NOOB here and to salt water in general

bonjorno2 · Jan 19, 2013

Hello everyone, new here from central florida looking for some advise. My wife and I would like to start a salt water tank and were leaning toward the biocube 14 or 29. We were thinking about a few live coral, sand, and a few fish, star fish and maybe a little sea horse or two. Thoughts, help, are appreciated!

fishman1069 · Jan 19, 2013

Welcome to the hobby. You might want to do some research before you buy. Smaller reef tanks are actually harder to keep because you have bigger and faster swings. Seahorses are very difficult to care for also. Thus is a very rewarding hobby but can be very expensive and fustrating if you dont research everything. Patience is also very important. Ask as many question as needed. There are pleanty of people out there that can help.

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scooterc268 · Jan 19, 2013

Google is your friend and books can be your best friend. Like the poster above said, research and research. Don't rush, the best works of art took longer than a week.

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ritter6788 · Jan 19, 2013

Welcome to the forums and good luck entering this hobby!

Dana · Jan 19, 2013

Bon, unless you are expert, forget seahorse. Period.
You can do a reef in 30 gallon successfully, but it takes time. You must understand this, or frustration and money wasted will push you away from the hobby.
In a 30 gallon 3- maybe 4 fish is gonnna be the limit.
When I started, I wanted a reef tank overnight. Didn't happen that way. Over the years I've been more patient and listened to my peers more.
I'm no expert, but if you do this right you can have a nice little tank there.

Blasto · Jan 19, 2013

I have to agree with all that's been said. Take your time, research, don't rush, and if possible, always go as big as you can with a tank. In the long run it pays off. A small problem in a small tank can become a BIG problem quick. I have a nano at the moment and I love my reef keeping but it's too much of a pain. The more larger tanks are truly easier to deal with.

Good luck in your journey!

bonjorno2 · Jan 20, 2013

Thanks everyone, i've been doing some research overnight and have been learning a lot! If anyone has some helpful links for a small setup i'd appreciate it. The more and more I read about everything it does seem like a lot to take on. I would be happy with a few fish, some rock, and a starfish.

SeahorseKeeper · Jan 20, 2013

Welcome to R2R!! As far as small setups, I would look in the nano section to get some ideas of tanks and the equipment that they use.

Isoprene · Jan 20, 2013

Where in central florida? Im up in no mans land here in tally. I agree with the above posters, i fell butt first into this hobby with a 55 bow front setup now im on the verge of plumbing in a 30 frag tank and 20 refugium all in the span of a year. Never looked back, its expensive if you want it to be and time consuming if you want it to be. Do your research and buy/spend time on the level your comfortable with. Welcome to r2r

O one last thing, if you haver the money and like physical books buy Saltwater Aquariums for Dummies.....sound well dumb but it puts things in real simple terms and helps you understand the basics of basically everything other than coral. Helped me a bunch in the beginning, not so much now but its a good reference if you need a quick reference.

revhtree · Jan 20, 2013

Welcome to R2R!

We appreciate your membership!

Thanks for joining and please make sure to post often!

bonjorno2 · Jan 21, 2013

Thanks everyone...I AJ near the space center in rockledge.The wife and I are looking to get a biocube 29 and start with fish only and rock. A clowns and a star are my end goal for this year until I learn enough.

Dana · Jan 21, 2013

Bio cube are nice little units. I like em. Clownfish are great starter fish and affordable. Starfish ( depending on species) can be very difficult. Usually the brighter the color, the harder they are to keep. You could grab a nice little cleaner shrimp after the tank has cycled for a month or two, those are cool.

islander84 · Jan 21, 2013

A few easy tips to remember and study will be stable parameters! Purchase a few different test kits to help keep things stable. Try not to go cheap on test kits or equipment!
The biocube is a nice beginner tank!
The back section of the tank on the left corner is where the return pump chamber should be, towards the top of the chamber on the glass there should be a marker for your water level......you will need to check that DAILY! The water level in the return pump chamber will drop fairly quickly in that biocube. Also i would remove the bioballs from the center chamber and fill it with liverock rubble...
The chamber to the right where water enters can be used as a refugium to house chaetomorpha algae( which helps remove nitrates and phosphates) and will also host copepods and other beneficial critters!

For now after your initial cycle and your ready for fish, the 2 most important things will be keeping your temp completely stable. The avg temp would be around 79.
Then i would try to keep your specific gravity stable at about 1.025 or 1.026. And if your measuring based on salinty 35. (Invest in a good refractometer and NOT a cheap hydrometer)

One of the fatest ways to fail in this hobby is using cheap testing and getting inaccurate readings.....

Once you get the basics down SLOWLY move forward.

REMEMBER THESES WORDS!! GO FAST YOU CRASH!! GO SLOW YOU GROW!!!

. Good luck!