# Help on where to begin?



## Chicki (Apr 15, 2012)

I'm new to the hobby and would really like a saltwater setup. I've had a small freshwater tank for about 6 months, so I have a little experience, but saltwater is where my heart is 

I've spent countless hours reading online, and its pretty overwhelming. Can anyone recommend either a book or website that will teach me thoroughly what I need to know? I know that a lot of the knowledge comes from experience but I don't feel I have enough knowledge to dive in to the ocean yet.

I was considering starting off with the 29 gallon Oceanic Biocube, simply because it supposedly comes with everything needed, is this good for beginners?

Any advice is much appreciate


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## Dax (Sep 29, 2010)

Frst you need to decide on Fish only, FOWLR, or Reef. I suggest getting a FOWLR to start, then move to reef as you get a handle on maintaining parameters. Once you decide, you can narrow down your questions.


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## Windowlicka (Mar 5, 2008)

There are a couple of excellent books that will help set you along the right path, and help to explain the basics:

http://www.amazon.ca/The-New-Marine-Aquarium-Step-By-Step/dp/1890087521/ref=pd_sim_b_1

http://www.amazon.ca/Nano-Reef-Hand...5724/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1335395213&sr=8-1

http://www.amazon.ca/Simple-Guide-M...1215/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1335395182&sr=8-1

Best of luck!


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## altcharacter (Jan 10, 2011)

The best thing to do in my opinion is find a fellow forum member near you and see if you can head over their house to see their setup and ask questions. Reading a book is very good for information but for experience you can't beat one of the salties on this forums.

Try going to a few houses to ask different questions. You'll also see that everyone has a different setup.

I know I had a 6g nano that I loved until I saw a few other tanks and decided to go a different route. Not to say that my tank looks like anyone elses but I learned alot from others.

Welcome to the forums and good luck with your tank!
Post pictures (we like pictures)


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## Chicki (Apr 15, 2012)

Thank you all for the replies

I do want to have a reef eventually but intend to start with FOWLR.

Thanks so much for the reading material suggestions!

If anyone wants to show me their setup I'm frequently in Barrie, Brampton and Scarborough  lol


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## altcharacter (Jan 10, 2011)

drop by my house anytime you're around. If you find yourself in scarborough just PM and i'll give you my info


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## Chicki (Apr 15, 2012)

altcharacter said:


> drop by my house anytime you're around. If you find yourself in scarborough just PM and i'll give you my info


Thats so nice of you! Thank you! I'm usually there every sat/sun visiting family so I'll definitely shoot you a pm


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## Shoryureppa (Jul 1, 2011)

i don't mean to hijack the thread but i'd love to see your set up alt! i've had my tank for over a year now and am in the process of setting up a 120 to replace my 30. i would love to learn a thing or two


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## Chicki (Apr 15, 2012)

I cheated and looked at the pics he has up, looks great! can't wait to see in person


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## JulieFish (Apr 8, 2011)

You're welcome to take a peek at my setup too. I'm in Brampton and I've got a one-year-old 35 gallon reef. I'd be happy to share experiences I've had.

Julie


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## Chicki (Apr 15, 2012)

Thanks so much Julie! I'll send you a pm too so I can see when you're free. 

Everyone is so nice here


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## smcx (Mar 31, 2012)

Once you get the basics down, and set up the new system properly, saltwater is pretty easy.

Sean.


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## Chicki (Apr 15, 2012)

Ok, I ordered a couple books and have been reading them like crazy. I feel I comfortably have the basics down. I've decided on the fish I want to keep, and although I really, really want corals, I'm going to hold off for a bit.
I have two kids so I'm gonna have to do this little by little intitally. Likely this weekend or next weekend I'll get the tank, stand and lights. The week after will be filters/pumps/heaters etc and the week after will be live rock/sand/ etc. I'll be taking pictures of the journey (when it starts getting interesting lol) and likely bugging you all for help 

Are supplies any cheaper across the border? I'm going to Buffalo tomorrow and if its worth it might pick up some things there.

Its gonna be so hard to be patient, but I'm determined to do this right. I'm so excited though


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## altcharacter (Jan 10, 2011)

Here's my two cents:

Make a list of what you need and what you want.
Post that list on these forums so everyone that is selling stuff can see what you need
Buy as much as you can used since it's your first setup.

Once you get the basics down and are more confidant about taking care of your tank you can then buy other equipment that you may prefer and then sell off the used stuff for pretty much the same price you bought it for.


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## Chicki (Apr 15, 2012)

I was actually going to edit my post and ask what you guys thought about buying used lol Awesome, that will save me some money initially as well. 

I want to start with a 50-65 gallon tank... if anyone is selling, please let me know. I would greatly prefer if it had a stand too  (I will post in the buy/sell section as well)

Is there any way to test if a desk is strong enough to hold an aquarium? I do have an extra very nice looking one, but I'd hate for it to collapse or something.

p.s. I peeked at your tank alt, its beautiful! I look forward to seeing it


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## Dax (Sep 29, 2010)

You can hold off on the lights as you don't need this till you add livestock, which will buy you time to find a nice one for the long term. 

you will shortly have a pm for some stuff.


