wanting to start a tank....again.

[terryscf]

Hi, I posted in the tank build but I believe I should have posted here. I posted before about my first build. That thread can be found here. I am still a newbie and still have questions.

That didn't turn out so hot. Well in my mind anyway. It did a complete build with a non-reef tank, drilled holes, plumbed plumbing and brought the best equipment I could justify to my co-CEO/CFO aka my husband. I didn't think my tank cycled so I just let the tank sit and was afraid to put in fish. (Turns out it did cycle, I just missed it. I had live sand, live rock, and Bio-Spira.) I thought I still needed to wait the 30 days and well......

With my frustration and crazy grad school internship schedule, I gave up. And sold pretty much everything. So here we are almost 2 years later, grad school done, and my husband wants to try again. He wasn't interested before but now he's trying to be complete steam ahead. I have him watching youtube, reading forums, and he even brought a book. I explained this is a slow hobby.

I've been down this road before and I don't want to repeat my mistakes. He wants to get a Red Sea Max E-170. He wants to start with a basic plug and play. I told him that a plug and play might be nice to start but we will eventually need to make changes. I believe the tank is a bit small, (yes folks I've been paying attention, bigger is better) and I know I will not be minimally happy without the sump. I'm reaching out to you guys (and gals) for opinions. He's nervous about a larger tank due to weight. I told him if our floor did fine with the 75-gallon tank with water and rock than it should be fine again. But I don't want to tackle plumbing again. I'll crawl into a ball and cry. Well maybe I won't. I did learn a bit last time.

Is it worth it to do the Red Sea Max or would it still be beneficial to just buy a larger reef ready tank with the plumbing kit? Anybody in this hobby with their spouse? Any advice out there or suggestion that I may need or that you think I need to pass on? I don't want to be so fast this time. I know I don't need the best and most expensive equipment to start a tank. I'd like this hobby to be a nice couple-bonding activity, especially since this time he can learn for himself that yes, we really do need to spend the money because we NEEED it.

 

[Indymann99]

So #1 great that you and your spouse BOTH want the tank...I waited 5yrs to finish the basement and setup a tank my wife would be ok with. Also I incorporated a "bucketless WC system" as I ran a SW tank back in 1985 when I was in High School and was NOT willing to do the bucket water changes as an adult.

My 0.02 DONT go with a All-in-One tank. I HIGHLY recommend a 120g 48x24x24 with a 40g sump. This has a reasonable footprint and is an excellent size tank (min for Tangs).

 

[ramseynb]

I agree with no AIO tank unless you're doing a nano. I like the option of trying different equipment/methods and you're pretty limited with an AIO.

 

[nlgill13]

I agree with the 120g. Bigger is definitely better for newer SW aquarists, but the 120 is really common and still small enough to do WC fairly easily.

I know the plumbing can be a pain. I think I redid mine like 5 times...not bc it needed it, but bc Im crazy and thought that it would start leaking lol. If or when you need help with it just ask around. There are a ton of people here who have done it a bunch of times.

I like to use unions when I'm plumbing, so that it can be taken apart and cleaned. Also I do all the gluing outside about a week before I cycle so that it can air out.

Depending on the size of the tank and the type of tank you are planning on having (ie FOWLR, Softies, LPS, SPS) will dictate what type of equipment you will need.

 

[Easy E]

Hi, I posted in the tank build but I believe I should have posted here. I posted before about my first build. That thread can be found here. I am still a newbie and still have questions.

That didn't turn out so hot. Well in my mind anyway. It did a complete build with a non-reef tank, drilled holes, plumbed plumbing and brought the best equipment I could justify to my co-CEO/CFO aka my husband. I didn't think my tank cycled so I just let the tank sit and was afraid to put in fish. (Turns out it did cycle, I just missed it. I had live sand, live rock, and Bio-Spira.) I thought I still needed to wait the 30 days and well......

With my frustration and crazy grad school internship schedule, I gave up. And sold pretty much everything. So here we are almost 2 years later, grad school done, and my husband wants to try again. He wasn't interested before but now he's trying to be complete steam ahead. I have him watching youtube, reading forums, and he even brought a book. I explained this is a slow hobby.

I've been down this road before and I don't want to repeat my mistakes. He wants to get a Red Sea Max E-170. He wants to start with a basic plug and play. I told him that a plug and play might be nice to start but we will eventually need to make changes. I believe the tank is a bit small, (yes folks I've been paying attention, bigger is better) and I know I will not be minimally happy without the sump. I'm reaching out to you guys (and gals) for opinions. He's nervous about a larger tank due to weight. I told him if our floor did fine with the 75-gallon tank with water and rock than it should be fine again. But I don't want to tackle plumbing again. I'll crawl into a ball and cry. Well maybe I won't. I did learn a bit last time.

