alimac122
Well-Known Member
Hello! I am an ex-marine biologist (now engineer). I worked in husbandry at a landlocked aquarium for 4 years. I have been missing my love for tanks, specifically my saltwater babies.
A fried has a Tiger Oscar that has outgrown their tank and has upgraded to a 75 gallon. Thus, I have an empty 40 gallon tank to do with as I please!
I want to make this as affordable as possible (funny, I know). So far without water, rock, and sand I have bought new equipment (i will never use a biowheel on a salt tank EVER) I have spent $250.
I am still debating on whether to get a cheaper light now and upgrade to a full spec adjustable LED once I get my first corals in, but from reading forums I think if I splurge on a $200 AI I will not have any buyers remorse. I am wanting to get this baby setup and running for under $500 (not including fish) so the AI would force me to exceed that budget. Would love advice on this.
So far I purchased/have:
-36 gal bowfront tank & stand
-Marineland 55gal canister filter
- 2x 200W heaters
-wavemaker 1600GPH
-net
-scraper
-vac hose
-lowes buckets
Priority buy:
-saver rock
-live sand
-light (AI????)
-extra biomedia for canister
Want to buy:
-glass top
-SENEYE Reef Aquarium Monitor and Par Meter
-RO/DI unit
- overhang skimmer
-extra bacteria (to seed faster
)
SUGGESTIONS would be wonderful. I have done a lot of reading, and also with my own personal experience Protein skimmers are NOT a MUST. We have had many tanks at the aquarium I worked at that did not require skimmers. Just have to monitor the bio-load. And even more that had skimmers that only needed cleaning the day after a feed.
Once I get this guy set up I will post photos.
With the requirement to stay inside until further notice and my masters being switched to online only, I though it a good time to pick up my love for the salt life.
let's watch this baby grow!
A fried has a Tiger Oscar that has outgrown their tank and has upgraded to a 75 gallon. Thus, I have an empty 40 gallon tank to do with as I please!
I want to make this as affordable as possible (funny, I know). So far without water, rock, and sand I have bought new equipment (i will never use a biowheel on a salt tank EVER) I have spent $250.
I am still debating on whether to get a cheaper light now and upgrade to a full spec adjustable LED once I get my first corals in, but from reading forums I think if I splurge on a $200 AI I will not have any buyers remorse. I am wanting to get this baby setup and running for under $500 (not including fish) so the AI would force me to exceed that budget. Would love advice on this.
So far I purchased/have:
-36 gal bowfront tank & stand
-Marineland 55gal canister filter
- 2x 200W heaters
-wavemaker 1600GPH
-net
-scraper
-vac hose
-lowes buckets
Priority buy:
-saver rock
-live sand
-light (AI????)
-extra biomedia for canister
Want to buy:
-glass top
-SENEYE Reef Aquarium Monitor and Par Meter
-RO/DI unit
- overhang skimmer
-extra bacteria (to seed faster
)SUGGESTIONS would be wonderful. I have done a lot of reading, and also with my own personal experience Protein skimmers are NOT a MUST. We have had many tanks at the aquarium I worked at that did not require skimmers. Just have to monitor the bio-load. And even more that had skimmers that only needed cleaning the day after a feed.
Once I get this guy set up I will post photos.
With the requirement to stay inside until further notice and my masters being switched to online only, I though it a good time to pick up my love for the salt life.
let's watch this baby grow!
