[musho3210]

Hi, I've been thinking about starting a 55 gal (maybe a bit more) Fish with Live Rock setup, but had some questions. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Questions:

1. When starting a new tank, can I fill it with tapwater, and then add live rock/sand after a few days of filtration? Or does tapwater just present too many problems?

2. Follow up question: I gather that tapwater is a no-no later on, and that I am supposed to use "FO" water. What, then, is "FO" water? I assume this is distilled water from the grocery store/wherever?

3. Previously, I bought a tank straight from the fish store, which I no longer have. Is that actually an economical way to do it? Is there a good online store out there that will mail it to me without the overall costs being outrageous? For that matter, anyone got a recommendation for online equipment retailers?

4. Any recommendations on specific products for skimmers, pumps, heaters, and the like? I'll be purchasing all the equipment I'll need. Silence and performance are my main issues. Cost is obviously an issue as well, but I'd rather go for quality instead of buying a piece of junk.

5. Finally, I'd like to buy a nice(er) stand for this thing. Anyone know of a company that makes nicer stands than the typical stuff out there?

Thanks for the help.

I believe you mean RO water, not FO . Distilled water normally goes through copper pipes and is more expensive so isnt that ideal. Either buy RO water at your lfs or buy an RO unit and make it yourself. RO stands for Reverse Osmosis, another alternative is to buy DI water (de-ionized). Both RO and DI water go for about 40-60 cents per gallon.

If you want to save money on the tank itself, then buy it second hand. Craigslist will help you there.

Sorry but thats all i could help you with

 

[musho3210]

For the stand question, if you have a table saw,miter saw, and are a little bit of a handyman than i would highly sugjest making a stand, the ones that the stores sell are crappy, i just bought one and it will get the job done but its not that nice.

For question about tanks, its fine to get them at a lf(everyone does) just look for brands like oceanic,all-glass,topfin. But if you want a drilled tank(built in overflow) than i would sugjest ordering from glasscages.com they will take anytank the have and drilll it for you with any style overflow.

as for equeptment i will name some name brands for you. Eheim for the pumps,jaguar for the heater,maxijet for a powerhead,current,icecap,hellolights for lighting,tunze for a more advanced method of circulation,cpr for a overflow box,euro-reef,deltec,coralife,asm for a skimmer.

stay away from top-fin, bad quality, if you want a reef ready and/or want to drill, look for specific companies that does this, dont drill any glass, especially tempered glass by yourself. Look for a professional.

 

[musho3210]

i have a top fin tank and it came with a few chips and cracks, went to the lfs and there were a few more there like that too, i had to switch the tank to get the get one that didnt come with chips. Overall to me its a bad company. Other topfin products are bad quality too. I have no say in all glass since my petsmart doesnt have that company.