Not new but it's been 20 years. Looking for rec's on equipment to get me started again.

wunderlong88 · Feb 20, 2021

What are your recommendations for around 125-150 gallon reef ready tanks? What is a good budget but quality brand/company? If they come with protein skimmer or return pump how do I know if they are good ones? (Found this on Amazon and wondered about its quality - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07SN39QSF...v_ov_lig_dp_it)

Is it cheaper to buy the pieces individually? I've been out of the hobby for 20 years and not familiar with equipment at all. I don't have time to research every piece of equipment and would like to make this part as simple as possible.

I'm not really interested in trying to figure out how to buy used. I've looked some and I am 2+hours from any where that there would be much sold used. By the time I spend the day driving, eating out and gas plus working on cleaning up and fixing used equipment it just isn't probably worth it for me. Also, I'm too inexperienced and unfamiliar to know if what I'm getting used is ok.

I plan on keeping a community tank with soft corals and maybe some easy LPS corals or any kind of beginner/easy coral. (I had a 140 gal with soft corals and various fish and inverts previously)

Thank you so much for your time and help,

Linda

dwest · Feb 20, 2021

wunderlong88 said:
What are your recommendations for around 125-150 gallon reef ready tanks? What is a good budget but quality brand/company? If they come with protein skimmer or return pump how do I know if they are good ones? (Found this on Amazon and wondered about its quality - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07SN39QSF...v_ov_lig_dp_it)

Is it cheaper to buy the pieces individually? I've been out of the hobby for 20 years and not familiar with equipment at all. I don't have time to research every piece of equipment and would like to make this part as simple as possible.

I'm not really interested in trying to figure out how to buy used. I've looked some and I am 2+hours from any where that there would be much sold used. By the time I spend the day driving, eating out and gas plus working on cleaning up and fixing used equipment it just isn't probably worth it for me. Also, I'm too inexperienced and unfamiliar to know if what I'm getting used is ok.

I plan on keeping a community tank with soft corals and maybe some easy LPS corals or any kind of beginner/easy coral. (I had a 140 gal with soft corals and various fish and inverts previously)

Thank you so much for your time and help,

Linda

Welcome!

This is a tough one because I just went to my LFS and bought the standard 180 gallon perfecto tank and stand. A lot of people are buying fancier tanks, but I just need glass to see through. Plus I use a 40 gallon breeder for a sump.

I personally would make sure to get a good skimmer. You might want to throw out a question to the group on just skimmers for your application. I use a very old H&S recirculating skimmer for my tank. You can also check out the BRS videos for more info. I believe reef octopus is a good value brand but I never had used one.

My sump is in my basement so I use a mag drive 18 and a mag drive 9. These are great pumps but not as quiet as some of the newer DC models. You might to check out fluval sp series pumps. It also seems that jebao is putting out inexpensive reliable pumps. Some of newer DC pumps are not reliable do do your homework.

Hopefully others will chime in.

CMMorgan · Feb 20, 2021

Hi Linda! Welcome to the fishy family.
I would be hesitant to buy a set up like that from Amazon. Aside from potential shipping issues, you have no name pumps, skimmers.
I'd start by checking the marketplace here.
Do your research and see what kind of reef ready tank you want.
Is weight a consideration? Do you want acrylic or glass?
Do you want an internal or external overflow? coast to coast?
Is this going to be FOWLR then move into softies and corals? I ask that because your lighting is inexpensive for FOWLR and it goes up the more you lean into SPS.
You can research for a year before actually dropping one gallon of water. We're hear to help.
I thought I knew what I wanted.... then delays waiting for my tank to be manufactured gave me time to review other build threads and rethink everything I THOUGHT I knew. The delays have been long but I'm grateful that the time made me much more educated and focused on equipment choices.
Look for sales, narrow down your choices and accumulate what you need. I'd get the tank last. You can store pumps and lights under the bed until you have all that you need....
get a build thread going and we'll help along the way.

Jekyl · Feb 20, 2021

Agree with previous posts. What direction do you want to take the tank? Fish only? SPS ready? Those choices make a huge difference in equipment and price.

dedragon · Feb 20, 2021

if your in texas you will probably be able to buy a used full setup very soon based on the weather problems. Sad that people lost a lot of their livestock and more but a lot of people will most likely shut down their tanks to sell

RocketEngineer · Feb 20, 2021

Check out BRStv on YouTube as they have done several series about selecting equipment. For me, I’m going for reliability over features in most cases. The simpler the less likely it is to fail. Redundancy with well known gear means I’m likely to be able to find an exact replacement 5 years from now.

DaddyFish · Feb 20, 2021

It's a new brand to hit the USA, but CADE tanks from Australia, sold by Algae Barn in the USA, show a lot of promise.
Waterbox is also a very popular turnkey tank system.

wunderlong88 · Feb 21, 2021

Thank you. I am will consider and look into all of your thoughts. For those who were asking (and missed that I stated), "I plan on keeping a community tank with soft corals and maybe some easy LPS corals or any kind of beginner/easy coral. (I had a 140 gal with soft corals and various fish and inverts previously)"

I have done this before and am 100% sure I don't want SPS or any difficult fish or coral species. I want enough lighting to keep easy softies or LPS. Lighting has totally changed since I did this before.

I have been watching BRStv already and glad to hear they are good to listen to. I was enjoying what I've learned from them so far.

I will start a build thread when I have time. I didn't know about that.

Thank you again!

Rhoads238 · Feb 21, 2021

Welcome to R2R! I'm not familiar with that brand, personally i would look at Red Sea, Cade or Waterbox. They make very nice tanks.

FishTruck · Feb 21, 2021

Shopping out all the parts can be overwhelming and if that's not your interest... then an all in one might be just the thing to get you started again.

I think the waterbox setups look awesome.

There is an all in one forum to check out to get some real feedback.

Fishy Jacket · Feb 21, 2021

Hey!

I am just starting back as well, but only out about 10+ years. I am still looking at many things, but have picked the size of my tank, 60 X 30 X24. The two biggest changes I have noticed was the heavier focus on prefiltering (rollermats and socks...or not) and continuous parameter monitoring with systems like Apex/Neptune. After that...1. sand or no sand 2. augmented tank circulation, 3. dry rock or live rock with aquascaping. Finally LED has really changed the lighting world.

One thing has not changed...however much money you have, there are many ways to spend it! Also, UV or not to UV, that is the question.

Steve