AusBloke

Went to the LFS today, to price my first try at a SW tank. They had an Aqua One tank setup that they sell as a package. It was not big.. Nano I guess, and came with upgraded lighting, sand, liverock, 1 powerhead and 2 buckets of salt water (enough to fill tank I assume) for around $400 (Australian).

I asked if I would need a protein skimmer and they said not really on this tank, just do weekly or fortnightly water changes (%50) and buy the water from them. ($5 a bucket for standard salt water, $10 for RO)

Are they just trying to sell me?

Should I be starting this way?

I am trying to do it on the cheap, as I am not sure if I will like SW tanks yet, so this is basically a trial.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Lifesabeach

I recall reading a thread awhile ago about not having to buy the water, but creating your own - someone can help you there.

Lifesabeach

Silly me! FL has plenty of info on setting up under Aquarium articles.

reefdude

Before you go too far, you may want to visualize what you want in the tank as far as fish and corals. You may want to go bigger. Smaller tanks are cheaper but, require more frequent maintenance to keep clean and water chemistry in check. You will also be pretty limited on what you can put in it. I'm assuming the Nano you described is a 8-12 gal tank which if it is, the price they quoted is about average. I find SW tanks to be very rewarding and alot of fun! Just do alot of research on what you want before you purchase anything, this will definitely help sway your decision.
Also, sometimes you can find an excellent deal on a SW tank already set up from a private seller, just another option. I hope you find this useful...

carlos413

+1 on that. Read I am a noobe my self. T ank only been runing for 3 months. I have made little mistakes nonE fatal. I say save ur money and get the larges tank you can get. Don't rush nothing and don't buy anything because it looks cool. When u get ur set up ready start with the clean up crew. Again read read read up on them some reef safe some not. Some my go after fish and other inverts. So if you read this post I want you to remember this... Read up on what you plant to place in your tank. Ur tank will thank me.

Oil_Fan

So I'm guessing is the real question is, is a skimmer really needed? The answer really depends on the tank and livestock in it. I have 2 tanks. I have a 65 gallon with 6 fish in it and I run a skimmer. I also have a 20 gallon tank with one fish but no skimmer. I do water changes each week on my 20 gallon tank, normally 5 gallons. Very easy to look after and not a real issue.

Now if you fully stock the tank, then yes a skimmer will be needed. So the next question is how big is this tank? In either US gallons or litres.

And I would never do a 50% water change unless something was seriously wrong. 25% should be more than enough if there is no skimmer.

One question...why would SW cost less than RO water? Here in the US, normally it's the other way around.