new to austinreedclub....I need some advice!

[generatorx]

Hello everyone. Well I have been keeping freshwater fish for 4 years now and I am making that jump to salt. I am going to sell my whole setup and start new. here is what I am thinking about getting:

getting a 28gal bow front glass tank with protein skimmer(aquaC remora)/150w HQI(current USA sunpod)/ powerheads(brand?)/and lots of live rock

I would like a sump with a refugium but I am not sure how much that is going to cost or how nessasary it is for a tank this size.

I am also curious about hang on or in tank refugiums

any advice would be awesome. thanks everyone!

[GKarshens]

Welcome to the club and the hobby!

I would look into Maxi-jets or a Koralia 1 or 2 for that size tank. A sump/refugium is always a great idea if possible because it adds to your overall volume, meaning less swings in your parameters, and it gives you a place to put heaters, skimmers and other equip.

HTH.

[Headless_donkey]

Welcome to the club. I agree with Gabriel.

if a sump isn't an option an Hang on fuge would work. With that light and tank size I would recommend an Auto top-off. It will make your life and the aquarium inhabitants better.

[generatorx]

do you know of any good hang on refugiums I could look into?

[chatfouz]

Welcome to the school

what you need as far as filteration in my opinion is in my view dependant on what you want to do. if you only want to keep salt water fish, salt water invertabrates, corals, live rock etc. if it is your first time always concider what you want to keep.

if you just want fish and live rock you could get away with a much more simple filtration type, like hang on back or canister.

if you want to do plants like the macro algea and sea grass then go for deep sand bed and lights.

if you want corals etc that is when you need to go high tech. powerful lights, top level filtration like the refugiums etc

unless your going for the corals, clams, special inverts etc then keeping saltwater fish is like fresh water fish. just keep in mind your filtration needs to keep the tank a lot more stable than in fresh water.

Edited September 5, 2007 by chatfouz

[generatorx]

Well I know I want to do corals...maybe 2-3 small fish. SPS and LPS

[chatfouz]

Well I know I want to do corals...maybe 2-3 small fish. SPS and LPS

research is the best friend in keepin salt stuff.

about.com i think has a bunch of decent info. articles are well done.

corals i dont think are terribly easy. some are pretty simple but others

can be really delicate and rather expensive.

check over there. personally i think it is easier on yourself and

pocket book to start small and easy and upgrade. use a setup that will accomodate

a moderate level of stock and start with the easier end of the corals and just get the

more expensive and delicate ones as you get a hang of the whole deal. as long as the

equipment is abe to handle the transition the only factor is your experience.

mabye for that 28 gal a small canister, heater, PC light, sand, live rock. after cycled try some

zoo's and if those are alive for a month start uppin it from there. but then again i really dont

like jumping in the deep end of the pool. i worry to much about crashes.

best of luck! and again welcome to the forum.

[GKarshens]

I would agree with part of the above but differ on one main point. DEFINITELY do as much research as possible on what you want to keep and what you need to be successful. However, I would say figure out exactly how big a tank will fit your circumstances and go with the biggest you think you will want to keep. The smaller the tank the harder it is to keep stable. Also it is more costly to upgrade to a bigger tank later than do it form the start. HTH

[generatorx]

my buddy said I should defiantly get a reef ready tank with drilled holes for a sump(he hates hang on over flows). I don't really want to spend the extra money doing the whole sump thing. Is a sump really that important or beneficial if my tank size was 35-40?

[chatfouz]

I would agree with part of the above but differ on one main point. DEFINITELY do as much research as possible on what you want to keep and what you need to be successful. However, I would say figure out exactly how big a tank will fit your circumstances and go with the biggest you think you will want to keep. The smaller the tank the harder it is to keep stable. Also it is more costly to upgrade to a bigger tank later than do it form the start. HTH

YES!

[GKarshens]

Yeah for the same reasons I mentioned before. One thing you will quickly learn in this hobby is nothing is cheap and it costs more to do it over than do it right the first time.