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## WiseGuyPhil (Jun 15, 2011)

I wouldn't recommend using a desk (assuming its a computer desk) as aquarium stand as the tank will weight close to 800 lbs when filled with water and live rock unless you brace front and back. Can you post a screenshot of your desk?



Chicki said:


> I was actually going to edit my post and ask what you guys thought about buying used lol Awesome, that will save me some money initially as well.
> 
> I want to start with a 50-65 gallon tank... if anyone is selling, please let me know. I would greatly prefer if it had a stand too  (I will post in the buy/sell section as well)
> 
> ...


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## BettaBeats (Jan 14, 2010)

plan the aquascape of your rocks too. i found that drawing my ideas on paper helped me pick out rocks that helped build my final design. 

And invest initially. The worst is under-buying what you really need ie; the correct powerheads, the correct lights, the correct heater, etc. This will save you money in the long run and you won't be like 'oh, i wish I had just spent the extra money and got the bigger powerhead.'


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## Shoryureppa (Jul 1, 2011)

DISCLAIMER: These are solely my opinions and are open to interpretation. If your two cents are to bash and argue with people, then you should stop reading this now.


Here's my experience and hopefully it helps you decide on what to do. I was always into freshwater and was obsessed with datnoids but I got suckered into this hobby my my gf. Long story short, best hobby ever! I started not knowing anything figuring it's as simple as freshwater. Mind you I started with a reef and not a fowlr tank. Lessons are learned from mistakes, and mistakes in saltwater(depending on factors) are expensive. I bought the tank, stand, biowheel filter, an d a sh!tty light with about 25bs of live rock( yeah right, more like 10lbs) for $250 and all the water with it thinking I had a sweet deal, so I saved all the water(never do this, pia to move). Set it up, bought livestock and coral thinking I wouldn't need to cycle., EVERYTHING DIED! I was so mad. Old technology and under equipped. VERY VERY EXPENSIVE MISTAKE. So i bought all the necessary equipment to make it right, the right salt, cycled the rock, made an overflow, bought skimmer, added sum and refugium etc. Now everything couldn't be better! So I totalled up the cost and my jaw smashed the floor. I could have bought a decent set up withe a bigger tank and everything needed for a decent tank. So here comes the lessons:

1.) Buy Everything Used(alt) : saves you a TON of money. especially rock

2.)Buy the biggest and best equipment you can get. Saves you money again from upgrading plus they're less likely to fail(arbitrary) I bought 2 mp40's with a batterry backup and spare wetsides for a really good deal  ( they're in my 30 gallon now)

3.) Get the biggest tank you can reasonably afford. I started with the 30 gallon and getting parameters right if something goes wrong is a never ending task. Bigger tanks allow for stability with room for error. I bought a 120 with a 40 gallon sump.

4.)You can never over skim( this is more important than lighting (don't go cheap on this). Frags and livestock are cheap. You cannot put a price on water quality.

5.) Reverse Osmosis - Only if you don't want algae.

6.) Patience - SAVES MONEY AND FRUSTRATION.

Welcome to one of the most fascinating and rewarding hobbies. I hope this helps.


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## Windowlicka (Mar 5, 2008)

Shoryureppa said:


> DISCLAIMER: These are solely my opinions and are open to interpretation. If your two cents are to bash and argue with people, then you should stop reading this now.
> 
> Here's my experience and hopefully it helps you decide on what to do. I was always into freshwater and was obsessed with datnoids but I got suckered into this hobby my my gf. Long story short, best hobby ever! I started not knowing anything figuring it's as simple as freshwater. Mind you I started with a reef and not a fowlr tank. Lessons are learned from mistakes, and mistakes in saltwater(depending on factors) are expensive. I bought the tank, stand, biowheel filter, an d a sh!tty light with about 25bs of live rock( yeah right, more like 10lbs) for $250 and all the water with it thinking I had a sweet deal, so I saved all the water(never do this, pia to move). Set it up, bought livestock and coral thinking I wouldn't need to cycle., EVERYTHING DIED! I was so mad. Old technology and under equipped. VERY VERY EXPENSIVE MISTAKE. So i bought all the necessary equipment to make it right, the right salt, cycled the rock, made an overflow, bought skimmer, added sum and refugium etc. Now everything couldn't be better! So I totalled up the cost and my jaw smashed the floor. I could have bought a decent set up withe a bigger tank and everything needed for a decent tank. So here comes the lessons:
> 
> ...


There's absolutely nothing here to bash or argue with.

Many years ago, when the bride and i first tried to partake in this hobby with a modicum of seriousness, I was taught: "you're not keeping fish, you're keeping water. The fish (then, now corals too) are your canary - telling you how successful you are with keeping your water happy and comfortable".

There's a lot more truth in that statement than I would ever have originally thought...