Is it worth it to do the Red Sea Max or would it still be beneficial to just buy a larger reef ready tank with the plumbing kit? Anybody in this hobby with their spouse? Any advice out there or suggestion that I may need or that you think I need to pass on? I don't want to be so fast this time. I know I don't need the best and most expensive equipment to start a tank. I'd like this hobby to be a nice couple-bonding activity, especially since this time he can learn for himself that yes, we really do need to spend the money because we NEEED it.

You don't need a sump and a bunch of complicated plumbing to enjoy this hobby. I have done it cheap and easy from the beginning. If you want a pristine reef tank with fancy corals that's another story. If you want an ecosystem with some cool fish you can do that fairly easily without too much expense. Start with a good layer of sand and some dry rock, and go from there.

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[tonyreef]

Get as big a tank that you have room for. Design each and every system meticulously, you have all the time in the world! Your not doing this with just anyone. Start with your water source then the ceiling, walls & floor. I mapped out the foot print of the tank on the floor and secured the light mount on the ceiling then selected the power source I taped 2 separate circuits. I drilled through a wall for access to the water heater outlet, 20A. Then I set the tank. Electrical first, dressing the wires is something you want to give a lot of thought, there must be 200 feet of wires tucked under my tank nicely. Remember all components may need access in one way or another even the plumbing. This is a practice, you'll be tinkering constantly getting everything just right. And loving it! We're a couple of freaks! "emoji with my tongue out"

 

[terryscf]

Get as big a tank that you have room for. Design each and every system meticulously, you have all the time in the world! Your not doing this with just anyone. Start with your water source then the ceiling, walls & floor. I mapped out the foot print of the tank on the floor and secured the light mount on the ceiling then selected the power source I taped 2 separate circuits. I drilled through a wall for access to the water heater outlet, 20A. Then I set the tank. Electrical first, dressing the wires is something you want to give a lot of thought, there must be 200 feet of wires tucked under my tank nicely. Remember all components may need access in one way or another even the plumbing. This is a practice, you'll be tinkering constantly getting everything just right. And loving it! We're a couple of freaks! "emoji with my tongue out"

I read this and was thinking "what in all the hell" but I realized you just HAD to be messing with me. then I saw the "emoji with my tongue out". LOL.:eek1:

 

[terryscf]

I love the idea of a 120g. I'm not sure he'd go that big. I think even the E-170 is only 43g. compared to my freshwater tank and the old saltwater I tried the E-170 feels like a nano to me and I have been warned repeatedly about doing a small tank as a beginner. I may have to do more research to see what we can do to compromise. I do want to get into corals but maybe that's something we can do for tank #2. Maybe just start off with a FOWLR for what he wants and then I can go nuts with a bigger tank. lol

 

[Rjukan]

Bigger isn't always Better

Bigger isn't always Better

Contrary to what most are saying, I'm going to play devil's advocate and go against the bigger tanks. I don't suggest a nano, or all in one, but something that won't make you want to curl up in a ball when dealing with the piping and the overall system would be nice. Not to mention it's a lot cheaper and easier dealing with water changes on a smaller system.

How about mid size, something in the 40g to 60g range, and a good size sump with room for a skimmer and refugium section. This way you can enjoy the larger water volume buffering, the satisfaction of building your own system, and ease of maintenance when the time comes.

I'm coming from a history of running a 75g in wall, with a 75g sump and a 50g fuge plumbed in that was higher than the display so pods could take a easy ride down to my mandarin. It was cool, but it was a ton of work and lost it's appeal after only a couple years. This time around I rethought my approach and decided on a 60g 24" cube with a custom king sump, and I'm really happy with it so far.

It really depends on what your goal is, be it a reef or fowlr. But I feel like you can get a good taste of either, without getting overwhelmed, if you choose the middle road.

 

[Indymann99]

So I am going to chime back in with my vote on a 120g (its really NOT that big). and when you factor in a stand for the Display Tank (120g) you really cant fit a sump bigger than a 40g. A 40g sump will get crowded quicker than you think (filter socks, skimmer, heaters, ATO, and return pump).

I ran/still run a FOWLR ish (nems). The extra water volume helps a ton with params and limits swings.

I HAD to go with a 120g 48x24x24 but its a great size. I wouldnt want any less "depth" (front to back) than 24".

