mpderksen
New member
Wait, time out! You say you have the funds now for all the basics. I misunderstood you. I think I read more into your statement than I should have. I assumed you meant that getting a bucket of $50 salt was a stretch. So at the risk of flip flopping my comments above, can I take a step back and ask a few more questions?
How much money do you actually have to get started? I have found that most of my monthly expenses come from getting new stuff, not the actual cost of running the tank. The list of regular stuff, for me, is salt, carbon, GFO, 2-part and RODI filters. All of this doesn't really cost much when broken down to monthly cost (for example, a bottle of GFO lasts me well over a year).
My belief is that complexity comes, not so much from the size of the tank, but from what you keep in them. Compare a 100 gallon that is fish only, with one that is loaded with SPS. Instead of starting with a small tank, and getting equipment that will never transfer to a larger tank, maybe you DO start with the large tank, but focus on basic soft corals and easy fish? No reactors, no dosing pumps, maybe even no controller. The trick is to buy things once, not save a few $ on something cheap, and end up regretting it and having to replace it with what you should have purchased in the first place (like a cheap skimmer). But honestly, you won't be perfect, and end up with some things you regret.
In your list above, if you could buy it all, there's really no reason not to get the bigger one. I would suggest you start with mostly dry rock to save cost, and patiently let it seed itself from a few live ones (dry sand for sure). A typical build takes at least a few weeks to get the plumbing set up, and then it could be another 2 months for everything to cycle and be ready for you CUC, THEN you wait again to add your first fish and corals. You can read a lot during that time and learn as you go. If you don't just get crazy and dump an angelfish in the first week, you can certainly be successful. The tone of your posts seems to indicate you are willing to learn and be patient, which goes a long way in this hobby.
So, to really evaluate your options, what is your startup budget?
How much money do you actually have to get started? I have found that most of my monthly expenses come from getting new stuff, not the actual cost of running the tank. The list of regular stuff, for me, is salt, carbon, GFO, 2-part and RODI filters. All of this doesn't really cost much when broken down to monthly cost (for example, a bottle of GFO lasts me well over a year).
My belief is that complexity comes, not so much from the size of the tank, but from what you keep in them. Compare a 100 gallon that is fish only, with one that is loaded with SPS. Instead of starting with a small tank, and getting equipment that will never transfer to a larger tank, maybe you DO start with the large tank, but focus on basic soft corals and easy fish? No reactors, no dosing pumps, maybe even no controller. The trick is to buy things once, not save a few $ on something cheap, and end up regretting it and having to replace it with what you should have purchased in the first place (like a cheap skimmer). But honestly, you won't be perfect, and end up with some things you regret.
In your list above, if you could buy it all, there's really no reason not to get the bigger one. I would suggest you start with mostly dry rock to save cost, and patiently let it seed itself from a few live ones (dry sand for sure). A typical build takes at least a few weeks to get the plumbing set up, and then it could be another 2 months for everything to cycle and be ready for you CUC, THEN you wait again to add your first fish and corals. You can read a lot during that time and learn as you go. If you don't just get crazy and dump an angelfish in the first week, you can certainly be successful. The tone of your posts seems to indicate you are willing to learn and be patient, which goes a long way in this hobby.
So, to really evaluate your options, what is your startup budget?
