HELP! Thinking of getting into the hobby! Few questions for y'all.

[Riyita]

Hi reefers!

My name is Ryan and I am considering getting into the world of reef aquariums. A little bit about myself is that I am currently 19, and the only really experience I have had with aquariums was a small, 10g freshwater tank when I was younger. The world of saltwater and reefs seems like it would be fun to get involved with as the possibilities are endless. The thought of maintaining your own piece of the ocean is appealing, too.

I had a few questions for you guys, hopefully that's alright. The first is involving money! (Hooray...) Being 19, I don't have a big budget. I was hoping to spend around $700-1000 between everything. Do you think I could get far at all with that budget? I have done hours of research watching YouTube and browsing articles and have an idea of a setup. Let me know what you think.

- 55g tank. (Bigger the better for beginners, right?)
- Salt water! (Any advice on how to go about this in the cheapest way? I know there are certain filters you can buy, but are expensive.)
- Live sand, dry rock. (Live rock can cause potential problems with pests and such?)
- Duel 950GPH Aqueon Circulation Pumps (One on the left and right of the tank)
- No sump (They can be pricey, and I feel like the hassle would be too much for me)
- Hang On AquaMaxx HOB-1.5 Protein Skimmer (For extra filtration)
- Aqua Clear 70g Filter (Would a normal filter be needed if you have a protein skimmer?
- A heater
- Light (?)

I would love to hear your input on what lights I should get as those are a big expense and I am not quite sure on what route to take regarding those. I also read about the AquaMaxx HF-M, which is a filter and a protein skimmer which could do the job of two components? I also read you should always have a second tank, that you use for putting new fish and corals into to avoid introducing any unwanted guests into your main tank...so would you need all new gear for this second tank too?

My goal for this tank is to host a few fish, (clowns, blue & yellow tangs, etc), a clean up crew, and a bunch of corals.

Any advice that you may have for me would be greatly appreciated. I am just starting out after all, so if I missed something, I apologize haha.

Thanks!

 

[Uncle99]

A budget tank, sure, I have one of these, no sump, VISPARSPECTRA lighting, my Aqua Ckear 70 I converted to mini refuge, dry rock has no unwanted stuff.

Go ahead, have fun, learn with the members along the way.

Get Small RODI filter, super investment at $100, great water and light are the most important factors.

Here’s my budget tank

 

[DaveK]

You did the best thing you could for starting this hobby. You asked about it before you went off and purchased anything.

The first major consideration you have is a personal one. At 19 you may have plans in your life like college, or other schooling, getting established in a career, and so on. If this is the case, getting involved in a SW reef system at this time in your life can be a mistake. They take a lot of time and effort, and as you have seen can be expensive.

On your budget. I think your going to find $700 - 1000 a little low. As a rule of thumb, if your getting everything new and off the shelf, you can figure that by the time you get the tank more or less set up and stocked you will spend about $30 to 50 per gallon of water in the main display tank. If your willing to shop around, and do some DIY projects you can get this down quite a bit. Also, consider the used market. Sometimes you can find some real bargains on a tanks and gear.

Your equipment selection is actually fairly good. Here are a few additional things to consider.

55 gal tanks have a nice frontal area, but since they are only 12 inches wide, they are a pain to do any sort of decent aquascape with. Most narrow tanks like this really don't look that good, especially when your using live rock, as that takes a lot of space. Consider tanks that are 18 inches wide, such as a 40 gal breeder, traditional 50 gal, standard 70 gal (this has the same frontal area as a 55 but is 18 inches wide). Of course there are other tank sizes that will work. Cube tanks are popular today.

The least expensive way to get salt water is to collect natural sea water yourself. Your location is listed as Toms River. If that's the NJ town, you are not too far from the ocean. This can be some back breaking work though, and you do still need to process the water a bit before you use it in your tank. Perhaps we can get @Paul B to comment here, since he does this.

The next least expensive way is to mix it yourself, using RO/DI water and a large container and a quality salt. That is a lot easier to do, and control.

The Hang On AquaMaxx HOB-1.5 Protein Skimmer is a good skimmer, but a little small. Manufacturers "tend" to be "very optimistic" when it comes to what their skimmer can support. So you want to take their worst number and use it on a tank that is about half that size. In this case the skimmer is rated for 60 gal with heavy bioload, so you'd want to use it on about a 30 to 40 gal tank.

