Tropical Fish Keeping banner

Starting out

5K views 17 replies 5 participants last post by  Reefing Madness 
#1 ·
I am wanting to start a saltwater aquarium. I have had a fresh water for years but want to go better. I want arround a 100 gal setup. I would like to have corals and colorful fish like clownfish , tangs, etc.
What is a list of everything i would need for this type of setup? What size and type of equipment?
Light, skimmer, filtration, heater/cooler, etc? I want to have decent stuff but not the absolute best just yet. Trying to get started in the least expensive way without buying junk or stuff i dont need. Any help would be greatly appriciated. Thanks in advance!
Benny
 
#3 · (Edited)
Hi Benny :wave:

Welcome to the forum. I'm going to move this thread over to Saltwater Equipment so that you have a better chance of getting the answers you need.

Feel free to start another thread just to say hello in "Meet the Community"
 
#4 · (Edited)
Here ya go.
#1-Dry Rock, there are a few hitchhikers on Live Rock that people want to stay away from, so they opt for using Dry Rock, or Dead Rock. Macro Rock is a good place to start looking for that. Either way you go you will need a minimum of 1lb per gallon.
#2-Replacement filter media like filter floss and activated carbon (if you get a filter) Which is really not necessary.
#3-Multiple Power heads (2 or 3) 10x your water volume for just a Fish Only With Live Rock, and at least 20x your water volume for a Reef Tank. So lets say your going reef, and you have a 100g tank, you would need flow in that tank at minimum of 2000gph, or 2 1000gph power heads.
#4-Protein Skimmer, rated at 2 times your water volume. Unless your tank is under 30g, in which case you can do 10% water changes a week to rid the system of detrius. But, you'll have to watch the water parameters close, if things go haywire, you'll have to do more water changes.
#5-Saltwater Test Kits. Reef Test Kit. Test for Ammonia, Nitrites, Nitrates, PH, Phosphates, Calcium, ALK and Magnesium.
#6-Saltwater fish food. Mysis Shrimp, Squid, Cyclopease, Algae Sheets, Romaine . Flake food is not really a good food to feed your marine fish.
#7-Aquarium vacuum. This one is iffy. Most don't use one, if you have enough flow in the tank you won’t need one
#8-Rubber kitchen gloves
#9-Fish net
#10-Two, clean, never used before, 5-gallon buckets
#11-Aquarium thermometer, digital being the best.
#12-Brush with plastic bristles (old tooth brush) - needed for cleaning the live rock if you don't get Fully Cured Live Rock.
#13-Power Strip, possibly GFCI outlets by the tank.
#14-Optional but definitely recommend getting a Reverse Osmosis or RO/Deionization filter for the make-up water, and a barrel for storing the water.
#15-Possibly a Quarantine Tank for your new fish. They sit in here for a few weeks to kill off parasites and bacteria, to keep it from getting in your main tank
#16-Heater rated for your size tank.
#17-Saltwater Mix. Marine Salt. Instant Ocean is the cheap Salt that beginners and Advanced use alike.
#18-Saltwater Hydrometer or even better a Refractometer, which is more accurate. There is also a Digital Meter that is way advanced if you have the cash.
#19-Aquarium filter (not absolutely necessary if running with adequate amounts of live rock, but nice to have if you need to use a mechanical filter or activated carbon, or GFO and such)
#20-Aquarium substrate such as live sand or crushed coral. Some go bare Bottom, others choose the 2-3" bottom, others, more advanced will try the Deep Sand Bed, which is over 6" deep.
http://www.znnea.rmuvx.servertrust.com/default.asp
http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Nitrogen_Cycle.html
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=aquarium+heater&_sacat=20754&_odkw=power+heads&_osacat=0
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=power+heads&_sacat=0&_odkw=salt+water+refractometer&_osacat=0
http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-0-10-Sa...905?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a792587d1
http://www.marcorocks.com/
http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/bulk-dry-live-rock.html
http://www.aquarium-fish.liveaquari...t1:liverock&isort=score&method=and&ts=results
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/fish-supplies/aquarium-substrate/ps/c/3578/9805
http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Aquarium_Lighting.html
http://live-plants.com/http://live-plants.com/http://successfulreefkeeping.com/learn/what-your-coral-needs/http://successfulreefkeeping.com/learn/what-your-coral-needs/
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid=p5197.m570.l1313&_nkw=t-5+lighting&_sacat=0
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=cree+led+aquarium&_sacat=0&_odkw=t-5+lighting&_osacat=0
 
#5 ·
So if I start with dry rock how long will it take for the tank to be ready for fish? Corals?
Also I found a real good deal on a 80gal setup suppose to have everything except lights and skimmer. Comes with 50-60 lbs of live rock. Is it a good idea to use that rock or not?
Posted via Mobile Device
 
#7 ·
So if I start with dry rock how long will it take for the tank to be ready for fish? Corals?
Also I found a real good deal on a 80gal setup suppose to have everything except lights and skimmer. Comes with 50-60 lbs of live rock. Is it a good idea to use that rock or not?
Posted via Mobile Device
Tank will cycle in about 4-6 weeks. If you can get a complete set up like that it makes life easier. I would need to add 20-30 lbs of rock.
 
#8 ·
What fish are safe to a reef tank and to each other? I want things like clownfish, tangs, triggerfish, blemies, are these compatable with each other and corals? What about starfish and sea horse?
Posted via Mobile Device
Only a couple of Tang will go in a 80-100g set up. Some Triggers are not Reef friendly, some are. But I do know one thing about them, they will eat your Clean Up Crew, Snails, Feather Dusters, Hermits. Tank will be ready for fish in 6 weeks, and Corals in 3-4 months. Some corals. Starfish are ok, but you won't be able to do Sea Horse, as they need to be in a species only tank. They are alittle tougher to deal with.
 
#9 ·
Well I am all setup. Live sand, live rock, and the guy at the fish store insisted that I need to put some fish right away to help the tank cycle so he gave me five White Tail Chromis so they are in there too. I did not put a refugium or skimmer yet I just have a Marineland Emperor and a powerhead. I noticed that I have a couple small mushrooms and a couple real small feather dusters on my liverock. So I guess I am on my way!

 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top