the perfect tankl

[frankycee]

OK, so i'm thinking about my 1st tank (from 40G to 75G depending on how I feel on a given day)

Lemme try to make myself clear, I was wondering how much people enjoy their tanks and the hobby even though they dont have the ''perfect tank''.

Anyone have a 40G (or less) with ''basic'' equipment (no ozone, 4 tunzes on controlers, reactors or lighting to melt icebergs) and still enjoy the hobby?

I wanna hear about your success stories with with well maintained but basic (and relatively inexpensive) tanks.

Please dont tell me i need to be able to afford the hobby to enjoy it, i'm not cheap, i'm just on a budget and want to get into the hobby soon...

 

[m3rcury]

i've started with a 40 breeder and i love the tank itself. i bought 250w MH lights for $160 used. i bought the LR for $3/lb from an established tank (the guy was moving). the problem is that the costs can climb pretty quickly.

for example, i need a couple of power heads (~$40 each), i'm tired of lugging RO water from the fish store so i buy an RO unit (min. $100), i'm afraid that without PH monitor i might miss an early warning sign of water quality problems ($100), need good test kits so i can get accurate measurements (~$100), etc.

but, going with a larger tank will always be more expensive. i thought about doing a 65g, but that would mean 100+ pounds of LR, more lighting, larger protein skimmer, more powerheads, etc.

so, even though i'm new, i feel like a 40g was a good compromise for me. just my $.02

 

[Randall_James]

My favorite small tank was/is my 24G Nanocube. It is super easy to run (self contained) has decent lighting for all softies and even some LPS and looks very nice. I keep 3 fish, a LARGE colt coral, a number of different species mushrooms, Hawaiian Feather duster (2 years old now) and about 35lbs of rock. With my water changes, there are no supplements needed and testing is only occassionally as I have a handle on the tank chemistry after 2 years.

Budget (all new stuff)
Tank $249
20lb bag livesand $20
25Lb LiveRock $150


Cons/
OEM Pump sucks big time, replace it before you even start
Evaporation rates are a bit high and needs an ATO device

Pros/ easy lighting upgrades (72W standard and you can double this)
Runs on 1 powerstrip
Easy to maintain for the most part (15G water change every week for mine)
Quiet <- sits in front room, my big tanks have a dedicated fish room due to noise humidity etc

This shot is about a year old

 

[4MB]

I started off with a 30 gal about a month ago. Very basic (except for the lighting) HOB filter, 2 rio 600's, 150 watt heater, live rock, and live sand. The lights were by far the most expensive part of the setup. Having some issues with algae as I have a limited clean up crew in there working 24/7. A sump would help but I dont have the space really for a HOB and too late to do plumbing for one in the stand. I also use tap water which hurts some too but Im looking in to fish that like to eat algae incase it doesn't get under control in the next couple of months.

I was told by 2 LFS when I was starting out that it costs $30-$35 a gal to a basic start up cost. Which was pretty accurate right up until I bought my lighting which changed it to around $40- $45 a gallon.

 

[r0bin]

Hi, First off I would def go for the 75 gal tank. You will be glad you did. I just set one up and I love it. I keep my tanks low technology and honestly they are no more maintanence than a freshwater. My last low tech tank was a 29 gal. I had a small bio-wheel filter with the wheel taken off. I have a prism protein skimmer, for like $75 on ebay. I used about half live rock and the rest base rock which is only about $1.50 a pound. I had a little crushed coral aragonite, just enough to cover the bottom. I do run chemi-pure all the time in the filter, which makes a big difference IMO. I had a regular florescent light that had 2 salwater bulbs in it, from petsmart and believe it or not I was able to keep mushrooms in that tank also, just placed them high up on the rock. I only had 3 fish in this tank which was an appropriate bio-load. I also had 2 cheap power heads. I bought and still do buy all my water from Wal-mart, no RO/DI for me.
Honestly, I really think a lot of people like to spend money on pricey equipment and thats fine, but don't make it sound like you HAVE to, b/c you really don't. Everyone how saw my tank thought it was awesome. All this low-tech equiopment has now been moved to my 75 gal. I am slowly upgrading the equipment for the larger tank, but not going high-tech.

