I want to start a salt tank again, help wanted

Mperkins92

Mperkins92

Member
Hello everybody. I used to have a 90 gallon salt tank setup but had to break it down when i moved. I'm finally starting to get settled in and i want to start piecing together a new tank. something around 40 gallons.

My plan so far is a 40 with a sump/refugium my unknown however is whether or not i should bother with a protein skimmer for such a small tank i'm very tempted to get one but their pricey.

Another is something that was a topic of debate when i left the hobby.My second question is should i get an LED fixture or should i stick with T5 fixtures?

secondary is if i go with LED i can only afford one and if thats the best route should i rethink my tank design to ensure a good spread?

Last for now is between either an acrylic or glass aquarium. I'm partial to the acrylic because i can easily drill it myself but how easily do they scratch.

My current plans for livestock are 2 clownfish and i'm considering over sizing the sump to increase water volume enough to make a nice RBTA happy. also might include a watchmen goby and pistol shrimp pair. i'd like to add a group of small schooling fish as well but i'm concerned i'd be exceeding my tanks healthy capacity especially with the anemone.

Any input would be appreciated. Thankyou!
 
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saltfan

Well-Known Member
Definitely get the protein skimmer, a must IMO. Lighting depends on what your gonna stock, I have had great success growing most corals with t5s and have just recently switched to LED not quite used to them yet, so time will tell, with a fish only tank ya just need basic lighting. You can get reef ready glass tanks meaning already drilled and built in overflow. If your careful not to get sand in your algae cleaner scratching acrylics is not a prob. and they are lighter and stronger than glass. But dont think its an issue with a 40 gal. A RTBA will out grow a 40 gal in a matter of Months and would wait 6mo to a year first. Just my 2 cents hope it helps a bit.
 
Mperkins92

Mperkins92

Member
Thats what i thought as well. i've heard and believe over skimming is always the best way to go any reccomendations for skimmer brand or tank rating to look for? i would probably chance a RBTA for the tank but i'd like to advance into coral propagation someday and i dont want a nem rolling around killing everything. Thanks for the reply!
 
Mike Johnson

Mike Johnson

Well-Known Member
If you haven't bought your tank yet, I'd consider on going bigger. It seems you have your 40 overflowing already. They make a really cool 80 gallon. There really isn't that much of a price difference when you add it all up.

Since I'm a reef junkie on a dabbler's budget I (and we here at RS) can point you to the best ways and deals to do it.
 
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DaveK

Well-Known Member
I would highly recommend a skimmer for a 40 gal tank. If the tank size were a lot smaller, then you could get away with water changes. You do need to be careful here. There a re a lot of out and out junk skimmers on the market, especially for smaller tanks. Personally, I'd get a AquaC Remora skimmer. They have been around for a long time and are just about the gold standard for smaller skimmers. If you don't like that skimmer, there are plenty of other ones around that will work just fine.

LED lighting is great, but has a very high initial investment cost. Since we are talking about reef systems here, you do not want to skimp on the lighting. If cost is a big factor, your best choice is going to be a 4 bulb T5 HO fixture. You'll get good light, without the high up front costs of LEDs.

On a 40 gal tank, the best option is glass. It's a lot less expensive, and generally available. In other words, if the tank leaks on a weekend, you can pick up a new one at almost any LFS, right off the shelf.

In my opinion, unless you'll planning a large remote sump, your really fooling youself if you think an oversize sump is going to add that much water volume. Lets say you used a 30 gal tank for a sump. By the time you section it off, and add equipment, and take into account that it must hold all the live water in a system when power goes off, that 30 gal tank is only going to be holding about 15 gal of water at best. It will be even less if you want a refugium in it also.

This doesn't mean you can't keep an anemone. I would recommend that you wait about a year before you add one. They require top quality water, stable conditions, and good lighting. Also, consider if you wat to devote that much space in your tank to the anemone. They can really fill a large section of the tank.
 
