Please help!

[bellaNmatt]

Ok so here's my situation. I have a 30 gallon tank that someone gave me, I am wanting to turn it into a little SW reef. Being somewhat new to all this I am stuck. The only thing the tank has is a heater.

So my question is what else do i need? filters?
Can I just get a skimmer instead of a filter?
and what kind of lighting should i get?

thanks!

[brackeeper75]

You really need to start of by researching a lot of this on your own. Then when you get ideas you can bring them here to make sure things are right. There are a lot of sticky threads at the top that will help you out. Keeping a marine tank is a lot more involved then the equipment you need. I studied ad read all kinds of books, articles and internet info for almost six years before I made the plunge, and I still made a lot of mistakes. I am not trying to sway you from doing marine, just wanting to make sure you are prepared financially and mentally. Remember you will be putting living things in there.

What type of tank is it going to be? Fish only (FO), Fish Only with Live Rock (FOWLR), or a reef tank? This will help us to help you more.

[bellaNmatt]

im wanting to go reef. my cousin was going to give me his 75g but i think that might be a little over whelming so i took my moms 30g and was gonna try that first. the only thing with that is there is absolutey nothing but a tank. my cousins tank has everything i would need. he upgraded to a 220g
i guess i could just go ahead with the 75. ive read that it is easier to maintain with more water so idk. ill decide what im going to do soon

[Sploke]

Here is good article to start off with, I'll be happy to answer any questions you have on it.

http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=79292

[michaeljr10wv]

I'd go with the 75g. I started with a 5g with a clown and moved to a 20g a few months later. Waited a few months and switched to a 55g. Believe me go big now and save the headaches of changing tanks later.

Like said above read all the stickies and gather some ideas and then post your questions.


Marine tanks are like eating sunflower seeds once the bag is open there's no stopping :)

Michael

[bellaNmatt]

thanks for the opinion

[BucJason]

Unless money is an issue , go with the 75 Gallon. It's no harder to take care of.... just costs more money to start-up and maintain.

[fsn77]

If the 75g comes with all the equipment you need, the cost of getting it going will likely be less than buying all of the suitable equipment for the 30g. Larger tanks (with larger volumes of water) tend to be more forgiving than smaller tanks, as parameters within the tank will change more slowly.

With an adequate amount of LR (live rock), there's little to no need for a traditional filter that one might use for a freshwater tank. I would recommend using a skimmer on either tank.