Killerdrgn
Advanced Reefer
- Location
- Park Ridge, NJ
I think salt for the aquarium would also be helpful.
Heeeelllpp!!! lol
- Thread starter Shannon_D
- Start date
- Location
- Great Neck, NY
hahahaha yeah deff
- Location
- Great Neck, NY
well I already have a RO system because of my dad
- Location
- Great Neck, NY
Thank you Imbarrie!!! Yes I actually like the size!!! Not toooo big... and definitely not too small!!!
- Location
- Forked River, New Jersey
welcome.. isgon26 sells salt for a great price.. i like the reef chrystals.. its a desent salt mix.
also get a good test kit, a master reef API kit for amonia, PH, nitrite, nitrate, calcium
is a good start
also get a good refractometer for measuring salinity.. i got mine for abt 35$
is the tank drilled? are u planning using a sump? what type of filtration do you wanna use..
also get a good test kit, a master reef API kit for amonia, PH, nitrite, nitrate, calcium
is a good start
also get a good refractometer for measuring salinity.. i got mine for abt 35$
is the tank drilled? are u planning using a sump? what type of filtration do you wanna use..
- Location
- Great Neck, NY
well I was thinking about a sump but I want to do more research
- Location
- Flushing, NY
Since you don't have most of the equipment yet, I suggest you look at photo's of other people's tank and decide on what corals you like.
You probably know from your life experiences on how likely you're going to stay in the hobby, and if not, you will probably know within the first few months. In my opinion, its better to go for equipment which can handle all corals even though it cost more because if you buy the cheaper equipment and want to grow SPS or LPS, you'll have to upgrade to a better equipment which adds even more money.
For lights, unless you KNOW you're going to stay with softies, maybe a few LPS, stay away from compact fluorescent. I started out this hobby thinking I'd stay to softies and low budget, but 3 months later and already 2 upgrades, I dove into SPS. The same can be said for skimmer.
Controllers IMO are just fancy toys which you probably don't want to get until you're serious and have expendable cash.
Also, research equipment as much as possible since these are expensive equipment. When you read what the equipment is rated for, take it with a grain of salt since each mfg has different standards. IMO, its best to look at successful tanks and see what they implement and copy the aspects you like and think is effective. Absolutely nothing wrong with copying a successful tank, if you can do it.
You probably know from your life experiences on how likely you're going to stay in the hobby, and if not, you will probably know within the first few months. In my opinion, its better to go for equipment which can handle all corals even though it cost more because if you buy the cheaper equipment and want to grow SPS or LPS, you'll have to upgrade to a better equipment which adds even more money.
For lights, unless you KNOW you're going to stay with softies, maybe a few LPS, stay away from compact fluorescent. I started out this hobby thinking I'd stay to softies and low budget, but 3 months later and already 2 upgrades, I dove into SPS. The same can be said for skimmer.
Controllers IMO are just fancy toys which you probably don't want to get until you're serious and have expendable cash.
Also, research equipment as much as possible since these are expensive equipment. When you read what the equipment is rated for, take it with a grain of salt since each mfg has different standards. IMO, its best to look at successful tanks and see what they implement and copy the aspects you like and think is effective. Absolutely nothing wrong with copying a successful tank, if you can do it.
- Location
- Forked River, New Jersey
sumps are very easy and help keep all your filters/reactors and heater out of your display tank.. your also gonna need powerheads for water flow.. koralias are a good cheap wat to add good water current in your tank..
Shannon, welcome to MR.
Keeping a Saltwater aquarium isn't too different from a fresh. True story on the whole "too many people saying too many different things." Unfortunately there are many wanna be Marine Biologists who publish their information.
Anyway, It's great that you have an RO unit. You are already ahead of the game and it's great you are taking your time to do research. Next few questions.
Is the tank Reef Ready? Meaning, is there an overflow box built into it? If it's new it should say something on the sticker in front. Also, if it isn't you have to consider placement of the tank. You'd need something called a Hang on back overflow box where you'd have to place the tank a few inches away from the wall or something.
1. What kind of corals do you want to keep? I do not keep many SPS corals and keep LPS. I love the stuff that waves.
2. Liverock is going to be relatively tricky. You'd at least need about 70 lbs. Just a general rule of thumb because the rock will be your filtration. It's great that you have livesand because all you'd have to do is buy base rock and then like 1-2 lbs of Live Rock to get you started. You'd have to know what look you are going to go for. I aquascape to the fish's needs and no so much the coral feel free to PM me if you need more info. on this.
3. You also want to look into more powerful lighting and a protein skimmer. The lights will depend on what corals you keep and what budget you have. LED's are great because of low heat and energy efficiency. On a 75 Gallon Tank a 6 Bulb T5 light should be sufficient. Protein Skimmer choice will depend if you want to go sumpless or not.
4. I know you are in Great Neck (Hello Neighbor!) and I hope you refrain from any impulse buys at Fishtown. Please stay away from the Guyanese guy, he doesn't know anything.
5. I'd be more than happy to help you out/let you check out my tank and give you a crash course. Feel free to contact me. I do not mean this in the creepy heeby jeeby way but I am literally 5 minutes away from Great Neck and when I started this hobby I started out rough but got hooked and am on my 13th tank set up in 2 years lol.
Keeping a Saltwater aquarium isn't too different from a fresh. True story on the whole "too many people saying too many different things." Unfortunately there are many wanna be Marine Biologists who publish their information.
Anyway, It's great that you have an RO unit. You are already ahead of the game and it's great you are taking your time to do research. Next few questions.
