Getting ready to take the plunge

[morkin]

Hello everyone.

I am located in Hunterdon County, New Jersey. I have always kept freshwater aquariums most of my adult life but have aspired to one day graduate to a reef aquarium.
I feel that that time has now come and I am at the point where I have the time and resources to make go of it.

My eventual aim is to end up with two display tanks one medium and one large. Something like the Red Sea Reefer 300 G2 for the medium is what I would aim for as the first of these larger tanks.
I would start out with mostly soft corals and some LPS with reef safe inverts and fish.

My conundrum now is should I bite the bullet and go with this Red Sea or start out smaller with either the Fluval Evo 13.5 or Fluval Flex Seawater.
I see the Evo 13.5 recommended a few times for beginners but not too much information on the Flex. Does anyone have any experiences with the Flex good or bad?
Other than these Fluvals are there any other good beginner AIO's?

I worry that 13.5g would be a little too small of a water volume as I would hope to house a pair of clown fish, along with a goby. Coral wise I would stick with some gsp, with maybe some frogspawn, and zoas.

 

[Peace River]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!!!

 

[blaxsun]

 

[Kristopher Conlin]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!!

I would say if you can buy it now get the red sea tank you want to end up with. That way you are only buying equipment you plan on using long term. And a larger tank has some benefits of being more stable when you are learning the ropes.

 

[Kathy Floyd]

 

[shakacuz]

welcome aboard the r2r board!

 

[Sean Clark]

Welcome to the party.

 

[dschuffert]

Welcome! It is hard to say which would work best for you. Everyone is different. My 90-gallon is easier for me to take care of than my 15-gallon Nano. The impact of fluctuations happens much faster on a smaller tank.

 

[Gtinnel]

Hi and welcome to R2R. If you are wanting to go as small as nano tank many people just got the Innovative Marine 15g cube because it was recently released for $100 plus shipping. I have one but haven’t set it up yet, it seems really nice for a small tank.

Shop | Innovative Marine Products

Shop Now | Innovative Marine's Official Store | Free Shipping on all orders* | NUVO aquariums and saltwater reef supplies.

www.innovative-marine.com

As already mentioned going with a really small tank is not the easiest. The more water volume the easier it is to keep everything stable.

 

[william Lutman]

Welcome to R2R

 

[vetteguy53081]

 

[Reefer Matt]

 

[ShepherdReefer]

Hello, and welcome to the channel.

 

[tharbin]

Welcome to R2R!

 

[pshootr]

Hi, welcome to r2r!

 

[Keko21]

 

[CoralB]

Welcome !!!

 

[Jimbhoy13]

Welcome to R2R and the salty world. Lots of knowledgeable and helpful people here who will support and advise you when needed.

 

[Fish Think Pink]

Hello everyone.

I am located in Hunterdon County, New Jersey. I have always kept freshwater aquariums most of my adult life but have aspired to one day graduate to a reef aquarium.
I feel that that time has now come and I am at the point where I have the time and resources to make go of it.

My eventual aim is to end up with two display tanks one medium and one large. Something like the Red Sea Reefer 300 G2 for the medium is what I would aim for as the first of these larger tanks.
I would start out with mostly soft corals and some LPS with reef safe inverts and fish.

My conundrum now is should I bite the bullet and go with this Red Sea or start out smaller with either the Fluval Evo 13.5 or Fluval Flex Seawater.
I see the Evo 13.5 recommended a few times for beginners but not too much information on the Flex. Does anyone have any experiences with the Flex good or bad?
Other than these Fluvals are there any other good beginner AIO's?

I worry that 13.5g would be a little too small of a water volume as I would hope to house a pair of clown fish, along with a goby. Coral wise I would stick with some gsp, with maybe some frogspawn, and zoas.

Welcome! Glad you joined. Vote go with your medium option already if your budget allows. Larger water volume does make things easy. Red Sea also pre-configures so it's not as daunting as picking out every component on your own.

Have you considered starting your build thread? I found its a great place to document my tank's evolution for myself. I started tank first then joined, so I'm still finding myself going back collecting pictures & updating historically as well as current state. Once you create your first post in your thread and link it to your account, they will give you build badge (look left, under my ID). Its never to early and will capture some of this planning you are considering.

This might help you find people local to you in New Jersey:

Local Reef Club Discussion

Looking for some locals to share frags and info with? This is the place! Find a local club that meets in your area! If you want to add your club just contact us.

www.reef2reef.com

This is a good reference book type online article I still review:

The Supreme Guide To Setting Up A Saltwater Reef Aquarium

This article was sponsored by @MarineDepot at www.marinedepot.com. Introduction The marine environment is one of the most complex systems on the planet. The aquarium you are about to set up is only a tiny sliver of the vast ocean, but it is no...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[officialreefbros]

Welcome aboard neighbor! I'm from the same county. We have a 40g Breeder and a 25 peninsula (have a 2nd one for sale if you're interested as well as frags!) If you have the space and are looking at it as an intro the 40gallon Breeder was a little more DIY but a great learning and starting place for a little cheaper.