Totally New to SWF, need some major advice please!

[BjYuH]

Hey Guys! I just want to introduce myself and say hello, and say that I am TOTALLY NEW to salt water fish aquariums. Basically I eventually want to move onto a huge maybe 144 gallon reef tank in the summer because of a rather large budget I have BUT I want to start out now on a small scale just to see what its like to maintain one. I know reef nanos are hard to maintain but I just want to start small. Basically Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢m looking for a tank in which I wonââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t need to upgrade that includes everything Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ll need, only extra I have to buy are things like live rock, live sand, obviously fish, and other supplies, but I really donââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t want to be doing any mods to the tank. Eventually when I get the larger tank in the summer I want to have the option of turning this into a quarantine tank, basically I donââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t really want to be spending a ton of money right now, I just want to see what its like. I think I want to go for a 10-12 gallon one. Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ve done a TON of research for about a month now so I understand cycling (I thinkââ"šÂ¬Ã‚¦). Here are some ideas and questions I have:


1. I am thinking of housing a pair of clown fish, a firefish, some corals, and HOPEFULLY an anemone. I read that anemones take a lot of lighting but I really want to get my clown fish acclimated to a host. So here is what Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢m looking for in a tank ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚¦..
2. I want a tank thatââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s 10-12 gallons, all inclusive meaning I wonââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t have to do any mods, so itââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ll have to have good and sufficient light for the anemone, and all the necessary and sufficient filtration. Are there any out there thatââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ll meet my specifications?
3. Can this be transformed later on to a quarantine tank?
4. Are there any smaller things I should buy that arenââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t included in a tank, maybe a heater or something?


Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢m kind of nervous of getting started but after reading so much for a month I really think Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢m at the point to start out small. Thank you guys so much for all your help, and I really look forward to getting started!

-BjYuH

 

[Mikeeal]

1. Choose small fish, and don't buy the anemone unless you are sure you are gonna upgrade. Personally, I wouldn't until I did upgrade. Your clowns will still eventually host it.

2. Nano Cube, Aquapod, M-Tank

3. Sure, why not.

4. Yes, a heater would be good.

 

[BjYuH]

Thanks for replying so quickly! I'm sure I will be upgrading, I'm just doing this as a test. Will an anenmoe have sufficient light under the lights and aqupod would come with? You said the clownfish will host even if I do it later .. . .. if I host it to this anenome now, when I later transfer to a larger tank will they host this same one even if there's another one on the opposite side of the tank? thanks!

 

[Mikeeal]

Well, if you wanted to keep an anemone in an aquapod, you'd want the 70W halide upgrade, or more. But then, you're spending money on better lights, which you won't need or want on a hospital/Q-tank. I'd seriously just wait for the anemone.

 

[DesertBandits]

Forget the aquapod. If you're doing this as a learning experience, learn to set up a regular tank. Get a 30gal. Learn to set up the heater, powerheads, Skimmer, and lighting. If you buy the noob tank you aren't going to learn anything, it's all done for you already. I would recomend the following equipment:

30gal tank
Coralife Superskimmer 65
150w submersible heater
MJ 1200 pointed at the surface
4 x 39W T5 lighting

There are many ways to setup a sucessful reeftank, to say this is the only way would be untrue. However this is what I would do If I were you.

For your learning experience, don't set up a 10 or 15 gal tank. That is a very different weird little world compared to any larger tanks in reefkeeping. You need to learn to set up a sucessful system without relying on weekly 10% water changes. Small tanks aren't stable systems like larger ones are, so you ought to get the sense of what you want to be doing instead of something removed from it.

Good luck on your first tank, I hope you consider my suggestions and have much sucess.

 

[Evyllchyld]

Clownfish will host other things besides an anemone, believe me I wanted an anemone SOOOOO bad for my 12g nano. I decided to just get a coral that looked like an anemone... I'm still deciding on a torch frogspawn or hammer. Also a clown isn't guaranteed to host an anemone, certain clowns host certain anemones I believe. And on top of that they won't host right away, I was just reading a post in the clown & anemone forum and there is a person with clowns and an anemone which after a year and a few months just decided to start hosting it. They can host the oddest things also, like a powerhead, your magnet cleaner or anything thats in your tank I believe. So I'd just hold off on the anemone untill your larger tank because your clowns may not even host it during the time you have your nano setup. As far as an all-in one type of package, I believe you can either go with an aquapod or nanocube. From my research both seem to have there advantages and disavantages and this argument can go on for ages as to which tank is better. But if you want an anemone both the aquapod and nanocube will need upgraded lighting which will be useless once you goto a larger tank because you said you will be using the nano for a QT tank. I believe for the aquapod and nanocube both need small things added, like the heater and MANY people upgrade the pump and change around most, if not all of the chambers in the nanocube. Also going with a smaller tank takes a lot more care from what I've read, any slight swings as i've learned so far in my SW experience cause BIG problems. I'm very new to this hobby also so some things I say MAY be wrong.. and if so someone I'm sure will correct me. PS: Sorry for the terrible grammar and sentence structure. LOL


