murph
Active Member
Everyone loves an aquarium. You never see a novice look at a well established tank and say "I would never have one of those in my house". On the other hand you do see many novice look at the start up cost, literally laugh out loud and say "you spent what on that?". It is pretty easy for those of use that have been in the hobby for awhile to suggest a lot of "spend more money" advice.
You need a three hundred dollar skimmer. Get a two hundred and fifty dollar RO/DI unit. You have to have a nine hundred dollar light fixture. Don't do a thing until you have bought six hundred dollars worth of live rock.
Fact is none of these things are necessary for a fish only start-up tank and only serves to discourage new comer's to the hobby. It is also horrible advice when you consider the fact that half of those that start a tank are breaking that tank down within a years time or so. Thats right, despite how wonderful this hobby is its just not right for some people. They are then left with a bunch of high dollar equipment worth less than half what they spent for it and what ever led to there tank breakdown is solidified by this last insult and they are unlikely ever to return to the hobby.
There are several potential sources of frustration for the new hobbyist and his new tank and this level of frustration often is relative to money spent.
%$*&#!!!!!! I have two grand into this stupid tank and everything still dies???
Believe it or not back in the day we did keep saltwater aquariums with virtually none of the things I mentioned in paragraph two and still were able to produce some spectacular displays. For the most part the systems were identical to our freshwater tanks that we had added some salt mix to. The same can be done now.
If you are interested enough in the hobby to start spending money my advice is for the first 12 to 18 months is KISS (keep it simple stupid). I am not calling anyone stupid its just a figure of speech.
A twenty or forty gallon tank, standard light fixture, your run of the mill hang on back filter and a heater if you live in the great white north. Many LFS will have package deals that include all of this at somewhat of a savings. All that is needed after this point is a bag of sand (dead sand is fine or even play sand from the home labyrinth) and a half pound or so per gallon of base rock, a bag of salt, a hydrometer, a small power head and a bottle of amquel to treat your tap water. Yes tap water. Most municipal water supplies test zero to less than one part per million/trillion for all of the things that are of concern for a fish only starter tank. You don't even need to buy any test equipment as most LFS will test for you if you take in a water sample. They are nice to have on hand however.
Your new tank will cycle just fine setup like this. The bacteria that do this for you are of the trailer trash variety and don't care if they attache themselves to ten dollar a pound live rock or two dollar a pound base rock. In fact, if you cycle the tank like this first and add small amounts of cured LR as you can afford it or even decide you need it, you will avoid the inevitable die off a significant portion of that rock.
After the tank is cycled toss in a few inexpensive fish. Damsels are fine or a pair of false percs works well also. A few hermits and turbo snails for cleanup is also a good initial investment. Now try to leave things be as you gauge your level of interest in the hobby. Remember that in the first few months enthusiasm will be high and the temptation to add livestock will also be high, especially if the damsels or clowns seem to be, "doing fine". Perform your daily, weekly and monthly tank maintenance for six months or so and make sure your dedicated to this routine and have the time to do it. Saltwater tanks take daily attention.
Take this time also to gauge your level of patience when dealing with the inevitable growing pains of the tanks first year. Algae outbreaks, potential disease and fish losses and other potential mistakes that all new hobbyist make.
You need a three hundred dollar skimmer. Get a two hundred and fifty dollar RO/DI unit. You have to have a nine hundred dollar light fixture. Don't do a thing until you have bought six hundred dollars worth of live rock.
Fact is none of these things are necessary for a fish only start-up tank and only serves to discourage new comer's to the hobby. It is also horrible advice when you consider the fact that half of those that start a tank are breaking that tank down within a years time or so. Thats right, despite how wonderful this hobby is its just not right for some people. They are then left with a bunch of high dollar equipment worth less than half what they spent for it and what ever led to there tank breakdown is solidified by this last insult and they are unlikely ever to return to the hobby.
There are several potential sources of frustration for the new hobbyist and his new tank and this level of frustration often is relative to money spent.
%$*&#!!!!!! I have two grand into this stupid tank and everything still dies???
Believe it or not back in the day we did keep saltwater aquariums with virtually none of the things I mentioned in paragraph two and still were able to produce some spectacular displays. For the most part the systems were identical to our freshwater tanks that we had added some salt mix to. The same can be done now.
If you are interested enough in the hobby to start spending money my advice is for the first 12 to 18 months is KISS (keep it simple stupid). I am not calling anyone stupid its just a figure of speech.
A twenty or forty gallon tank, standard light fixture, your run of the mill hang on back filter and a heater if you live in the great white north. Many LFS will have package deals that include all of this at somewhat of a savings. All that is needed after this point is a bag of sand (dead sand is fine or even play sand from the home labyrinth) and a half pound or so per gallon of base rock, a bag of salt, a hydrometer, a small power head and a bottle of amquel to treat your tap water. Yes tap water. Most municipal water supplies test zero to less than one part per million/trillion for all of the things that are of concern for a fish only starter tank. You don't even need to buy any test equipment as most LFS will test for you if you take in a water sample. They are nice to have on hand however.
Your new tank will cycle just fine setup like this. The bacteria that do this for you are of the trailer trash variety and don't care if they attache themselves to ten dollar a pound live rock or two dollar a pound base rock. In fact, if you cycle the tank like this first and add small amounts of cured LR as you can afford it or even decide you need it, you will avoid the inevitable die off a significant portion of that rock.
After the tank is cycled toss in a few inexpensive fish. Damsels are fine or a pair of false percs works well also. A few hermits and turbo snails for cleanup is also a good initial investment. Now try to leave things be as you gauge your level of interest in the hobby. Remember that in the first few months enthusiasm will be high and the temptation to add livestock will also be high, especially if the damsels or clowns seem to be, "doing fine". Perform your daily, weekly and monthly tank maintenance for six months or so and make sure your dedicated to this routine and have the time to do it. Saltwater tanks take daily attention.
Take this time also to gauge your level of patience when dealing with the inevitable growing pains of the tanks first year. Algae outbreaks, potential disease and fish losses and other potential mistakes that all new hobbyist make.