New to the hobby

Josh Morris · Mar 11, 2018

Hey guys, I’m new to the hobby and just wanted to get some feedback on some stuff. I currently have a FOWLR 40 gallon breeder tank. I have live sand and rock in the tank and for filtration I have a marineland 160 canister filter “I didn’t notice it was smaller than what I thought untill after I had the tank running a month” and I’m running an Octo 100 hob protein skimmer. The tank has been running excellent for the past 2 months but I currently have 5 fish in the tank, 2 of which I bought knowing I would eventually have to up my tank size. I bought a 180 gallon tank off of Craig’s list for a really good price so that’s going to be my next setup, I like to think I’m a pretty handy fella so i want to build this setup myself. Another hobby of mine is wood working so I’m actually in the process of building the stand/supply cabinet at the moment, Im sure I could just look up what some website says the best way to do this is but I’d much rather talk with people who have been in the hobby for awhile and might be able to give me some good advice and ideas. I know that I’m gonna get the tank drilled and I’m gonna use a sump in this tank but I would also like to get into some coral and stuff down the road as well, so any advice on good equipment that has lasted people a long time, things that you Wished you would have done when you set your system up, Sump size, Sump design, Refugium ideas, lighting, or ideas on how i could set this system up to make it easy on myself in the long run. Any and all help would be much apricated, Thanks everyone

NeedMoreReef · Mar 11, 2018

Soooo many options. Here's mine opinion. Buy the best RO/DI with two 32 gallon brute trash cans with wheels. Two 50 gallon drums to hold RO/DI water and saltwater. Drill for a large overflow. Three LED fixtures like Kessil 360W AI 52, or radions. Two MP40 pumps. 40 gallon breeder sump w reef octopus 8" body skimmer . Eheim hobby pump return. 100-150lbs Marco rock. Get an ATO tunze later down the road. Use 40 gallon as QT.

Chrisfish · Mar 11, 2018

Welcome to R2R, sound like your off to a good start

Bob Weigant · Mar 11, 2018

Welcome to a very additive hobby. Im working on my 3rd tank which will be another FO tank. A lot of things depend on what types of corals you want to keep. Im using radion's for the first time and like them. Always used MH in the past. My best advice for anyone new to the hobby is lots of research and never be afraid to ask questions

Josh Morris · Mar 11, 2018

Chrisfish said:
Welcome to R2R, sound like your of to a good start

Thank you

Josh Morris · Mar 11, 2018

Bob Weigant said:
Welcome to a very additive hobby. Im working on my 3rd tank which will be another FO tank. A lot of things depend on what types of corals you want to keep. Im using radion's for the first time and like them. Always used MH in the past. My best advice for anyone new to the hobby is lots of research and never be afraid to ask questions

it defiantly is, thank you

Lovemyreef2015 · Mar 11, 2018

Welcome to R2R

Josh Morris · Mar 11, 2018

NeedMoreReef said:
Soooo many options. Here's mine opinion. Buy the best RO/DI with two 32 gallon brute trash cans with wheels. Two 50 gallon drums to hold RO/DI water and saltwater. Drill for a large overflow. Three LED fixtures like Kessil 360W AI 52, or radions. Two MP40 pumps. 40 gallon breeder sump w reef octopus 8" body skimmer . Eheim hobby pump return. 100-150lbs Marco rock. Get an ATO tunze later down the road. Use 40 gallon as QT.

Yeah I could go a lot of different routes lol, I’m still really green when it comes to the hobby so I figured r2r was a good place to get some ideas. using my current 40 as a QT is the plan