setup my first salt water tank

PopyToys

New Member
hi everyone,
I plan to set up a salt water tank and like to raise some fishes but mostly with shrimps and coral reefs.... My budget is within $500-700... My home is not big too so the tank size is should less than 30 gallon.
I would like to ask what type of equipments I should get? And what do I need to do...like cycling the tank and raise water first.... Also, I am not sure if I need skimmer people talk about?
I have little experience in doing test like ph, GH, KH...and raise fresh water shrimps (although they die sometimes :) ).
Any advise or suggestions would be great...
Thank you very much!
Popy Toys
 

Matthew Hardy

New Member
I did my first saltwater tank about a year ago. I went all out on a 29 gallon glass tank. If you are going to do a reef tank you are going to need all the fancy stuff like skimmers, great light like a to lighting system, and with reef you are going to need to do a lot more test then just pH, ammonia, nitrate, and nitrite. Testing is easy though, you just need the right test kits. Just look up reef test kits.

Best way to start is think about the setup you want, what type of filtration you want: biological, mechanical. What I did was a mechanical filter like the hang on the back and biological filter of the live sand and live rock, with a power head just keeping the water flowing with no dead spots.

Also you are going to need to pick up a heater. I keep my tank at 75 degrees.

Now you need to decide if you want to do live sand and rock, or just buy it all dead and wait longwr. With my new tank I did like sand and dead rock. And I would do a pound per gallon. I have a ten gallon tank with about 17 pounds of live sand and about 10 pounds dead rock, which is now live rock.

Now you need to find a light with what type of corals you plan on keeping. I just picked up at Marineland reef capable LED light. The only reason I got that one because I'm on a budget and can't afford to change t5 lighting every 6 months.

Once you have that all set up you just wait for your tank to cycle and add fish and coral slowly. Don't rush into it and will end badly.

If you have any questions let me know.
 

1guydude

Well-Known Member
My 1st tank was a 36g bowfront. I would suggest a 40g breeder. Filtration can be hang on back but it's better in a sump...
That's another thread.
If u can't do the 40b...get a 20L.
Take it slow nothing happens fast in a reef tank except disaster.
D
 

PopyToys

New Member
Hi Everyone, thank you very much for your advise. I will try to do more research on the info you provide.... I am looking forward to my first tank setup!
Thank you again!
 

flower

Well-Known Member
Hi,

A 30g tank cost about $1000.00 if you set it up with all new equipment...then you add $1000.00 per upgrade.
20g to 30g ....$1000.00
40g to 55g.....$2000.00
75g to a 90g....$3000.00 and so on.

You can buy used, and save a little money, and you can use base rock, and just a little live rock... but I think $700.00 is really low for start up. The larger the tank, the easier it is to keep stable. I have a 56g tall/column tank that takes up less room then my 30g long.

Back when I had a 55g (14 years ago) I was told I could keep my filter and set up for about $600.00... LOL...NOT

  • Rock: runs about $7.00 to $10.00 per pound, in a 30g tank you need about 30lbs of rock...so you are already hitting about $300.00
  • Sand
  • Filter
  • salt mix
  • RO unit
  • Test kits
  • If you plan on coral...yes, you should have a skimmer, but not right away.
  • 2 power heads
  • Lights
  • fish net
  • utility pump, flex hose, and a tub... for water changes
  • a quarantine/hospital tank (air line and pump...a piece of PVC/plastic décor, and a small HOB filter to set that up)
 

dangerfish

Member
Yeah this hobby is really expensive but just look out for deals you can find some good stuff for a low price like me im just saving up my money for my 75g and it will only cost around 1749 for all of my equipment but only one fish and its food.
 
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