New Guy/Getting back in Build Need help

A

Atchison0341

New member
Hey Guys,

Where to start, I will be getting out of the Marine Corps soon, I injured my shoulder in Iraq, and it can not be fixed, and therefore can not be in the infantry anymore. But before I joined I was always fascinated with fish and aquariums, I've had many over the years but they have all been fresh water. I have now decided to take the plunge in to the SW world. I have some basic questions and hope you can help, and I did read the introduction thread, and tried to buy several books, but can not find any good ones up here, and I won't be able to go home until Christmas this year, to purchase some book, if you guys have any suggestions.

Ok, I bought a 110 Gallon tank off CL. I plan on making it a Reef tank.

I would like to know what kind of filter/filters you'd recommended, the guy I bought the tank off swore by Fluval, and I have done lots of research on them, but the 405 series only rates up to 100 gallons, is that ok? Or do you have a better option. Also what else would you recommend for a filter to hang on the aquarium? Is it necessary?

What responsibly priced protein skimmer would your recommend?

Also what is your opinion on lighting? The tank came with out the lighting strip, so how long should I buy the light strip, should I get one with one two or three bulbs?

And anything else you can think of that I need, I need things I can tell my wife to get me for Christmas, she is so excited I have a hobby now so she has something she can purchase for me.

I'm sorry if I ask too many questions, I understand there is a lot of trail and error in SW, I just want to get it started all correctly, so then I can start my trail and error.

Just any info you can give would be most helpful.
I hope to start contributing soon myself.
Thank you,
Charles
 
hey bro...i guess your tank is not drilled....i would love to voice my opinions on some stuff....ive been in the hobby for so long,there is not alot i havent tried....if your tank isnt drilled,i would start by getting it drilled so you can have a sump,and ad all the make life easier stuff in the sump..and lights really depend on if your gonna do fish only or corals....holler back oh'' yeah,and most of all..i just wanna say thank you for what you do...thanks for making my life a lil easier.....
 
It's too bad you aren't home yet. I know you are not up and running, but if you weren't too far from Montgomery, you could have come to our frag swap this weekend. There would have been plenty of things for you to see and plenty of experienced folks you could have talked to with your questions.

I'm sure you'll get a bunch of advice and suggestions on the board, though. I'll be glad to help you out, just really busy right now. Some details for you to provide, though...

- Is the tank you bought drilled?
- Is it a standard 110G tank (30 inches tall?)
- Do you want to keep corals and fish? If so, what kinds of both interest you?

BTW, thank you for your service.

Will
 
Last edited:
markie mark said:
hey bro...i guess your tank is not drilled....i would love to voice my opinions on some stuff....ive been in the hobby for so long,there is not alot i havent tried....if your tank isnt drilled,i would start by getting it drilled so you can have a sump,and ad all the make life easier stuff in the sump..and lights really depend on if your gonna do fish only or corals....holler back oh'' yeah,and most of all..i just wanna say thank you for what you do...thanks for making my life a lil easier.....
Click to expand...


Thanks for supporting us, and I do plan on building a sump. I would like to do Corals as well. Thanks for the advice.
 
on the lights...are you gonna start of with soft corals and work your way to sps,or try to just start of sps and build for a sps reef.??mixed reef?no sps?
 
wpecoul said:
It's too bad you aren't home yet. I know you are not up and running, but if you weren't too far from Montgomery, you could have come to our frag swap this weekend. There would have been plenty of things for you to see and plenty of experienced folks you could have talked to with your questions.

I'm sure you'll get a bunch of advice and suggestions on the board, though. I'll be glad to help you out, just really busy right now. Some details for you to provide, though...

- Is the tank you bought drilled?
- Is it a standard 110G tank (30 inches tall?)
- Do you want to keep corals and fish? If so, what kinds of both interest you?

BTW, thank you for your service.

Will
Click to expand...

Thanks for the support Will, we need it now more than ever.

The tank is not drilled I plan on doing that already, as well, as building a sump, I bought it while I got a few days leave,acutally picked it up the last day, and haven't had to to measure below to find out how big of a sump I can build.

I would love to keep corals, and fish, I'm still newish and learning, I love them all and want to keep them all, I've been keeping FW tanks for a LONG time, this will be my dive into the salt world, so I thought I should stay easier, as I have an entire room dedicated my hobby, and have much more room for bigger, and more advanced tanks.

I did the frag swap in Montgomery, I really wish I could of made it, just to check it out, never been to one. If this weekend didn't suck so bad on money, MILITARY pay HAHA its a joke, I'd make the drive down from North Carolina to come check it out.

But thanks for the help.
 
markie mark said:
on the lights...are you gonna start of with soft corals and work your way to sps,or try to just start of sps and build for a sps reef.??mixed reef?no sps?
Click to expand...


What would you recommend for a beginner? I want to try sps, but I think it might be smarter to start off soft.
 
