Just wanted to say hello to everyone and here is where I am going to start my journey. This seems to be the one of the most well thought out saltwater forums! I have been out of the saltwater aquarium hobby for about 15 years. A lot has changed. When I was 12-17 years old I had a 55 then a 90 salt tanks. I loved them but they were fish only and I had no clue what I was doing. I had test kits and all the other newest stuff but still clueless on how everything was supposed to work. Now 15 years later and a lot wiser I am planning a tank that is going to be fish only with live rock (fowler). This is going to be a couple month process purchasing everything and I am hoping to get some guidance along the way.This will be my first documentation with pictures so you might have to bear with me. I figure I need to give back for all I have learned from this site. I have a budget of about $800-1000 total. I would like to do a 40-60 gallon square tank. I have a particular spot in the room it needs to fit. I was thinking about the "complete" tanks with all the filter and skimmer lighting, but I don't know if I like the idea of not having the flexibility of changing a particular item with that type of system. Here's what I am leaning toward: Rimless 40-60 tank and stand (I really like the looks of the rimless square) live rock, sand. I am still deciding on the filter system? Sorry for such a long 1st post. Thanks
Here we go...
- Thread starter sprink669
- Start date
first_time_reefer
Reefing newb
welcome! this site is wonderful. everyone is super friendly, and very knowledgeable. the plus side to everyone on here is there is no alterior motive for their advice other than wanting to see your tank succeed. Good luck with the cube, the rimless' do look nice.
chuck78
The Reefanatic
Hello & Welcome !!! I have a hunch that you'll be spending a little more than $1000. LOL
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first_time_reefer
Reefing newb
Did some research, a good cube with stand is 750. After you get everything set up you may be outside of your target budget. Maybe a homemade filtration/Skimmer system would help offset that.
little_fish
Moderator
Hello and Welcome!
If you are going to keep the tank that small, i would suggest going reef. Most of the cool FOWLR fish need huge tanks. Plus many corals are easier to keep the fish IMO.
For filtration you can just get away with doing regular water changes, but it is easier if you have stuff like a skimmer and fuge. However, if you are on a budget, you might want to save up for that stuff down the road. Most of these items will either hang off the back or go under the stand. If you want to keep with the rimless look, i would try finding a reef ready tank that will already be plumbed to drain down under the tank. A sump is really cheap to set up, so i would worry about that cost. Then save up for the skimmer. If you are going with an over the side overflow, the sump can also be added later.
Another really great money saving option is to buy dry rocks and sand (check out marcorocks.com for super cheap rocks/sand) and the just a couple pieces of live rock. After you cycle the tank everything will be live and you will have a whole lot more money in your pocket.
If you are going to keep the tank that small, i would suggest going reef. Most of the cool FOWLR fish need huge tanks. Plus many corals are easier to keep the fish IMO.
For filtration you can just get away with doing regular water changes, but it is easier if you have stuff like a skimmer and fuge. However, if you are on a budget, you might want to save up for that stuff down the road. Most of these items will either hang off the back or go under the stand. If you want to keep with the rimless look, i would try finding a reef ready tank that will already be plumbed to drain down under the tank. A sump is really cheap to set up, so i would worry about that cost. Then save up for the skimmer. If you are going with an over the side overflow, the sump can also be added later.
Another really great money saving option is to buy dry rocks and sand (check out marcorocks.com for super cheap rocks/sand) and the just a couple pieces of live rock. After you cycle the tank everything will be live and you will have a whole lot more money in your pocket.
Smitty
Reef pro
Hello and welcome to the site...glad to have you aboard. You can also try checking your local craigslist.com for people selling their equipment.
Bifferwine
I am a girl
The Red Sea Maxes are good tanks. Really nice looking. The all in one setups are nice, but you will probably end up paying more than if you just bought everything separately. And then there's the difficulty of customizing and upgrading parts that you want to change. The nice thing about buying a tank piece by piece is that you can ease back into the hobby with a fish only tank (which doesn't require any special lighting) and gradually save your money and research to upgrade your lights and switch over to a reef eventually.
motorcyclereefer
I am Graffiti Petey
Welcome to the site!
Becky
Reefing newb
Hello and welcome! :)
Northstar24
The Tang Herder
Welcome to the site. I would also agree with the Hannah, a 40-60 gallon tank would be much better suited to some sort of reef setup, as any of the fish normally associated with FOWLER tanks (Big Angels, triggers, groupers, lions, tangs, most butterflies) just won't do well in such a small tank. You can easily pick out some reef safe fish and keep them without coral initially, but I really would do some research on things like corals and clams
As far as recommending a specific setup similar to a RedSea all in one, I'd look for something reef ready (already drilled) so that you can have filtration in the stand - especially of you are going with the rimless look. Rimless will be kind of pointless if you have a bunch of gear or overflows hanging off the sides of the tank
Basically you'd need a tank and stand, some sort of sump system if you go with a reef ready setup, dry rock and sand with some live rock to seed it, a heater, lights (espeically if you're going to keep coral) and eventually a skimmer (can be added as budget allows after tank has been set up). The other nice thing about a sump setup is you can hide a lot of this stuff under the stand where it is out of site
As far as recommending a specific setup similar to a RedSea all in one, I'd look for something reef ready (already drilled) so that you can have filtration in the stand - especially of you are going with the rimless look. Rimless will be kind of pointless if you have a bunch of gear or overflows hanging off the sides of the tank
Basically you'd need a tank and stand, some sort of sump system if you go with a reef ready setup, dry rock and sand with some live rock to seed it, a heater, lights (espeically if you're going to keep coral) and eventually a skimmer (can be added as budget allows after tank has been set up). The other nice thing about a sump setup is you can hide a lot of this stuff under the stand where it is out of site
chichimom79
reef junkie
Welcome aboard! I can't wait to see your tank! I have a Marineland 60 cube :)
