(Newbie in over his "Headâ€)

[Mcappy07]

(Part-1)
Goodevening All,
First I'd like to say "I'm excited to be here". But, I feel like I'min way over my head. This hobby/addiction is something that I've always wantedto get into, but never had time to commit. Most recently my (2) youngestdaughters have expressed an interest in building, and maintaining a mixed reefaquarium, and of course before giving it much thought, I leaped before looking,and now I'm committed. After many many hours of research. I'm overwhelmed, andparalyzed feeling like I don't know which way to move. I'm hoping you can helpme. "Please"
After allmy research it abundantly clear that the larger the tank, the easier it is tomaintain. I'm fairly certain; I'm going with an Acrylic tank. The ideal tankfor me would be 60" x 18" x 24" which I believe is 125g. A sumpwith a protein skimmer, refugium, and all the part's and pieces that would goalong with this setup. Knowing we want to have coral, and I'm one that ifyou’re going to do something you might as well do it right. I believe the newLED systems are the way to go. Ok, this is where I would love/need your help. Ihave earmarked $1000.00 dollars just for the tank, would I like to spend less,of course, but for now, let's go with it. This doesn't include anything else,just the tank. I have allotted an additional $1500.00 for everything else, notincluding the fish, rocks, sand, and coral.
The problem I'm having, and what I don’t want to do, is waste time, and money.I have all the patience in the world, and I'm looking forward to watching thiscome to life. I just want to start with the proper foundation, and somethingthat we can build upon. Who's up for the challenge, and wants to walk me thruthis project?
My children can't wait for me to start, and honestly, I've been putting them wayto long now. It's time for me to pull up my "Big Boy" panties and getmovin.
I look forward to thought's, and suggestions.
M-

 

[jlymner]

best of luck~ you came to the right place lots of help here. First thing I would recommend it to check out your local fish stores

 

[Mcappy07]

Sorry,
Forgot to say "Thank you" :bounce:

 

[ritter6788]

Welcome! It's a lot to take in at first. Ask as many questions as you want and we'll do our best to help. Make sure to start a build thread of your tank and post lots of pics!

 

[AsphaltPays]

Hello and Welcome to R2R!! I would go with the best equipment your budget can handle There are a lot of great vendors here that have some great products Good luck in your New Adventure


Sent from my iPhone 4S using Tapatalk

 

[Squishie89]

I strongly suggest buying/reading The New marine Aquarium by Michael Paletta. This book helped TONS for me. I also think The Simple Guide to Marine Aquariums by Jeff Kurtz and David E. Boruchowitz is also a good read.
I recently got into the hobby as well and I bought everything at once (stand, top, tank, hood, light, sump, skimmer, heater, powerheads, and more) and it came to a bit over 4 grand. And I bought a 90g glass system. I suggest since you know the size of the tank, start looking at some retail stores on-line to price equipment, or at your LFS. I bought everything at the LFS which is why my grand total was a bit high (I ended up paying 3 grand something because I had a 25% off coupon). Try to pick out the best equipment you can buy, otherwise you will be upgrading later and losing more money in the process.
But you came to the right place! R2R is awesome and very friendly. Welcome and good luck!

 

[Mcappy07]

Good evening Jlymner,
I agree, but I needed to find (1) near me, and quite honeslty. I think I will learn more in here than anywhere LFS:bigsmile:

 

[Mcappy07]

Thanks,

Will do ritter.

 

[Mcappy07]

I see that. TUVM

 

[Mcappy07]

Thanks for the insite, and info. I will look for those "read's"

 

[GratefulReef]

yes, welcome and you def came to the right place to get advice and help. seems like you have a good idea of what you want, and the costs involved. for rock and such i would suggest checking your local craigslist as sometimes people are selling LR and other items needed for much much cheaper than retail. also a QT tank is a good idea to have on hand for new purchases making sure you dont infest your DT with disease or unwanted hitchhikers. the best advice i was ever given and can give is to KISS(keep it simple stupid) you can omit the stupid part, was advice from a good friend of mine to me. also look into joining your local reef club, as those will be people who likely live very close to you and can help by selling you their old/unused equipment and stuff.

