Salt or Fresh Water?

[slitherbomb]

Get the live rock and sand before anything else. It's WAY more important when you're starting out than a skimmer, but you will probably need a powerhead soon. You should get the skimmer if/when you get coral.

 

[Galligak]

Okay then, and I won't be getting coral until next year probably around march considering that's when I'll be getting money for my birthday. I'll go looking for sand soon and live rock.

 

[carey]

Now to decide on a filter. canister or sump? At 55g you can still get away without a sump, I did it sucessfully. But I also had a skimmer too

 

[Galligak]

Ummm what's the difference?

 

[scottayy]

You can always add in a sump later on if you decide to. Tight on money, I wouldn't go for it right away. I would do the sump and skimmer before you get corals though.

An HOB filter will work fine until you decide to do fancy stuff, and even then it'd probably still work fine. I think a sump is only a necessity on really large aquariums, or a preference.

 

[Galligak]

Okay I'll get a HOB filter, skimmer and probably 10-20 lbs of live rock to start off does that seem okay?

 

[huma-huma]

Because you have time, I'd suggest getting 5-10 lbs of live rock and another 50-60 lbs of base rock, base is cheaper and will be seeded by the 5-10 lbs of live rock. If I could say one thing, its stay committed, saltwater can be a deep and trying experience, its def more than worth it, just stick with it if you encounter issues. Not trying to scare ya or anything, just better to know of it beforehand.

 

[Galligak]

Okay that sounds doable. Also is a heater necessary? I've read both ways...

 

[slitherbomb]

A heater is only necessary if your tank is too cold, or the temp changes a lot.

 

[carey]

Figure in a heater. I live in Florida and I still have heaters in all my tanks.

 

[huma-huma]

I second Careys statement, they have temp settings on them so even though during the summer days you may not need them, they will kick on throughout the night and stabilize the temp if it drops below your preset. I even have one on my 20g , gotta buy a new one for the 125 because one blew up

 

[Sarcothelia]

So long as you have good parameters and lighting, after a few months you can put in a $10 frag of mushrooms or zoanthids or whatever and see how it goes.

 

[Galligak]

Okay then, I'll get a heater as well but maybe during or maybe even after cycling because I would want a good one. Would that be okay? Also is there any way to transform a desk into a tank stand?

 

[huma-huma]

es its physically possible but not likely, the majority of common computer desks are made of particle board, not exactly the best material when it comes to aquariums. I would just either keep your eyes open for a used one on here or cl or perhaps build a basic one
*edit***
Crap I gotta pay better attention, if its an actual desk made out of solid wood, yes you could prob use it, if its a computer desk, follow what I said above.....only problem I've experienced is that desks usually aren't built with weight-bearing in mind. A 40b is roughly 350 lbs and that's just water, not including lr sand and tank weight....so I'd be careful

 

[Galligak]

Okay I will look around then

 

[scottayy]

How's this going?

 

[Galligak]

How's this going?

Not too good. I was hoping on saltwater but my mother stopped it after she looked at some of the prices and told me not going to happen while I'll live under her roof... So I switches to freshwater and I have almost everything, besides a working filter... It's pretty sad to see it all up but with nothing in it! Thanks for asking though! It's nice to hear from people in the salty side of things, wish I could be there

 

[scottayy]

Awesome, no rush!
Freshwater is exciting and rewarding as well
Someday you'll taste the saltwater side of things