I would start with softies and LPS. The 110G tank will kind of be a challenge to light as 30" is tall and you'd need some intense lighting to get down too far into the tank.
 
yeah,with not much experience in the hobby,you want want to start with softies and lps,just wondering if you had a mind set on something...get your basics bro...good skimmer, a sump of some sort..you cant get like a 30 gallon tank for a sump and not have to waist money on a fantsy acrylic one...you culd run 3-175 watt halides or 250s,phosban reactor is the greatest thing ive ever owned....r.o. system for the house never hurt anybody...starting with really clean water usually is a great way to start.....get your basics when you get home and just start asking questions on here,and im sure you will get enough answers from all these great people....good luck...and thanks again for being a HERO..........
 
I know I can't go cheap in this hobby, but what would you guys recommend as a cost efficient skimmer? I plan on getting a great one, but with me getting out soon, there will be a short period I will have just my wife's income, so I'm looking for a good cheaper one.
 
Atchison0341 said:
I know I can't go cheap in this hobby, but what would you guys recommend as a cost efficient skimmer? I plan on getting a great one, but with me getting out soon, there will be a short period I will have just my wife's income, so I'm looking for a good cheaper one.
Click to expand...

For a nice well priced skimmer I would recommend the SWC160 Cone from reef filtration, call Luke he is a great guy and wont sell you something you don't need.
 
The biggest thing I can recommend is take your time. You will find a lot of people close to you that have items you can make use of.
And Huuah MARINE. Thank you for your commitment.
 
This is a huge topic and you could probably go blind reading all the threads on RC on hardware builds. A few comments:

Plan your goals for the tank first, then let those plans drive your hardware selections, not the other way around. Reef stuff can get expensive especially if you buy the wrong things and then end up re-buying them. There is always used hardware around, which is available for a fraction of the price. Save the fancy wish list hardware for a couple of years down the road when you are more sure you will stick with the hobby, as many people do not. By then you will probably want a new tank setup anyway.

I don't necessarily agree that you should start with softies and LPS. Both can be very aggressive and if your goal is eventually SPS -- and not everyone wants to go there -- you'll want to be rid of them at that point, which can be difficult sometimes. Again, plan your goals. Go look at all the local reef tanks you can, and pictures online, to get your thoughts together. You may wish to forgo corals altogether for 5 or 6 months until everything is stabilized and you are ready to start adding SPS... if that is what you decide is your goal.

Finally, go slow and quarantine thoroughly; it's much more important in the SW world than the FW world due to the difficulty of treating in situ. Catching a sick fish out of a stocked tank is a pain, and infecting an entire tank with a disease and trying to eliminate it afterward is a recipe for frustration. Getting in the habit of effective QT measures from the beginning can save much anguish and make this a much more enjoyable hobby in the long run. Besides, patience is not just a virtue in the SW world, but a requirement. :)
 
NicoleC said:
This is a huge topic and you could probably go blind reading all the threads on RC on hardware builds. A few comments:

Plan your goals for the tank first, then let those plans drive your hardware selections, not the other way around. Reef stuff can get expensive especially if you buy the wrong things and then end up re-buying them. There is always used hardware around, which is available for a fraction of the price. Save the fancy wish list hardware for a couple of years down the road when you are more sure you will stick with the hobby, as many people do not. By then you will probably want a new tank setup anyway.

I don't necessarily agree that you should start with softies and LPS. Both can be very aggressive and if your goal is eventually SPS -- and not everyone wants to go there -- you'll want to be rid of them at that point, which can be difficult sometimes. Again, plan your goals. Go look at all the local reef tanks you can, and pictures online, to get your thoughts together. You may wish to forgo corals altogether for 5 or 6 months until everything is stabilized and you are ready to start adding SPS... if that is what you decide is your goal.

Finally, go slow and quarantine thoroughly; it's much more important in the SW world than the FW world due to the difficulty of treating in situ. Catching a sick fish out of a stocked tank is a pain, and infecting an entire tank with a disease and trying to eliminate it afterward is a recipe for frustration. Getting in the habit of effective QT measures from the beginning can save much anguish and make this a much more enjoyable hobby in the long run. Besides, patience is not just a virtue in the SW world, but a requirement. :)
Click to expand...

Nicole, thanks for all the info, and believe you me, I have done a TON of reading so far! I'm just looking for peoples personal input, and looking to see if any one has a used protien skimmer for sale. :)
 
I have a 110 x-high tank 48x18x31. I use 2 400w halides due to the depth of the tank. For the cheapest and most effective upfront cost for lighting, You can use magnetic ballast (used in parking lot lights m57-175,m58-250,m59-400) and bulbs off ebay. I have had great success with this inexpensive lighting setup. It is easy to wire yourself and you can have plenty of lighting for whatever coral you wish to keep for under $200.
 
First and foremost - thanks for defending our country and im sorry to hear about your injury.

I have a extra reef octopus skimmer and a few extra tanks that could be used for a sump. I have a 29G now that is a little tall and may try to find me a 30g.

Shipping it would be more expensive than building your own - there are plenty of threads on that.

I would be happy to help if I can.
 
my first tank a year ago was a 110 tall like yours, I used 2 250w halides with spider reflectors and an ice cap 660 with four t-5s bulbs. I still have the canopy that was on that tank with the T-5s I can help out a bit.
 
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