Mayja

Mayja

Social Media Moderator
RS STAFF
+1 to T5 over LED due to budget concerns
+1 to glass over acrylic (for cost, ease of replacement, and scratchability)
+1 to skimmer and choice listed by DaveK
+1 to livestock choices
 
Mperkins92

Mperkins92

Member
Thank you all for the information! i wish i could go bigger but my tank needs to able to move without a huge ordeal. i'd like to get a LED for the long term financial savings any tips for reefing on a budget? i've already been hittin craigslist hard. luckily i didnt sell my RO/DI i used to brag that my water was so clean it wouldnt even conduct electricity
 
reefer gladness

reefer gladness

Well-Known Member
Craigslist for sure but you need to be patient enough to wait for the right setup to come along, all depends on the area you live in. I search for 'starphire' which is the brand name for the low-iron glass that doesn't look green.

LED's on a budget = DIY. I've used RapidLED for a couple builds and we have some great sponsors here on RS that offer most of the same components. FYI, nearly all the name-brand LED manufacturers use the same CREE LED's you can buy for a DIY project. Most kits come with a 1:1 ratio of royal blue:white LED's. I and many others prefer 2:1 ratio of royal blue:white but you can always add on later if you're heatsink has space.

If the DIY project doesn't sound like your thing you might also consider the Kessil lights. Kessil uses a slightly different concept for running LED's (dense matrix array of LED's paired with higher quality optics).
 
Mperkins92

Mperkins92

Member
I looked into rapid led over a year ago for my last tank they did look promising but can i achieve similar programming on a diy build compared to something like Aqua illumination? thankyou reefer gladness!
 
Mperkins92

Mperkins92

Member
thankyou i'm definetly going with glass after the overwhelming opinion and also the skimmer is something i'll be going with. Probably going to pick one up from BRS (am i allowed to metion online stores here? if not i'll edit and remove this part) i'm hinking of going for a reef octopus unit. also i think i'll need a controller which will help with the LEDs i'm looking at apex controller i'd prefer to buy the right thing the first time so probably not the jr. one final question i have is how does the spread look on the retrofit kits from rapid led? i would think comprable or better than one AI over a 40g breeder. i've really appreciated all of the help so far. thank you very much!
 
S

Steve L

Member
Fluval makes a new LED lighting system that is made for and(as least for me) works great with corals. You should be able to get what you need for well under $200 at Petco. No noise from cooling fans and they use a lot less juice than T5's.
 
Mperkins92

Mperkins92

Member
Thanks for the input steve. I'm going to look into that do ya mind me askin what kind of corals you're keeping and how long you've been using that light? it sounds like a great deal
 
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DaveK

Well-Known Member
Steve L said:
Fluval makes a new LED lighting system that is made for and(as least for me) works great with corals. You should be able to get what you need for well under $200 at Petco. No noise from cooling fans and they use a lot less juice than T5's.
Click to expand...

The Fluval LED lighting really isn't capable of supporting corals. It's just not powerful enough. Just don't take my word for it. Even the manufacturer says so. See the following link (offsite) - http://usa.hagen.com/Introducing-New-Fluval-LED-Lights And I quote "...These lights are ideal for fish-only marine tanks or freshwater low-light planted tanks..."

This is why they seem a bargain compared to lighting made to support corals.
 
Mperkins92

Mperkins92

Member
Thats what i figured my last reef tank taught me pretty well if you try to buy a cheaper version of something all your doin is wasting money lol. rapidled it is
 
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Steve L

Member
DaveK said:
The Fluval LED lighting really isn't capable of supporting corals. It's just not powerful enough. Just don't take my word for it. Even the manufacturer says so. See the following link (offsite) - http://usa.hagen.com/Introducing-New-Fluval-LED-Lights And I quote "...These lights are ideal for fish-only marine tanks or freshwater low-light planted tanks..."

This is why they seem a bargain compared to lighting made to support corals.
Click to expand...


The link that you provided shows their Marine/Reef lights in the lower center, and yes they can and do support corals.
 
Choff

Choff

Well-Known Member
Welcome back to the hobby!

If cost is a concern, have you spent time looking through Craigslist? People are always selling off tanks, skimmers and full setups for a a fraction of the cost. It can pay to be patient.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2
 
S

Steve L

Member
Choff said:
Welcome back to the hobby!

If cost is a concern, have you spent time looking through Craigslist? People are always selling off tanks, skimmers and full setups for a a fraction of the cost. It can pay to be patient.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...

Excellent point. People practically give tanks and equipment away on CL. I bought a 150 gallon tank with stand over a year ago with a Fluval FX5 and Reef Octopus skimmer for $350. There are bargains everywhere on CL.
 
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