Sump under my 120g (yeah its a mess but functional)

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[Indymann99]

Get as big a tank that you have room for. Design each and every system meticulously, you have all the time in the world! Your not doing this with just anyone. Start with your water source then the ceiling, walls & floor. I mapped out the foot print of the tank on the floor and secured the light mount on the ceiling then selected the power source I taped 2 separate circuits. I drilled through a wall for access to the water heater outlet, 20A. Then I set the tank. Electrical first, dressing the wires is something you want to give a lot of thought, there must be 200 feet of wires tucked under my tank nicely. Remember all components may need access in one way or another even the plumbing. This is a practice, you'll be tinkering constantly getting everything just right. And loving it! We're a couple of freaks! "emoji with my tongue out"

Kind of like this

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[Johnnybgood74]

I started with a 220g tank drilled it plumbed it bought a nice sump built my own stand....bought cheap stuff...LEARNED THE HARD WAY IN THIS HOBBY 9 OUT OF 10 TIMES YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR...Then I bought a Red Sea reefer 450 kit..I'm in love it was easy to set up, I am limited on what equipment I can house...

But really unless your going hard core big dollar sps you really don't need all the fancy eqyipment...I run no socks a skimmer that's rated for 210g tank(mine is 92) a black bucket I turned into a refugium two heaters a main and a back up a PowerHead and a reefbreeder 50"v2 tanks been up for two months it's quiet efficient and most of all a pleasure to look at and work on...

Best of luck on your adventure.

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[LauraGreenImp]

Just want to chime in to say this is a really nice "˜couple' hobby, but hubs didn't truly get interested until we (me + neighbor) began building (and REBUILDING) sump, skimmer, asst plumbing. I'm just a "˜creature' person by nature - hubs is engineer.

However, he's become a "˜creature' person by default now - so... *happily ever after* lol :fish2: :beer:

 

[Rjukan]

So I am going to chime back in with my vote on a 120g (its really NOT that big)

Lol. Yes it is. 4' tanks used to be "big". 20g high, or long used to be the standard, with a 10g being "small". If you had a tank that was a 55g or 75g, that was considered a big tank. Once you got into the 90g and over category you had yourself a really big tank, and a 6 footer was a monster. It's all relative of course, some wouldn't even think about a 120g, but for people just getting into the hobby something like that is huge.

Imo when you get over a 20g you have the stability you're looking for with the overall water volume, 40g with a sump is plenty of volume to keep large parameter swings down, plus it's helpful when dealing with water changes. Don't get me wong, a 6', tank is great, it looks great etc. But unless you're ready to take the next step and make the casual hobby more like a passion, I feel like that's too much tank to deal with without having a bunch of years experience.

 

[terryscf]

Johnnybgood74 nice setup. I think this is the tank I would like to get. I need to convince the hubby to go for the larger tank.

 

[LauraGreenImp]

Johnnybgood74 nice setup. I think this is the tank I would like to get. I need to convince the hubby to go for the larger tank.

There are a myriad number of ways to do this, I just can't write them out in a family friendly forum. My largest FW tank (discus) was 90g. I "˜persuaded' hubs to go for a 150g for SW. *wink*


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[terryscf]

Recommendation Request Update

Recommendation Request Update

Hi All,

To follow up on my last post. I wanted to get advice from the other reefers on some starter basics. If you read my first post I went gung-ho the first time around and didn't really try to 'build' up my tank. I tried to get what I believed was the best equipment at the time.

This time around I want to take the time to enjoy building the tank. I will start with FOWLR but then I want to work up to the fancy corals. I mentioned in my first post my husband wants the Red Sea Max 170. I have convinced him to do the Red Sea Reefer 250. If anyone has a recommendation or suggestion for a different tank we are open. I did check out the Waterbox tanks and they just seem a bit over expensive when I could just get the Red Sea.

I have listed out some things that I know we will need to start: The tank, live rock, live sand, return pump, wavemakers, lights, sump, protein skimmer and a heater. I still have my ro/di setup and salt from my last tank. I'm trying to remember when I did this before was there anything else I needed to begin. Some stuff from the list I know I will NEED (tank, pump, rock, sand, sump, heater). The other stuff I know I can gradually get while doing the cycle process.

I'm looking for realistic recommendations. I don't know if that just makes me look like a stupid newbie but I don't want to get too overwhelmed like I did last time. I should have posted to the forum last time to seek assistance before I just gave it all up. Even though I got a tank up an running last time I feel so lost now trying to start again. HELP!!!

 

[Guy2112]

Look at scaquariums.com

 

[terryscf]

Hi Guy2112,

thanks for the information. I have indeed started looking at SCAquariums. I am trying to get a good feel for different reef-ready tanks out there.