Rule #1 - Do get a skimmer even if its cheap, just dont get the sea-clone no matter what.
Rule # 2 - Keep you bio-load low.
Rule #3 - Chemi pure really seemed to help my tank as far as algae.
Rule # 4 - I feed every other day, helps with nitrates.

 

[rjwilson37]

Here is a picture of my 24g Aquapod Cube, with the Standard 72w PC lighting it came with and all the standard equipment, where I just added a Maxijet 900 in the middle for water more movement.

$300 for the Aquapod 24g tank
$100 for around 20lbs of LR
$16 for the Maxijet 900
$40 for the LS
Got my Eel back for Free from LFS
$30 for the fish
$20 for the snails and hermit crabs
$20 for the 55g of Instant Ocean Salt Mix.

Grand Total of $526 for a working tank with 4g water changes once a week. I spent about $75 on corals for this tank, but half I bought and the other half came from my 90g. Who knows what kind of corals you will want or spend over the year on different corals. You don't really think of the corals as the added cost because you just pick them up here and there for $20-$30 dollars.

 

[frankycee]

anyone else?

 

[yeame]

My 75g cost it took me 2 years to put all of this in my tank (im cheep)
live rock 150 pounds $400 ( started with 50 pounds)
sand 200 pounds $100
power heads 3x$15(quiet one 220)
skimmer $100
fluval 404 2x$100 (return from sump)
over flow $25
lights 260w PC $150 (jebo with new ballasts)48"vho strip 3x40w bulbs $10 at a yard sale+$20 per new bulb
heater 150w 2x$10
75g = about $600 to start +tank
I just set up a 20g long it cost about $400-$500 +tank
go big it will save you in the long run try to buy some dead rock soak it for aboet 2 weeks with a pouer head on it mix 1/2 dead rock and 1/2 live rock when you set the tank up it will cure with the rest of the rock and save you alot of money
( if u can travel to maine I have a 125g every thing but light for $1000 set up and running)

 

[Witchdoctor_h]

I started out with a 55G with two powerheads and a canister filter and normal output lights. I added LR to it as I could, one piece here and there. One at a time. And I was still facinated by the growth on those first two rocks. I would find new stuff growing, and that was enough for me. I'd spend at least an hour a day staring at the rocks hoping to find a new creature. They never let me down.

So, I started as cheap as possible and still enjoyed it a lot.
Eric

 

[ACBlinky]

Re: the perfect tankl

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7283879#post7283879 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by frankycee
Anyone have a 40G (or less) with ''basic'' equipment (no ozone, 4 tunzes on controlers, reactors or lighting to melt icebergs) and still enjoy the hobby?

I wanna hear about your success stories with with well maintained but basic (and relatively inexpensive) tanks..

This is my 30g (24"L x 12"W x 24"H), nearly a year old now and doing great. I use two AquaClear 70 HOB filters - one standard, one modded into a little refugium with a desk lamp and some chaeto. There's a Remora skimmer and a Maxi-Jet 400 PH, 160W of PC lighting, and that's it. Nothing fancy, but it works for me and didn't cost my first born

 

[Sheol]

Hi,

My reef is a 36 gallon bow front. I wouldn't say I would consider it perfect, as there are a few issues that have come up recently relating to aquascaping etc.
I do consider it a successful low end start to the hobby though, but next time I will go bigger.
Evaporation is an issue at this size & I have to watch the PH pretty closely..

Matthew

 

[Iam]

if you are patience you can enjoy a "not perfect tank" actually i preffer to have a tank where everything is not automatic so that i can be envolved..
as some people mentioned, you have few items that are must..
the rest is just let the nature work for you..
I have a 60g and 30g
and the only luxury item i have is a protein skimmer (some say it's a must)
but my 30g has nothing.. only 3 biofilter that's it.. and I have 6 seahorses in it.. check the water levels regularly...proper water change... that's it..