Good Starter Saltwater Kit???

A skimmer is a tubular device that mixes air bubbles with water, which removes both good & bad proteins from the water, bad proteins that parameter sensitive coral don't like, and it's supposed to help control nuisance algae.

You need powerheads regardless, even if you go Fish Only with no lire rock or inverts/coral. A #2 Koralia power head would be perfect for your tank to start with.

You don't exactly need a saltwater chemistry book. You need to know the basics about cycling, ammonia nitrites and nitrates. All are not good for your tank, but a cycle is something you must go through to establish your tank. If you can purchase CURED LR, along with a cup or bag of SEEDED (established) gravel, you will be GOLDEN and you may not experience a detectable cycle, or if you do - the cycling process will be sped up greatly and will only require a small water change upon completion. You also need a hydrometer like ToeJam mentioned, but you can get a LAB quality hydrometer that looks like a giant Thermometer. These are used to calibrate Refractometers that everyone raves about, yet they are under $15 bucks and once you read the directions, they are REALLY easy to use & understand! You should have an extra power head on hand to stick in the bucket to mix up your water, along with a spare heater to match the water temperature!

You CAN use tap water. I know several people in my area that use tap water with LPS and some SPS, with good equipment and have no algae issues or growth issues. I started my tank using tap water and within days I have a Diatom outbreak and chose to just do it the fail-safe way and switch to RO/DI water, especially since I'm new to the hobby and don't know all the tell tale signs of trouble or future problems! My local tap water happens to contain no phosphates or nitrates, no copper or iron is detectable, but I'm playing it safe from here on out. It's been roughly 5 weeks of 5g water changes, so I think I'm tap water free now.
 
WHOA WHOA ... hold on a minute you are a washintonian!?

Well heck. Im down in tacoma.

Fish stores to get to know:
Barrier Reef Aquariums in Renton,wa by I-405 great store..awsome store for corals and help.

Bluesiera in issaqua off front st.

Down in tacoma: Indoor Reef on 6th avenue.

also we have our own reef club with discounts at many stores if member to and club meetings with help from club members Puget sound aquarium society.

The fish stores have links and so does the club at Reef Frontiers
The reef frontiers is a link by the way.

by the way I may be able to get you a biocube 29g for lower price but Ill have to haggle my friend at his store. Let me know by PM on prices you find locall on tanks you are looking at.

Ill see if I can haggle him down.
 
Dan06 said:
A skimmer is a tubular device that mixes air bubbles with water, which removes both good & bad proteins from the water, bad proteins that parameter sensitive coral don't like, and it's supposed to help control nuisance algae.

You need powerheads regardless, even if you go Fish Only with no lire rock or inverts/coral. A #2 Koralia power head would be perfect for your tank to start with.

You don't exactly need a saltwater chemistry book. You need to know the basics about cycling, ammonia nitrites and nitrates. All are not good for your tank, but a cycle is something you must go through to establish your tank. If you can purchase CURED LR, along with a cup or bag of SEEDED (established) gravel, you will be GOLDEN and you may not experience a detectable cycle, or if you do - the cycling process will be sped up greatly and will only require a small water change upon completion. You also need a hydrometer like ToeJam mentioned, but you can get a LAB quality hydrometer that looks like a giant Thermometer. These are used to calibrate Refractometers that everyone raves about, yet they are under $15 bucks and once you read the directions, they are REALLY easy to use & understand! You should have an extra power head on hand to stick in the bucket to mix up your water, along with a spare heater to match the water temperature!

You CAN use tap water. I know several people in my area that use tap water with LPS and some SPS, with good equipment and have no algae issues or growth issues. I started my tank using tap water and within days I have a Diatom outbreak and chose to just do it the fail-safe way and switch to RO/DI water, especially since I'm new to the hobby and don't know all the tell tale signs of trouble or future problems! My local tap water happens to contain no phosphates or nitrates, no copper or iron is detectable, but I'm playing it safe from here on out. It's been roughly 5 weeks of 5g water changes, so I think I'm tap water free now.
Click to expand...

Dan is a good example of many folks who dont have problematic tap water.
Here in Puget sound. We have nitrate and phosphate heavy tap. Sadly.

I agree you don't need the book. But I remember starting out..I wish I had one after the problems. I figure the best advise to give is buy one. Needed no...but being new to salt world... its a very good idea to get one.

PH is not needed with ballsocket fittings you can add to nano or bio cube..using that to redirect flow... and just replace the pump in the chamber for a stronger one ...bamn ...more flow.
 
Wow! Thanks guys!

WAHOO! WASHINTONIAN! (I'm actually a mis-placed Texan lol) I'll PM you- I didnt even notice you are in Tacoma. I am actually south of Seattle in Kent so I'm closer than you think!

I understand the nitrate process, and i have several fresh water tanks currently with pretty darn healthy fishes. :) I enjoy spoiling my fish and keeping very specific tanks, with plants and creatures as compatible as possible. I feel my knowledge of fish keeping is great and that I can easily comprehend a lot of the processes in keeping Saltwater- I just need some guidance in finding the differences.

Thank you for the filter explanation, that was really informative and quite helpful! haha... so that's what that carbon filter pad looking things are for! lol. I buy the large blue filters for the HOB filters I have currently- (most my filters are canisters) I just cut them to size and they are always right next to the pads you mentioned.

Is that what people call a "Sump filter"?

I've done some more research after posting. This was originally for my co-worker but I just got my tax return and will probably be starting up a saltwater tank. I'd like to do the natural cycling as that is what I do with my freshwater tanks. I'd rather not risk a quick cycle. So I figure I will be going in small stages. Help me out if I have this wrong.

From here I think I need to go get a tank and talk to my LFS about what they have available to me. I'll probably go check out those stores you listed as they seem to come highly recommended. ;) I'll need to cycle the tank first then add live rock- I would like sand. I assume this process will take a month or two. Am I correct???

PS: I'll also check out the Reef club you mentioned. I'm part of the ACA right now, but not many affiliated clubs here in WA. I'd like to be an active part of the aquaria community.

Any more info is good- I can handle it.
 
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PS: Dan, thank you for the Skimmer breakdown. I think I'll be going with a skimmer and a powerhead. I'd like to get something more around a 29g.

ToeJam, I'll do some pricing around here for comparable setups and PM you when I have an idea of how much I'll have to spend.

:D

Oh- I think I will cycle with the shrimp. I read about it on the sticky. Do ya'll feel this is a good method?
 
its best to cycle the tank with the live rock and sand in it already. if the live rock is cured, it will speed up the cycle. if you cycle first and add live rock that is not cured, you're spinning your wheels, as it will probably go through another cycle. i personally would never set up a SW tank without a skimmer...just my 2 cents worth...Good Luck!!!
 
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!
 
IMO putting a system together yourself teaches you so much more about the hobby than buying an all-in-on Nano kit.. but if that isn't what you want to do and you just want an easy SW tank to setup that is already built, then those JBJ Nanos, RedSea Max, Biocubes, etc are all "decent", just not the absolute best compared to if you built it yourself. As far as noise levels, I have played with all the common nanos out there and not one of them I thought was excessively noisey. I definately wouldn't tell someone to stay away from them because of the noise level.. other things like lighting and skimmer could be better, but for a beginner just wanting to setup a small SW tank with maybe softy corals I think the pre-built nanos are fine.
 
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! :)
 
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