Newbie Help To Setup 150gl Tank

[Tribalize]

I havent ventured into salt water before. Have been doing alot of reading here on the forums. But alot of the terms used confuse me as i have never setup a salt water tank...and has been along time since i have had a freshwater.

I have nothing at the moment other than the tank. A christmas gift from the wife it arrived yesterday.

Can i get some suggestions on setup and what i would need. I have no sump or tank to create one at the moment but from what i have read that seems they way togo on a large tank.

I would like to setup it up right the first time. So please help out a newbie with buy suggestions and possible links if you have them.

Thx for any suggestions.

 

[Smitty]

You are really asking for a lot when asking general questions. I understand it can be very daunting when first getting into having fish. I would first ask you to think about what you want to do. Do you want to have fish only? Fish with live rock? Fish, live rock and corals? Starting with Fish and rock and then moving to corals?

We really need to know what your plan is for the future before making any kind of recommendations. The biggest thing I can recommend to you is more reading! I don't know how many times I've re-read every sticky on this forum just to get it to sink in and know myself where I want to go.

The big things you'll need: Tank (got it), lighting (depends on your future plans), filtration (again, depends on what you want to do).

Is your tank reef ready? (IE: is is pre-drilled)?

 

[Gti_Leo]

at the end of the day even for a fish only system a sump is stil lte prefered means of filtration. it allows foir a place to hide your heaters and your protien skimmer. theres nothign thta says you cant run a canister filter wit ha large tank, you make have to run two depending on the size but you can infact do this, but you'd see alot of stuff in the back of your tank where as a sump is all hidden, minus the powerheads

 

[Tribalize]

thanks for the suggestion and help. I am still reading and trying to figure things out like suggested.

Tank is not drilled Does it have to be for a sump?

I would like to start the tank fish wise the easiest i can at first...but would like to move into corals at some stage down the road.

This will be an ongiong project and plan on taking pics and posting along the way.

Thanks for the help so far and any future suggestions. I feel over my head at this moment...lol

 

[Gti_Leo]

no it desn't have to be drilled but its best if the tank is drilled for a sump, this way everythign stays hidden from view giving a cleaner look. although you can get overflows that hand on the back ot the display tank

 

[Tribalize]

ty leo. not quite sure i wanna drill a hole in the tank. atleast not yet at this point in my early saltwater adventure

 

[Just.A.Bit.Salty]

If your not comfortable drilling your tank then you don't need to. Overflows are not that expensive and don't really take anything away from the tank, Ive always used a overflow that hangs on the back or side of the tank. To start find a good place to put your tank on stable ground and away from any sunlight then make sure you pre-mix your salt in RO water or at least distilled water and get it in the tank and add some sand and your pretty much started!! You can do this before you set up a sump no big deal. Do you have any type of filter at the moment? And read read read as smitty suggested to start a cycle and all that fun stuff!

 

[appleton]

Hey Tribalize,I realize you don't want to drill your tank.It does not take away from the strength of the tank and you will find life a lot simpler with it drilled.(ie)cleaning out tubes and recreating suction and so on.I myself have a 100gal.and wished it was drilled.I would have to drain my tank inorder to drill which would mean an almost total breakdown of the tank.Take time and ponder the notion before you make a final decision...good luck.

 

[Tribalize]

salty thx for the input. i have an old filter that came with the tank

Thx appleton will consider it.

I have read about sand and what salt to use...seems everyone has there own opinions. Can i get some suggestions please