new direction for first tank

[Apartmenttank]

I talked before about buying an all in one tank but that fell through, i also don't want anything that will go in the tank to be from someone else.

So now I'm leaning at making most of the things i want/need.

My plan is to start with a 30-40 gallon aquarium. here is the hard part for the aquarium i want. here is the hard part18 inches is the minimum of any side most are either 12 high or 12 long, and i feel like this limits most aspects of creating a good reef.

so I'm seeing a couple options, a 40 breeder would be good but it looks like i would have to buy 2 sets of LED lights if i got a disk type. there are a few other types out there but most are 12 inches long in a direction. and from what i have seen the more square the base of the aquarium is the faster the price goes up.

So 40 breeder, paying a lot of money for a 29, or 35 cube. seems to be my only options. or i am considering looking into making my own tank, able to get the exact specs i want as well as pre drill it before i have assemble the tank but I'm still looking this up. Slightly worried about this because of the possibility of messing up, not when i make it i would test it outside but what happens if it holds for 2 weeks or 2 months then breaks inside my apartment. I know I'm paranoid.

as for stand i plan on making on myself to house a large sump(as large as i can fit planning on making it around 10 gallons less then tank) so i can hold a Refugium and a bio section and a skimmer.

Here is my plan right now.
Buy or make tank preferably predrilled but if i cant get one that way for a good price would a hang on the back overflow be ok or should i go get it drilled?
also purchase 2-3(or would just one be the best bet if I'm getting a tank controller?) and 1-2 power heads depending on tank setup.

Buy RODI unit and dry rock and Live sand, set up a 4 inch sand bed and begin cycling the rock, tank on random table thats strong enough or just on the floor not to worried about this. either remove HOB overflow or plug the drill with pvc fitting.

During cycling build the stand and sump, as soon as possible, during a 100% water chance place the tank on the stand and attach the sump. probably after the tank is placed on the stand i will look into adding the clean up crew

now this is gonna be my expensive day... buying light(from my understanding don't need this to cycle the tank), skimmer and possibly a tank controller(heard it was smart to start with one rather then upgrade later, if anyone has a good recommendation, currently my LFS says APEX junior would be the best but open for suggestions)

Last I'm going to buy a 10 gallon tank for a quarantine from craigslist as well as a cheap HOB filter and use one of my extra heaters from the first tank, ill hang the filter onto my main tank to seed it then set up my quarantine tank.

Once i have all this set up cycled and i plan on getting 2-4 corals (so far I'm thinking Pulsing Xenia, a Zoanthid, a torch or frogspawn, and one other(open for suggestions). and get 2 fish to place in the quarantine tank, really dont know what fish i want in my tank im planning on having a mated pair of clown fish and if i can get the refugium and everything working properly a mandarin(6 months after addition of first fish, with a lot of research and pod seeding i know these fish are frowned upon here) but i feel like 2 clown fish would be a bad pair to start off with but i don't know a better option or really anything else i want in the tank yet.

any suggestions or ideas or things I'm looking at doing that you would consider a bad idea? anything that looks like i'm heading in the right direction?

TL;DR
1)Help with finding correct tank 30-40 gallons no 12 inch sides
2)would building my own tank be a horrible idea?
3)HOB overflow ok or a bad option?
4)tank controller suggestions(or should i skip it)?
5)starting coral besides xenia, zoathids, torch/frogspawn
6)best first fish for tank that would live with clownfish(or should i just start with my 2 clownfish)

 

[gone fishin]

1)Help with finding correct tank 30-40 gallons no 12 inch sides
May need to get a custom tank for your needs

2)would building my own tank be a horrible idea?
depending on your skills, I would not build one

3)HOB overflow ok or a bad option?
I had a 29g with a HOB overflow for a few years no problems, to me the key is to match the return pump to the overflow correctly

4)tank controller suggestions(or should i skip it)?
IMO not needed initially. They are nice to have nut not a requirement


5)starting coral besides xenia, zoathids, torch/frogspawn

6)best first fish for tank that would live with clownfish(or should i just start with my 2 clownfish)
Really depends on what tank you end up with.

good luck, just my 2 cents worth

 

[CStrickland]

40 breeders are great starter tanks. One of the $100 full spectrum 165w LEDs from eBay will light it ok if you don't might a little shadow in the corners. I think they are plenty of light to start with. Sometimes these are sold for growing weed, but they are good for coral too

If you drill holes too close to the edge of the glass I guess it would crack later. This is easy to avoid with a little research. I would leave the tank building to the pros.

Don't hob. Drill.

I like more, smaller power heads. I got several 800 gph $12 ones. They're big but whatever, for $12 I can throw them away when I win the lottery and buy a bunch of 2nd generation gyres. I was surprised how many nice older tanks are running these SunSun power heads once I started paying attention. Idk if they play nice with a controller, don't have one. A good starting point is about 40 times the dt volume for flow, say you get a 40g that's 1600gph, 2 800's or 4 400's etc.