The Aqua Clear 70 has been around for ages, and your not going to do a lot better for a hang on the tank filter. As a note, filters like this on SW systems do not need any bio media. That's why you have all that live rock in the tank. You can leave out the bio media and optional replace it with something else. You also may want to leave out any carbon media that comes in those little packs for the filter. This is often low grade carbon. There are a lot better things you can use in it's place.

I would avoid all of the filter skimmer combo filters out there. They almost always are a compromise that gives you only fair filtration and fair skimming at best. You can do lots better.

Just about any quality heater will work, but I highly recommend getting an Inkbird controller to go with it. This gives you a digital temp control and is a lot safer than the cheep thermostat found in just about all the aquarium heaters out there. Inkbird controllers are very inexpensive, only about $30 - 35, depending on the model selected.

Lighting depends upon what you plan to keep in the tank. This is a whole long topic in and of itself, and there are a lot of ways you can go. Before getting too involved in this area, give us some idea of what you plan to keep in the tank, especially corals and other similar stuff.

On the fish you want to keep. The clowns are ok, and popular, but there are a lot more and I think more interesting fish you can keep. Above all do not get an anemone to go with them. The clowns don't need it, and anemones have very demanding lighting and water conditions that need to be met. The tangs are not a good choice, unless you want to go with a much larger tank. Tangs are fantastic looking fish, but they are also big dirty fish and need a lot of "running room" Minimum tank size for a tank is about 100 gal tank or larger, and much larger is even better for them.

One book that has a good section on fish for people new to the hobby is The New Marine Aquarium by Michael Paleta You can get this used on Amazon for about $7. In this case, the used copy is fine.

 

[Riyita]

You did the best thing you could for starting this hobby. You asked about it before you went off and purchased anything.

The first major consideration you have is a personal one. At 19 you may have plans in your life like college, or other schooling, getting established in a career, and so on. If this is the case, getting involved in a SW reef system at this time in your life can be a mistake. They take a lot of time and effort, and as you have seen can be expensive.

On your budget. I think your going to find $700 - 1000 a little low. As a rule of thumb, if your getting everything new and off the shelf, you can figure that by the time you get the tank more or less set up and stocked you will spend about $30 to 50 per gallon of water in the main display tank. If your willing to shop around, and do some DIY projects you can get this down quite a bit. Also, consider the used market. Sometimes you can find some real bargains on a tanks and gear.

Your equipment selection is actually fairly good. Here are a few additional things to consider.

55 gal tanks have a nice frontal area, but since they are only 12 inches wide, they are a pain to do any sort of decent aquascape with. Most narrow tanks like this really don't look that good, especially when your using live rock, as that takes a lot of space. Consider tanks that are 18 inches wide, such as a 40 gal breeder, traditional 50 gal, standard 70 gal (this has the same frontal area as a 55 but is 18 inches wide). Of course there are other tank sizes that will work. Cube tanks are popular today.

The least expensive way to get salt water is to collect natural sea water yourself. Your location is listed as Toms River. If that's the NJ town, you are not too far from the ocean. This can be some back breaking work though, and you do still need to process the water a bit before you use it in your tank. Perhaps we can get @Paul B to comment here, since he does this.

The next least expensive way is to mix it yourself, using RO/DI water and a large container and a quality salt. That is a lot easier to do, and control.

The Hang On AquaMaxx HOB-1.5 Protein Skimmer is a good skimmer, but a little small. Manufacturers "tend" to be "very optimistic" when it comes to what their skimmer can support. So you want to take their worst number and use it on a tank that is about half that size. In this case the skimmer is rated for 60 gal with heavy bioload, so you'd want to use it on about a 30 to 40 gal tank.

The Aqua Clear 70 has been around for ages, and your not going to do a lot better for a hang on the tank filter. As a note, filters like this on SW systems do not need any bio media. That's why you have all that live rock in the tank. You can leave out the bio media and optional replace it with something else. You also may want to leave out any carbon media that comes in those little packs for the filter. This is often low grade carbon. There are a lot better things you can use in it's place.

I would avoid all of the filter skimmer combo filters out there. They almost always are a compromise that gives you only fair filtration and fair skimming at best. You can do lots better.

Just about any quality heater will work, but I highly recommend getting an Inkbird controller to go with it. This gives you a digital temp control and is a lot safer than the cheep thermostat found in just about all the aquarium heaters out there. Inkbird controllers are very inexpensive, only about $30 - 35, depending on the model selected.

