First tank of any kind (~250l)

[OscarHaglund]

current state:

I have started down the road to my first aquarium of any kind.
Starting out with a saltwater tank is jumping into the deep end but this is what my heart beets for ever since first snorkling a reef at the age of 11.

My plan was to do this on the cheap despite all of the warnings from everyone that this hobby is the same as lighting money on fire.
Here is a running tally of my costs so far. I have decided to not include electricity and stuff i can definitely use if i quit (such as power strips).

Costs are in SEK which is about 9.5 SEK per USD right now.

Main tank

Light	5770
Fuge light	500
Return pump	200
powerhead	200
heater	75
Gravel vac	0
rock	600
rodi	1000
Di resin cartridge	600
heater controller	400
Salinity test	1099
Flipper	400
sand	600
2 75l buckets	440
lid	610
rodi stuff	600
Fan	300
more glue	1250
Epoxy	440
Filter bagx2	120
Turkey baster	120
Bonecutter	350
Egg crate	200
Ato tunze	1850
Ato container	163
Feeding clip	55
Feeding pipette	40
Microfiber cloth	50
Glass cleaner cloth	100
Hose	264
Clamps	150
Auto feeder	395
Claw	0

QT

40l bucket + lid	107
40l bucket + lid	107
medicine	163
quarantine tank inverts	250
qt heater x3	75
qt filter invert	299
qt powerhead x2	400
Slw-10 jebao	800
scraper qt invert	123
disposable air stones	20
air pump	300
air pump hose	36
Coral dip	200
QT Light	500
PVC	48
Coral dip buckets	15
hydrogen peroxide bath bucket	5
gloves	100
Gravel vac	0
measuring cups	15
Spawning box	89
Net cage	59

Livestock

emerald crab	250
conch	195
trochus snails	150
nassarius snails	150
red/blue hermit crabs	150
Cleaner shrimp	245
Cerith snails	150
Live rock	100
Rhodactis x3	600
Candy cane x3	400
Paraancora Euphyllia	200
Frogspawn Euphyllia	250
Gonipora	200
GSP	50
Sarchophyton	100
Clavularia x2	450
Zoas x2	400
Peppermint shrimp	250

Food

Food	577
Mysis freeze dried 1kg	800
Clams	50
Octopus	100
Reef energy	450
Nori sheet	100

Consumables

salt	999
activated carbon	40
Di resin	400
Amonium test kit	250
Alk test kit	105
Ph test kit	89
Nitrate test hanna hr	1000
phosphate test	1000
starter bacteria + amoniak	134
AF life source	250
Fosfor remover	159
Magnesium test kit	165
Bicarbonate	165
Magnesium	0
Calcium	0
Citric acid	350
Velcro bands	100
Cable clips	100
Filter floss	80

Cost for the main tank right now (without an actual tank!!): 18941 SEK
QT: 3711 SEK
Livestock: 4290 SEK
Food: 2077 SEK
Consumables: 5386 SEK
Total: 34405 SEK or 3626 USD

 

[MnFish1]

I have started down the road to my first aquarium of any kind.
Starting out with a saltwater tank is jumping into the deep end but this is what my heart beets for ever since first snorkling a reef at the age of 11.

currently i am in the planning/acquiring stage. The tank will be located in my home office which has a space of just over 90 cm (3ft) next to my desk.

I started with a list of things i think i should have. When adding it all up it became apparent that this is an expensive hobby so i decided to try and cut corners where it made sense to me.

As such i have been scouring local adverts for 2nd hand gear but the choice of tank and lighting is still one that I have not made yet. I am torn between finding some second hand tank for a fraction of the price or shell out for a new one. I have looked at the red sea 300xl and waterbox 100 and i like the dimensions of these as they are wider than they are tall. For a second hand i would probably end up with a rs250 or similar.
As i am located in Sweden we do not seem to have many of the brands such as IM that are otherwise frequently mentioned here.

i have no experience with plumbling so drilling my own seems a bit on the hard side of things. Although rimless tanks scare me with he increased risk of seam failure. How much of an issue is it really?

i have read that the waterbox has imperial measurements in its piping, how much of a hazzle is that for my fellow european and swedish friends?

I would be grateful for any advice!

1. Congrats.
2. It is not a huge 'jump' to do a saltwater tank. Just don't get caught in the 'hype' - that you need 'plumbing' beyond plastic tubing, etc.
3. I like RedSea. I have 2 of them - and most of the plumbing is already done.

Suggestion: Don't worry about the equipment other people have - most of it is probably for their specific needs. you do not need an ATO, for example. You do not need multiple reactors, IMHO, you do not need a lot of stuff. If you want - stick to fish for now - and add coral, etc later

 

[OscarHaglund]

Stuff already aquired:
Dry rock 25kg (50 pounds) - 10$
5 stage RODI unit 1500l/d (400g/d) - 100$.
200/200/200/150 watt unopened heaters - 20$
100/100/200 watt used heaters (spares) - 7.5$
1.8kg Tropic marin Bio Calcium - 2$
1.8kg Tropic marin Bio Magnesium - 2$
Caribsea purple up - 0$
Tropic marin elimi aiptas - 0$
2x Resun wave maker 2000-15000 l/h (china brand) unopened - 20$
2x Aquabee 3000 L/h return pumps - 20$
6kg activated carbon - 5$
5 sticks of epoxy - 5$
Magfloat algae scraper, Eheim gravel vac, Sera aqua test box, 6kg salt - 25$

---

Total so far: 216.5$

The RODI is seriously overkill for my planned tank size but it is a 5 stage unit which seems difficult to get a hold of over here for less than 300-500$ new.
The wave makers are a complete crap-shoot, but for 10$ a pop if they don't work out I can use them for mixing salt.
I got two return pumps because its good to have a spare and I figure I can use it with a long hose to simplify water changes by pumping directly to my sink in another room.