Is the tank Reef Ready? Meaning, is there an overflow box built into it? If it's new it should say something on the sticker in front. Also, if it isn't you have to consider placement of the tank. You'd need something called a Hang on back overflow box where you'd have to place the tank a few inches away from the wall or something.
1. What kind of corals do you want to keep? I do not keep many SPS corals and keep LPS. I love the stuff that waves.
2. Liverock is going to be relatively tricky. You'd at least need about 70 lbs. Just a general rule of thumb because the rock will be your filtration. It's great that you have livesand because all you'd have to do is buy base rock and then like 1-2 lbs of Live Rock to get you started. You'd have to know what look you are going to go for. I aquascape to the fish's needs and no so much the coral feel free to PM me if you need more info. on this.
3. You also want to look into more powerful lighting and a protein skimmer. The lights will depend on what corals you keep and what budget you have. LED's are great because of low heat and energy efficiency. On a 75 Gallon Tank a 6 Bulb T5 light should be sufficient. Protein Skimmer choice will depend if you want to go sumpless or not.
4. I know you are in Great Neck (Hello Neighbor!) and I hope you refrain from any impulse buys at Fishtown. Please stay away from the Guyanese guy, he doesn't know anything.
5. I'd be more than happy to help you out/let you check out my tank and give you a crash course. Feel free to contact me. I do not mean this in the creepy heeby jeeby way but I am literally 5 minutes away from Great Neck and when I started this hobby I started out rough but got hooked and am on my 13th tank set up in 2 years lol.
On my 75 I have a 6 bulb T5 Current Nova Extreme light that has semi parabolic reflectors for each bulb. Really increases the efficiency of the light. And an Aqua C 120 protein skimmer. Im growing pretty much anything I want from LPS like elegance and duncans to SPS monti caps. I would say that is a great starter setup and I picked everything up in the marketplace here in MR.
There are a lot of places to stay away from in your area. Agreed about Fishtown unless you really know how to pick out fish. The other one is in Carle Place and is way way way over priced for the quality you get.
There are great vendors in here. But if you ever get into the city Manhattan Aquariums is a wonderful place to go and get some ideas as to livestock. Huge selection, very healthy.
Best of luck.
There are a lot of places to stay away from in your area. Agreed about Fishtown unless you really know how to pick out fish. The other one is in Carle Place and is way way way over priced for the quality you get.
There are great vendors in here. But if you ever get into the city Manhattan Aquariums is a wonderful place to go and get some ideas as to livestock. Huge selection, very healthy.
Best of luck.
- Location
- Great Neck, NY
hahahaha it's so funny that you said that!!! I went there the other day and I came out thinking "I'm never coming back to this place." Well I know I'm definitely changing the light... I am buying a bunch of live rock... I just want to make sure I get everything I need so I don't have to upgrade later... now I'm almost 100% sure that I want to keep LPS just because I like the way it looks more than SPS
- Location
- Great Neck, NY
Thanks!!! I sure will!!!
- Location
- NY
Greetings Shannon and welcome to MR. I can see you've already received varying advice about ways to setup your system. With this in mind, please take your time and do a lot of research before buying any equipment. It'll save you a lot of money by not making any impulse purchases.
Feel free to ask questions. I'm sure you'll get lots of responses, with time you'll learn what works for you and what doesn't.
Again, welcome to our part of the reef.
Russ
Feel free to ask questions. I'm sure you'll get lots of responses, with time you'll learn what works for you and what doesn't.
Again, welcome to our part of the reef.
Russ
- Location
- Franklin Lakes, NJ
I can't disagree more with this statement. A $99 Reef Keeper Lite will let you plug in your heater and fans or a chiller, as well as lights. One of the most important things in a reef tank is stability, and there's nothing more efficient than a controller for doing this. You can then add modules later for pH, salinity, etc.
When controllers cost $300+, I considered them optional equipment. Now that they're under $100, I think it's insane not to have one. One fish or coral can cost that much, and one failed heater can wipe out everything in your tank.
- Location
- Garden city
What exactly do controllers do? I haven't gotten to them yet just started looking for a good ato
Sent from my iPhone using Reefs
Sent from my iPhone using Reefs
- Location
- Franklin Lakes, NJ
Controllers well... er... control stuff.
A controller can do a number of things to help maintain stability in your tank. Here are some of the most common uses.
It can turn your lights on and off at specific times.
It can turn on temperature adjusting devices at specific temperatures, keeping your temperature stable. For instance, if you keep your reef at 78 degrees you could have something like this: If temp is under 78 degrees, turn on the heater, if it's over 78.5, turn on the fan, if it's over 79 turn on the chiller and if it reaches 80, shut off the metal halides.
If can be used to control an ATO (this usually requires addition modules or a more expensive controller).
It can be used to monitor and control pH and salinity.
I highly recommend this book!!!
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1883693144/?tag=reefs04-20
You wont really find a better, more current aquarium book. This book goes over almost all methods of filtration, both good and bad, and touches on all things important in the reef aquarium.
Good luck, have fun, and go SLOW!!!
The book will TOTALLY help you out
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1883693144/?tag=reefs04-20
You wont really find a better, more current aquarium book. This book goes over almost all methods of filtration, both good and bad, and touches on all things important in the reef aquarium.
Good luck, have fun, and go SLOW!!!
The book will TOTALLY help you out
honestly, controllers and flux capacitors are fine but I would use it when I really have crazy sensitive stuff and an extremely elaborate system where it would be worth my money.
I wouldn't scare myself just yet especially if I am new lol.
I wouldn't scare myself just yet especially if I am new lol.
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