Places to buy the whole setup for a saltwater aquarium?

I'm getting a saltwater for my birthday in June. I'm looking for places to buy the whole setup for a saltwater aquarium. Does anyone have any suggestions? I want a 30 gallon. I know I can make a list of what's needed. I just need a plae to get it at a reasonable price.
Thanks

 

I was thinking about the Marineland instant ocean saltwater aquarium kit. Would that be a nice tank or do I need something different?

 

link?

Are you talking about a cube type setup or a used setup with fish and rock from somebody?

 

Well I've been looking for a new aquarium. The tanks I am looking at are the Marine setup. or since I'm going to buy all new stuff for filters and lights and such I was thinking about a Top Fin Bow front 28 gallon from petsmart.
Are these ok to start a nano tank with??

 

I'd definitely recommend researching the fish/inverts you want to keep first and go from there.   That tank in the link looks nice, but seems expensive for what you're getting.... You could get a 30 gallon freshwater kit locally (walmart) and buy those individual "extras" included in with that tank and save a little.

Getting the tank first limits what you can keep and you'll always be coming across stuff and wish you had gotten a bigger tank!

Keep us posted and let us know what you end up getting.
Mike

 

Well the 28 bow front comes with the tank/light/glass hood/ and stand (nice one too) all for less than the Marineland. I'm planning on having live rock maybe 15-20 lbs/ live sand about an inch deep/ cleaner shrimp/ snails/ you know the cleaner package. As far as fish go I would like 1 small sea horse/ 2 ocellaris clowns/ and possibly one or 2 firefish goby. Does this seem like alot? I'm new at this. I'm getting the tank in June so I'm starting my research now.

 

I have a new question on the salt water tank stuff..... Instead of spending all the money to get a protien skimmer, a filter and power heads. Would just one power filter with a built in protien skimmer work???
And also. The coral I've been looking at require anywhere from low to strong movement. Does this work the same way the light works? You put the coral that require less movement on bottom? And how do you know what a medium flow is for a 28 gallon? Is there a calculator?

 

Usually the rule is 1-1.5lb. of Live Rock per gallon so you might want more, it depends on the type if it's hollow and porous or not. Is the tank from wal-mart or something? I don't think you will want a sea horse, hard to keep and feed though if you do your research and your up to a challenge then yes sure, Mike can say more about them. I think you'l be ok with a protein skimmer and no filter, Live rock does most of the filtering. You want 20x or more depending on the type of corals you want for flow so for a 28gallon tank at least 600gph powerheads or more. Ya you can put corals that like flow by powerheads and one's that like light at the top, that's what I plan to do.

What type of corals do you want?

 

Well these are the items I'm looking at so far.. PLease let me know what you think for my tank..
The filter:
The heater:
The lights:

or


The tank is just from Petsmart. They have it in the back of the store on shelves. It's not even set up with the other tanks.

As far as the tank goes for coral.
Mushroom Coral
Polyps
Bubble coral (green)
Acropora
I don't know what all I will be getting and I'm very open to suggestions
Like I say I've just started so I don't know what compatible for the corals. I'm looking for colors. Mostly greens, reds, purple, and blues.
Very rich colors.

 

I would scratch the filter and get a protein skimmer, aqua c are supposed to be good, Mike has one. Heater good. Light not completely sure, best to ask Mike or agansoo. If you will spend the money I know T-5's or metal halide's are the way to go.

 

Seahorses like low flow and are very slow eaters. Fish outcompete them and they will eventually starve if you don't make sure they are getting their fair share at feeding time. I'd only keep them in a seahorse only tank.

You are kind of limited with what you can keep with power compact lighting. Generally, mushrooms need lower level lights and SPS corals (Acroporas) need T5-HO lights or even better, Metal halides. The button polyp corals vary in lighting needs - anywhere from med to high. You can adjust the intensity the corals are receiving by their placement (vertically) within the tank. For instance, if you're running T5's with acroporas, you would most likely want them in the middle to upper regions of the tank.

For powerheads - It's better to have varying flows around hard corals, you don't want to have a coral in the direct path of a powerhead. Tissue damage could result. You can achieve turbulence by having two powerhead flows meeting in the middle of the tank, or bank the flow off the glass to create more of a turbulent instead of a direct flow.

Don't waste your money on the combined power filter/skimmer. Get a stand alone skimmer. You won't regret it. I do like the Aquac line of skimmers. They even have a nano-version now, but I'd still get the Remora model since it's only $30 more than the nano version.