ok just about ready to take the plunge

M

marcom1234

New member
i have a 55 gal tank and stand.
i will soon have a protien skimmer.
im very anxious to start up my tank :)
soooo...... to start out i am thinking.....

get some live rock......... not sure how much yet.

and some substrate..... think i know what i want but not totally sure yet...

and a few powerheads.......

salt of course lol.... and some water......

now... i eventually want coral so im thinking i could let my tank cycle and get my live rock established along with maybe a fish or two under regular lights FOR NOW.

i know people say i'll never get em but i know i will its just a matter of economics....

then i plan on getting a t5 tek light setup.....

how does this plan sound?
will listen to any critisism <<... even of my spelling lol.

thanks guys... and gals
 
Sounds about right .... I did roughly the same thing a lil over a year ago and just in tha last 3-4 months started upgrading my lights and adding corals ...now I have 9 tanks w/ halides over 3 of them and pc's over the rest ..allcorals doing great ....Just really put some thought into what kind of corals you want down the road and choose your fish according to that (compatibity)....And find out what kind of fish you'd like to keep and double and triple check compatibilty... but most of all take your time .... nothing good happens fast in a reef tank .....Good luck and keep us posted....
 
yeah i figured if i waited till i saved up all the money needed to buy everything at once id never get a tank lol...

something would always come up:D

so i figure i'll get the very base essentials and upgrade accordingly....

if anyone has any suggestions on anything else i may want up front besides lights let me know :)
 
Sounds like you've got a pretty good idea of water you're doing. Remember to check your water parameters often, such as once every other day and finally maybe only once a week.

As for your substrate, it is a good idea to determine which kind you want before starting anything, and same with your live rock. Live rock and live sand is typically calculate at 0.8/1/1.5 per gallon. That means at the least you should have 50lbs. of live rock and 40lbs. of live sand.

One other thing I noticed is you didn't mention anything about a heater. I figure you simply forgot to include that in your list and actually do.

Other than what you've got right now, it sounds like you're good to go.

Be patient and enjoy the hobby!
 
so what if i bought 25 lbs of live rock and 25 lbs of base rock and then bought 20 lbs of live sand and the rest regular sand......and then take my time letting it all turn into live rock and sand?

bad idea?
 
That would be fine. Seeding is commonly done throughout the craft as a means to save money. Seeding takes a while to happen so it would actually allow you time to save up for those lights you were talking about.
 
I agree ... Buy a decent amount of live
Sand/Rock and seed the rest .... I did the same and eventually ended up gradually adding live sand every month or so because I got impatient ....

On a side note ...what type of sand are you thinking about?

I'm about to get rid of a whole bunch of Indo-pacific ..it's a light color w/ black highlights .... If you need a little bit and you like the looks of it , to seed the tank just drop me a line ....
 
thanks both of you for your answers :)

as far as sand goes ... im not sure lol:) once i got the "ok" from RC people on my idea , then i was gonna figure out what kind of sand and rock...

im still open to ideas or links to pics for ideas..... and i think it would be fun to get some sand from others :) not sure how that works though :) lol

i have heard the coarse substrates are not great as they will trap lots of gunk. ...... so i was thinking a finer sand like substrate.... but not sure of the pro's and cons of a fine sand.....
 
Hi I was wondering what are your plans for either a sump or a filter. If your going with a filter I know some that have used Fluvols with good luck. Other than that everything looks great good luck Scott
 
well i do plan on having a sump...... but again the economics are going to dictate when i get it :) lol as far as a filter i was going to use the live rock as my filter until i got a sump/refugium.... and of course a protien skimmer that i will have here soon. once my skimmer is up and ready to go i will enact my plan and get live rock and sand and maybe a fish or two and see how things go from there :)
 
well i did read that sticky and it didn't leave me with a whole lot more info than i get otherwise... i prefer sometimes a discussion on the subject then cold fact reading.... :)
 
As far as a sump goes I can show you how to build one yourself .(super simple)...I really don't consider myself super-handy but it only takes me about 10 minutes to build a sump ... 10 gal . tank(or whatever size you can fit , bigger the better) , eggcrate (lowes) $10 , plexi $3 (lowes) , and silicone ..

You will need to either drill the tank or look for an overflow ... find your local reef club and ask around ... reef clubs are great and a phenomonal source for info. ..Links to reef club forumns ...

http://reefcentral.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=80

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=7318&N=2004+113554

Thats a link to some different types of sand ...the indo-pacific is the one I have ....
 
Sounds fine, but remember that some Pet shops like copper as a treatment. But most Inverts don't live well with copper, just a thing to remember. JD
 
You are on the right track. I would however recommend that you consider what exactly you want to keep and then buy the upgrade version I can't tell you how much money I wasted on stuff thinking that I will upgrade later... Well over to $500 now, but the point is you will always want the best and the greatest so save the extra money and get it the first time. Patience is the key in this game and even if it takes time to get your set up right, you will be happy with the results and know you didn't waste your money upgrading. Do you searches for lighting and pumps and such. I like VHO and T-5's together but it doesn't mean it the right thing for your tank. This website is a valuable tool and use it to make your ultimate tank
 
hey thanks jeffb3t... i can use all the advice i can get lol
i try not to skimp on the things i buy as i also believe you get what you pay for :)
 
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