-Brian

 

[BjYuH]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6869729#post6869729 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by DesertBandits
Forget the aquapod. If you're doing this as a learning experience, learn to set up a regular tank. Get a 30gal. Learn to set up the heater, powerheads, Skimmer, and lighting. If you buy the noob tank you aren't going to learn anything, it's all done for you already. I would recomend the following equipment:

30gal tank
Coralife Superskimmer 65
150w submersible heater
MJ 1200 pointed at the surface
4 x 39W T5 lighting

There are many ways to setup a sucessful reeftank, to say this is the only way would be untrue. However this is what I would do If I were you.

For your learning experience, don't set up a 10 or 15 gal tank. That is a very different weird little world compared to any larger tanks in reefkeeping. You need to learn to set up a sucessful system without relying on weekly 10% water changes. Small tanks aren't stable systems like larger ones are, so you ought to get the sense of what you want to be doing instead of something removed from it.

Good luck on your first tank, I hope you consider my suggestions and have much sucess.

Is it really that much different than a larger tank?? I really don't want to spend the money on all those different lights, skimmer etc. when I'm most likely going to need different ones in 3 months for the larger tank I'm getting. I was thinking hard last night and I think I might just go with a 75 gallon bowfront, what do you guys think abou that? Will the be big enough to house a tang, because I really love those fish. thanks!

 

[DesertBandits]

If you do a little research you'll soon find that set up costs are actualy pretty similar for a tank from 10-75gal. The only thing that really changes is the cost of some extra rock and sand. If you want a 75, just get a 75. That is If your sure you like this hobby.

If you got 4x54w (4ft length) T5 your lights would cost like 30$ more
you could get 2 150w heaters
You could get 2 MJ 1200 aimed at the surface
And you could get the Coralife Superskimmer 125 for about 30$ more too.

So really youd only be spending an extra 100 bucks, plus some extra on rock and sand. I don't mean to rush you into the hobby but these are just the simple facts of setting up a tank.

Also to answer your question, yeah, I dont think 10- 15gal tanks are much like a regular tank. Alot of people don't even skim their 10 gals but just rely on the 10-20% weekly water changes. Case in point, my roomate has had an aquapod type tank and afer 3 years still doesn't know jack about what he's doing, but its okay because he does his water changes. In 2 years I've had a 10gal, 25, and 29 and I think Iv'e learned alot in setting them up: I wanted to go bigger then a 10. 25 is to tall, much space is wasted and water is so deep lights penetrate poorly. And 29 is only 30in long so with lighting you have to go down to 24in bulbs, though I'm okay with that. A 30 is a pretty sweet tank, and will give you the experience of setting up a regular salt aquarium. However If you want to just go to a 75 anyway, and you said you have alot of money, just set up a 75 for 100 more$.

 

[smy168]

I agree with Desert, if you plan on upgrading eventually, you would be able to use the regular tank as a refugium, if you buy a complete system like the Pods or Cubes, you get stuck with something that you either need to keep running on it's own or it gets put into storage.

 

[Evyllchyld]

I don't completely agree with desertbandits. I think there is a pretty large cost difference between a nano and a 75. I don't live at home, but my father and I both just setup a tank. His happens to be a 75 gallon, and mine a nanocube. His tank was either $180 or $200 a few years back when I bought it for him and mine was $150 shipped to my door, and my stand was $60 (jbj nanocube stand) and his stand was over $200. I know the stand can be argued that it can be made, or buy a cheaper one but i'm just telling you my fathers setup. So right there thats over a $100 difference. He aslo had to buy filters and a lot of things that you don't have to buy for a nano. I believe that range is in the $200+, I could be wrong though. The amount of live rock you need for a 75 is pretty expensive also. I bought 16lbs for $100 shipped to me. Hes paid well over $350 so far for LR for his tank. Another HUGE difference is the lighting prices. So I don't believe there is just a $100 difference between a nano and a 75. I just thought I'd throw that in so that you don't go out thinking that and are blown away by the difference. just my 2 cents. But I do think it would be better to just got with the 75 instead of having a nano for a few months.

