Which equipment brands should I get?

[katie1]

Hey.
I'm very very new to reef tanks. Basically, right now I have an empty 30 gal sitting on my livingroom floor, and I was going to go buy some gear this weekend. I'm not sure which species I want to keep in the tank but I do want to start cycling. My budget is modest but I don't want to spend it on crappy equipment that would break in a week. I am currently doing the reading and research but I would appriciate any advice from old timmers and experts on lights, protein skimmers, heaters and filters.
Thanks.

 

[Capt_Cully]

your really should have some idea of what you want to keep, i.e. fish, clams, corals, other inverts. this will help as far as lights. heaters, ebo jager not that pricey, regarded highly in my investigation. if tank doesn't have overflow, you'll need a hang on back skimmer and overflow.

sorry i'm not alot of help, but maybe this will help direct you a little bit. good luck.

 

[FDinPA]

Plan out what you want to do before you buy anything.
You do not necessarily need to have a sump or buy an overflow to plumb it. A sump (or fuge or sump/fuge combo) is very helpful and keeps unsightly equipment out of the display. It also adds volume to your system and allows you to do some other things that you will probably want to do later as you learn more.
Decide on what you want to keep first. Each organism has different requirements that you need to take into account. If you think that you may want to keep tridacnid clams, SPS corals or other light intensive species; I would recommend metal halide lighting. You can certainly use fluoro lights but there are some drawbacks. A standard 30 is a relatively deep tank. People will argue the point but I don't (personally) think that penetration depth off of fluoro lighting will be sufficient for light intensive species at the bottom. A single 175W MH over a 30 gal tank would be moderately strong lighting and allow you the flexibility to keep most animals healthy. You will also find yourself replacing fluoro bulbs more frequently than you will with MH. Over the past 15 years I have replaced my MH bulbs about every 3 (ish) years. I seem to replace my 03 actinics about every 6 months. Again, lots of people will have different opinions on that.
They say that you get what you pay for. I guess that's true but Maxi jet powerheads are pretty cheap and they have held up really well for me (I have one that is nearly 10 years old and it's still doing its thing.)
If you go without a sump you will be somewhat limited on your skimmer choices. You will need a HOB or in tank model. That's not necessarily a bad thing. An airstone driven countercurrent skimmer can actually be quite efficient and is low cost. You just have to deal with its appearance in your tank. If you plumb in a sump your choices are much greater. There are some really great threads on skimmer models and their performance.
I have always used Ebo-jager heaters (1 is older than my 3 kids combined). It still burns like a champ. I do use a heater controller. Aggresive or large fish can break glass heaters (as can you) so if you will have it in the display you may want to look at some protected units.
There is so much to say that it is hard to even know where to begin. Read as much as you can and narrow down to what you are looking to keep. There are a lot of great threads on this site as well as printed materials out there to point you in the right direction.

 

[Subrafta]

Katie,

Welcome to Reef Central!

As the others have said, knowing what your goals are will make it easier to give specific advice. But since you've got a 30g tank you choices are a little limited. I'd recommend reading some books first to see if you'll be happy with a 30g before you start buying equipment. I've got a 37g and wish I had at least a 75g (or at least an Oceanic 58g).

The Conscientious Marine Aquarist by Bob Fenner is a great place to start. It's filtration section is a bit dated (today most people use a combintation of live rock and protien skimming, often with a sump and/or refugium, he covers this amoung others) but it's a great overall book.

The New Marine Aquarium, by Mike Paletta is another great introduction, and it has good stocking advice. You can get them together from Amazon for less than $40.

For a pocket guide to fish you can take with you when you go to the fish store, Scott Michael's Marine Fish is the way to go. Very handy for checking to see if that cute little fish will grow up to be a tank buster or will eat your corals. I've included links at the bottom of this post.

With a 30g I'm guessing you don't have a sump, which means you're limited to "hang on back" skimmers. The AquaC Remora and Remora Pro are probably the best out there. Once you've got a sump there are lots of options, but I'm not up on the best "bang for the buck" models. Euro-reef is great, but pricey.

