Hi... and overwhelmed by so much info

cowboyguy · Jun 8, 2015

Hi All,

I'm planning to get a saltwater aquarium and just wanted to say I'm pretty overwhelmed by all the info given on this forum. I don't know where to start.

I started reading the supreme guide to set a saltwater aquarium but I have no idea what they're talking about. There are so many difficult terms used there that even after looking them up on Google, I'm at a loss.

These are my goals:

1) I wanna have a 30-40 gallon aquarium
2) I wanna breed clown (and seahorse if possible)

Can you please guide this ignorant newbie where to start and if there are any shortcuts to understand most of the info in the lease possible time (trust me I'm not lazy, I do wanna read but quality info).

Thanks a lot in advance!

zwulfke · Jun 8, 2015

you will need to house the horses alone. search new tank and that will help get you started you have to get the tank set up and cycled

Tahoe61 · Jun 8, 2015

Welcome.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/lingo-commonly-used-acronyms-0.57652/

Use the link above to clear up some of the jargon.

Focus on one topic otherwise you will get overwhelmed. I would begin with equipment, move on to simple water chemistry, next cycling and then introduction of livestock ie: Clowns. Typically you can not keep clowns and sea horse together, clowns are fast aggressive eaters, sea horses require patience and time. There is a ton of information out there that will not be relevant to your specific tank goals.

Clown fish setups can be very easy to set up and maintain, and without a bunch of high tech and costly equipment. Raising clown fish fry is another story but practice make perfect.

Good Luck.

zwulfke · Jun 8, 2015

Tahoe61 said:
Welcome.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/lingo-commonly-used-acronyms-0.57652/

Use the link above to clear up some of the jargon.

Focus on one topic otherwise you will get overwhelmed. I would begin with equipment, move on to simple water chemistry, next cycling and then introduction of livestock ie: Clowns. Typically you can not keep clowns and sea horse together, clowns are fast aggressive eaters, sea horses require patience and time. There is a ton of information out there that will not be relevant to your specific tank goals.

Clown fish setup can be very easy to set up and maintain, and without a bunch of high tech and costly equipment. Raising clown fish fry is another story but practice make perfect.

Good Luck.

Awesome link

kschweer · Jun 8, 2015

Welcome to R2R!! All good advice above. If you can't find your answer searching post it in a new thread, there's a lot of people here to help you out. Best of luck!

cowboyguy · Jun 8, 2015

Wow, thanks again for all the help.

I've pretty much read all the stickies in the Equipment. So far I've only got info on Heater, Skimmer and Lighting. Do you know where can I get info about rest of the stuff? like the tank itself?

Tahoe61 · Jun 8, 2015

I would go with a 40 gallon breeder that you can buy from Petco, try to look out for Petco's next dollor per gallon sale.

Next part is up to you, how much do you want to spend?

Unless you're going to venture into corals you really do not need a skimmer, just do routine water changes. You can go with a popular LED lower priced light fixture such as Reefbreeders, or even make your own. If LED's are not in your budget go with some T5's.

The larger the tank, the greater the water volume the greater the room for mistakes and errors so I always suggest a larger tank if possible, but you can also get some nice All In One/AIO tanks such as a Biocube, JBJ or Nuvo.

You can window shop at these sites.

http://www.marinedepot.com/
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/aquarium-fish-supplies.cfm?c=15

cowboyguy · Jun 8, 2015

Thanks Tahoe61. If I purchase the 40 gallon breeder from Petco, or from any of the two sites you mentioned, it would come with everything? i.e. stand, sump, filter, heater, lights, pump, water testing equipment, reactors etc.?

cowboyguy · Jun 8, 2015

I'm willing to spend about $600 for now. Also, what do you mean by "venture into corals"?

cowboyguy · Jun 8, 2015

So far after all my research, I've seen that these are some of the most popular equipments on this board:

Heater:

Eheim Jagers

Skimmer:

Reef Octopus, OR

Aquamaxx ConeS CO-1 skimmer

Lighting:

Blue Plus + Coral Plus

LED:

Maxspect

Pump:

Jebao DP-4 Auto Dosing Pump

Sump:

Synergy reef, OR

Trigger systems

---------------

I'm still researching on the Water Testing Equipment, and the Reactors.

