What Do I Need To Start SaltWater?

[CleverBs]

I just bought a 40 gallon tank and was wondering what is everything I would need for the tank? Simple tank just nice enough to get a cool colorful fish and to start my saltwater experiance. Want to start simple and move to more complex over time and slowly. Give me some sujestions I am blind on all of this.

Right now heres what I have
40gallon tank

Id love to keep Cardinals and a Flame Angel (priority) Clown fish would be great too but if it would cost more to keep them then I dont want them for now.
Tell me what I would need in order to do this.

 

[Mrc8858]

I just bought a 40 gallon tank and was wondering what is everything I would need for the tank? Simple tank just nice enough to get a cool colorful fish and to start my saltwater experiance. Want to start simple and move to more complex over time and slowly. Give me some sujestions I am blind on all of this.

Right now heres what I have
40gallon tank
Topfin 60 - Just had an old one that works so using it for now.

If u wanted to go as simple as possible u could get away with just a heater, mechanical filter, canopy/light and powerhead (of course not including ur rock, sand, aquarium salt, etc)

 

[zacheyp]

Depends, do u want corals.

 

[CleverBs]

well Id really love to do a Clown fish tank I love clown fish, But like I said dont know much about salt water fish so I want to go simple dont know if keeping clowns is simple or a Dwarf angel, or Cardinals

Basically I just don't want to buy another expensive light fixture...I just want to use a normal florescent light.

 

[bruinsbro1997]

You would need a really good filter, heater, lights, powerhead, protien skimmer if you wanted, 40+ lbs. live rock, some sand, salt mix, and RO water possibly.

 

[Mrc8858]

Pretty sure from his post it would be a very basic fowlr which if its his first SW prob would be best to understand the chemical side of it first

 

[CleverBs]

Pretty sure from his post it would be a very basic fowlr which if its his first SW prob would be best to understand the chemical side of it first

yes exactly

 

[CleverBs]

Can I keep Cardinals or Dwarf Angels with Fish only tanks?

 

[mdavidson]

You can do both with fowlr set up.

 

[Ausfish]

And if you want some basic corals, I keep mushrooms and a hammer coral at 4 watts/gallon and they're doing amazing!
Start small and get your head around Saltwater and all the parameters to watch out for and then you can always upgrade stuff later!

 

[CleverBs]

Yeah I would like to do FOWLR but have no idea what things I need, I would like some type of check list if you know what I mean?

 

[carey]

You would need the following, and this is just off the top of my head and going very very simple:
heater
hang on back filter like an aquaclear 50 or a 70
2 powerheads, say koralia 550's
Sand
Live rock or base rock (base rock is majorly cheaper than live and will become live over a few weeks/months time)
Refractometer preferably to test salinity ( about $30 on ebay)
Basic lighting
ALSO a test kit for saltwater, API liquid would be a good one to start with

 

[rdnelson99]

Word of caution. What these guys are telling you is great if you stay FOWLR but, be sure that is what you are going to want to stay with before you start laying out the cash. I could be wrong, but I think a lot of people start with FOWLR but then down the road they want a pretty coral or two. If you didn't buy a good light or if the fish you have are not reef safe, etc... you wont be able to. I know that in my case, there would come a time when I said I wanted to go with corals and then I would be mad at myself for not planning ahead.

 

[CleverBs]

Word of caution. What these guys are telling you is great if you stay FOWLR but, be sure that is what you are going to want to stay with before you start laying out the cash. I could be wrong, but I think a lot of people start with FOWLR but then down the road they want a pretty coral or two. If you didn't buy a good light or if the fish you have are not reef safe, etc... you wont be able to. I know that in my case, there would come a time when I said I wanted to go with corals and then I would be mad at myself for not planning ahead.

Well I can upgrade my setup later if needed.

 

[ShadoeFox]

Gotta agree on planning ahead. You could wait on spending on lights til you make that choice. However if you think you might go reef eventually I know angels can be problematic possibly (usually listed as with caution) cardinals and clowns are both good and hearty as well as reef friendly if memory serves

 

[CleverBs]

You would need the following, and this is just off the top of my head and going very very simple:
heater
hang on back filter like an aquaclear 50 or a 70
2 powerheads, say koralia 550's
Sand
Live rock or base rock (base rock is majorly cheaper than live and will become live over a few weeks/months time)
Refractometer preferably to test salinity ( about $30 on ebay)
Basic lighting
ALSO a test kit for saltwater, API liquid would be a good one to start with

Thanks! Question how many lbs of live rock do I need? How many pounds of sand do I need? And what kind of sand? Have pfs but I'm sure that won't work? Lastly do I need a protine simmer? Oh also what is "basic light" I know a lot about freshwater and plant lighting but nothing when it comes to salt water and everything I look up is so vague.

 

[ShadoeFox]

40 lbs of both, though a mix of live and base rock is good. Id do at least a small, inexpensive protein skimmer. Hunt ebay.

 

[carey]

Basic lighting is just that, basic and cheap. BUT it won't support corals. If thats your intention then you might wanna start shopping around for lights. But for a fish only setup the light is not important, anything that illuminates will work.

For a 40g tank I would say at least 40lbs of rock, maybe a bit more. The rock is actually your primary biological filter so the more the better filtration you get. You could get say 40 lb of base rock, heres a place that is cheap ReefCleaners.org | Clean Up Crews and Macro Algae and then add about 10lbs of live rock.

As far as sand it depends on how much of a sandbed you will want. If you are going to get burrowing fish then you might want a deeper subsrate.

Now as far as a skimmer, me personally, I don't think you will need one in a fish only system as long as you keep up on your water changes. I have a 29g and a 20g that dont' have skimmers. In fact, I'm running a 55g now that isnt using a skimmer either.

 

[Ausfish]

On the other hand, I know a guy that's running a 125 reef with awesome filtration, a good skimmer and he hasn't done a water change in 8 month. He just keeps dosing the required trace elements for coral growth!

In your case you really don't need much for a fowlr. I would say get about 55-60 gallons of LR

 

[CleverBs]

Would this work for a good start? If not what would be a better alternative. Also what type of sand do I need to use?

40 gallon tank
2x Aqueon Powerheads 500
30 lbs. Base Rock
10 lbs. Live Rock
Fluval 300 watt heats
Topfin 60 gallon
Refractometer
Lighting - First will have a normal industrial floresent light but will upgrade to a Double Bright LED later (are they good? would they allow me to have basic corals later down the road?)
Bucket of salt mix
saltwater Test kit