MaxiJets are fine powerheads and perform great for the price. If money is no object and you want to keep high-flow corals withotu a sump or closed loop, look at Tunze.

Ebo-jager heaters aren't as sure a bet as they once were (company was bought out) but I'm hearing good things again. I have Finnex brand titanium heaters, which are nice (and unbreakable).

Finnex, CoraLife, and CurrentUSA have decent lighting options for a 30g tank (and other sizes). Metal halide lights are very bright and good for growing demanding corals, but they're very hot and rather expensive. T5 flourscent lights are good for all but the most demanding corals and clams (if you have enough bulbs). I have a combo MH and T4 light, a Sunlight Supply Maristar. Very nice, but very expensive. I'd probably go with the Finnex MH / T5 combo or CoralLife MH / compact flourscent if I did it again.

Premium Aquatics (www.premiumaquatics.com) has very good customer service, dry-good prices, live rock (price and quality) and cleanup crews (price and quality). Marine Depot is also very good (www.marinedepot.com).

You should also check out the Vendor Experinces forum and Lighting & Equipment formum on Reef Central.

While you're waiting for the books to come, check out www.reefkeeping.com, an on-line magazine that's associated with RC.

Best of luck,

John

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1890087025?v=glance
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1890087521/002-1642569-8602463?v=glance&n=283155
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...bs_b_2_1/002-1642569-8602463?v=glance&s=books

 

[smy168]

Hey Katie, it's steven, can you contact me?

 

[rooroo]

With a 30 gallon, most corals will be happy under Power Compacts. They're fairly cheap to get started and come all wired up... all you have to do is plug them in. The bulbs can be expensive, but its a very good choice to get started with for a 30gal. If you're a little more technical and handy, you can go with T-5s or VHO (also called T-12s). Both are flourescent bulbs. T-5s are very popular right now because they're new and really quite good setups. They put out a high intensity of light at a lower wattage. As far as price to set up, I'm not really sure. VHO's can be $200 to $400 to set up. You will need a hood for your tank (you can build or buy one) and a retrofit kit for either setup. Power Compacts come in a hood-like setup.

I second (or third?) Ebo-Jager. Be sure to get the fully submersible model. That way you can hide the heater if you don't get a sump.

As for a good Hang-on the back skimmer, check out the Aqua-C Urchin HOB. I think Premium Aquatics has them. I have the in-sump variety and really like it.

And maxi-jets are great little powerheads. All of mine have lasted a very long time... probably 2-3 years each with minimal cleaning.

If you decide to go with a sump and an external pump, get Panworld. Mine is very quiet and adds barely any heat to the tank. Most likely you'll have a submersible pump if you get a sump due to space restrictions, but you were asking about brands...

For test kits, get seachem or salifert... some RedSea test kits are ok. I just got a magnesium test kit by them and its a great test kit.

That's about all I can think of. With that size tank and your experience, I'd go with LPS corals. Lower light demands, and easier to take care of than SPS. Also more readily available. You can always change in the future.

 

[Wryknow]

I had a 30 gallon SW tank for a couple of years and I learned a bit about my equipment. In hind-sight this is the equipment that I would would have bought initially if I knew what I know know now. Again, this is JMHO but I think that it would be a good value/quality mix to get a great tank going.

Prices are current from Marinedepot.com (a RC sponsor)

Aqua-C Remorah skimmer w/ maxi-jet 1200 - $164
over-flow box (for the skimmer) - $29
seio 820 power head - $53
150W jager heater - $20
150W MH Coral Life hang-on light - $260

You will also need:
live rock (30-44 lbs)
oolitic reef sand (about 40-60 lbs)
thermometer
hydrometer
cleaning magnet
net
a source of RO/DI water
salt mix - Instant Ocean or Seachem is my recommendation
a "python" aquarium cleaner is nice to have also

Happy Reefing!

 

[mg426]

Salifert test kits work very well.

 

[delor]

Highly recommend WaterKeepers threads for newbies... Very informative and easy to read and understand. Start here..

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=239848&perpage=25&pagenumber=1