Lighting depends upon what you plan to keep in the tank. This is a whole long topic in and of itself, and there are a lot of ways you can go. Before getting too involved in this area, give us some idea of what you plan to keep in the tank, especially corals and other similar stuff.

On the fish you want to keep. The clowns are ok, and popular, but there are a lot more and I think more interesting fish you can keep. Above all do not get an anemone to go with them. The clowns don't need it, and anemones have very demanding lighting and water conditions that need to be met. The tangs are not a good choice, unless you want to go with a much larger tank. Tangs are fantastic looking fish, but they are also big dirty fish and need a lot of "running room" Minimum tank size for a tank is about 100 gal tank or larger, and much larger is even better for them.

One book that has a good section on fish for people new to the hobby is The New Marine Aquarium by Michael Paleta You can get this used on Amazon for about $7. In this case, the used copy is fine.

Dave, first off, thank you so much for your detailed reply! I appreciate it. Now a few follow up questions to what you said if you do not mind.

1: I see what you mean about the 55g not being long enough width wise. Do you think a 40g breeder tank would be of a decent size to host a decent amount of corals, have a nice looking aquascape, and a couple fish?

2: Would you say a protein skimmer is necessary to begin with? Could I get away with just having a Aqua Clear 70, and two Aqueon Circulation Pumps for the tank?

3: Lighting wise, I was advised for a budget light to get the MarsAqua 300W LED light for corals? Speaking of corals, would you have any recommendations on which ones would be good for a 40g tank?

4: Yeah, I read the tangs do need a lot of space...bummer haha. I'm definitely not ready for a 100g tank, so I guess I'll have to forget about them for now. Would you have any recommendations fish wise that would be good for a 40g? I feel like it's the bigger fish that have the most personality, haha.

Thank you!

 

[Riyita]

A budget tank, sure, I have one of these, no sump, VISPARSPECTRA lighting, my Aqua Ckear 70 I converted to mini refuge, dry rock has no unwanted stuff.

Go ahead, have fun, learn with the members along the way.

Get Small RODI filter, super investment at $100, great water and light are the most important factors.

Here’s my budget tank
View attachment 48996

Wow, that is a fantastic looking tank for sure. Do you think I could be alright to start off with just a Aquaclear 70 filter and two circulation pumps, for my filtration area if I go ahead with a 40g tank? Speaking of tank, would you say that is a good enough size to get a decent looking aquascape with corals and a few fish?

Thanks for your time!

 

[Riyita]

Something I forgot to mention is would I need to add any supplements to the new tank? Nutrient wise? From there, I would do bi weekly water changes and test bi-weekly for any spikes in nutrients? I'm a little confused on how to properly maintain balanced numbers.

 

[DaveK]

Dave, first off, thank you so much for your detailed reply! I appreciate it. Now a few follow up questions to what you said if you do not mind.

1: I see what you mean about the 55g not being long enough width wise. Do you think a 40g breeder tank would be of a decent size to host a decent amount of corals, have a nice looking aquascape, and a couple fish?

2: Would you say a protein skimmer is necessary to begin with? Could I get away with just having a Aqua Clear 70, and two Aqueon Circulation Pumps for the tank?

3: Lighting wise, I was advised for a budget light to get the MarsAqua 300W LED light for corals? Speaking of corals, would you have any recommendations on which ones would be good for a 40g tank?

4: Yeah, I read the tangs do need a lot of space...bummer haha. I'm definitely not ready for a 100g tank, so I guess I'll have to forget about them for now. Would you have any recommendations fish wise that would be good for a 40g? I feel like it's the bigger fish that have the most personality, haha.

Thank you!

Tank size and shape is a bit subjective. For example, some people love bow front tanks. Personally I don't care for them, but I can't really call someone that does like them wrong. I think you'd get a much better aquascape our of a 40 gal breeder. It's not as long as a 55, but it's 18 inches wide. Another good alternative would be a 70 or 75 gal tank. These have about the same frontal area as a 55 but are 18 inches front to back. One other consideration is that it's very easy to overstock a 40 gal tank. You want to keep this to about 3 or 4 modest size fish. Be sure you'll be content with that long term.

Strictly speaking you don't need a skimmer at all, but I consider them so highly desirable that I would not set up a tank of any size with out one. If I were making a choice between a hang on tank filter or a skimmer, I'd go with the skimmer. However it's best to have both.

