EcoSystem filter/refugium?

[Plainswalker]

I've been investigating establishing a reef aquarium, and I came across these guys:

www.ecosystemaquarium.com

An LFS employee raves about these guys and swears by their product. I checked out the price at another LFS and their equipment (which to me looks like a refugium) for a 10-65gal tank costs ~$600 CDN!

What's your take on it?

Welcome to AquariumAdvice.com

The HOB models work well but are best suited for smaller tank where they help eliminate alot of unsightly equipment. If on a larger tank that can incorporate a sump or simple refugium, they are not cost effective in the least. The sump versions are outrageously priced for what you can easily accomplish yourself.

What size tank where you planning on? Which LFS, Aquariums West?

Cheers
Steve

[Plainswalker]

Well, right now I'm just investigating the feasibility of saltwater given my time/budget. It would probably be a smaller one (24 to 33 gal), and I've been considering both freshwater and saltwater. I've been researching for well over a month and I don't think I can make a choice yet

And yes, the LFS in question is Aquariums West. I've got quite a few in my driving range - the ones I've visited are Fishworld (Surrey), both Big Al's locations (Richmond and Burnaby) and J&L Aquatics.

You would need to check with some FW people but I am fairly certain it is a much lower start up cost. As far as what you need in terms of SW, plan on about $25-30/gal for an FO system and about $50/gal of tank for a FOWLR or reef set up.

I would be wary of purchasing for Aq West, they are great people and sometimes have good livestock but they are bar non the most exspensive in the area. J&L by far has the cheapest staple/dry goods and also has free delivery within the lower mainland. You might also want to check King Eds just past Metrotown. They have some really good deals on tanks and equipment. Just be mindful of any of their "advice", they are salespeople after all

Cheers
Steve

[Plainswalker]

I'm a complete newb at aquaria - well-read, but a newb. I'm just worried I'd crash my first tank - and crashing a saltwater tank (with fish/inverts already in it) is gonna be a lot more painful than FW.

An ecosystem set up will not spare you mistakes any more or less than another export scheme. You can just as easily do the same thing with a good quality skimmer and regular water changes.

The best advice I can offer is take baby steps as you progess. As they say in carpentry, measure twice and cut once. In SW it's more like measure 10 times and then take a step back to make sure you want to make the cut at all.

Cheers
Steve

[haus]

I started my tank as fw for about 3 months. I met a guy at work that had a bunch of sw equipment that he said was just taking up space in his house and gave it to me for free. During the three months that I had fw I read a lot about sw. It is definitely cheaper for fw, but my sw is much more rewarding. I still keep fw, because I like my angels, but I spend a lot more time and energy on sw.