I would do dry rock, 1-2 inches of dry sand and a little piece of live rock to seed the tank. Id build the stand first, it's a big hassle to move a filled tank. You can start you rocks cycling in a trash can but I'd wait to set up the tank until the rest is in place.

You don't need an apex, but if you are sure you will want one then get equipment that will be friends with it.

There's lots of choices for fish, I started with a chalk bass and he's a lot of fun to watch and no trouble. The best thing is to poke around on liveaquaria.com filtered by tank size and easy-care. Once you have a final list run it by the "check your purchases" thread and you get advice on the order to add them as well.

Just my $.02 good luck!

 

[Apartmenttank]

Yeah drilling seems like the best option, I'm hoping that petco does the dollar a gallon sale soon so I can get a 40B, 30 gallon Refugium , and a 10-20 gallon hospital tank.

Why would you recommend against live sand and a deep bed?

As for tank building it looks quite easy but idk the cost of the materials and none of the guides I have seen have addressed any common mistakes, which I like to see beforehand to avoid these.

 

[Rubasu]

Buying live sand really isn't worth it, IMO. Whatever sand you put in will be live in a couple weeks anyway...so just save some money. When I upgraded to a 40B (Awesome dimensions, btw...I absolutely love it) I used all dry sand and just put a small cup of my old sand to seed it.

Using dry rock will keep any unwanted hitchhikers out of your tank, but you will have a longer cycle time. I personally just used live rock because I like the random things that grow on the rock. It's kind of a crap shoot, but it worked out for me. I had my 20g up for three years, then used that rock in my 40B (and added some more.)

Probably went off topic a little..but hopefully it helps a bit.

 

[Apartmenttank]

Not off topic all pretty related, but I heard that a live sand and dry rock cycle in 4-6 weeks and is cheaper then live rock and dry sand. Mainly I don't want any pests in there, pretty sure if my gf saw a foot long worm in my tank she might burn the apartment down.

But no one has seen any other tanks besides a 40B that fits the size requirements I have? Besides 300 dollar cubes :/, or anyone have a good sight to order them from or ones that do decently cheap custom jobs?

 

[CStrickland]

Why would you recommend against live sand and a deep bed?

Live sand might make your cycle shorter by adding some bacteria, but it comes packaged in preservatives (many of which are phosphates). There is a whole ecosystem in the sand, it's an expensive way to jumpstart a few inhabitants. A little chunk of live rock from an established system will give you a broader spectrum of bacteria, as well as some cool pods and filter feeders and good worms.

What do you want a dsb in your tank for?

 

[Apartmenttank]

From my understanding it filters better as well as provided good room for pods(as well as the Refugium).

I have really looked into what will live in my tank yet mainly been researching equipment and corals no livestock I know some of them either need a DSB or can't have one.

At the LFS I said I would like to make a system that is as close as possible to a closed ecosystem(impossible I know) and he recommended me to research DSB

 

[CStrickland]

At the LFS I said I would like to make a system that is as close as possible to a closed ecosystem(impossible I know) and he recommended me to research DSB

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2268433 Is a good place to start your research. There are some real smarties in that thread, and it's not a million pages but if you follow the links in it you will have plenty to read to understand the different opinions.

I think if you do go for it, there's more to it that 4" of live sand too, like layers of diff bacteria and all

 

[Apartmenttank]

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2268433 Is a good place to start your research. There are some real smarties in that thread, and it's not a million pages but if you follow the links in it you will have plenty to read to understand the different opinions.

I think if you do go for it, there's more to it that 4" of live sand too, like layers of diff bacteria and all

thanks im reading threw it now didnt know there are such mixed opinions on this,

just went to 3 stores close to me looking at tanks, 1 was closed, then petco just to browse tanks, 40 breeder for 90 bucks and a 36 bowfront with stand for like 300. other store had a 45cube for 400 and then surprising a 29cube for 90, no overflow so i would have to get it drilled, comes with a hob filter, small heater and light (would use all 3 of them on my Q tank). but would a 29 cube be to small to work with? seems really hard to put a sump under it because i would be limited in length.

 

[juniorrocketdad]

Just mandarin comments, firstly they need at least a year not six months before adding and two, your 30 gallon sump would have to be entirely a refugium or else it will eat all the pods

 

[Apartmenttank]

There are several ways to provide pods for the mandarin to eat, my lFS has kept one in there stores display tank for over a year now with it being a 55 gal tank with a 30 gal sump, they set up areas in the tank that are easy for pods to breed as well as add them in once a month. i will do plenty of research before putting any fish into my aquarium, right now i need to find an aquarium.