Must have (not yet aquired):
Tank + stand
Light
Sand
More rock, maybe another 20-30kg to make acquascaping easier.
Salinity test (preferably the Hannah digital tester)
Spare filter socks
Water resistant mat to protect the floors
Lid or netting
Scraper for the sides where magnetic scraper does not work
Salt and fresh water buckets
Superglue


Should have (not yet aquired):
QT tank
QT HOB filter
QT lid
QT scraper
Skimmer
Heater controller
Medicine (Prazipro, copper)
Coral dip
Starter bacteria


Would like to have (not yet aquired):
Invert/Coral QT tank
Invert/Coral QT filter
Invert/Coral QT lid (I am assuming snails can crawl out)
Invert/coral QT light
Easier to use tests
ULR Phosphor tester
Filter roller

Let me know if there is something I have missed or that you think should be in a different category.

 

[Bob E]

Congrats, Enjoy the process and watching the tank

 

[OscarHaglund]

Managed to get a second hand 60l (16gallon) tank in good condition to serve as a QT tank.
tank, gravel vac, net, 50w heater and a simple filter for 25$. We don’t seem to get the kind if dollar per gallon sales you get in the US so this size tank would be at least 80-90$ new without any of the equipment.

getting it the 7km in the snow without a car was a bit of a challenge

 

[minorhero]

I have never strapped an aquarium to a bicycle before. That's pretty hardcore.

If you buy a package deal like waterbox or redsea that includes sump and plumbing then a lot of the work of figuring out how to connect everything together is already done for you. You will probably pay a lot more for this.

But if you buy just a tank and drill it yourself, or buy a used tank that is already drilled but without any of the attached plumbing. Then you have to figure out how to make the plumbing work yourself. If this sounds fun and exciting to learn about then this is the way you should go. If it sounds scary and onerous, then you should skip this option, bite the bullet, and go with a new tank that includes all the plumbing already done for you.

 

[OscarHaglund]

Some progress on the aquascape/habitat. These is all from dirt cheap second hand rock. This only one side, the other I will make from broken up pieces of pukani-like rock.

The intention is to have gsp on the protruding shelves to immitate leaves on a tree

 

[OscarHaglund]

So I think I settled on the Red sea 300XL but right now im waiting to see what they do with their sumps to better support the roller filter they will be releasing soon

 

[OscarHaglund]

More work on the aquascape. This is mostly with second hand what seems like pukani rock. Trying to make somethig resembling the HNSAs that BRStv have been making and for a first timer it seems not too bad.

 

[Bob E]

your scape is looking good

 

[OscarHaglund]

Invert QT up and running. First guests arrived on a liverock from a fellow local reefer

 

[bnord]

Oscar,
you are off to a great start and will be following along...

your scape is intriguing - but would think little bit about hiding places depending on your fish mix

and my family is from Dalarna

 

[OscarHaglund]

Anyone know what yhese guys are? Particularly curious about the small thing with yellow tips in the bottom right next to the tiny blue sea star.

 

[OscarHaglund]

Measured par for the QT tank using the photone app.

 

[OscarHaglund]

New tank inhabitants, ceriths, nassarius, trochus, strombus, hermits, cleaner shrimp, emerald crab, gsp and sarcophyton

 

[OscarHaglund]

Hermit took up residence in the Sarcophyton, which is a bit ticked.

 

[OscarHaglund]

Barely a week in and I’ve had my first hermit crabicide. There were 3 of them and now I can only find 2 plus there is very much something that looks like a carcass. I feed every day but maybe not enough. There is not a lot of algae for them to graze on yet

 

[OscarHaglund]

Turns out it was just a molt. Boy those things look more meaty than i expected.

Coral and invert QT seems to be doing quite well but I don’t really know about my parameters. I have an old test kit and thr nitrate and phosphate test swing wildly between 0 and 25 for nitrate and 0 and 4ppm for phosphate!! I will be getting my Hanna testers today to get some more reliable results.

 

[OscarHaglund]

Oh and last weekend I added some new inhabitants.
I managed to completely crush this frogspawns skeleton in several places but could glue it back together and it seems no worse for wear.

This clavularia i almost melted with a FW dip, not making that mistake again. There were dead polyps floating around the tank. But they seem very hard and its back in business

 

[OscarHaglund]

Got the Hanna checkers.
Real results were 0.19 phos and 21.9 nitrate. The phosphate is definitely high and im thinking of adding a little bit of gfo to my carbon bag.
will also get some macro algae and put in a box at the side of the tank to help with export.