Totally new at this!! My husband is taking me to purchase my very first marine aquarium tomorrow for my birthday! 75 gal reef tank. The store set us up with all the right equipment and has been wonderful at answering my questions and is even coming to set it up and show me the ropes. As I'm doing my research...I'm finding all conflicting information everywhere about lights and skimmers and refugium set ups etc. It seems I may be getting in over my head here! It seems like an amazing hobby and I feel like if I'm patient...I should be OK. But in all honesty...I'm terrified with all of this information jumbled in my head! Any advice? Should I jump in??
Did I do the right thing??
- Thread starter mandiss
- Start date
to ReefSanctuary, a real Sanctuary of reef forums, with lots of very nice members
Best advise... :read: :read: :read: all you can here on RS & ask questions too !
Welcome to Rs!
Be leary of a local pet shop setting up your tank for you, this is a great hobby but you need to do the research to be successful.
It's not uncommon for a LFS to give bad advice and sell you something just to make a profit. It happens all the time educate yourself so you don't get taken for a ride.
Be leary of a local pet shop setting up your tank for you, this is a great hobby but you need to do the research to be successful.
It's not uncommon for a LFS to give bad advice and sell you something just to make a profit. It happens all the time educate yourself so you don't get taken for a ride.
redsea reefer
Well-Known Member
Hi and Welcome to RS!
Here is some good info to read and don't listen to everything your fish store says either. Ask here and someone will help you out and point you in the right direction.
http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/just-starting-out-sw-beginners/33555-look-frequently-asked-questions.html
Here is some good info to read and don't listen to everything your fish store says either. Ask here and someone will help you out and point you in the right direction.
http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/just-starting-out-sw-beginners/33555-look-frequently-asked-questions.html
Excellent. Thank you! I went in wanting the 28gal Nano Cube and my husband decided on the 75 Gallon. The nice thing is the store owner came highly recommended & didn't push us in either direction...just answered questions. He suggested the Ice Cap 4 bulb T-5 lights (even when I asked about the 6 or 8 which would be more $$, he said this would be sufficient for what I wanted). A large refugium pump with optional protein skimmer depending on the water quality after the tank cycles or down the road if needed. He told me that once I add SPS (in a year or more if I choose to), he would suggest a couple more power heads and Wavemaker to move the water appropriately but for now the refugium return would be sufficient. It seems to me that he's knowledgable...but since I have no idea, I'm hoping I can trust him. Does this sound trustworthy to start??
Let's see if we can clear up some of your concerns.
The majority of us use either T5ho "high output" or metal halides.
Wet dry filters with bio balls are no good for a reef tank, a refugium is a better way to go.
skimmers commonly sold in a lot of pet shops are junk! Research that one prizum, coralife, seaclone, and like skimmers are a waste of money. You can find better for the same price.
Live Rock atleast 1lbs per gallon, no more than 2lbs per gallon. Deep sand bed 4" don't waste your money on live sand just by the dry stuff and save yourself $5+ a bag.
Well that's some basic info and my opinion.
The majority of us use either T5ho "high output" or metal halides.
Wet dry filters with bio balls are no good for a reef tank, a refugium is a better way to go.
skimmers commonly sold in a lot of pet shops are junk! Research that one prizum, coralife, seaclone, and like skimmers are a waste of money. You can find better for the same price.
Live Rock atleast 1lbs per gallon, no more than 2lbs per gallon. Deep sand bed 4" don't waste your money on live sand just by the dry stuff and save yourself $5+ a bag.
Well that's some basic info and my opinion.
redsea reefer
Well-Known Member
His advice so far sounds good to me.
Sounds like you have a decent shop, alot of shops don't have experienced employees.
my personal opinion on a few things
I consider a skimmer to be a standard piece of equipment and wouldn't wait to buy one. I would go with the 8xT5ho fixture over the 6xt5ho fixture. No such thing as to much light especially if you are considering sps down the road.
The refugium is a good way to go but don't waste money on expensive lights for that setup, you can use clam lights and CFL bulbs and accomplish the same thing for 1/4 of the price of a fixture.
Hope that helps and keep in mind this is just my opinion
my personal opinion on a few things
I consider a skimmer to be a standard piece of equipment and wouldn't wait to buy one. I would go with the 8xT5ho fixture over the 6xt5ho fixture. No such thing as to much light especially if you are considering sps down the road. The refugium is a good way to go but don't waste money on expensive lights for that setup, you can use clam lights and CFL bulbs and accomplish the same thing for 1/4 of the price of a fixture.
Hope that helps and keep in mind this is just my opinion
What are the specs on the tank, meaning how long/high/deep? That will answer a lot of questions.
The fish store guy sounds like a good guy, i worked at a fish store so i dont feel like everyone in the fish store is evil and will tell you bad things just to make money. For the most part, at least when i worked, i wanted customers that were happy and customers that felt comfortable asking me questiosn and then they would come back.
In the Reef hobby there are few things that are certain and few things that are consistintly right or wrong. Plus everyone has their own opinion on whats right and wrong. The best thing to do i ask as many questions and never feel bad about doing it.
If you feel comfortable with fish store guy then great you have a valuable assest at your desposial. However, ask the same questions here and then compare your answers, but when it comes down to it, it is up to you. i do things all the time with my reef that arent what you are supposed to do, sometimes it works out sometimes it doesnt, but i can live with that. The only things that i can really say is that the one constant and the one definite in this hobby is patience!!!!!! The slower you go the better things will be.
