Back into salt after 20 years

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Greetings everyone. After a 20 year hiatus, I am getting back into the hobby. The waht tipped the scales was my grandchildren. They LOVE the tanks at eh Dr's offices, which caused my daughter and son in law to buy a 35g fresh water. They watch the tank more than the tv now (thank goodness).

WOW, a lot has changed since I last had a tank. Just bought a 125 and looking at filtration, etc. I had bio balls and that was it. Kept an entry level reef tank with some corals. Some did great, some did not. Reading online about filtration, etc., realizing many of the things I must've been doing wrong. Realizing I have a very steep learning curve to do this right. Subscribe to the buy once, cry once philosophy. But, I don't need the Cadillac of everything either.

Picking up the tank and stand after work, but trying to decide on what filtration, RO/DI set up, what do I need, what don't I need, I like the idea of sump set ups but also don't want to deal with salt creep again. On Amazon now buy test kits, salitity meter, things I know I'll need for sure.

I'll be reading the sticky's for newbies, but any advice is appreciated. Glad to be here!

 

[revhtree]

Welcome to your new home for saltwater reef aquarium resources and fun! Welcome to the family! :D

 

[Nano_Man]

Welcome to r2r

 

[Kooma]

Welcome.

Buy salifert test kits.

Get a hydrometer

Ensure you have a RODI system and storage for the water. Don’t buy a cheap RDI system off of Amazon get something from spectrapure or bulk reef supply.

LED lighting is king now. Eco tech radion is my go to.

A sump is a great thing to have and I would not run a reef tank without one. Salt Creep is not an issue, especially with a syphon drain.

Make sure you have a skimmer. Reef octopus is my go to.

Run your heaters in a pair of redundant heaters. If you need 300 W of heating get a pair of 200 W heaters. Buy an ink, bird controller to make sure you can stop a heater from being stuck on.

By an auto top off system. Tunze is my go to and has never failed me.

Beyond this, the rest is just stability and ensuring the system doesn’t have any crazy swings of temperature or alkalinity or salinity

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

 

[vetteguy53081]

 

[Gman83]

Welcome!

 

[kevgib67]

Welcome back, glad you are here!

 

[jsmkmavity]

Salifert test kits, many others will lie to you!
Quatna Helix makes excellent quality and spectrum light bars if you are growing corals, and they are U.S. made and a veteran designer /owner. For fish only there are lots of options that wont break the bank and come with a ramp timer which is really nice to have. Start out right with at least 1- 20 Amp gfci circuit dedicated to the tank before you start plumbing and filling it.

 

[edsbeaker]

Hello and welcome!

 

[Fish Fan]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

 

[TexAgReefer]

Awesome! Welcome back and welcome to R2R!

 

[FrugalReeferJon]

 

[BryanM]

Greetings everyone. After a 20 year hiatus, I am getting back into the hobby. The waht tipped the scales was my grandchildren. They LOVE the tanks at eh Dr's offices, which caused my daughter and son in law to buy a 35g fresh water. They watch the tank more than the tv now (thank goodness).

WOW, a lot has changed since I last had a tank. Just bought a 125 and looking at filtration, etc. I had bio balls and that was it. Kept an entry level reef tank with some corals. Some did great, some did not. Reading online about filtration, etc., realizing many of the things I must've been doing wrong. Realizing I have a very steep learning curve to do this right. Subscribe to the buy once, cry once philosophy. But, I don't need the Cadillac of everything either.

Picking up the tank and stand after work, but trying to decide on what filtration, RO/DI set up, what do I need, what don't I need, I like the idea of sump set ups but also don't want to deal with salt creep again. On Amazon now buy test kits, salitity meter, things I know I'll need for sure.

I'll be reading the sticky's for newbies, but any advice is appreciated. Glad to be here!

Welcome back to the hobby and to the forums!

 

[D'sreef]

 

[Ruben's Reef]

Welcome to R2R !!!

 

[^&right]

Welcome.

Buy salifert test kits.

Get a hydrometer

Ensure you have a RODI system and storage for the water. Don’t buy a cheap RDI system off of Amazon get something from spectrapure or bulk reef supply.

LED lighting is king now. Eco tech radion is my go to.

A sump is a great thing to have and I would not run a reef tank without one. Salt Creep is not an issue, especially with a syphon drain.

Make sure you have a skimmer. Reef octopus is my go to.

Run your heaters in a pair of redundant heaters. If you need 300 W of heating get a pair of 200 W heaters. Buy an ink, bird controller to make sure you can stop a heater from being stuck on.

By an auto top off system. Tunze is my go to and has never failed me.

Beyond this, the rest is just stability and ensuring the system doesn’t have any crazy swings of temperature or alkalinity or salinity

This is exactly the kind of feedback I was hoping to get. Just got home and tank unloaded. I will confess to buying the 125 package from Petsmart. The tank looks solid, the wooden 'stand' is loosely defined. 1 by lumber and staples. I wasn't expecting a piece of fine furniture, but wow. Not near as nice as the last time I bought this package. Appears up to the task (mostly) but I thought if I came home and my tank was on the floor, would I be shocked - NO. I'll install some hidden bracing, wife will paint it, back in business.

Been binge watching YouTube videos. It appears a sump filtration system is the go to. My old one was a hang on the back with bio balls and sheet of filtration media on top. How far things have come!

Leaning towards a 40 gallon tank and make my own sump system our of it and use an oversized protein skimmer. So much cheaper than buying a premade acrylic unit. Really appreciate some input here. I had used a salinometer that was just a plastic box with an arrow that pointed to the saline level. Do I really need a refractometer type that I am seeing?

 

[ShakeyGizzard]

This is exactly the kind of feedback I was hoping to get. Just got home and tank unloaded. I will confess to buying the 125 package from Petsmart. The tank looks solid, the wooden 'stand' is loosely defined. 1 by lumber and staples. I wasn't expecting a piece of fine furniture, but wow. Not near as nice as the last time I bought this package. Appears up to the task (mostly) but I thought if I came home and my tank was on the floor, would I be shocked - NO. I'll install some hidden bracing, wife will paint it, back in business.

Been binge watching YouTube videos. It appears a sump filtration system is the go to. My old one was a hang on the back with bio balls and sheet of filtration media on top. How far things have come!

Leaning towards a 40 gallon tank and make my own sump system our of it and use an oversized protein skimmer. So much cheaper than buying a premade acrylic unit. Really appreciate some input here. I had used a salinometer that was just a plastic box with an arrow that pointed to the saline level. Do I really need a refractometer type that I am seeing?

As stated above, I recommend Salifert test kits, Magnesium, calcium, nitrate, phosphate, alkalinity, and PH. The refractometer is a lot more accurate. If you go with a sump I recommend using an overflow with a gate valve in the drain line to keep everything quiet. Don't go with an oversize skimmer, get one that's designed for the amount of water you have. This will give you a lot better performance out of your skimmer.

almost forgot, welcome to Reef2Reef

 

[ChrisfromBrick]

nice going with the 125. is it drilled?

 

[Nano_Man]

Welcome to r2r