Saltwater Wishes and Regrets

Waterjockey · Jul 22, 2016

Alex Scott said:
True lol.

What about RO/DI system? What are you using?

I didn't do a lot of research before buying my rodi. I had to go downstairs just now to look at the name lol. I have a "maxwater" rodi. It works fine, never had an issue and been running it for a few years. On the forums, most swear by a spectrapure system, and if I had done my research first, probably would have bought a spectrapure based on very good reviews (not that mine has ever given me anything to worry about).
One last bit.....the smaller the tank, the quicker things change. More volume is more forgiving to learn with imho

Untamedrose · Jul 22, 2016

Alex Scott said:
What do you mean by base rock?

Ok you Need rock/ surface area for bacterial in your tank....
Good base rock looks like this. https://www.amazon.com/Carib-Sea-AC...1469160680&sr=8-5&keywords=caribsea+base+rock
and thats still not really Good for a reef tank.
If I had a do over I would start with pukani dry rock

Humblefish · Jul 22, 2016

Alex Scott said:
Can you explain a bit to me about qt setups? What is it and its importance?

Read this: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/how-to-quarantine.189815/

reeferfoxx · Jul 22, 2016

Untamedrose said:
Ok you Need rock/ surface area for bacterial in your tank....
Good base rock looks like this. https://www.amazon.com/Carib-Sea-AC...1469160680&sr=8-5&keywords=caribsea+base+rock
and thats still not really Good for a reef tank.
If I had a do over I would start with pukani dry rock

Base rock = dry rock. Pukani dry rock = dry live rock. Dry live rock is full of dead organics.

Eva Rose · Jul 22, 2016

This forum is great. It has very responsible moderators and well informed contributors. Humblefish and 4FordFamily have written excellent posts on QT.

A QT setup is worth every penny and will save you money . In QT you can keep disease out of your main tank. You can treat new arrivals for parasites and disease. You can get shy fish acclimated in a controlled setting. You can entice picky eaters to eat foods.

I'm a newbie myself. I also recommend Mark Callahan (Mr. Saltwater Tank). He has pdf book series you can purchase/ download. They helped me a lot. The series breaks down the important basics into easy to understand steps. He has 2 on setting your tank up (good equipment), one on QT etc. Mark also has great tips on where to spend more $ where it counts and where to save.
My tip (even though I'm new) - be careful who you take advice from!! I had a guy who is in the industry give me irresponsible advice - (such as don't QT, would not show me how to set up my Apex -- I had paid him etc.)
I researched and thankfully found Mark Callahan's series and R2R.
Good luck and enjoy your future tank!

Alex23 · Jul 22, 2016

What RO/DI and ATO systems do you guys use? I found a spectrapure RO/DI system for $150, but it's $31 for shipping!!

Chrisfish · Jul 22, 2016

Alex Scott said:
What RO/DI and ATO systems do you guys use? I found a spectrapure RO/DI system for $150, but it's $31 for shipping!!

If you are a member of Amazon prime a lot of their things are free shipping. Just curious what are your wishes as far as size tank and what you are planning to stock it with?

Kar · Jul 22, 2016

First thing is not to compromise on the tank, get the one you like ( size and shape ) second one is filtration (skimmer). If you are a DIY guy then you can make your own lighting. But tank and skimmer will be my top 2 in the list.

Alex23 · Jul 22, 2016

Chrisfish said:
If you are a member of Amazon prime a lot of their things are free shipping. Just curious what are your wishes as far as size tank and what you are planning to stock it with?

I am a member of Amazon Prime, but this RO,DI isn't on Amazon :/

I have the 30G JBJ coming next Wednesday. Planning on first getting dry rock, live sand and then fish after the cycling is done. And a CUC. Later I will add some soft corals.

Alex23 · Jul 22, 2016

Kar said:
First thing is not to compromise on the tank, get the one you like ( size and shape ) second one is filtration (skimmer). If you are a DIY guy then you can make your own lighting. But tank and skimmer will be my top 2 in the list.

I'm getting the JBJ All-in-one tank. Have lights coming in later today

Chrisfish · Jul 22, 2016

Alex Scott said:
I am a member of Amazon Prime, but this RO,DI isn't on Amazon :/

I have the 30G JBJ coming next Wednesday. Planning on first getting dry rock, live sand and then fish after the cycling is done. And a CUC. Later I will add some soft corals.

Congratulations, which light did you decide to get? I have the jbj 30 gal. FWIW I tried a few skimmers before I bought the aquamaxx hob 1 and personally like it the best.

Alex23 · Jul 22, 2016

Chrisfish said:
Congratulations, which light did you decide to get? I have the jbj 30 gal. FWIW I tried a few skimmers before I bought the aquamaxx hob 1 and personally like it the best.

I got this light:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00UMXAR5S/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Nothing special, but should do the job.

A skimmer is optional for the all in one 30g JBJ rimless though, isn't it?

Alex23 · Jul 22, 2016

It literally just arrived too! Haha

Chrisfish · Jul 22, 2016

Alex Scott said:
I got this light:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00UMXAR5S/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Nothing special, but should do the job.

A skimmer is optional for the all in one 30g JBJ rimless though, isn't it?

Yes it is and that was my thoughts when I first purchased my tank but with my bio load, which I did not realize how addicting this hobby really is I defiantly need it. I have talked with others that just do weekly water changes and keep their parameters spot on. So I guess you could say buying a skimmer was NOT a regret.

rebekwl · Jul 22, 2016

1. Do some reasearch on tank size and start out with a tank that will house what you want. The 1st tank we bought was too small, we upgraded within a year.
2. Check ALL rock and corals thoroughly before adding them to your tank! We bought rock from another hobbyist with bubble algae on it. What a nightmare!
3. Always quarantine! Not quarantining fish is probably the biggest mistake most new hobbyists make - many fish lives lost this way!
4. Dip all corals - they can come with anything from flat worms to ich
5. Don't add LFS or another hobbyist's water to your tank. You never know what their water could have in it that you do not want in your tank!
6. Do appropriate research on EVERYTHING from equipment, to food, to livestock. Have a game plan and know what you are putting in your tank from the start so you can plan accordingly. Buy the right lights, the right skimmer, livestock that won't eat/harrass each other, etc. You will save yourself a ton of time, money and heartache this way.

Good luck!!

rebekwl · Jul 22, 2016

Another thing I wish we woudn't have done is put damsels in the tank when we first started. They are mean little devils and removing them is not too much fun! LOL!!

Salty1962 · Jul 22, 2016

Read up and ask questions about equipment and livestock. I believe it's better to wait a while before setting up tank to get the best equipment you can. It took me a year to get all of my equipment together and asked a thousand questions before purchasing. Watched every sale I could find. It's allot better to get it right the first time instead of having a closet full of equipment that didn't work out

Lighting is very important as well as the right filtration, skimmer. Look at every aquascape you can find to get what you want the first time. JME

Alex23 · Jul 22, 2016

@Chrisfish
So get this...

The power cord the light came with is a three-wire grounding plug... which does not fit in the normal American outlet.
Looks like this:

Luckily, last year I went to Europe and had a universal adapter for the outlets there. It actually fits in this three-wire grounding plug! But now, the part that goes in the wall doesn't fit, (see the 2 plugs sticking from adapter) I will have to find a way to get it to go in my outlet. You think this will be safe? Don't want to blow up my outlet lol.