Good Starter Saltwater Kit???

[ToeJam]

I would like to learn as much as possible, I just think baby steps are in order

Thanks for the info. It depends on how much I want to spend as well- those lights can be an arm and a leg. I'll have to do some hunting. I'll let ya'll know when I get going.

Any other ideas or thoughts are MORE than welcome, thank you again!

Well I just took a bunch of pics for Greg here on the site...I will try to get them on the forums soon as i figure out how to get it off the **** phone...

Sump filter I think you are confused on....


Sump sits under a stand its a water reservoir basically.... Water goes from main display into sump...sump has pump returning water to display. Sumps come any many shapes and sizes.... and are not that hard to build on your own if you keep it simple.

You will also here terms like Sump wet dry filter: these sumps have several compartments separated by plastic or glass walls we call baffles.. in a wet/dry are of the sump...water flows from PVC to the location ..water passes through bio balls and those filter pads...then from there it flows into the main body of the sump eventually reaching the return pump.

Purpose of Sumps: to house equipment to hide the junk. HEaters,Skimmers, Phosban Reactors, UV sterlizers, Grounding Probes... other benefit is it adds volume.

Another type of setup is Sump/Refugeium: Works about the same as a typical sump. The difference is there is an area that can hold Macro Algae which is used as a nutrients export naturally. Usually a sump fuge setup is expensive when you buy the pre-manufactured types. Also it requres you setup a plant lighting over it. (hydroponic garden store has great lights cheap by the way). Basically its like a mini planted tank hidden in a sump.

As you can see there are a variety of sumps. My sump is very basic.
It has two compartments..... 1/3 of the tank is separated by a glass wall with a gap on the bottom..then sponge and glass again to hold that sponge.(to prevent debris and snails from reaching my return pump chamber). Then I have my skimmer,phosban reactor, and LR on the other 2/3's of it. Thats it...nothing special.

 

[ToeJam]

I'll be getting a skimmer. I was told by a friend that the little setups are pretty obnoxious and that I should just set up my own tank. Have ya'll found this to be true? I think it'd be easier to buy a starter kit than to peice together all the parts. I've never used a sump filter so I wouldnt even know where to begin, which is why I think using the setup is a good place to start. Opinnions?

Thanks James!

Well you being a fresh water experienced dude. I think that if you are going to go salt and have flexibility on budget. The cheap route in terms of setting up your own is going to be 55g since those tanks are cheap.

Also in the terms of difficulty the smaller you go the more difficult maintaining marine is.Example: Cup vs ocean... You spit in the ocean...parameters dont change ..no impact...you spit in the cup..dramatic change in parameters. Its how small vs large tanks are.

Since you say you can absorb it I will fire away then.

Dont get confused by fresh...fresh use so many types of filtration....many i feel are nitrate factories for Marine and not practical.

Filtration you should just keep in mind.
Live rock ...is the bio filter... contains the bacteria on the outside and inside that break down things for us.

The Skimmer if you read the link removes things before they decay and go into the biobreakdown cycle ...in other words you remove the crap that will become nitrates. reason fresh doesnt have it is skimmers dont work with the fresh water itself. If it did many would use it im sure.

Thats it for main filters for all marine tanks... those two alone do most of the work.

Now you can expand on those two things by adding a refugeium. The plants we use are normally macro aglae...which eats phosphate and nitrates. Working with LR , skimmer....your nitrate and phosphate levels will be pushed way down. More advanced users do use Fuges since it helps keeps pollutants down a lot. That means less frequent water changes and some cases lower volume of changes. Also you can take advantage and feed more than normal.

the idea is if we can feed more and keep those nitrates and phosphates at bay...we would. its a balancing game of feeding and keeping pollution low.

Fish only vs reef I dont know about fish only focus...I do reef tanks.

So keep that in mind when I comment it comes from a reef tank prospective.

 

[ToeJam]

My last comment to spare this thread bombardment of my blabbering:

I cant say where is the best place to start. I can say just "Go Slow". It took me months to buy all the equipment i needed.

Using reef frontiers site i linked for you...there is a classified section that is local for us. I bought a 72 gallon bow front with stand for 100 bucks from there. I even got a icecap ballast,250w mh bulb ,reflector for 75 dollars.

The ballast,bulb,reflector, and cap that holds bulb new costs =300 before taxes

Now to end my blabbering if you want corals may as well start setting up for it now. though you may start slow and do fish first.. may as well prepare the tank for corals.

You have to pick a tank size first. Then lighting suggestions will come from the site here. Also I know where you can buy all the stuff you need without ordering. Which shops have best prices ..frags... who rips you off ..etc for us locally.Just PM me about that later.

So determine what you want first ..cause we can really fill this thread up with info...
We have a huge variety of lighting vs fresh... and you will just be drowning in info to learn just about lighting ...let alone sumps and plumbing head loss etc etc..

Good luck...ill talk to you later ... FYI Every year at the end of the year Barrier reef has a super sale...stuff going out the door at cost ...corals at 50% off ..im talking about stupid prices..=) Raffles to that cost you few bucks but can win 500 dollar skimmers or animals...huge buckets of salt...

lol we can go over this junk by PM or email...catch you later.

ps VISIT Barrier Reef in renton.... take 18 north to I-405...head towards renton northbound ...Exit 7... Its hidden behind mcdonalds and behind that building of mcdonalds...it only has a door....its like the bat cave dude...but you go inside and you feint at the all the corals all over the place.