Advice for a Newbie - How Big? How small?

[Agatheron]

Hi Everyone,

I feel like I have a thousand questions and not able to formulate them all... so I figure that this would be a good place to start. I have the philosophy that there's no such thing as a stupid question, except the one you don't ask.

Anyway, to make a long story short, my wife and I are looking to set up a saltwater aquarium in our home. I have been reading up every resource that I can get my hands on, and I have visited two major LFS stores in town and am considering our options. We are only just moving into our new house, and are willing to take the time to get things started off right.

One of my first "stupid" questions comes in the value of the so-called starter kits when it comes to an aquarium. One of the local places has a packaged kit deal which includes the AquaEuro 28 Gallon starter kit, which comes with the following:

• 28 Gallon tank
• System and filter
• Protein skimmer
• 20lb live sand
• koralia power head
• Salt 50 gallon mix
• Hydrometer
• 100W Stealth heater
• Stick on thermometer
• Test kits
• Step 1, 2, 3, tank buster and reef fx water conditioners
• LED moon lights
• 2x36 Watt lighting
• Plus 10% off coupon for live rock

They also have a RedSeaMax 130D as well. I am both intrigued and wary about such kit systems as to how effective they are as aquariums. I've had experience with aquariums in the past, but I am a titch rusty.

Another option for us to go is to buy a tank/stand (there's a 37 gallon cube-type that has some appeal), and then slowly piecemeal the parts we need doing all the necessary research ahead of time. I can see the advantage to that of customizing our own filtration to our needs, and possibly making use of a sump among other things.

I realize that I should have stated what our goals are up front. Ideally, I would like to eventually move to a Reef Tank, as challenging as it will be. Clownfish being our "signature" fish, but of course with the whole ecosystem underneath it to support it.

Another question I have has to do with depth of tank vs. width. Are we better to get a wider tank, or one with more overall depth?

I think these are at least some of the questions I want to start off with. I've been immersing myself in the various articles and such. I'm patient, and we're not going to start committing larger chunks of money to this until we've had a chance to do our homework.

Thanks for putting up with our stupid questions.

 

[carey]

If you don't mind me asking, how much for the kit? Some of those things aren't needed exactly. Like the hydrometer. You want a refractometer for about $15 more to get an accurate salinity reading which will be important in that size tank. The skimmer is probably not needed if you do your weekly water changes, I dont use one on my 29g cube.
The lighting you listed is minimal in my opinion as to keeping corals in the future.

As a side note, bigger in saltwater is actually better. The parameters of the water tend to be more stable with more water volume and it gives you a much better selction of livestock to choose from. Length and depth, back to front are what i consider when looking for a tank.

Oh, BTW Welcome to the forum!!!

 

[Agatheron]

The tank kit is $489 Canadian, plus another $169 for the stand. When we looked at them tonight, one of the questions my wife had is it better to essentially buy things piecemeal, to get the components we want, rather than what comes in an existing kit. One piece of advice I've read is don't buy the cheap stuff, so I was wondering if this kit would fall into that category.

We are going to take our time with this, getting as much advice as we can. However at some point we do need to dive in, so to speak.

 

[circus clowns]

The bigger the better, don't short yourself of room for things!

 

[Jlsardina]

Everyone ends up moving up in gallons. Save yourself the frustration of another cycle- and the heartache- and get as big as a tank as you can fit in the house. Lol. If possible- use sites like Craigslist to find someone else who is getting out of the hobby and get all the equipment at a lower price so that it is even more affordable to upgrade the equipment that you feel is needed. Ive never been a fan of "kits" because most of the items are not needed or the lower end items that the store is just trying to push out to a newbie.

 

[circus clowns]

I concur , great advice.

 

[Agatheron]

Thanks for the advice so far. We move into our new house on the weekend. Part of the discussion is where best to locate the tank, and how big the tank might be. I'm thinking there's about three possible locations that would be good. Our house faces east-west with large windows, but no windows at all on the south side of the house, and what windows are on the north side are well sheltered from sunlight. However the windows on the west side for living room and dining room are very large. How careful do I have to be about sunlight?

When we settle on location, we can decide on tank limitations and what we can plan for. As big as we can afford is certainly reasonable. I think also, given that we would certainly not be able to have room for say a refugium and sump in a separate room, our filtration will be limited to what can be stored in the cabinet below. That puts an upper limit on how big we can go.

Also, glass or acrylic?

 

[Jlsardina]

I have a 220 gallon tank with a 55 gal refugium underneath with plenty room to spare. There is no set rule on the size of a refugium- just go as large as you can fit underneath the tank. My tank is 5 feet from my sliding glass doors. I put up some sheer curtains and the sunlight that does seep through us not affecting the tank. I have had glass and acrylic and I now prefer glass. It doesn't scratch that easily. Sure- acrylic scratches can be buffed out- but it's a pain to do- TRUST ME! I've done it a few times!

If you find a spot that's at least 6 feet that can be set aside for your tank- that's your best bet- you can get a 225.

