broskie
Active Member
So I am looking to start my first SW tank “Done FW for over 8years up to a custom 192 gallon with stingrays and other high maintenance fish†and I was wondering what would be the best setup to start with? I have listed out the 3 different setups I have looked at and there cost. From the setups listed below what would be your recommendation? I plan on keeping just a FOWLR first and once I feel I have the responsibility to take care of the tank and its requirements. I will expand into corals and eventually wanting to do a clam or two. I do appreciate anyone who has the time to leave there opinion and any other setups or equipment they think is better. I will be bargain shopping threw Craigslist for a few things if I can find it “live rock, sump, power heads ectâ€
Setups:
- 34 gal reef-ready aquarium in black
- Matching stand in black
- All of the original equipment: lighting, skimmer, filtration, circulation pumps, heater, power panel, filter pads, unused filter media and unused carbon, hydrometer, and additional cooling fan (never used). You can also have as much live gravel as you like and what is left from the starter kit.
IMPROVEMENTS:
Lighting: This system comes from the factory with 110 watts of compact florescent light which is barely enough for only few species of coral. I added an additional 65 watt compact florescent light for a total of 175 watts or 6 watts/gallon, more than enough for any coral you can find and even enough to keep clams healthy. This extra light can be put on a separate timer and used to simulate dawn and dusk. This alone was about $175 and 5 hours of time.
Skimmer: The Red Sea Max comes from the factory with a rather large skimmer that does ok, but doesn’t skim as well as its size would suggest. I made some minor changes to the skimmer and now it works very well.
Flow Nozzle: I replaced the two factory nozzles with one directional split-nozzle so you can redirect flow exactly where you want and one rotating nozzle that acts as a wave-maker and creates random currents. Coral growth is simulated by erratic and changing currents.
Filtration: The system’s filtration works great right out of the box. I made some minor improvements to increase flow and reduce the frequency of the “bubbles†phenomenon that you may have read about in online blogs. It also makes cleaning the filter pad a little easier. Inside the cabinet there is a hole cut in the shelf to allow for hoses if you chose to use an additional filter, pump, or chiller if you think you’ll need one.
You also get 3 extra replacement bulbs, 2-55 bulbs for the original Red Sea lighting and a 65 watt bulb for the added lighting (which has a brand new bulb watt in it already) Worth about $100.
Setup 2. Bio Cube 29G $250 Brand new factory sealed with stand.
Setup 3. Oceanic Rimless 57 Gallon $300 brand new along with a $500 budget for other equipment. Custom built stand by me so this will not be include in the budget aka “what I want to spend to start off withâ€
Live stock has a different budget haha.
Setups:
- Red Sea Max 130 $500 Craigslist
- 34 gal reef-ready aquarium in black
- Matching stand in black
- All of the original equipment: lighting, skimmer, filtration, circulation pumps, heater, power panel, filter pads, unused filter media and unused carbon, hydrometer, and additional cooling fan (never used). You can also have as much live gravel as you like and what is left from the starter kit.
IMPROVEMENTS:
Lighting: This system comes from the factory with 110 watts of compact florescent light which is barely enough for only few species of coral. I added an additional 65 watt compact florescent light for a total of 175 watts or 6 watts/gallon, more than enough for any coral you can find and even enough to keep clams healthy. This extra light can be put on a separate timer and used to simulate dawn and dusk. This alone was about $175 and 5 hours of time.
Skimmer: The Red Sea Max comes from the factory with a rather large skimmer that does ok, but doesn’t skim as well as its size would suggest. I made some minor changes to the skimmer and now it works very well.
Flow Nozzle: I replaced the two factory nozzles with one directional split-nozzle so you can redirect flow exactly where you want and one rotating nozzle that acts as a wave-maker and creates random currents. Coral growth is simulated by erratic and changing currents.
Filtration: The system’s filtration works great right out of the box. I made some minor improvements to increase flow and reduce the frequency of the “bubbles†phenomenon that you may have read about in online blogs. It also makes cleaning the filter pad a little easier. Inside the cabinet there is a hole cut in the shelf to allow for hoses if you chose to use an additional filter, pump, or chiller if you think you’ll need one.
You also get 3 extra replacement bulbs, 2-55 bulbs for the original Red Sea lighting and a 65 watt bulb for the added lighting (which has a brand new bulb watt in it already) Worth about $100.
Setup 2. Bio Cube 29G $250 Brand new factory sealed with stand.
Setup 3. Oceanic Rimless 57 Gallon $300 brand new along with a $500 budget for other equipment. Custom built stand by me so this will not be include in the budget aka “what I want to spend to start off withâ€
Live stock has a different budget haha.
