New Tank Shopping List

[mrs_o_2021]

Hi,

After much much deliberation me and husband have taken the plunge and decided to give marine a go. We have only had tropical tanks before, and reptiles. Much like reptiles I appreciate there’s lots of ways people like to keep them and many differing opinions.
We are starting small with a Fluval Sea Evo 52l - with the aim of keeping about 3 small fish, and a couple of CCC.
As keen gardeners, corals are our main interest… realistically the soft ones as we are just starting out.
Now, my husband is very much a buy everything and probably the more expensive versions, I’m erring on the side of caution and would love opinions on what we will need. We are replacing the light - but recommendations would be appreciated.
Even recommendations on testing stuff would be fab

 

[RocketEngineer]

Let’s start with the basics:

You are not keeping a tank. You are keeping water quality. Start with good water and decent salt (lots of opinions on which but the ones that have been around a while all “work”) An RODI system means the water going into the tank is clear of contaminants.

To help with stability, an ATO helps keep up with evaporation.

In the thread of keeping water, the temperature needs to stay within the correct range. I use two heaters so I have a backup. Each is about 75% of the total wattage recommended for my tank size.

You also want flow. Lots of options there but the idea is turbulent flow to keep junk in suspension and the surface agitated.

Early on, a basic light will do. Once you get into the hobby, then upgrade to one more capable of supporting corals.

That’s about it. I’ve run tanks on a 6 position power strip. Sure, you can add more gear but the basics apply to just about all of us in this hobby.

 

[littlefoxx]

^^^ good advice! Also be patient, corals shouldnt go in until at least 3 months to make sure the tank is cycled. Focus on the fish (clowns being the easiest!) and then go from there. Welcome! Ask any questions and the experts (theres some really good peeps on here) will help you :)

 

[mpatterson42]

Go slow.

See this thread on upgrades on the Fluval to consider.

Other things to consider besides the tank:

- RODI
- Salt
- Stand
- Sand
- Rock / Aquascape
- Heater
- Auto Top Off
- Powerhead
- Dosing pump (there are lots of options for different dosing methods, this is a whole other rabbit hole but not something that needs to be done immediately)
- Buckets for water changes and fish acclimation
- Water change hose
- Chemical test kits (PH, salinity, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, phosphate, alkalinity, calcium and magnesium)
- Glass scraper
- Food (pellets, flake, and frozen, it's good to have a mixture and change things up)

Some other "good to have" things are:
- Leak/moisture detector
- Controller power switch (smart ones like Kasa are a good idea, much more expensive ones like Hydros and Apex also exist)
- Grounding probe

Do you know how you want to cycle your tank? There's several methods, all with their own pros and cons. Live rock from ocean, live rock from local fish store, fish in method (I don't recommend this), fishless method with Dr. Tim's or Fritz TurboStart.

 

[mrs_o_2021]

Go slow.

See this thread on upgrades on the Fluval to consider.

Other things to consider besides the tank:

- RODI
- Salt
- Stand
- Sand
- Rock / Aquascape
- Heater
- Auto Top Off
- Powerhead
- Dosing pump (there are lots of options for different dosing methods, this is a whole other rabbit hole but not something that needs to be done immediately)
- Buckets for water changes and fish acclimation
- Water change hose
- Chemical test kits (PH, salinity, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, phosphate, alkalinity, calcium and magnesium)
- Glass scraper
- Food (pellets, flake, and frozen, it's good to have a mixture and change things up)

Some other "good to have" things are:
- Leak/moisture detector
- Controller power switch (smart ones like Kasa are a good idea, much more expensive ones like Hydros and Apex also exist)
- Grounding probe

Do you know how you want to cycle your tank? There's several methods, all with their own pros and cons. Live rock from ocean, live rock from local fish store, fish in method (I don't recommend this), fishless method with Dr. Tim's or Fritz TurboStart.

Hi, thanks for your reply!

Haha I used that thread to begin looking at things to put on my list - it’s a great thread!

Live rock is our planned route - although am reading differing opinions on whether to use wet or dry

 

[RocketEngineer]

Live rock is our planned route - although am reading differing opinions on whether to use wet or dry

If it’s dry, it’s not live rock, it’s just rock.

The advantage of dry rock is the ability to construct an aquascape. I built my aquascape using the colored man made rock, cyanoacrylate glue, and the hardener spray. BRStv did a couple videos on “negative space aquascapes” which helped me with the technique. You can see my build thread for the results.

Dry rock also prevents the introduction of pests.

The disadvantage is no biodiversity.

Live rock is harder to aquascape creatively because you need to keep it wet to preserve the life growing on it.

In my case, I’m going to “seed” the dry rock and dry sand with actual live rock from Tampa Bay Saltwater. This should give me the biodiversity I’m looking for.

Something to consider.

 

[mrs_o_2021]

Hi, thanks for your reply!

Haha I used that thread to begin looking at things to put on my list - it’s a great thread!

Live rock is our planned route - although am reading differing opinions on whether to use wet or dry

That’s a good shout - perhaps we will construct the bulk with dry, then add a small amount of wet - thanks for the idea!