help anyone? Newbie looking for supplies.

hellfish01

hellfish01

New member
Hi everyone,
First thank you for looking.

Im completely new to saltwater aquariums and im hopping to have a healthy and great looking aquarium. Ive been in the freshwater planted aquarium hobby for some years so Im familiar with the basics. (Regular maintenance, proper equipmeCurrent nova T5 high output, fixture and a rena ng, research, research and more research.)

Im thinking of converting my 45corner from planted freshwater to coral saltwater and need help.
Im planning (money be willing) to start tearing down the tank in a month or so and would like anyone kind enough to donate or sell any extra equipment you know ill need to get things started. Advince and personal stories would also be greatly appreciated. At the moment I have a Current nova T5 high output fixture and a rena filstar xp3 canister filter with my tank.
So what do I need?
What can you sell or donate?
What advice can you give me?

Thank you again for reading.
 
Hello and welcome to the Tucson forum! My first set of advice would be to decide where you plan on going with your tank, i.e. soft corals, large polyp stonies or small polyp stonies. While I don't reccomend someone start with SPS corals I do think that its easier to plan for the future then have to buy everything twice. Somethings are easily upgradable and somethings are a little tougher.

While I started with a canister filter and Im not saying you cant run a nice tank with one, its not the ideal choice for a saltwater tank. A drilled tank with a sump is best and will make accomidating a decent skimmer a lot easier.

Hope this helps to start, Ill be glad to add more as you go, please dont be shy and ask as many questions as you have. Welcome.
 
I agree with Brett. I started my first SW aquarium with a 72 bow front with a hang-on-the-back overflow box... I sold the tank to a fresh water guy and the overflow box is in the garbage. Now i have two DSA tanks with the internal overflows.

I was in the same place you are now a few years ago and my advice would be to see if you can drill your tank and get a sump under that thing. Trust me when i say that it would have been easier and less costly to do things right once than to do it twice because i was wrong the first time.

Also, keep an eye out for sales on the big ticket items like skimmers. They usually go on sale around the holidays. If i may suggest the aquamaxx brand as they are the most effective and inexpensive skimmers ive owned.
 
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first of all thank you both!
i was considering turning a 10 gallon tank into a sump/refugium (?) if this is even possible. im still learning about the concept. i do plan on being able to grow just about anything. after working my way up with planted aquaria i realized the same thing you both state, if i can grow the hardest thing to grow well anything else will thrive. at the moment i want to grow things like frags, torch corals, frogspawn coral and anything else im sure i have no idea about that will look nice and more importantly be compatible with my fish and other inverts. i still have to learn what "soft corals, large polyp stonies or small polyp stonies" but i plan to do lots of research for the next couple of months till the tank is set up and fully cycled. but i dont want to bite off more than i can chew. and thank you CReyes350 for the advice on the aquamaxx brand. ill keep an eye out. i dont know the first think about drilling my tank aquaph8 but i will look into that as well. my questions for you guys are as follows.
-if you were to start a new aquarium having just what i mentioned, (from scratch) what would you buy? with a reasonable price range of course.
-what are the not too demanding beginner corals and fish i should look for? i know for a fact the wife wants some clown fish.
-what stores do you guys shop at?
-do you have any frags or spare equipment you could sell for a reasonable price? again im in no rush but do want to get some contacts and meet some good people that can help out as i will hopefully help if the future.
-what should i get first? i need to start looking for a 10 gallon or if i can fit a 20 under my tank for a sump. so thats my project.
-whats a sump and how do i make one!? i know its basically a biological filter but what does it do? and how does it work?

i know its alot but im sure this may also help someone else. i will go look at the beginners section and get my learn on. again thank you all for your help.
 
To be completly honest the first thing i would buy/ look for would be a tank with an internal overflow box. Im sure it would not be very difficult to drill your current tank (I have never drilled a tank and certainly not a pro but the guys at Fishy Biz are).

After you decide what tank and stand you are gonna use look into the largest aquarium you can fit under the stand. I have two 29g sumps and now wish i went larger. After that, go to National Glass (or similar) with the tank/sump and ask if they can cut you at least four baffles from 1/4" glass. Ive done a few sumps with National Glass so they are pretty good at it now. I could help you on design and putting the sump together if you like. Once thats done then you could sucessfuly move on to the next phase lol

Also, if youre gonna make a diy sump- wait till petco has its $1/gallon tank sale. This last sale just passed but they have it every two weeks or so.

