Lurker finally saying hi! New to aquariums and have questions!

Requiemiero

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Hi,

I've been reading stuff on this forum for a couple weeks now but I want to ask a lot of questions since I never had an aquarium before. Fresh or salt.

Well, I never had my own aquarium before.

Technically I do have some saltwater experience since back in high school I took a marine biology class where part of the class grade was to take care of a saltwater fish tank. My partner and I both chose blue-green chromis to put in our tank, and everyone in the class had the same equipment except for different size tanks. We had some kind of HOB filters with carbon and filter floss, heaters, and we mixed our own saltwater once a week to do water changes. Not sure what kind of salt. We had hydrometers, refractometers, and API test kits. Our tank was one of the smallest ones, I think it was 10 or 20 gallons. But happy to say that out of all of our classmates, our tank was the only one with 0 deaths. :cool: (RIP the beautiful firefish and blennies my classmates had though :()

I fell in love with aquariums ever since then, and have been meaning to start one in my own home, but haven't really gotten around to it. But I made it my New Year's resolution this year to finally get my dream up and going! My goal ultimately is to have a 20 gallon mixed reef tank, because that is the biggest tank size that my space allows, and saltwater fish and corals are just way more appealing to me than a planted freshwater tank. (Although there are some beautiful planted tanks out there! ;Drool) Understand that nano tanks require much more maintenance and finesse, but I feel up to the challenge :)

Been doing lots of research since December of last year, and am halfway through BRS's 52 Weeks of Reefing. I'm on r/reeftank on Reddit, asking questions there as well. Will make a proper build thread with my stocking list and equipment list, but am still putting the lists together.

Nice to meet you all! In my short time lurking here, was so glad to see such a friendly and helpful community, and I place myself in your capable hands ;Woot

  • Question 1:
    • I took a glance at my circuit breaker, but am a complete dum dum with electrical stuff. I think my livingroom (where I want to put the tank), has two 20 amp circuits. So I'm trying to figure out whether it's possible to have a nano tank running on just one 20 amp circuit? To be honest, I don't even know if I'm phrasing my question right because I'm so clueless.
    • I was thinking of using like a 70 watt heater, a DC powerhead (jebao OW-10), the return pump that comes with the IM Nuvo 20, a new AI Prime HD, a float valve for an ATO, and whatever little temp controllers and other controllers that are needed for this stuff. Again, is it possible to have all of that running on the same circuit?
  • Question 2:
    • I want to get the cheap RODI buddy from Amazon, but I think the area I live in has chloramines in the water. Can I use a regular 4-stage system, and just go through changing filters more often, or do I need to get a 5-stage system to get 0 TDS?
  • Question 3:
    • Does a quarantine tank need a light? Or can I get away with just a HOB filter with filter floss and carbon, with some PVC pipes in the tank?
I have a bunch more questions, but they're more specific to my livestock and equipment list, so I'll probably ask them in my build thread.

Thanks to all who tackle my first questions!
 

Peace River

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Welcome to R2R!!! We're glad you're here!

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Crabs McJones

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Welcome to R2R! Your circuit breaker will be fine. Even tanks with lots of equipment on them only pull 5 to 10 ramps, so a nano would likely only pull 1 or 2.
Im one to not cheap out on the essentials. I'd start out the gate with a good quality rodi personally.
And no a quarantine doesnt need a light. I've never used one on any of mine :) just ambient light in the room
 

BeejReef

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Welcome
20 amps more than needed. A Gfcii outlet would be nice.

Not sure about the rodi, but in a year's time, the better model will have cost less. Fish like a light to know day from night. Any light really.

Spock-Home.jpg
 
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El_Guapo13

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Welcome to R2R!!

So have you gotten a tank already, or still trying to decide on which tank to go with? Will you be doing an AIO tank, HOB filter, or something else?

On the quarantine... a light wouldn't hurt, but it doesn't need to be some super bad@$$ light like you would use in your display. Also. Depending on what fish you plan on getting, you may need a lid of some sort for both your QT and Display, if you get a fish that is a known jumper.
giphy.gif
 
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Requiemiero

Requiemiero

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Welcome to R2R! Your circuit breaker will be fine. Even tanks with lots of equipment on them only pull 5 to 10 ramps, so a nano would likely only pull 1 or 2.
Im one to not cheap out on the essentials. I'd start out the gate with a good quality rodi personally.
And no a quarantine doesnt need a light. I've never used one on any of mine :) just ambient light in the room
So you recommend going for like the BRS 5 stage RODI system instead of the Aquatic Life RO Buddie?

And thanks everyone for the reassurance on the amps and the quarantine light!
 

Quietman

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Welcome Aboard!!! I'll take question 2. RODI. I went cheap on my RODI system and it worked, but had to upgrade to make it work with my water supply. I'm still happy, but I only saved maybe $100-$150 that looking back, wish Idve spent for the convenience of having easily replaced standard filters and parts. So check the upgradability and parts support for whatever you pick.

Good luck!
 

Crabs McJones

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So you recommend going for like the BRS 5 stage RODI system instead of the Aquatic Life RO Buddie?

And thanks everyone for the reassurance on the amps and the quarantine light!
I can only say that I have experience with the brs units and they work like a champ. I've seen other tanks ran off of ro buddie units that look great too. It all depends on your source water. If it's as dirty as you say I'd go for the unit with the bigger better filters ;)
 
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Requiemiero

Requiemiero

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Welcome to R2R!!

So have you gotten a tank already, or still trying to decide on which tank to go with? Will you be doing an AIO tank, HOB filter, or something else?

On the quarantine... a light wouldn't hurt, but it doesn't need to be some super bad@$$ light like you would use in your display. Also. Depending on what fish you plan on getting, you may need a lid of some sort for both your QT and Display, if you get a fish that is a known jumper.
giphy.gif
Nope, no tank yet. Did not jump on purchasing any equipment yet because I want to iron the details out before diving in.

Was looking around and so far I want the IM Nuvo 20 because I like that it's a clean looking AIO. But if you recommend some other AIO 20 gallon, then I'm all ears! Didn't make any purchases yet so I can still pivot my course!

And for the lid, I definitely want a mesh lid for peace of mind, because I want a watchman goby and I heard that all gobies are jumpers. If there's a nice pre-made lid or DIY lid tutorial here you can link to, that would be awesome!
 

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