Equipment question

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Bobby56

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Feb 16, 2012
Messages
232
Location
Buckingham, va
So I have a 30gal tank that is empty right now and was thinking about trying saltwater. I was wondering what equipment I would need starting from scratch?
 
Best bet when getting into SW tanks for the first time is to read and do lots of research. Check out the articles on SW here on AA. They give lots of info. Once you've read up on the things you may need it'll be easier to figure out what you'd like to have.
 
+1 for researching. You will see the same questions being posted on different days by different people. Your question is very broad. You can start with several ways.

Decide between filter: hob/canister filter or live rocks? Or both?
Research on premixing salt.
Read the reviews in some of the different kinds of heaters.
Research the type of fish you want.
Read this sticky http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f14/stock-list-and-tips-for-maintaining-your-sw-tank-73477.html
Do careful research before buying whatever you plan to buy.

Ask more narrow questions as needed.
 
Yeah sorry about the broad question lol. I have been doing some research. My main ? Would have been for a hob filter would u need a special one? I will do more research, and if I do decided to try saltwater it would probably be months from now. I know I'm in the right place if I'm in need of help :)
 
You dont need any special hob filter. I had marineland and aquaclear filters. Aquaclear is much better IMO. Its not hard doing a SW tank at all. Expensive though, which is why you are doing research.
 
Also, a good thing to do is to figure out what it is that you MUST have in your tank and then create the tank around it. This will tell you if you will decide between FOWLR or reef...or that if you want a reef you might need to reconsider your choice or even need a larger tank. With this, once you know the type of tank you will have you can make decisions like HOB filter, canister...whatever. Some choices, like canisters, are used more infrequently with reefs due to the need for pristine water conditions which results from utilizing a sump/fuge type setup with protein skimmers.

I run LR, HOB filter (marineland), and sump w/ skimmer on my reef. Might be a tad overkill...but it works for me.
 
I'm researching for sw now and it is expensive and I have alot of the necessary items like rock sand skimmer. And it's still expensive. However sw reefs are amazing and that makes it worth it.
 
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