outlaw

If it's ok, I would like to pick your brain for a lot of questions.

Tank Size: As with FW, bigger is better BUT what would be a good starter size? I was thinking of 125Gal (assuming my wife wouldn't say no). She wants one really bad though

Lighting: Not sure, depends on fish would would be looking to get if we did coral or not(I'm thinking no). Otherwise hopefully comes with tank you guys can direct me to a good one.

Filtration: 20Gal Refugium? Skimmer, not sure on exact parts or if 20Gal is enough. Still researching. I have a 1000GPH pump that I could use with it if that is not too powerful.

Rock/Gravel: Probably do LR with the typical white sand or crushed coral if that is better for it.

Fish: As stated in the Fish stats: Clowns are hardy and are a good choice to start with. Also was thinking of a Blue Tang (kids and obsession with Nemo, lol). And my wife wants Fairy Basslet, Royal Gramma I think. She likes the yellow and purple. Not sure what else as far as fish or cleaners(if possible with the Basslet). Is there anything else close to it that won't nip/eat coral or is very aggressive?

Stand: Either with tank or probably custom with 4x4's. This would most likely be going in a basement and preferably built into the wall to hide everything and have a room behind it for maintenance.

Power Heads: Use the Refugium pump to create flow? Otherwise I can get some more. Would a UGJ work to help keep debris off the bottom like it does in a FW or would that be risking damage to the LR and other livestock? It isn't a lot of pressure that comes out but don't want to chance it.

Hopefully this is everything as far as the bare basics go. Please correct and fill in where needed. I am not looking for quick answers as this wont happen for a while (we need a house first). But like everyone says, research, research, research. Why I'm starting now.

Thanks in advance.
BTW, I did try searching some of this on here and good and couldn't find specifics (probably just not searching it correctly or because I do it mostly from work).

ray

yes bigger is better! it gives more room for error! haha

lighting is a tricky thing... unless you aren't doing any coral or anemonie etc... in a FOWLR setup it doesn't really matter

I'm not really familuar w/ Refugium setups yet... from what i understand though having a 20gal sump/refugium will bring your totaly water up to 145gal which would be great!

the other stuff I'm not really sure about... more of the experienced SW people hopefully will come on to help you... but i think you are on the right track... like you said research research research!!
haha
good luck...

Oil_Fan

LR is pretty much a must in a SW tank so you're on the right track there. I also have live sand but I now wish had gone straight with the pure white sand. Mine has some black gravel type of stuff in it. The problem is that over the last number of months, my snails keep bumping up those pieces. I would love a tank of that size but I guess I will have to settle for my 65 gallon tank. heh

As for lighting, it's far less important to the fish/inverts but with corals it's a must. I ended up upgrading my lighting because I saw some corals that were just beautiful and I just had to have them!! heh That started me down the path of a reef tank.

A skimmer is a must. Get one rated for the tank size. I've only ever had one but it works just fine (Coralife Super Skimmer).

Clownfish are great to have. Lots of personality and just cool to watch. The pair that I have actually treat one of my corals like a anemone. The royal gramma is another great one. Easy to feed and mine is rarely aggressive. Not sure on the other basslet but the tank should be large enough for the blue tang. And since a tang is on the list, I would also consider either a skunk cleaner shrimp or a fire shrimp (fire is more expensive). They like cleaning tangs and such. I also have a flame angel and he's another great addition to my tank.

I'll let other more experienced SW types answer the other questions.

outlaw

I would like to do sea anemone eventually and maybe to start with the Clowns. I do understand it isn't needed but I think it would be cool to have if the anemones aren't insanely hard to care for.

Thanks guys for the input.

ray

all i know about anemone right now is that they require alot of light... so i think you would have to go with MH for those...
after that i dont know if they are insanely hard to care for... i just know i dont have the light required to care for them so i haven't looked much into them.

outlaw

Thanks.. If I did that would I be better off with 2 shorter units or 1 huge one. Looks like the standard 125Gal is about 6' if I am correct. Thanks for the help... please keep them comin!

Tumbleweed

This depends on price and availiblility. Also another thing to look out for is how you are going to mount the lights. If you are going to hang them from a hood or your sealing either one will work, but if you were going to use legs for them, you need to see if there is a spot in the middle of your tank that can hold the legs and if they can hold both sides.

IN short if you are going to hang them you can get either 1 long one or 2 shorter ones. If you are going to just have them on legs ontop of your stand get 1 long one.

outlaw

This is still my thought/dream, lol. I would like to have some type of hood or maybe something to hang the lights with since they are going to be behind the wall, it really wouldn't matter. I'm sure by the time were ready to do this, there will be some type of sale some where for some of this stuff. I would probably just be using the stand(maybe) and a plexi or glass top as I am hoping to have this built into the wall. Hopefully that makes sense.

Thanks again.

ray

dream big man! make it happen!

outlaw

Dreaming big won't be the problem. making that dream the reality is a different story. lol Anybody know if that pump (1000GPH) will work with the ref.? And does anybody think that tank is too big to start? I know bigger is better but is there a too big, at least for a starter?

Thanks again

Allie

I don't know much about salt water, but the boyfriend had a 30g SW last year. Too small. 55g+ would be a good starter. We could keep anything in with our clown fish, they were breeding much to our surprise (the tank was only set up a month). They attacked and bit the bf's hand all the time. lol

outlaw

What happened that it didn't stay setup? Just too small?

Allie

Yeah, the bf wasn't happy with it. And we spent $1000 on the set up with 50lbs live rock and corals. My bf wanted fish who weren't compatible for such a small tank. The day we sold the clown fish is when we noticed fry. The wigglers were hanging of a piece of rock. The guy who bought them that to this day said they are his best breeders.
To be honest with you I am not SW fan. To me it looks fake and this fish look cartoon like. I can see why people like it tho, the colors are amazing.
I like the natural planted look much more. But that's just me.
These pixs are from the first week of being set up.

Attached Images

	eggs001.jpg (85.0 KB, 6 views)
	eggs011.jpg (96.3 KB, 4 views)
	eggs019.jpg (88.4 KB, 3 views)

Allie

Here's what it looked like toward the end.

Attached Images

	b_165339.jpg (148.5 KB, 6 views)
	b_205423.jpg (179.5 KB, 6 views)

agsansoo

Allie, How long was it running before you took it down ?

Allie

Just over a month.

outlaw

At least for me, that is what I like about them. You can escape reality and go to a "fantasy land" for that brief moment.

ray

man i think if i could have started out with a 125gal tank i would have wanted too! i believe the problem with my 55gal is that im gonna want to upgrade soon... there is just too much i can't keep in there... so id say 125 is a good starting place it keeps your options open... if you can afford it... cause that 125-200lbs of live rock is gonna be a bit pricey! haha... but i think it will be fabulous once its set up!!!
i know i'll be jealous...
but i mean i couldn't turn down a free 55gal w/ stand (or the free 26 gal w stand or the 75 gal someone is offering me haha... its already out of control!)