Extreme Newbie...Lots of Questions

I'm about 3 hours into this hobby. Visited a pet store last night and my wife and I decided we definitely need to get into this hobby. I've started reading the tons of information on this website.

I'm now in the initial phases of shock and awe. I read through the "Three steps to a reef aquarium." Lots of info to digest and a ton more to research.

Here are my plans so far:
Goal: community reef w/live rock & sand

Tank:
150 Gallon (Glass) probably rectangle? Although we saw a nice square one we liked...

Filter: Not even close to knowing enough, beginning stages of research

Lighting: Metal Halide?

Thoughts/ideas/opinions?
Is there a well known trustworthy place to order items from online with decent prices once I decide which route I'm going? Or is this a hobby where everyone buys local?

 

Welcome to 3reef. It's great you are researching before you buy anything some people just impulse buy and it ends up being a disaster. Your plan sounds good so far. For filtration you could do a protein skimmer and live rock for biological filtration, have you decided if you want a sump? Metal Halides are great if you have the cash if you want something cheaper look into t-5's. Last but not least good luck with your first tank!

 

welcome to 3 reef , you have come to "a" place

150 gallon tank is a very nice choice to start with, lots of options with a tank that size

Lighting - depends what you think you will keep to a large degree, but I feel you have 2 options MH or T5 check the threads out for opinions on these 2 options

to sum up - MH offers most intense, directed light and gives a nice ripple effect in wateR But runs hotter that T5 so depending where you live, and where in the house your tank is located and how your home AC is set you might need a chiller to compensate for this
additional heat output
T5s on a 150 gallon - 6ft long you can have 80 watt T5s and fit 8 of them - T5S do offer a lot of light and many people keep SPS (very light demanding) corals using T5s

filter - most people would advise you to go with a drilled tank with overlfow and have a sump plus refugium set up - this coupled with about 1.5 lb of rock per gallon in your tank will be your filtration system (bacteria lives on and in the rock)

you need great water movement - up to 50x you tank capacity in total

a protien skimmer is a smart investment - and again if you go overflow/sump. fuge option you can have the skimmer under the tank etc rather than in on stuck on your tank

check out the sponsors sites for on line buying

welcome to the hobby its a very rewarding one

Steve

 

I think buying online can save you some money. For me anyways it saved me loads. and anywhere you can buy some used equipment it would help.

there are alot of options in terms of filtration. I would suggest research and then more research. I read 3 books and hundreds of threads before I bought anything. But 3reef is an exellent place to start.

Just ask lots of questions!

 

Welcome!

The bigger the tank you can accommodate (and afford) the better off you'll be as far as water quality is concerned. A generic rule of thumb is $30/gal for a complete set up, but can go much higher depending on what livestock and premium equipment you get.

I am a big fan of buying local, but I know it's not always an option. Shipping fish and other livestock isn't cheap, and can quickly end up costing you more than a local shop if you don't buy a lot at one time. On the other hand, a LFS here has fish for $600 that are $200-300 online, so sometimes it's just a no brainer. The biggest advantage to buying local however is that you get to see what you're getting. Even the WYSIWYG stores can be slightly misleading as you don't KNOW the fish is eating, and the picture may be months old and the fish is currently in poor shape. Like all things purchased, Caveat Emptor.

For a tank I can only say I am so very glad I bought a drilled tank with a built in over flow. I can't explain how much more elegant and simple everythign is with a drilled tank. I know Hang on back equipment isn't highly prone to failure or anything, but it's a little bit of peace of mind anyways.

Filtration can be as simple as lots of live rock and a hang on filter, or as complex as you can afford for fancy equipment. After all my research I get the most bang for the buck with live rock in the DT, a refugium/sump and a protein skimmer. Not only is it a very good biological filter, it's also a fun little "hidden" tank I can keep to myself.

I would skip on the canister filters and various reactors, ATS, and denitrators unless you have a need for them later on.

When it comes to lighting MH is the only choice for me, as I want the rippled/dappled effect on my tank, and it's by far the most intense and close to natural light you can get. T5's are good, but nothing else gives you that rippled water effect (ok, LEDs do, but LEDs are...meh... gimmicky for now)

As for who to buy from, I agree with above post, check the sponsors page. I got my lights from Reef Geek, absolutely no complaint.

Good luck, have fun setting up!

-Doug

 

What's the deal with the drilled tanks? I'll have to go find some threads to research what that is...

I presonally don't like the look of having things stuck to the back wall of the tanks...I'm hoping to hide/conceal as much as possible. The local store here has a tank by MarineLife and it has 2 hidden corners in the back where looks like they have the filtration or some tubes running. I'm guessing that has to do with the sumps and filtration anyway. I like how those are hidden and out of sight.

I should also mention I don't mind spending extra money if it means doing something the right way the first time. I hate doing something only to find out I really should have spent more money on a better solution to begin with.

 

that Marineland is probably a drilled tank. A drilled tank is one with at least 2 holes drilled in the bottom to allow for an internal overflow and return pipe to run through the bottom (or rarely the back) of the tank.

Tanks with the black columns in the back corners and/or the back middle of the tank are usually drilled. They cost about 20% more than a non-drilled tank and are worth every penny.

 

Ok if it were me and I were buying this tank:

I'm assuming it's a standard 150 gallon which is what I have set up in my house right now.

2 x 250 watt metal halide lighting (i have 2 x 400 and sometimes i think it may be too much)

water movement I would do 4 x koralia 4 powerheads

I would buy an asm g3 skimmer

and I will add more as I can think of it.

 

Daniel, thanks for the specifics! That definitely helps point me in the right directions for research.

I think I'm narrowing the tank down to:
The Deep Dimension Marineland. And after a little more research I think I'm leaning towards the 200 now.
Marineland 200 Deep Dimension

 

I really like the sump idea. My 75g has a two chamber sump, it was fish only at one point, and had bio balls in one side. I have a lot of live rock so bio balls are gone. The overflow box is slightly off center in the back of tank, drilled in bottom. We've created a nice rockscape around it to make it asthetically pleasing, however, the slits in the box are unobstructed. I've since made a portion of my sump into a refugium with mangroves and chaeto. But my tank was established for about 3 years without a fuge. I agree on the MH kit, I hang a small walmart fan on side of tank to cool water if needed, I don't have a chiller as of yet. There is the stand to consider, and whether you will want a canopy. Just a few ideas