 

[Wintermute]

Lots of people have multiple tanks, often a nano as their second one. Nanos provide multiple duties as a second tank. Don't just shove it in the utility room as a QT tank. Leave it somewhere you can view and enjoy it just like any other tank. Why? Because with the nano you now have a self-contained, completely separate tank that you can use to keep diffent temperments of animals in. Then your main tank can be used for other types. For example, if you big tank has some more aggressive/predatory fish such as angels or lions, you can keep smaller fish such as firefish or gobies in your nano that might otherwise get eaten or spend all their time hiding in the big tank. One thing, for example, you could definatly do that would be different, would be seahorses. Since they really need to be by themselves, a nano would be the perfect setup. You could also use your nano as a frag tanks for corals, or keep some really cool small inverts (like sexy anemone shrimp) that might be lost in a larger tank. Point is, you have lots more options with 2 tanks than with one, and not much extra cost or maintenance added on.

Nanos can be hard to maintain, it's true. You have to stay on top of water changes as things go bad much more quickly in a small tank. But it will teach you the discipline you need to setup a larger tank. Also, the Nanocube and Aquapods have very simliar filtration designs as your main tank will have. The only exception being they do not have sumps. But there is an internal overflow, multiple chambers with baffles which you can setup a small refugium, a chamber you can put a small skimmer (such as the Current USA Fission), and a return pump. You can pick up a 24 gal Aquapod and a stand less than the price of a big tank by iteslf.

I'm actually downgrading to a nano due to space/portability reasons from a 50gal. Should be an interesting experience.

But I say, start small with somethig easy to setup, but still requires you to have a working knowledge of SW systems and a strict maintenance schedule. In the mean time, start planning your dream tank and take your time! The biggest folly for many in this hobby is to get rushed into something and end up regretting it.

 

[Sk8r]

We kept a nice shallow little 20 gal stretch with a heater, a Penguin and a fairly inexpensive fluorescent/actinic overhead: a lot of hair algae, but we kept low-light soft corals and a few very small fish quite nicely for years. It's not quite a nano---but it ran, and we learned a lot about saltwater chemistry. I'd not advise keeping an anemone in a small tank with corals, because anemones move and get into places that can hurt them or the corals. Leathers are bad enough about getting 'mad' and annoying others with their chemistry, and anemones are worse---and faster, and mobile.// You can reuse your light setup in a weed-containing sump eventually---or you can use your old tank for a sump, give or take a little plumbing. That recycles almost everything you'll have except the Penguin; or if you keep the old tank as a quarantine tank (if you have fish, this is useful) you can keep it going and reuse everything. //It is very smart to start small, but there is a scale problem once you get under 20 gal, because some of the technology you can use in the big ones doesn't scale down.

 

[davidryder]

well if you are committed to starting small, that's ok, but you would have better luck with a bigger setup. the larger volume of water the more stable the system will be. just a thought

 

[Jeepman3sk]

thank you Evyllchyld for the information...you beat me to that. I was going to say it cost me alot more to set up 75g then my 10g. I wouild go with a smaller tank first. They really arent that hard to take care of. Just read up alot on the tanks and ask people on here. Im pretty sure you would be a difference of $500 for lighs alone if both tanks where reef tanks. But just research everything. For your small tank you might want to get a 10g tank, a skimmer, 2 power heads, heater, light, ect and do it without it all being in a kit. That way you will learn hot to take care of the tank without it being all set up for you. Maybe even set up a 2.5g refuge.

 

[BjYuH]

Thanks so much guys for all your replies. I have a question, what exactly is a refuge? Also I noticed in some of people's setups, in their sumps they have one compartment that has live rock or some algae, what exactly is that for? Also for a quarantine tank where and do people usuaslly keep those up and running becuase I assume they have to be cycled and running when you want them to be used?

 

[Mikeeal]

That compartment in the sump with LR and algae, is the refugium. What they're doing is harvesting the macro algae for nutrient export. (it eats the bad stuff in your water)

If you have a quarantine tank strictly for quarantine/hospital/etc., it won't be setup when it's not in use. You keep some sort of mechanical/biological filter media in your main tank/sump, and when the need arises to use the hopital, you fire up the filter with the earlier stored media(which now has the beneficial bacteria in it from your tank) and fill it with water from the tank and walla.