Before we get into lighting, what kind of corals do you want to keep? SPS corals require vast amounts of light. LPS need much less. Soft corals mushrooms and zoas require even less light. LED lighting is the preferred lighting today, mostly because you can really dial in the spectrum you want and they consume a lot less power. Most of the SW reef lighting is in the form of some type of pendant. Generally you can figure each fixture will cover about an 18 to 24 inch square. This applies no matter how powerful the light is. Now a 40 gal breeder is 36 inches long, which makes it just a bit long for a single pendant. It can be done, but you will get dim lighting at the ends of the tank. Ideally you'd want two fixtures, but make them smaller. Even so, two fixtures will cost a bit more than one large one. One nice thing is that you can always start with one and and see how you like it, and if needed, add a second one later.

I have not personally tried or seen a MarsAqua 300W LED. It looks ok, but a lot more limited in the control you have compared with the major brands like AI, Kessil, and EcoTech. The other thing to check on before you buy is replacement parts availability. Go to the manufacturers web sire and see if they have an area that sells replacement parts. If they do not have that, figure that if the light breaks, it's done and you will need to get a new one.

 

[Riyita]

Tank size and shape is a bit subjective. For example, some people love bow front tanks. Personally I don't care for them, but I can't really call someone that does like them wrong. I think you'd get a much better aquascape our of a 40 gal breeder. It's not as long as a 55, but it's 18 inches wide. Another good alternative would be a 70 or 75 gal tank. These have about the same frontal area as a 55 but are 18 inches front to back. One other consideration is that it's very easy to overstock a 40 gal tank. You want to keep this to about 3 or 4 modest size fish. Be sure you'll be content with that long term.

Strictly speaking you don't need a skimmer at all, but I consider them so highly desirable that I would not set up a tank of any size with out one. If I were making a choice between a hang on tank filter or a skimmer, I'd go with the skimmer. However it's best to have both.

Before we get into lighting, what kind of corals do you want to keep? SPS corals require vast amounts of light. LPS need much less. Soft corals mushrooms and zoas require even less light. LED lighting is the preferred lighting today, mostly because you can really dial in the spectrum you want and they consume a lot less power. Most of the SW reef lighting is in the form of some type of pendant. Generally you can figure each fixture will cover about an 18 to 24 inch square. This applies no matter how powerful the light is. Now a 40 gal breeder is 36 inches long, which makes it just a bit long for a single pendant. It can be done, but you will get dim lighting at the ends of the tank. Ideally you'd want two fixtures, but make them smaller. Even so, two fixtures will cost a bit more than one large one. One nice thing is that you can always start with one and and see how you like it, and if needed, add a second one later.

I have not personally tried or seen a MarsAqua 300W LED. It looks ok, but a lot more limited in the control you have compared with the major brands like AI, Kessil, and EcoTech. The other thing to check on before you buy is replacement parts availability. Go to the manufacturers web sire and see if they have an area that sells replacement parts. If they do not have that, figure that if the light breaks, it's done and you will need to get a new one.

Thanks David! I also been reading a lot about maintaining proper nutrition levels especially with corals. I read you have to feed them? Do you have any insight on this matter, maintaining proper levels and such?

Thanks again!

 

[Uncle99]

As far as water goes, weekly water changes would be enough to maintain water chemistry until such a time that Stoney type corals start to,consume more than water changes can replenish.

Photosynthetics corals do not require feedings, BUT, Feeding, IMO, increases growth. Feeding mostly can be in broadcast style, but some things like Scolymia, Anenomes, Rock Flowers, Acans to name a few can take a shot of frozen Mysis.

As an example, In a 65g (pictured above) day one is Phytoplankon, day two is Zooplankton, day three is Marine Snow, day four is reef roids.
On day five, I target feed with frozen mysis.

As for corals, the nicest ones to me are the Scolymia's, easy to keep and super colouration, but do come at a big price. At night, they unfold their feeders which again, are super colourful.

 

[nanoreefing4fun]

lots great advise from all ^

for corals that you will have success with check out this link...
https://sites.google.com/a/asira.org/www2/caresheets

look for.. Level 1 & 2s...
Sensitivity/Difficulty:
Level 1 - easy to care for, good corals for the novice aquarist
Level 2 - require slightly more attention than level 1 corals, but
still generally tolerant