Welcome to the fam!
the hobby can be expensive but there are tons of inexpensive options and ideas that can help keep reef keeping competitive.
if you’re planning to run a fowlr tank (fish only with live rock) for a while you can avoid the expensive lights and power heads for a while as the return pump should give a decent turn over until you’re ready for coral. Fish are cool with just the ambient light in the room although I would probably start off with some cool LEDs or inexpensive T5.
just make sure you buy a good heater and auto top off.
OP
OP
miltonkl
Active Member
Welcome to the fam!
the hobby can be expensive but there are tons of inexpensive options and ideas that can help keep reef keeping competitive.
if you’re planning to run a fowlr tank (fish only with live rock) for a while you can avoid the expensive lights and power heads for a while as the return pump should give a decent turn over until you’re ready for coral. Fish are cool with just the ambient light in the room although I would probably start off with some cool LEDs or inexpensive T5.
just make sure you buy a good heater and auto top off.
Good to know on the power heads! I had not looked at ATO as I thought that was something that could wait but I'll look at them more. The guy I'm buying the tank from also has a couple of those for sale, so I might try and catch one if it's a good deal and needed. I'm definitely just starting with a basic LED so I can see the fish and I'll look into the fancier lights down the road before I add corals. The room the tank is going in doesn't get much natural light, should I keep the light on during the day for the fish at all?
Hello! New member here and excited to get started. I always loved the saltwater section of my local pet store growing up and admiring all the cool types of fish and corals but never had a tank. Recently my wife and I bought a 10 gallon freshwater tank for the kids on a whim and it got me excited to try a bigger tank for myself. I ran out and grabbed a 55 gallon on craigslist and planned to do that up before trying saltwater, but everytime I looked for freshwater fish I found myself pulled back to saltwater, so figure I'll just jump into the deep end rather than throw away resources on the bigger freshwater! Recently found a 75 gallon tank and 20ish gallon sump for sale from a local that's getting out of the hobby so am excited to pick that up in a few weeks after he's managed to rehome his fish and coral and can take it down.
It's an expensive looking hobby so I'll probably just get that tank set up with rock/sand/and an empty sump with return pump only to get things started and let the rock start cycling and slowly save up for some livestock/all the other parts I need. Watched a BRS video on negative space aquascaping and sort of planning to do that but we'll see how cost prohibitive that is.Expecting to spend at least the next year with just fish as I learn to care for them and the water before I even look at corals and the extra care they require, though ultimately want to have a nice mixed tank.
Its definitely expensive but getting pre-owned stuff helps a TON. You can literally get things at 1/3 the cost that way. This is an awesome resource for that
BaysEndReef
Anthony
Welcome to R2R!! Always here to help!!
Always here to help!!
FlexingFishSticks
Valuable Member
Welcome to R2R!
harley32907
Valuable Member
Welcome to R2R!
Miguel Negron
Well-Known Member
Welcome to R2R
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