getting started?

[lcstorc]

I totally agree with Heinz.
Why are you wanting an anemone? If it is just for the clownfish they don't actually need an anemone and will actually host a variety of soft corals and LPS.
In addition to a very stable tank, and direct feeding you also need to have very strong lighting for anemones. Metal Halides are the best thought the new LED lights are looking very promising and have a much lower cost for maintenance. Regardless of the anemone they have to have strong lighting though BTA are the most tolerant of lower lighting.

[TheJudge411]

no i just think they are cool. And where would be a good place to go to get a tank that wont cost me like 600$ >_>

[lcstorc]

They are cool but you definitely want to hold off on getting one. They can be very picky and difficult. Only for the mature tank with lots of light and target feeding.
Not sure about the tank. Depends on what size you are looking for. Usually I find local tanks just because shipping one is expensive.

[prow]

Originally Posted by TheJudge411

no i just think they are cool. And where would be a good place to go to get a tank that wont cost me like 600$ >_>

just so happens i am cleanning house and have a few tanks i will be selling. the one in my chronicle, the 120gal ish is one of them. i also have a 30gal and two 20gals plus a 45gal DIY sump and all kinds of equipment. where are you?

[Jason25]

Not to hijack this thread but Prow I would be interested in the 45gal. sump if shipping would not break me. Can you give me a total for to buy and ship to 17522 and btw where is my cost for shipping the cheato?lol Also dimension on the sump so I can make sure it fit under my stand.

[kathywithbirds]

hi judge. I'm a 'newbie" too, been at this um, 7 - 8 months?

as far as what size, totally up to you. bigger is better guideline pertains to water parameters. The bigger the tank is, the more "dilution" you have to work with. I started with a 5 gallon and if you have, say a spike in temp or nitrates or somehing, it hits harder than in say, a 100 galon tank. Plus you have room for more critters.

I am considering "cheating" on the anemone rule too. have a friend with a couplea tanks who has to move, offered me his bubble tip anemone (BTA). I babysat his tanks a few times while he traveled and nursed an ailing BTA back to health (pats self on back) and he offered it to me. This thing was WHITE when I first saw it, now it's a nice healthy rosy borwnish. (Anemones are not generally white. a white one is not in good shape. unless maybe it's a sebae, which is whiter... someone with sebae anem experience can explain I dont know much about them, but I digress...) My 75 gallon is only a month old, but the rock, (some of) the water and sand came from pre-existing tanks, so it's aged a bit more but still not that old. I may be able to get away with the RBTA (rose BTA) but I wouldn't try another type of anemone for a while yet. The "aging" of the tank lets water parameters settle out... there's elements inthe water you test for, but there's some minute stuff you just can't test for (way beyond me yet) that the nems are sensitive to, but these seem to settle out at the roughly year mark or so.

Is that any help? There's SO MUCH to read on and learn in this hobby, you'll never be bored. RS is a great place to learn too, people here are knowledgable and nice (unlike some of the other forums.)

[TheJudge411]

Originally Posted by prow

just so happens i am cleanning house and have a few tanks i will be selling. the one in my chronicle, the 120gal ish is one of them. i also have a 30gal and two 20gals plus a 45gal DIY sump and all kinds of equipment. where are you?

im from connecticut if you could PM me with some details i'd be intrested im not really sure on what everythign does or any abbreviations yet.

[TheJudge411]

im thinking about starting a small reef and eventually adding an anemone. Starting with some corals and various things to keep teh tank clean do i need any special lighting for the corals? DO you think a 30 gal tank or so would be good to start off? Aldo what exactly is living rock? DO corals need living rock or can they go on any rock? What type of pumps and tetsers would i need?

[BigAl07]

Yes you'll need "special" lighting for corals as most of our corals are "photosynthetic" in tha they get a lot of their food from light.

I would really hold off even mentioning an Anemone right now. Let's get a basic tank set up and let it "mature" into a reef and someday when you've mastered basic and intermediate reef keeping we'll delve into Anemone-ville with you.

Live rock is ocean rock that has living bacteria already established in it's pores. It serves as a large portion of you "Biological" filtration system once your tank is established.

[TheJudge411]

Originally Posted by BigAl07

Yes you'll need "special" lighting for corals as most of our corals are "photosynthetic" in tha they get a lot of their food from light.

I would really hold off even mentioning an Anemone right now. Let's get a basic tank set up and let it "mature" into a reef and someday when you've mastered basic and intermediate reef keeping we'll delve into Anemone-ville with you.

Live rock is ocean rock that has living bacteria already established in it's pores. It serves as a large portion of you "Biological" filtration system once your tank is established.

what lighting would you recomend?

[BigAl07]

Well if you want to "Ultimately" end up with an Anemone in your system you'll have to opt for the highest of lights because they are HIGH Light requiring animals. That would be Metal Halides or LEDs both of which are fairly stepply priced when compared to other light fixtures. A draw back the MH lights is the amount of heat the produce and electricity they gobble up. LEDs solve both problems but introduce a fairly hefty sticker price. Well worth the money though.

A word of caution.. you said you want to start a "Small Reef". The irony is that unlike many other things in life starting small is NOT the best, easiest or most likely to succeed choice. With smaller tanks come larger worries, quicker problems and comparable price tags that some larger tanks would have. I would think you'd be FAR ahead to think about something in the 55gallon range. If you keep it in "Standard" sizes (don't have a funky sized tank built) you'll also come out cheaper than having CUSTOM equipment made.

Good luck and HAPPY REEFING!!

[TheJudge411]

Looking to start. < continue here since its not really about anemones anymore...

[prow]

so where is this tank going to go? a tank with a built in overflow stand and canopy is something your going to want if you plan on running this tank for awhile. can do with it, you could go with a backpak(hang on the back of the tank for skimmer, heater and other equipment area also to grow macros).

the main thing now is getting the tank. i think many here can help with getting and setting up the equipment(lighting, flow, gas exchange, exporting, biofiltration ect..).

we know you want to do anemones at some point. so now all thats needed is what tank. whata the best setup for your money, well, how much is your max on getting everything? how much do you have to get things started? lighting chilling and all that will come down to the actual tank. you may not need metal halides. T5's could work for ya and save you from having to buy a chiller. or maybe you can do MH with out a chiller. but again, first the tank, hehehe.

[TheJudge411]

well i found a store that sells corals that im going to tomorrow so maybe they can help me out. Im done with paintball for the year so I've got about 400$ saved right now a 50$ paychekc in my room, about 30 hours on a paycheck now...and i can sell about 700$ in paintball stuff and still have my best stuff needed to play so...that much + weekly paychecks...

[burning2nd]

it took me about 7 months b4 i could keep a anenome i started with T5 lighting the nova 4x39w but it likes the MH's a lot more now



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