Hello, I'm completely new to home aquariums and have never owned a fish in my life. Me and my partner have two children from her previous marriage and we are trying to introduce them to wildlife, teaching them how to tend to and care for nature. We already have guinea pigs and a hamster but now want to setup a small aquarium tank. We've found a great store that cells Coral and we already have a tank that was handed down from a friend. We haven't decided on what fish to get yes but I guess we'll want something colourful to keep the kids entertained and fish that are easy to maintain. My question was, besides the coral and tank, what other equipment do you need? I was told that a sterilization system will be required and I'd need to pick between an ozone generator or Ultraviolet system, is that true and if so, which is the cheapest, easiest to maintain and the safest for the fish? Thanks.
Which is the safer Sterilizer, Ozone or UV?
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OK thanks, it sounds like it depends on which type of tank you want, fresh water or marine and which type of fish you are keeping. I was told by a guy in the shop that you tend to use UV sterilizers in marine tanks more so. He said that in fresh water tanks you tend to have plants that help to clean the water for you. He said that some fish feed off algae too so in that case, you'd want it to grow and not destroy it. Thanks for the pointers anyway, I'll read the sticky's as you've suggested.
What you need: tank with sump, lights at least T5 (light determines what coral species you can keep), skimmer with pump, return pump, heater. Chillers, sterilizers, etc are all for special situations. A 100 gallon tank is really middling size in the hobby in terms of the fish we keep: definitely keep that in mind when planning. Corals can grow in most any size, but for some popular fish, 100 up is the best choice. Do not shop Craigslist without a clear understanding of what you need and what brands are the good ones.
Thanks everyone for replying. I think I should find out exactly what fish we are going for and how crazy we are going to go with it all before we worry about the sterilizing systems. I'll keep reading through the forum and discuss with my partner so we can try and make a decision on everything.
I quite like the look of the bicolar blenny, banggai cardinal and purple fire fish, out of the one's I've looked at.
Those are good and peaceful.
homer1475
New member
Good peaceful fish that won't require a HUGE tank.
Liveaquaria.com has nearly every fish you could want, and they give recommended tank sizes, and what their temperament is.
I may be completely off base in posting this, but PLEASE make sure to do your research before jumping into this hobby.
I personally haven't even started a tank yet, I am still planning it, and have been doing research for several weeks now. Reef tanks are not something to just decide to do spontaneously and buy what one person in the LFS tells you to buy. It is possible you get lucky and nail everything, but you will likely be in for a very bumpy experience that is fraught with issues and setbacks and leaves you with a bad experience.
Read the following thread to understand what I mean:
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2576075
To put it in perspective, I am planning to start a ~100g tank in the next few months. I have been researching and planning independently online for about 3 weeks now, and will continue researching until I pull the trigger and purchase everything.
When I do buy everything I expect to pay about $4000 at a minimum, and that will get me a solid mid-level system of the size (90-120g) I want. I then fully expect to spend several hundred dollars per month for a few months, buying fish, corals, and misc supplies for my tank.
If you are already aware of all this then great! Ignore this post, otherwise please be aware of what your getting into. There be dragons here.
I personally haven't even started a tank yet, I am still planning it, and have been doing research for several weeks now. Reef tanks are not something to just decide to do spontaneously and buy what one person in the LFS tells you to buy. It is possible you get lucky and nail everything, but you will likely be in for a very bumpy experience that is fraught with issues and setbacks and leaves you with a bad experience.
Read the following thread to understand what I mean:
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2576075
To put it in perspective, I am planning to start a ~100g tank in the next few months. I have been researching and planning independently online for about 3 weeks now, and will continue researching until I pull the trigger and purchase everything.
When I do buy everything I expect to pay about $4000 at a minimum, and that will get me a solid mid-level system of the size (90-120g) I want. I then fully expect to spend several hundred dollars per month for a few months, buying fish, corals, and misc supplies for my tank.
If you are already aware of all this then great! Ignore this post, otherwise please be aware of what your getting into. There be dragons here.
