New to reef tanks

[bolsen27]

Hi gang!

I'm new here and will probably spend alot of time trolling this and other reef forums for info on reef tanks. I know nothing about them. I do have quite a few freshwater tanks ranging from very basic to extremely high tech planted tanks. That said I really want to do a reef tank.

Problem is the more I look up the confused and intimidated I get.

I was thinking of doing a 40 breeder with either a 20long sump or a 20high sump since I have both of those sizes sitting around. Or maybe even buy a pre made sump.

Outside of that I need help. I get the live sand and live rocks. But anything more then that is where I get lost. I'm not against reading other posts and such if someone has some that can help. I just want to do things right, I have a budget of $500-$800.

Thanks in advance!

Brian

 

[greybolt03]

Welcome. Were are you located?
Best thing to do is meet your local reefers maybe swing by someone's house take a look at different set ups I know most of us love to talk about our tank and would be more then happy to show and explain what's what and how it all works

 

[Mark...]

The key is research and asking questions. Most of us in this hobby are on the nerdy side and enjoy learning all the technical and biology stuff. Reef Central and other forums like this are a gold mine of info. Enjoy the journey!

Welcome!

 

[JRWOHLER]

Welcome...great community to start here.
Two things I would do one become a paying member; our for sale forum and our group buy forum are there. Two read as much as you can of other peoples threads and steal as many ideas as possible.

I am sure there are some even larger than 40 gallon setups very new that people are selling in your price range. Plus group buys will help you get good deals on stuff for setup.

 

[kschweer]

Welcome! The above info is great. If you give your location I'm sure someone close or semi-close by would be happy to have you over to show you something's and talk with you. I know for me at least seeing things working helps a lot more. A 40 breeder is a great size to start out with. Other things that are pretty essential are a return pump, powerheads and skimmer. Reactors of some sort are a big help as well. Best thing you can do is research and take your time. Only bad things in this hobby happen fast. Best of luck and ask away people in this site are happy to help.

 

[mnat]

First off welcome.

Secondly, very good advice to meet a fellow reefer. If that is not possible, IMO the best thing to do is visualize what you want your tank to look like in the future (full reef, fish only, what kind of corals, what kind of fish, etc.) and build it out from there. For example, if you really want a couple of cool smaller gobies and some easy corals, well a 40 breeder with some t5s would probably suffice. If you want massive angels and tangs and no corals, well you obviously need a much bigger tank, but don't need nice lights. If you want a full blown reef with all types of SPS and whatnot, well now we have to talk about lights, alk and calc supplementation and all sorts of other stuff. If it is somewhere in between, well we will try and guide you to the best all around equipment.

 

[magic]

Brian

Welcome to the site. You will do well asking questions here as we have a broad spectrum of experience available to you. Feel free to ask. It was stated above one of the most valuable things you can learn is to take your time and don't make any rush decisions nothing good happens fast in this hobby. Hope to see you at one of our monthly meetings.

Bob

 

[bolsen27]

Guess I still need to add my address to my profile. Will do it now. But I am in Williamstown, NJ.

I will become a paying member on payday.

 

[bolsen27]

As for tank size I chose a 40 breeder because I have a stand that holds one perfectly with room on the bottom for a sump. And I have room for it. lol My freshwater setups have all my prime locations.

I don't want to go crazy with my first setup. I would like some corals nothing crazy and some colorful fish (I sure all new folks say it but I want at least one clown fish for my 4 year old son).

I do plan on using live sand and live rock. I read I need 1lbs of each per gallon of water. This true?

I also read you need like 20x tank size in flow. So I'm assuming on top of a pump in the sump that I'll need a few powerheads of some sort.

Sumps I know nothing about. Need alot of help there.

Skimmers and Reactors are new to me also.

So for lighting I'm assuming if I keep it simple in terms of corals and such then T5 fixture of some sort will work. What about LED options? Without getting too crazy in price. On my high tech planted tanks I use buildmyled lights, very expensive but great lights, I know they make reef version but I have no clue which I would need if I decided to spend that money.

Cycling, is out okay to dose with janitorial strength ammonia like I do in my freshwater setups to allow for stocking heavier once cycle is completed. Versus the slow cycle and slow stocking.

I think that's it for now.

 

[Sobo's Reef]

Welcome! Plenty of us in your area. You have:
Thatguy (Williamstown),
myself(blackwood)
seahorsekeeper(blackwood)
tanksnstuff (blackwood)
Dan_k(blackwood)
classklown90(Voorhees)

More than enough people to give you first hand experience with everything you probably need

 

[bolsen27]

That would be amazing!

 

[magic]

Welcome! Plenty of us in your area. You have:
Thatguy (Williamstown),
myself(blackwood)
seahorsekeeper(blackwood)
tanksnstuff (blackwood)
Dan_k(blackwood)
classklown90(Voorhees)

More than enough people to give you first hand experience with everything you probably need

Brian

This is a example of why your going to love this club!

Bob

 

[Empire]

Welcome! Lmk if you need sand. 5-800 is your total budget right? LED wise you might have to go with the lower end units that don't have too many features like ocean revive or reefbreeders. If you plan to spend more- ecotech radion, kessil a150. T5- ati 6 bulb. Go as big as you can for a sump. That 20g tank will have at most 12g of operational water as a sump. Jebao seems to be the favorite on here for flow. I think it is called the wp25 or something.

 

[Classklown90]

You're welcome to come check out my tank and we can talk if you'd like. Like sobo (dan) said, im in voorhees. Lots of helpful people on here. You're in good hands.

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk

 

[Daniel]

Welcome to the family. The best thing you can do is ask questions. It never hurts to ask a member if you can come by and see there setup. We are always happy to show off our systems. It is a pride thing. We are willing to help you go the right way and trust me learn from our mistakes. I live in Eastampton 08060 and you are more than welcome to come by.

Daniel