 

[Agatheron]

I'm expecting anything over 75 gallons is going to be too large for the space we will have. I'm anticipating 37 to 65 in various configurations will be likely candidates. Also, I know that I can order tanks with a built in overflow, or I can purchase a hang-over-the-side type. The price appears to favour the naked tank with separate overflow rather than one built in... But that could be just that I saw a good deal in a tank and stand ($300 for a 65 gallon tank and stand).

I'm expecting to pay as much on filtration as I am in the tank, if not more so.

 

[Mrc8858]

I'm expecting anything over 75 gallons is going to be too large for the space we will have. I'm anticipating 37 to 65 in various configurations will be likely candidates. Also, I know that I can order tanks with a built in overflow, or I can purchase a hang-over-the-side type. The price appears to favour the naked tank with separate overflow rather than one built in... But that could be just that I saw a good deal in a tank and stand ($300 for a 65 gallon tank and stand).

I'm expecting to pay as much on filtration as I am in the tank, if not more so.

Depending on where you live if you are patient then check Craigslist over the next couple weeks and I almost guarantee you will find something for a fraction of the price I got my drilled 46 bowfront full setup for $125 that's including things like skimmer sump/refugium sterilizer etc

 

[Agatheron]

So far, all I've seen on Craigslist have been monster 280-300 gallon freshwater systems complete with fish. I'll keep an eye on things and see what comes up. Are there any particular brands both with aquariums and sump/filter systems that are better than others?

Also, back to my question around built in overflows vs hang-on-the-side overflows. Is there an advantage of one over the other?

 

[Jlsardina]

Built in looks cleaner in my opinion and eliminates the need for the tank to be out further from the wall. I have had a tank that was drilled in the back of the tank (versus from the bottom) and with plumbing the tank was 8 inches from the wall and you had to see all the plumbing.

 

[Mrc8858]

Built in looks cleaner in my opinion and eliminates the need for the tank to be out further from the wall. I have had a tank that was drilled in the back of the tank (versus from the bottom) and with plumbing the tank was 8 inches from the wall and you had to see all the plumbing.

It's also more fool proof...impossible to over fill a tank with a drilled overflow unless it becomes clogged..HOB you have to rely on a siphon

 

[joy13]

The HOB overflow boxes can be noisy even when trying to use the air tube as a muffler it didn't work well for me. I do like my drilled tank better. I don't know how well you do on diy projects but you can make a lot of things yourself and save money there, also you can customize things like stand, hood, sump and lights if you want.

Check out local forums. I typed in North Carolina reef and saltwater forums and came up with 2 and 1 local club. I find a lot of great deals on used equipment and also livestock.

 

[Agatheron]

Thanks. I've come across 56g tank that seems to be decent and the right size for the space. However the floor of the tanks is tempered glass and specifically says "do not drill." That scares me off of drilling my own despite experience with working with and cutting acrylic sheeting. Is it still do-able or would I be better with the external overflow if we ended up with this tank. I understand that many tanks have tempered bottoms.

The reason I ask is that stock tanks with pre-drilled overflows seem to be far pricier despite being essentially fewer components than an overflow.

 

[Jlsardina]

Thanks. I've come across 56g tank that seems to be decent and the right size for the space. However the floor of the tanks is tempered glass and specifically says "do not drill." That scares me off of drilling my own despite experience with working with and cutting acrylic sheeting. Is it still do-able or would I be better with the external overflow if we ended up with this tank. I understand that many tanks have tempered bottoms.

The reason I ask is that stock tanks with pre-drilled overflows seem to be far pricier despite being essentially fewer components than an overflow.

I would wait for another tank. You can not drill tempered glass. It will shatter. However- you could drill the back of the tank and run PVC to the sump from there. This is how I had my 90 gallon set up

 

[Agatheron]

The tank in question is about $339 inclusive of the stand and a glass top. It's 30"x18"x24" tall. Are flooding issues inevitable with an overflow box, even if it has a pump to maintain the siphon?

 

[carey]

The first choice for me would be a drilled tank. i have both setups and much prefer the drilled for soo many reasons.

I've had my 125g running with an overflow box for close to 8 months or so and have never had a flood or any issue at all. If you set it up correctly you will be fine.

 

[MacDracor]

I picked up a 55 last year for free, and a 45 a few weeks ago for $40. Craigslist is great! By the time you get lights, sand, rock, skimmer, etc, you'll end up paying roughly the same for a bigger setup as you would have for that little one, and have a lot more flexibility. Plus imagine all the pretty stuff you can put in a bigger tank! LOL

 

[Agatheron]

We had a chance to look at some tanks today as we were awaiting to the keys to take official possession of our new home. My wife really favours the bow-front style, or even a corner unit. We had the store price out pre-drilled tanks for us. Seems that a 46 gallon bowfront doesn't come with an built-in overflow, but the 72g definitely does, as does the 54g corner.

When we took possession of our place today, we measured out a few possible places for the aquarium to go. There's a few places where a 48" tank will fit quite nicely. It seems the taller tanks (like the 56g 30x18x24) aren't as likely to have the overflows built in, or if they are, they're a lot more expensive an option.

What is encouraging is that my wife is very engaged in this process... and she seems to favour the bow-front style. Anything we should keep in mind?