The fish store guy sounds like a good guy, i worked at a fish store so i dont feel like everyone in the fish store is evil and will tell you bad things just to make money. For the most part, at least when i worked, i wanted customers that were happy and customers that felt comfortable asking me questiosn and then they would come back.
In the Reef hobby there are few things that are certain and few things that are consistintly right or wrong. Plus everyone has their own opinion on whats right and wrong. The best thing to do i ask as many questions and never feel bad about doing it.
If you feel comfortable with fish store guy then great you have a valuable assest at your desposial. However, ask the same questions here and then compare your answers, but when it comes down to it, it is up to you. i do things all the time with my reef that arent what you are supposed to do, sometimes it works out sometimes it doesnt, but i can live with that. The only things that i can really say is that the one constant and the one definite in this hobby is patience!!!!!! The slower you go the better things will be.
snarf
Member
:welcomera to RS! Everyone here is helpful so don't be afraid to ask questions. It sounds like you truely want to have a beautiful reef. But, you are correct that it is not something to rush into. It takes time and patience to set up, cycle the tank, add inhabitants and let it grow out but the ending result is a beautiful thing. Look forward to seeing your progress. Happy Reefing! Oh yeah, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
Comboverguy
New Member
Welcome, I too am a newbie. You are in the right place. The people here are some of the most helpful you will find. Don't be afraid to ask questions-about anything. There are a ton of postings already on here that will help. Read, Read, and Read some more. I have found that there are very few "cast in stone" methods. The one exception is patience. There are very vew short cuts. Everything from cycling your tank, to acclimatizing new fish and corals, to purchasing a new fish and not being able to put the critter in your aquarium for 6 weeks is a real test of your committment to having a great healthy beautiful aquarium. But watching the process is absolutely amazing! You'll get to know each piece of rock, coral, algae, and fish, snails, and crabs, on a personal level and be amazed at their interaction in their new home. Have Fun.
seafansar
Well-Known Member
What kinds of corals are you planning to keep? Best advice I got as a newbie was to get stronger lighting than what I was planning on. If you want SPS down the road, definitely go with the 6 or 8 bulb T-5's and make sure they are VHO or HO (very high output or high output). A 4 bulb fixture in the 75 gallon won't keep SPS happy. But I am a metal halide girl myself. I would go with 150W MH and T-5 supplemental and moon lights.
I do simple filtration. The water draining down from my tank goes into a sock filter. Then goes by my skimmer, carbon reactor (a bag of carbon would be fine also), a heater, and some extra liverock (optional) and back up into the tank.
The tank is drilled right? I recommend finding a drilled tank if it is not.
Remember to rinse out the new sand before adding it to the tank! If not be ready for your water to be cloudy. Just put some of it in a bucket and rise it with a hose a bunch of times until the water runs clear. You'd be surprised at how dirty new sand is. Even livesand somewhat, but not as bad.
There are a lot of different ways to putting together a tank. Do what you think is right, use some common sense and you should be fine.
I do simple filtration. The water draining down from my tank goes into a sock filter. Then goes by my skimmer, carbon reactor (a bag of carbon would be fine also), a heater, and some extra liverock (optional) and back up into the tank.
The tank is drilled right? I recommend finding a drilled tank if it is not.
Remember to rinse out the new sand before adding it to the tank! If not be ready for your water to be cloudy. Just put some of it in a bucket and rise it with a hose a bunch of times until the water runs clear. You'd be surprised at how dirty new sand is. Even livesand somewhat, but not as bad.
There are a lot of different ways to putting together a tank. Do what you think is right, use some common sense and you should be fine.
STOP!
Do not purchase anything yet. Do not jump in yet.
To have a successful reef system you need to obtain the knowledge about what you are going to do. This will save you a lot of time and more important money long term. To this end I present, by "popular demand" I present -
DaveK's Standard Lecture #1 – Advice for people new to the hobby
The very first thing you want to do, before you spend any money on equipment or livestock, is get yourself a few good books on state of the art reef systems. Then read and study them, so you have some idea about what your are doing.
Here are two to start with -
The Conscientious Marine Aquarist by Robert Fenner
The New Marine Aquarium by Michael Paleta <---This book has an especially good section on fish suited to someone starting off in the hobby.
This is information that you can not easily obtain from the net. While it's out there, it's all over the place, and there is a massive volume of information.
Once you get that done, plan or rethink your system. What do you want to keep? Do you have the necessary equipment? Do you have the knowledge to keep the livestock you want? Do you have the time to dedicate to keeping a system and it's livestock?
Many salt water fish, corals and inverts often have very specific requirements. Some are extremely difficult to keep alive, even if you do everything right. Before you get anything, research it, and be sure it will work out in your system.
Lastly, you will find that most LFS people are clueless when it comes to SW systems. Verify their advice, until they prove otherwise.
seafansar
Well-Known Member
+1 on The Conscientious Marine Aquarist. I read that before setting up my tank and it helped explain a lot. Do they have an updated version of that book yet? The one I read was slightly outdated, I now realize. Just wondering if he ever re-wrote it.
Edit: Yes he did. Get the updated one. The one with the lemon peel angel (yellow fish) on the cover, not the flame angel (red fish).
Edit: Yes he did. Get the updated one. The one with the lemon peel angel (yellow fish) on the cover, not the flame angel (red fish).
Here a good article too that will help... it was written by the owner of RS (Travis) !
10kFriendsArt.
10kFriendsArt.
llastrong618
New Member
I just started in November with my 75 gallon tank and if there is one thing i can say is take it real slow. Do not get in a hurry. If you are a patient person things will go good. Good luck