What would YOU do with this tank?

C

cinematek

New member
Hi all.

I posted a similar thread on the "New to Hobby" forum about a week ago and someone suggested that I might get a better answer on the Nano forum, so here I am.

Basically, the pictures below are of a tank setup I got for my birthday. It will be my first saltwater tank, so I want to make sure I do it right.

Question: Will I be able to set up a decent first tank using this kit? (I understand there will be more accesories to buy.) Or would it be better to return the kit and get something else? If so, what?

I want to set up a reef tank, if that helps with your answer.

Thanks in advance.

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Well you are running an eclips. How many gallons is it? You will need to let your tank cycle for about a month with no fish and just live rock. you could probabl do two clownfish if it's a twelve gallon, A fish only tank would do good and yes you can do a decendt tank.
 
It is a 12 gallon setup. Someone in the New to Hobby forum said the filter would be problematic. What do you think?

I've been doing a lot of research, but I got a little scared by a guy at Tong's Tropical Fish. (A local store). He told me all about how I could never have a stable setup with the type of tank I was given and that I shouldn't even waste my time with a marine setup. He wanted me to return it and then buy a cube of some sort from him.

I believed that he knew more about these things than me, but I didn't like his attitude and I felt like he was just trying to get me to spend a bunch of cash at his store. Anyone else agree/disagree with the guy at Tong's?
 
Return it, the only thing you would keep would be the heater, the salt, and the tank. Just get a regular 10 or 20 long and go from there. You would need to ditch the lighting because its not enough for a reef and the filtration isnt adequate. My 15 gallon high started as a Freshwater and now the only thing I have from the original kit is the tank.
 
how much did that tank cost? i seen it on drsfostersmith for $149.99 if that is what you paid for it i would return it and get a 12g aquapod from http://www.nanotuners.com/product_i...d=134&osCsid=59bc8906b7eb275dd48dc281db9d86f9 for $129.95 it also has everything built in and its a real nice tank. or you can get the 24g aquapod from http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produ...tem&ref=3554&subref=AA&GCID=C12188x006&ctt=64 for $149.99 thats the tank i have its a great tank. heres a pic of mine i took the stock top off tho.
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It was $160.

Sjm- You said you took the stock top off... what kind of lid is the replacement? Where did you get it?
 
My thoughts...

You may be ok, but you will want to change filtration and lighting.

Get a Aqua C Remora hang on the back protien skimmer
Read about converting a AquaClear filter into a refugium with chaeto
Get a CurrentUSA Lighting ficture (see Marine Depot) Power compact or Metal Halide
Get live sand
Live rock (cure it)
Wait a month or two with a damsel and test water
With the setup above you will be able to keep just about anything suited for a nano including clams

You will need to read about dosing calcium and other supplements if needed.

We all started somewhere. Just remember when you going with a nano, the biggest con is the water volume, no room for error in quality. Just keep doing water changes at 10% once a week and all will look great.

$150-$250 for the lights
$150 for skimmer
rock and sand (find it in classifieds!)

Good luck and let us know how it works out.
 
don't need a skimmer, just do about 2-3 g w/cs and you should be good, as long as you don't overstock. do an ac 500 fuge mod, , a maxijet. get about 12-16lbs of lr, and do a 1" sand bed, toss the hood.. go for a powerquad, you should be set.
 
Thanks for all the great input. Here's my verdict... I returned the tank last night. I got the cash ($160) and I am going to buy something in the range of a 20g tank. (about all I have room for). I'm going to use fantastic4's advice as a base and build from there.

I'll do another post down the road once I've gotten a bunch of my starter stuff together.
 
hey cine first get the tank set up with sand, and live rock make sure your water is good too to make it easy on your self go out and by the 4.4 g of the "fresh saltwater" believe its from oceanic just to get ur tank cycling. Keep the bio wheels since those are usefull but get rid of the bluefilter since they really wont help much after the tank has cycled they will only keep the crap in your tank. after a month of just having the tank with the sand and rock toss in a small damsel cheap n small so you wont have to worry tomuch about it and do weekly water chages of 2 gallons. that should keep you going.
 
You're getting hit with a lot of advice and opinions. You really should start with what you want to keep and how much time you want to spend on maintanence. Figure that out and people can give you answers better suited for your individual needs.

That tank would be fine for a FOWLR (Fish Only With Live Rock) setup but not for SPS tending. You see what I'm saying?
 
cine... research what kind of corals you want to raise (if any) before you buy your lights.

And when you do buy your lights, get a good quality brand, unless you are a good DIY type person and can build your own setup.

Good luck!
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8108247#post8108247 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by fantastic4
My thoughts...

You may be ok, but you will want to change filtration and lighting.

Get a Aqua C Remora hang on the back protien skimmer
Read about converting a AquaClear filter into a refugium with chaeto
Get a CurrentUSA Lighting ficture (see Marine Depot) Power compact or Metal Halide
Get live sand
Live rock (cure it)
Wait a month or two with a damsel and test water
With the setup above you will be able to keep just about anything suited for a nano including clams

You will need to read about dosing calcium and other supplements if needed.

We all started somewhere. Just remember when you going with a nano, the biggest con is the water volume, no room for error in quality. Just keep doing water changes at 10% once a week and all will look great.

$150-$250 for the lights
$150 for skimmer
rock and sand (find it in classifieds!)

Good luck and let us know how it works out.
Click to expand...

Ignore what he said about cycling with a damsel. You dont need to cycle with a damsel. If you get cured rock, there should be little to no cycle whatsoever. CurrentUSA also is not the only good manufactorer or company for lights. You should defiantly read up on lights, as there are Powercompact(PC), Metal Halide(MH), T5 and T5 High Output(HO) , and VHO(very high output, although this arnt T5, and they are typically longer and for bigger tanks).
Get a nice lighting system because you will want to upgrade in the future(tank and lighting) and having a MH light will make it easier for an upgrade and prevent you from buying new lights. It also is very powerful lighting although it raises your temps a great deal, and to prevent this people raise their lights which lessens the effect of the light. If I were you I would buy a nice(and probaly expensive) T5 HO 24" lighting system as this are very similiar to MH PAR(light intensity) and run at much much cooler temps. Im not trying to bash fantastic or anything, just suggesting something diffrent(and right :) )
 
Okay, so I'm still deciding on a lot of th ings for my new tank, but after a few weeks of research, I do have one thing decided - based on space available and other factors, I am going to get a 24" glass tank.

I plan to build a reef tank. I would love to have some pulsing xenia, flower pot. and frog spawn. I have always loved clownfish and I would also like to get a scarlet cleaner shrimp and maybe a clam. Not sure how much of that is reef safe and/or compatible with each other. I'm still researching.

I want to try one of the filter/fuge mods I saw on one of the forums. If I turn an aquaclear into a fuge do I still need another filter? Do I need a skimmer? How big a fuge is needed for a 20-30g tank?
 
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