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## solarz (Aug 31, 2010)

Shoryureppa said:


> Here's my experience and hopefully it helps you decide on what to do. I was always into freshwater and was obsessed with datnoids but I got suckered into this hobby my my gf. Long story short, best hobby ever! I started not knowing anything figuring it's as simple as freshwater. Mind you I started with a reef and not a fowlr tank. Lessons are learned from mistakes, and mistakes in saltwater(depending on factors) are expensive. I bought the tank, stand, biowheel filter, an d a sh!tty light with about 25bs of live rock( yeah right, more like 10lbs) for $250 and all the water with it thinking I had a sweet deal, so I saved all the water(never do this, pia to move). Set it up, bought livestock and coral thinking I wouldn't need to cycle., EVERYTHING DIED! I was so mad. Old technology and under equipped. VERY VERY EXPENSIVE MISTAKE..


Indeed, it pays to understand the science behind keeping an aquarium. I assume that the OP already knows about the nitrogen cycle. In a reef or fowlr tank, the most important filtration, by far, is the filtration provided by Live Rocks. Live Rocks are extremely porous rocks (often skeletons of dead corals) that are filled with nitrifying and denitrifying bacteria. These bacteria require constant water movement in order to bring them fresh oxygen. Live rocks that are put into a stagnant environment, such as a bucket for transport, will experience die-offs. In addition to reducing the population of nitrifying bacteria, the die off also produces ammonia from the dead bacteria. The combination creates an ammonia spike.

When I added live rocks to my established fowlr tank, my nitrates immediately jumped from 0 ppm to 5-10 ppm.

This tells us that all new tanks need to go through a cycle, and water movement is extremely important in SW.

My recomendation to the OP is to get the biggest tank your space can allow. A 90 gal tank doesn't take much more space than a 55-gal, and isn't much more expensive either. If you are going for a FOWLR tank, you can easily do without a skimmer and use plain tap water.


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## joeycichlid (Jan 6, 2009)

Plain tap water? I'm using tap water, I added a few pieces if live rock with zoomeds. Now I'm getting reddish-briwn algae growing. What am I doing wrong

Sent from my SGH-T989D using Tapatalk


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## J_T (Mar 25, 2011)

Either diatoms (new tanks go through this) or, its cyno bacteria. Either way, reduce the input of nutrients, increase the export of nutrients (filtration, water changes) and it will die off on its own.

Posted with my Xperia, using Tapatalk 2


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## sig (Dec 13, 2010)

Shoryureppa said:


> i don't mean to hijack the thread but i'd love to see your set up alt! i've had my tank for over a year now and am in the process of setting up a 120 to replace my 30. i would love to learn a thing or two


I think he does not have any set up and just talking 

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## joeycichlid (Jan 6, 2009)

Filtration, how I'm using hob aquackear plus hob skimmer

Sent from my SGH-T989D using Tapatalk


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## sig (Dec 13, 2010)

Chicki said:


> I'm new to the hobby and would really like a saltwater setup. I've had a small freshwater tank for about 6 months, so I have a little experience, but saltwater is where my heart is
> 
> I've spent countless hours reading online, and its pretty overwhelming. Can anyone recommend either a book or website that will teach me thoroughly what I need to know? I know that a lot of the knowledge comes from experience but I don't feel I have enough knowledge to dive in to the ocean yet.
> 
> ...


First join http://www.reefcentral.com/ and start reading the Sticky there
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=104

I know it will be overwhelming but you should make your mind if you are really going to continue with SW despite all possible troubles or you just want to try. If you want to continue do not start with any covered Biocube, because in a few months you will want another tank.
Based on the space in your home decide size of the tank, bigger is better (more stable parameters). Also do not go with 12" deep - very inconvenient for landscaping and maintenance.

Million people will have million opinions based on their budget and level of experience.
The biggest problem that by reading stuff you became theoretically "experienced", but has no clue how to maintain real tank.
each tank is different and what can work for me, will not work for you.

Start reading and when you will make your mind what you want, ask real questions.

Biocube has everything, but it is much more headache to maintain. I had one and will not recommend to anybody.
Welcome to the real world, but do not feel discouraged.

The problem with SW guys that we always want bigger tank, because there is not enough place to put corals and fishes. I am telling you today that after Biocube will be running perfectly - at the same moment you will want bigger tank.

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## Chromey (Sep 25, 2010)

Or your nuts like some of us And already have a Big Tank, But want the challange of a little tank....


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## sig (Dec 13, 2010)

Chromey said:


> Or your nuts like some of us And already have a Big Tank, But want the challange of a little tank....


I am not trying to challenge. Biocube was my first tank 2 years ago, but lasted just one month, since I found it is very inconvenient, overheating, filtration is bad. Next was 12" deep and there are not many options with LR, when you have many pounds. Next was 120G - 24" deep. It was good tank with decent size, but old and I always wanted long tank, which I have now.

Looks like my next tank will be BIocube again 

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## 50seven (Feb 14, 2010)

joeycichlid said:


> Plain tap water? I'm using tap water, I added a few pieces if live rock with zoomeds. Now I'm getting reddish-briwn algae growing. What am I doing wrong
> 
> Sent from my SGH-T989D using Tapatalk


What J_T said. WC's, filtration, and less feeding; maybe even drop the photoperiod a bit.

Also you might be better next time to just start your own thread when you have a good question, rather than raising a necro post.


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