Looking for equipment and advice

[Whowse]

Hi everyone,

I am looking to get my first saltwater tank. Does anyone have any advice for just starting out? I potentially have a 55 gallon tank ( taller rather than longer) and a 20 or 25 gallon tank. I was wondering if I could modify the 20 into a sump for the 55. Do I need a sump or can I use filtration the hangs on the side? I would have to build a cabinet that would be able to hold the 20 under the 55.

Would these sizes be ok for saltwater ?

Any advice about equipment, fish, or set up procedures would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Tuffyyyyy]

Hello! Welcome to the forum! I'm always excited to help out new reefers in the 'Ham.

My first piece of advice for newbies is to settle in and watch BRS 52 weeks of reefing on YouTube. This will tell you literally everything you need to know to get started.


Answering your questions in order:

• You could absolutely modify your 25 gallon tank into a sump. Just get some panels and aquarium glue from home depot. Lots of instructions for this on YouTube
• You can just hang filtration on the side but a sump is always better. You'll get to a point where you don't want anything really hanging in your tank.
• Those sizes are all fine and you can hunt around on here to get some cabinet designs
• Those sizes are more than enough. I'd probably recommend going with a 40 gallon breeder for your sump (assuming you don't have the tank already) since this will give you tons of room for all of your goodies
• Myself and others here will be more than happy to help you pick out equipment but I'd recommend trying to see what kinds of fish and coral you'd like to keep. Hit up liveaquaria.com and look for fish you like. That will tell you what fish are okay for your tank. Next I'd say go to worldwidecorals.com, cherry corals, boom corals, battle corals, unique corals, etc. and see what you like. Once you pick some out then we can help you decide on equipment.

 

[Whowse]

Thanks for the information! I have been watching that video series all day lol. I already have the 25 gallon take that I was going to use. After checking on the 50 gallon take there seems to be a chip in the tank and I am am apprehensive on using it.

I would greatly appreciate any recommendation anyone might have on equipment.

Also what would be a good size tank to start with? I am not opposed to drilling my own tank but I was just wondering if the all in one tanks were worth the money when compared to the "dollar per gallon" tanks that are available.

I would like to have a 40 to 100 gallon tank. I am not looking to have a huge tank or have a lot of specialized fish. As for coral I would like to have some coral (soft and other easier to grow).

What intrigues me the most is setting up an ecosystem including a cleanup crew, microorganism, and eventually microorganisms in a refugium.

As for what I would like to stock:
Fish:Clown, Firefish, dottyback, some sort of tang, maybe a dwarf angelfish, Saddle Calentini Puffer (or similar), and a reef safe warsse
Coral: Soft coral and other easier to grow coral (recommendations welcome)
Inverts: anemone and an urchin