 

[Mcappy07]

Squishie89,

Are you happy with your set up, and is it doing what you hoped? If so, would you mind listing what you have?
Thanks

 

[Mcappy07]

Grateful,

I live by the "Kiss". That's one of the reasons I thought I'd try and streamline my process. If I ask here, I know I'm getting the straight and honest skinny. Kinda cut's through the headache and hassles. Why try and fail, when you can ask and suceed.
Thanks for your input. Much appreciated

 

[Squishie89]

Squishie89,

Are you happy with your set up, and is it doing what you hoped? If so, would you mind listing what you have?
Thanks

I will say overall, yes. I have encountered some problems, but nothing that was my fault XD Like the skimmer seems to have a malfunctioning pump and is being re-ordered for me. And the people who did the install (another thing I suggest you have done, and not try and do it all yourself, as you will be sitting there pulling your hair out) installed a part wrong. But the tank is up and running and the live rock is doing its thing. Tank has only been running for a week and a few days, so I have no critters yet. And I only just got my quarantine tank set up about 10 minutes ago XD
I will make a list of what I have and put it in my tank's thread, which you can access by clicking the link in my signature. Going to have to give me about 15-30 minutes to put the list together.

 

[fsu1dolfan]

Welcome to R2R - Good luck with your new build. Best advice i can give is to check the classifieds here. Lots of people that downgrade/upgrade or just get out of the hobby all together can yield great equipment at reasonable prices. Skimmers, pumps, lights, etc if in good condition can be bought used and help save some decent $$$.

 

[jlymner]

some LFS are great some not so much... any local fish groups? Our CNY Aquarium Society is great Many times it is better to buy local as returns/exchanges are easier... I remember once dropping a new heating the the LSF replaced it for free

 

[Decalf]

I will say overall, yes. I have encountered some problems, but nothing that was my fault XD Like the skimmer seems to have a malfunctioning pump and is being re-ordered for me. And the people who did the install (another thing I suggest you have done, and not try and do it all yourself, as you will be sitting there pulling your hair out) installed a part wrong. But the tank is up and running and the live rock is doing its thing. Tank has only been running for a week and a few days, so I have no critters yet. And I only just got my quarantine tank set up about 10 minutes ago XD
I will make a list of what I have and put it in my tank's thread, which you can access by clicking the link in my signature. Going to have to give me about 15-30 minutes to put the list together.

I would just say here that if you have other people put your tank together and you dont really understand what everything is for or how it works because someone else put it in your asking for some hurt. Something that is of a critical nature goes wrong on say christmas day and you dont understand how to fix it on dont have spare parts like an extra pump could really be a disaster. After 15 years of marine tanks and many year of hard knocks I would suggest you go slow and do it yourself, that way if something goes wrong you put in together and you probably should know how to fix it. Again the is only my opion.

Please feel free to ask question and you can PM me if you have any issues I will be glad to answer them

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Welcome to R2R!

We appreciate your membership!

Thanks for joining and please make sure and post often!

 

[Pkunk35]

Hey Mcappy, I'm glad you decided to dive in head first with 125gallons :tongue: You'll be happy you did i'm sure!

I like Squishy's advice about getting a book as a primer, it helps to start with a base of information that you reference. I also think coming here for advice is really good idea.

Something I would say to you is to plan very carefully first but also to keep it as simple as possible in the beginning; a tank, rock and water is all you need for a aquatic environment. In relation to this I would also say to not skimp out on equipment that you know will be the backbone of a simple system: Lighting, pumps, skimmer. Learn the basics and learn them well, it will take you far in this hobby.

Just remember that you are controlling and creating an environment first and foremost and I'll think you'll love (almost) every day you spend with your tank.

GL and looking forward to hearing more!

 

[Saltlife]

Welcome. X2 with Decalf. I am in the same boat you are in, wanting to set up a nice tank the first time. And I am going to do it all myself with some advise and help from the members here. Hope it goes smooth for you.