you can still use the canister filter with it, but may want to just go ahead and go with the sump or fuge and negate the other filters all together. ( A refugium is a type of natural filter).It's a compliceted hobby. Do some researching here. Think about what you want, make an equipment list and dont buy things to start-up you wont have any need for/ wont accomodate you down the road. You'll save some cash.

Good luck to you!

 

[casper1969]

why do you say fish and lr only and not other reef members 55gal should be ample after all people set up nano reefs
Just curious where the thought that it shouldn't be a full reef comes from?

 

[jessica47421]

i think he was saying fish only bc of the budget you have and it would take close to that (budget) for the lighting if you want to do reef.
i have a 55 i started to be just fish only and got a cheap light and since have upgraded to a better light bc the corals are just awsome, so if you think u might want to go that way you might want to wait a while so you can get a better light for corals. i know i had what i thought was a budget when i started in feb. and now i have spent so much i would hate to tell you how far over budget i have gone and it dont ever stop i am ALWAYS spending money on my tank, i have went with cheaper equipment and learned alot from my mistakes, but i love it very interesting hobby to get into.

 

[alfieferenzo84]

a saltwater buget lol thats funny
good luck on your tank and do it you wont regret it just dont skimp on stuff!
read and read more online great source!
I did what you want to do with live rock about seeding it and i dont know if it worked or not i have had problems ever sense and now i am taking the fake out and replacing it with lr, plus most dead rocks are soild and heavy depends on where you get them but make sure you get light pours rocks that all i got to say on that one!

 

[casper1969]

I understand that this is gonna take a regular commitment and what I have budgeted and what I spend initially may be significantly diffrent but I have to have some kind oof cash frame in mind to start. I am willing to make the commitment and if it cost me an extra 300 for lights then I say let there be light. I also understand the monthly commitment as far as cost and that doesn't bother me I use to have 4 horses and you want to talk about a monthly feed and maintnance bill. well I since have developed a rather sever heart condition that keeps me from chasing down the horses so they had to go so now I figure a new hobby that Is less physically demanding. I am still looking for a list of what I absoultly need to start a reef. Thanks for your inputs so far
Casper

 

[guinness]

good luck casper.
i started out with fish only in a 90 with stock lights that came with the tank. i had a sump and skimmer. over the past 4 years i invested money to buy better equip. i turned the sump in to a fuge and got better lights and skimmer. with those upgrades i moved over to coral. my best advice is to take it slow and research. with this forum and a few books i learned a lot, sometimes after i made mistakes but was able to prevent many. if you want coral be mindful of that with the fish you get. i had my reef fish long before i got my first piece of coral. again good luck.

 

[casper1969]

ok I am just browsing the fish selection looking for good starter fish so I can have an idea of what is available nw heres my question. I want to have corals and Anemone + other inverts when selecting fish to go with the anemone does it just need to say reef safe or does it need to list the fish as invert safe?
any sugestions on good entry level fish for the above set up will be appreciated please keep in mind I am looking to setup a docile/peaceful selection of fish and the tank size is 55 gal.
thanks
casper1969