Anything else I'm missing?

Marc.The.Shark · Jun 8, 2015

http://www.reefaquarium.com/2012/setting-up-your-first-marine-aquarium-2/

Tahoe61 · Jun 8, 2015

cowboyguy said:
I'm willing to spend about $600 for now. Also, what do you mean by "venture into corals"?

Not everyone in the saltwater hobby keeps corals. Some hobbyist have a FOWLR/fish only with live rock tank. Typically a smaller FOWLR tank is less expensive.

cowboyguy said:
So far after all my research, I've seen that these are some of the most popular equipments on this board:

Heater:

Eheim Jagers

Skimmer:

Reef Octopus, OR

Aquamaxx ConeS CO-1 skimmer

Lighting:

Blue Plus + Coral Plus

LED:

Maxspect

Pump:

Jebao DP-4 Auto Dosing Pump

Sump:

Synergy reef, OR

Trigger systems

---------------

I'm still researching on the Water Testing Equipment, and the Reactors.

Anything else I'm missing?

AIO tanks come with pumps, lighting and some filter material. Most hobbyist add more flow to the display portion of the tank.
You only need reactors when you venture into keeping stony corals, and if that is the focus of the tank. Not all tanks with corals need reactors, it depends on the coral types you keep.

You'll need test kits, salt.....refractometer (over hydrometer), power strips, thermometer.

cowboyguy · Jun 8, 2015

Thanks a lot Mar.The.Shark and Tohoe61. This is all very helpful. I gotta say that I'm on dozens of other online forums (for different topics), but I've never ever gotten such a quick and helpful response from members as on this forum. You guys rock

I'll read the article that Marc posted and will report back.

Reefing Madness · Jun 8, 2015

KJ · Jun 8, 2015

Welcome to R2R

Shep · Jun 9, 2015

Welcome to the site! Great to have you!

mrcoffee2 · Jun 9, 2015

cowboyguy said:
Hi All,

I'm planning to get a saltwater aquarium and just wanted to say I'm pretty overwhelmed by all the info given on this forum. I don't know where to start.

I started reading the supreme guide to set a saltwater aquarium but I have no idea what they're talking about. There are so many difficult terms used there that even after looking them up on Google, I'm at a loss.

These are my goals:

1) I wanna have a 30-40 gallon aquarium
2) I wanna breed clown (and seahorse if possible)

Can you please guide this ignorant newbie where to start and if there are any shortcuts to understand most of the info in the lease possible time (trust me I'm not lazy, I do wanna read but quality info).

Thanks a lot in advance!

I did not read through the other posts but let me try and make things easier.

Put most of your focus on water and it's source. If you are creating 0TDS 0 phosphate RODI water and using that for your tank a lot of nightmares can be avoided. The first think I tell anyone who wants to get into the salt game is to buy a RODI unit and learn about it. Personally it is the single most important thing you can do for your reef.

cowboyguy · Jun 9, 2015

Ok guys so I did a lot of research and read through a lot of info last night. The conclusion that I've reached to is that this game is VERY expensive. You will be surprised to know that my income is quite decent but even then I find this hobby to be ridiculously expensive. And I'm a very lavish spender lol.

Yesterday I went to this fish store (best in town as per Yelp and Google Reviews) and got the prices of all the equipment. It looks like a 60 gallon tank will cost me about $1,000 including everything (including sump, protein skimmer, live rocks, corals etc.). I then searched a lot on craigslist to see if anyone out there is selling their equipment for cheap but it doesn't look like there's a decent bargain on craigslist either. I'm quite surprised how so many people are doing this. Are you guys somehow making money by breeding your fish or reselling or something?