If youre ok with used equipment i have a 20L aquarium for sale $10 and a reef octopus protien skimmer i could do for really cheap. PM me if interested
 
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would rather work around that. i know thats limiting what i can keep and do but im looking to stay small at the moment.
as for the internal overflow box, having a 45 degree angel at the back of the aquarium i was THINKING if i needed one it would be easy to silicone some plexi glass at the end, or buying something online or locally thats already built. this is what i had in mind,
Buying something like this

Building something like this

Maybe this (same but 45g)

As for drilling, i think the bottom of my tank is tempered but maybe the sides if its needed(?). i still dont know the purpose of drilling the tank. is this for aesthetics or does it have something to do with gravity fed sums? my idea was to run some pvc up and over the back to a sump. ill need to take apart the stand to reconfigure the supports it to keep a bigger aquarium for a sump. this is my plan for that,....
is this doable? the internal overflow box and the stand supports
 

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Hey Hellfish, looks like you are getting some good advice here, but I'll throw in my 2 cents.

-if you were to start a new aquarium having just what i mentioned, (from scratch) what would you buy? with a reasonable price range of course.

I would be looking for "good bones" as it were. I agree 100% on drilling and setting up a sump. You will be much happier, and have more flexibility down the road. Next priority would be a good skimmer. Lights are important, but you can get started with a little bit less lighting, and improve down the road.

FWIW, I have a Super Reef Octopus XP1000sss protein skimmer I am selling. Let me know if you are interested. If you are planning on using your 45g, it may be too big ( also have lights, but it's a 48" long fixture).

-what are the not too demanding beginner corals and fish i should look for? i know for a fact the wife wants some clown fish.

Zoanthids (usually referred to as zoos or zoas), green star polyps are very hardy. The euphylias (hammer, frogspawn, torch) are very forgiving IME. Watch out for the torches though, they have a pretty potent sting and they can put out lengthy sweeper tentacles that can sting other corals.

There are also some beginner corals that do well, but I would recommend NOT added them to your tank. Mushrooms and Xenia are hardy, "good" beginner corals. But they can take over your tank. GSP also has that rep, but I have not experienced it. I did experience my last tank being overrun by mushrooms, with the ugly brown mushrooms killing $$$$ SPS corals.

-what stores do you guys shop at?

Fishy Biz :thumbsup:

-do you have any frags or spare equipment you could sell for a reasonable price? again im in no rush but do want to get some contacts and meet some good people that can help out as i will hopefully help if the future.

As mentioned I have a skimmer, and lights from my old 75g. I also have a return pump that would work great for your setup if you drill and set up a sump.

-what should i get first? i need to start looking for a 10 gallon or if i can fit a 20 under my tank for a sump. so thats my project.

Sump, you'll need to find a glass shop to cut some baffles for you, or you can cut baffles out of acrylic (generally glass to acrylic is a no-no, but in a sump, since there is water pressure on both sides, it works fine).

-whats a sump and how do i make one!? i know its basically a biological filter but what does it do? and how does it work?

Simple explanation...water drains down into a tank under your display. There are sections for various pieces of equipment, possibly a refuge, and it will increase your water volume. Sumps make life easier in terms of maintenance, and make it easier to add equipment when down the road you decide you have to have a GFO/ GAC reactor or a dosing setup (don't worry, in time you'll figure out what the hell I'm talking about).

I have drilled tanks in the past. It seems scary until you do it. It's surprisingly easy to drill glass (assuming it's not tempered). Then you can get a glass holes overflow kit or you can build one easy enough. I have a diamond hole bit that is the correct size for 1" bulkheads, and I know there are some other diamond hole bits floating around town.
 
Thank you so much phenom5,
great advice, as for the skimmer, is it like a filter in a freshwater were bigger is better? i have the rena xp3 ment for a 150g tank running on my 45 and even if i was to neglect the tank it would hold its own for a long time because of the overfiltration. however if i cant use that filter (i think)and ave always loved the idea of a sump so im planing to go that route. i have a 10g crystal red shrimp tank with a 5g want to be sump but is really just a dump aquarium with acrylic holding sponges, bioballs and buffers for the tank. people say not to keep those guys in less than 20g but im having no problem in my 10g because of this setup. anywho...
yes i do want to do things right the first time and i agree ive been getting excellent advice, im really liking this forum and its good to know you guys are here to help people like me get started. ive been looking on liveaquaria.com for just general water perimeters and what they have for beginner stuff and you just told me in a few sentences what i researched in several hours, so thas aswome. again thank you all.
pm sent
 
Well, skimmers are a little different in terms of sizing. Generally people recommend a +1 approach, meaning taking the skimmer recommended for your tank size, and then going with the next model size up. Generally the thought is that skimmer manufacturers overrate their skimmers. Like just about everything in this hobby, it depends on the company. There are some skimmers that are rated correctly...and some that are rated for tank sizes that they would have no chance skimming.

