New Member

Debbie

Reefing newb
Hi Everyone,

I'd like peoples opinions that have established aquariums. I am a newbie to Saltwater Aquariums. I would like to know what your opinion is on aquariums. Should I get the all in one biocube? Red Sea Max? or an aquarium and add everything to it. I was told that with being new to all this an all inone would be the way to go. What I want in an aquarium is live rock (which yes I know you need) lol, corals, clownfish/possibly a tang, shrimps,crabs, anenomes. What else should I thinka bout putting in the aquarium? thank you for all your help
 
What kind of room do you have for a tank? Tangs are going to be out of the question unless you go at least 75g(Yellow Tang) pref 125(Most other Tangs). They like a lot of room to swim :)

Larger Tanks are easier to balance, less susceptible to change. Smaller tanks are cheaper but harder to keep good water quality.

PS. Glad you came here first! And welcome to the Reef :)
 
If you want the ability to keep all types of corals/anenomes and you go with an all-in-one you should keep in mind the type of lighting they have. Most (like mine) come with PC lighting, which I am now spending basically the cost of the biocube to replace. The Biocube 29 HQI and JBJ Nanocube 28 HQI are a couple that I know of that come with metal halide lighting, which would make the size of the tank the only limiting factor on what you could keep coral/anenome wise.
 
Hello and welcome to the site...glad to have you aboard. I'd personally put a system together vs buying an all in one system. That way you can get the equipment you need and at a lower price.
 
Hi Everyone,

Thank you for the welcome :) In answer to room for a tank, I have fairly a lot of space for a tank. It could go in potentially 3 rooms. Thought it would look beautiful in our sitting room until I was sititng there the other day and it was a sauna it was so warm with the sun. Not good for fish lol.
I love the looks of the corals as much as I do the fish.
 
Welcome to the site!

The bigger the better ;) Plus once you start the hobby, you start seeing fish you like, but can't get because your tank was too small. And I agree w/ Smitty that getting things separately will probably save you in time. Although the pre-made systems are pretty.
 
Thank you everyone. Now the hard part is to decide how big of a tank I want and to figure out what is safe with what. I've been to 2 local aquaria stores, One has told me once I start to add the water and then wait 2 weeks before adding anything, the other has told me to add the water, live rock and then I can add shrimp etc before 2 weeks but to wait 4 weeks before adding fish. Guess it is time to get to reading and learning in the forums :)
 
Thank you everyone. Now the hard part is to decide how big of a tank I want and to figure out what is safe with what. I've been to 2 local aquaria stores, One has told me once I start to add the water and then wait 2 weeks before adding anything, the other has told me to add the water, live rock and then I can add shrimp etc before 2 weeks but to wait 4 weeks before adding fish. Guess it is time to get to reading and learning in the forums :)

Welcome! Check out the articles section (especially the necessary equipment article) and read through the stickies in the various sections of the forums on lights, cycling your tank, etc. Take what your LFS says with a grain of salt and definitely do your own research first! As for tank size, I'd try to figure out what types of fish you want first and how much money you can afford to spend (remember that the tank itself often ends up being the cheapest part of the set up!) and then you'll be able to consider tank size. As others have said, the bigger the better in terms of water stability and fish options, but also much more expensive. I can guarantee that whatever you decide, you'll be wanting to upgrade in no time :) If you want a tang then I'd get at least a 90g tank, which will give you options in all of the tang categories. And keep in mind that you are limited to 1 fish per 10g of water volume. Welcome to the addiction and glad to have you aboard!
 
Thanks! I will check out the articles section. I stopped by a local Aquaria store yesterday and after my first thought of going bio cube/red sea max because it seemed easy , I have now decided I am going to go... 72 gallon bow front and build it from there.
 
Make sure you (and anyone else living in your house) spend some time looking at full bowfront tank. It can make some people sick to look at them because the bow will distort some things.
 
Ya, i wish I had know when I set up my tank. I have a 46 bow, luckily it didn't make me sick to look at it, but my boyfriend could only look at it for a few minutes before getting a head ache
 
ok.. not going with the 46 bow. I've settled on a 75 gallon with built in cabinet. It's not predrilled. I loved the cabinet it was in so that was a decision maker. would you suggest making my own saltwater or should i get pre made at a local aquaria store
 
Welcome to the site. Most us make saltwater at home. Its just easier then lugging buckets. That is if you have a RO/DI system. If you dont and you have to lug buckets anyway then its kinda your call. Check and see what salt the LFS is using and how long they have used it. If you see someone in the store buying water ask them about there tank. If they have any issues or not. You will need freshwater as well for top off. Always top off with fresh. water evaporates salt does not.
 
Thanks Ted. Ro/DI system ? lol i'm new to this.. i can make saltwater. we arent on city water so dont have anything added to our water.
 
Reverse osmosis di ionization. Its the cleanest possible water. Well water can be worse then city. Well water can very easily have phosphates leeched from farms (fertilizer) or iron in it. The list of contaminates in water is endless. If you really want to be sure what you have take a sample of your water to the LFS and have them do a tds meter on it, (Total dissolved solids) For a reef tank the base freshwater should be as close to 0 as possible.
 
bow fronts are nice, just make sure to get one that comes with a top, b/c the replacements for them are fairly expensive. as far as the cycling goes, you will know when it's ready for fish, there will be a bloom of activity in the sandbed and on the rocks when its ready. unlike freshwater tanks, you'll be able to see all the little copepods and amphipods flitting about. the biggest thing to remember is, be extremely patient, b/c it can take a while to get it up and running.
P.S. Welcome to the addiction!
 
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Actually its not good to have a solid top in a saltwater tank, it leads to heating, lighting and oxygen exchange issues. Instead, if you need some sort of top, you should make it out of mesh.
 
They checked our water and said it was great. Something about it not being a drilled well was better than if it was a drilled well. There are also no farms in the area. So we're lucky there. :)
 
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