25g high to big for newbie?

[chrismiss]

Would love to get into this. I have a 25g high sitting around. Is this a good tank to start with? What equip. do you guys recommend? Any advice you could give would be great. Thanks.

[Tigahboy]

Is it acrylic or glass? I would recommend that you have the tank drilled for holes to accomodate 2 1" bulkheads towards the top. Then you can have water flow into a sump/refugium tank w/o dealing with external overflow boxes that rely on a continuous siphon/pump to keep the siphon going (since this alternative could lead to overfilling your tank and a flooded tank if power goes out).

 

Even if you feel that a refugium/sump is not an option right now, good to get it cut anyway in case you change your mind later. So much easier to accomodate the upgrade later if you cut it now rather than dealing w/ overflow box later or having to empty your entire tank to get holes cut. Just plug the bulkheads w/ end caps and use it w/o a sump/refugium for the time being.

 

Other equipment or stuff you ideally want to have:

 

1. HOB Power Filter like AquaClear brand w/ chemipure (activated carbon filter media) and Poly Filter (or other phosphate/toxic metal and organics filter pads) for polishing water and absorbing harmful stuff produced by corals/anemones. But don't use nitrate-enhancing bio-balls/ceramic rings as filter media.

 

2. A good protein skimmer - Aqua C Remora or CPR Bak Pak

See here for a breakdown on brands: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/cav1i1/prote...impressions.htm

 

3. 30lb-40lb Live Rock

 

4. 20lb bag of live sand

 

5. Lighting is really dependant on what you want to keep. If you want the capacity to keep anything under the sun - 250w Metal Halide (MH) pendant would be nice. Aqua Medic Ocean Lights are great cuz they have everything you need to get started (bulb, pendant, external ballast w/ fan), quality bulb, and all for reasonable prices at marinedepot.com, customaquatics.com, and hellolights.com or you could go for a DIY type retrofit kit and put it together yourself for a lower price. 20K (slight bluish tint) for more coloration for your corals, 10K (more white/yellow tint) for faster growth, but less coloration. Both will result in faster growth than regular Power Compacts (PC) tho.

-150w MH will likely suffice, but may have to keep SPS and clams at higher parts of your tank on the rockwork.

-if you only want to keep lower-light corals (soft coral, mushrooms, zoanthids, etc) - 130w Power Compact/Compact Fluorescent fixture will suffice (but you won't see as much coloration and growth as MH) at half the price of MH fixtures.

 

I think that pretty much sums up the basics. Always more stuff you can get, but that should be a very very good start if you can get all of the above.

[chrismiss]

It is a glass tank. Thanks for all the info. Having the holes drilled now and setting up a sump/refugium tank is the best way to go?

[Sushi]

DIY is always better for the advanced aquarist... personally, it might be a little more intimidating for a beginner to start with all that stuff and not know what it's for. i suggest u find a setup with what you can afford to accomodate and go off that.

 

my suggestion would be to do what your money allows you to do... if you can afford to have glass drilled, go for it, it won't be pretty though, it's much more cost-effective to drill acrylic.

 

i think u should start out with a nano-cube DX (~$150), it's got the primary components for a thriving reef-tank. once u get the tank up and running for a couple months, you will get the hang of how to maintain a healthy reef tank. at that point u can consider moving onto a larger, more time & money consuming tank. that's just my opinion though, and like i said, it's totally up to you.

[chrismiss]

The nano-cube dx certainly sounds like an easier place to start. I've got 6 tropical tanks but have always wanted a marine tank.

 

I think I'll start with the nano cube. Do they make other sizes?

[Tigahboy]

Well uchiha knows I will disagree w/ him on one thing...and it's my take on the "complete" all-in-one set-ups for beginners (I have no such hang ups for those who buy them knowing full well the potential challenges/problems). See here for a recent response I posted regarding this: http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/showthread...3628#post383628

 

Nothing above is really DIY...just involves going out and buying stuff to add to the tank. A lot of which you will probably buy for an complete set-up anyway.

 

True...the cutting the holes in glass is going to be the only difficult part...but that's just as true for any of the complete set-ups since they usually come in glass as well. So my suggestion on getting it cut for holes still applies, regardless of whether it is a complete-set-up or just a regular tank.

 

And if you still want nano-cube, get the largest one they possible make (unfortunatly I do not know what sizes that particular brand comes in).

 

There's always going to be conflicting opinions in this hobby...so just do what works best with your personal preferences/style. =) Good luck w/ your new set-up!

[phergus_25]

I am against the nano-cube also. I bought one then decided it was more trouble than it was worth and got a 20L. i would say the 25 gal is great. get a good lite and a HOB filter and keep up waterchanges. Unless you stock the tank heavly then you dont need a skimmer for a while. you can get LR and normal sand and get the petstore to scoop up some of their sand for you. I really like an AGA better than a premade setup. my $0.02

[chrismiss]

Thanks everyone. THis site is the most informative, and most responsive one that I have found. Will definetly be spending a lot of time here.