If you go too big with a skimmer, then you could run into inconsistent performance.

Livaaquaria is a great place to get an idea of what you want, but watch out for some of their "recommendations" of water parameters or care requirements. Some of them tend to be a little too generalized, and in some cases they're wrong.
*EDIT* which isn't to say they're a bad vendor, quite the opposite, Dr. Foster & Smith and LiveAquaria is an extremely reputable vendor, and their livestock, IME is top notch. They just seem to have a limited number of templates that they use for their care guides.
 
great looking coral, and yes phenom5 im sure any retail or online store may not be 100% on all the details. ive learned experience is what tells you if something is doing good or bad not sales people. but either way thats not something that concerns me so much at the moment as much as setting up the tank and having things ready for them latter.
you mentioned Fishy Biz as a good source. do they sell fish, shrimp, hermit crabs and snails as well? i plan on getting some of them as cleaning crew to help keep the tank looking nice between maintenance. ill check them out soon. what about live rock and live sand. were can i get a good deal on those?
 
Id start with the tank and see what you can do to either find one with an overflow or equip yours with one. Next, would be the skimmer and I always tend to use one rated high like Phenom said. Your sump should be built to accomidate your skimmer and its required water level. Id go with the biggest sump you can fit under your stand.

What side of town are you on? Maybe you could come check out one of our tanks and get a better idea of things. Its always easier to understand this stuff in person than us trying to explain it.

Fishy Biz is pretty much the only store we have left in this town, the others are all closed or really run down looking.

Let me know when you get things cycled and Id be happy to throw you a few frags. I dont have a lot equipment laying around these days, I tend to get rid of it as I go.
 
I would have to agree with all of the mentioned. These guys don't know it but have helped me more then they know just from me reading their post and from all of the years of lurking of this site I did before I started my tank. As for right now I learned the hard way, and my current tank has a hob overflow, but as they all have said, drilled is more reliable and efficient. Also I would say go with the biggest tank you plan on ending up with, due to I started with a 10g, went to a 20g, then 55g, then 75g, and now I'm working on setting up a 240g. By doing this I've spent more money then if I would have just went bigger the first time around. Also when your tank is ready I have a few beginner coral frags, like zoas, gsp, candy canes, and a leather. Hopefully to have more soon.
Also I live in the midvale area, my tank is nothing compared to everyone else's but I would be willing to share.
 
WOW!!! i just want to say thank you all for your great help!
i had joined a few forums for freshwater and although i met some nice people there, the community was floating by the filter inlet. within a few days of finding this forum not only did i get great advice ive got people wanting to help and offering spare equipment, corals, and experience! i just want to tank you all for making an newbie feel welcome! i cant wait to get things started and of course shananagans im planing to go slow as fast as i can. haha, no i know. ive kept freshwater tanks for a while now and learned that "immediate results require infinite patience".
and thank you all for the offer and pms. im sure with some time and lots of help from you guys soon ill be helping someone else and share my experience.
again i thank you all
 
i have a dilemma. i know someone that said he may be getting rid of his 20g tank. he has basic frogspawn coral and some Polyps coral, or so i think. i dont talk to him much. he also has 2 black clown fish. he said he would trade my freshwater setup for that, with the sand and rock plus some salt for an additional 50 gallons.
now assuming i use all of his stuff (no hob, but i do have an old hob and a canister from my freshwater) and transfer it to my tank since its already running would that help me speed up the cycle? if i run the tank with only 30 out of the 45 gallons of water (till i get more live sand and rock) and a small pump inside the water for water movement. until i can set up the sump. without adding more bioload. would that work? or am i setting myself up for failure? he needs it gone by late aug....


dont get me wrong i probably would not recommend this to any beginner as well. but ive done this with freshwater (not at all the same) without any problems. i would imagine that if its running at the moment and the only thing changing now is the container housing it all it shouldnt be that big of an impact. at the same time this will also speed up the cycle of any new rock or sand i add. not to mention filter media that will go in a sump once thats build. witch once i have time next week i can start working on...
 
Probably wouldn't work for the long run because you have to speed up your process, which is not recommend, to accommodate another person's deadline. I'm not saying I cannot be done, but I wouldn't do it. Good luck
 
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