Thinking about starting a tank

[kwolters]

So I have a freshwater tank that I have been running for about 6 months now and I have always liked salt water tanks and in the past 2 months I've been researching and lurking on these forums to get an idea of the cost on matinance of a salt water tank.

I am thinking of starting with a 120g drilled FOWLR tank. Fish I want as of right now are a pair of clowns, an angel fish(if possible), maybe a wrasse if there are any other cool starter fish I would love some recommendations. I like the idea of the 2 foot depth of scaping. So the list of items I think I would need are:

Tank
Stand(DIY)
Sump(possibly DIY)
protein skimmer
radeon lighting
return pump
live rock/live sand
2 powerheads
apex jr.
RO/DI
auto top-off
GFO/Carbon reactor
heaters

My goal is to have a system thats the most automated I can. I want to buy the right components and good brands to avoid issues down the road. My questions to you guys are:

Can I get into a tank like this for $2k-$3k?
Is there anything other items you would add to my system?


I would be building this early next year (February/March), but I want to do as much research possible in that time and plan everything out.

 

[uncleL]

Welcome ! You will need test Kits, Refractor and Saltwater mixing station......

 

[uncleL]

Before you buy new check craigslist in your area!!$$ I have a 75, 90, and 150 used for $1500 RO/DI all complete setups!!

 

[stingeragent]

Are you planning on getting coral? If so, angels aren't the greatest to have with it. If your planning on staying fowlr you don't need a carbon reactor, and you don't need expensive fancy lighting. Lighting only plays a factor with coral. With fish only its all up to the asthetics on how you want the tank to look. You also need test kits, refractometer, calibration fluid for the refracto. Live sand is a waste of your money, just use dry sand. Same can be said for live rock. Much cheaper to use dry rock, and then add a couple live pieces to help seed it. It will eventually all become live anyways. I did a rough calculation minus lighting/apex and came out to 1600. That was considering a diy stand and sump. Diy sump can be done very cheap. The stand can also be very cheap depending on how you do it. The actual wood for the stand itself will be 50-100, the real cost comes in depending on if you are going to skin it/stain it/doors, etc. I did a diy stand for my 125. The bare 2x4, 2x6 stand with screws cost me about 60 bucks. The wood to skin it, stain it was about 180. This is my stand completed and bare bones for reference.
Edit: As to lighting if you do decide to go reef, you will easily be at 650-1500 for that size tank if you go with name brand. You can go with cheaper LED fixtures on ebay though and come in much cheaper. 3-4 mars aqua led's on ebay will run you under 400. If you want them automated to come on/ ramp/ then off, you'll wanna go with either the euphotica fixtures (about 250 a piece) or photon , or AI hydra's

 

[kwolters]

Thanks for the tips! I was thinking about looking at Craigslist because used equipment appears to be much cheaper than new. Also I want to expand eventually to sps as well as zoas, if those can go together. So the lighting is more for when I move up to corals. I know when I add corals I want to get a calcium reactor, buts that a year or so out. Also the stand I can probably build for free because my grandfather was a carpenter for 45 years and has just about the biggest stockpile and selection of wood you can think of haha. So it would be a project for my grandpa and I.

 

[stingeragent]

Well if the wood/screws are free that will save you several hundred. If you do want sps eventually, yes a calcium reactor will be beneficial. I'd also recommend an automatic doser. I use the jebao dp-4 and it works great. You can dose on 4 sep pumps, for mg, alk, cal, (vinegar/vodka), etc. Mixed reefs can be somewhat hard to do as the corals have different requirements. SPS typically need high flow, low nutrient systems, where as soft corals are typically the opposite. Lighting for SPS will easily be your most expensive purchase unless you go the ebay reef LED route ( they are honestly good lights and get many positive reviews). The cool thing with fixtures like those are, they can grow with you. So if you can only afford to get a couple to start thats fine, just make sure you place the coral under them and not in the shadow areas. Then as you get more coral and start to fill out the tank you can get a couple more to supplement it.

 

[kwolters]

Do you need to dose if you have a calcium reactor? Also I would be willing to go the eBay route if it's comparable and saves a ton. Would the euphoitca lights work for sps?

 

[stingeragent]

If you have a Ca reactor, you wouldn't dose calcium, but you may still need to dose alk, mg. ( the vinegar/vodka) I mentioned is for nitrates/phosphate. Just about any of the 3W led fixtures out there will grow SPS fine. Theres mars aqua, sunspect, photon, euphotica, etc. The euphotica/ photon give you the ability to set the light on a built in timer which the others don't have. There also slightly less watts. My current 125 has 2 kessil 160we's which im getting rid of, and 1 16" euphotica. Got the other 2 euphotica 16's in a couple days ago to replace the kessils but haven't got them hooked up yet. Will post a pic in the next day or 2 to give you an idea.

 

[kwolters]

Thank you! How many euphoitcas would you recommend? 3 16" lights?

 

[stingeragent]

No. If I was starting over I'd get 2 of their 32" ones. I already had one 16 and didn't wanna go through the hassle of returning it so I got 2 more 16's. They also have 24 in ones, albeit with the same wattage as the 16's , but the leds are spread out more. I got them here. It also depends on your tank size. You have 2ft depth so I'm assuming its not a 6ft tank. Mines 6 ft so it may be slightly different than what you will need to get good coverage. http://www.amazon.com/LED-Aquarium-Light-Fixture-EUPHOTICA/dp/B00JJ29MY0 You can also get 48" photon's which is what the euphoticas are cloned after here. https://www.reefbreeders.com/photon-series/ Lights in and of them selves are a mess. There are SO many choices out there.

 

[Shewillbemine]

Be honest with yourself. Is a FOWLR really where you will stop? A few months into it and you'll be itching for that shiny new coral. Then you'll need to get rid of your existing lighting and then buy better ones. For that size tank, it's easy to start thinking it looks bare with just fish and rocks.

 

[kwolters]

I mean yeah I would love to get corals right away so maybe buying the dosing equipment should just be right away. And I'll look more into those lights. I'm thinking of a 4ft tank so maybe a 48" light would be the way to go. Or 2 24"

 

[danil]

Before you buy new check craigslist in your area!!$$ I have a 75, 90, and 150 used for $1500 RO/DI all complete setups!!

+1. For a first tank I would also recommend to buy small running system from CL. You can save money and get some support from prev. owner.