New Tank

Finally have the tank for my first reef tank! Picked up a 46gallon euro bowfront by Marineland. I think the wife wanted smaller like 26 or 36 gallon but for the difference in price I couldnt resist. She still hasnt seen it yet we will see how she reacts ;D

I am going to use this as my build thread so as I set stuff up pictures will be posted!

 

Great! I have the same tank and love it. Get some pics up soon!

 

Lol I did that to a girl I was dating once, it went poorly. Now i have a wife that buys me tanks. Good luck!

 

haha I wish she would buy me tanks, at least she let me keep it!

 

Its funny because I started wanted to setup a 16gal for my first setup and it kept getting larger until I decided on the 46gallon seems like a good size. I plan on moving in a year or two so I didnt want to go to big.

 

it is a 36 gallon! it is a 36 gallon! it is a 36 gallon! remember as george costanza said, if you believe it its not a lie.

 

OK so I decided to make a list of equipment bought and needed to help keep track of exactly what I am spending and hopefully you guys will see what I have and what I am missing to be successful with my first build.

46gallon tank, stand and hood- $290
Fluval C4 HOB filter- $56
Fluval E200 Heater- $36
2 Hydor Koralia Nano 425 powerheads- $53
T8 strip light -FREE (this is just temporary since you dont need light to cycle the tank)
Old Whisper HOB filter for chemical media- FREE
40lbs of Pukani and 8 lbs of Tonga Branch dry rock- $180

Still need
Light fixture- thinking a coralife quad fixture with LED moonlight about $220
Protein skimmer- Hydor slim skim, BAK PAK or AquaC Remora $120-240
Substrate- Undecided $40
Test Kits and refractometer $??
Who knows what else??

And to thinkI started this thinking I could do a good setup for only a few hundred tops, this is so much mroe expensive than freshwater!!

 

HAHA if only that worked I would have a 72"by18" tank agaisnt that wall right now and she would think its only a 36gallon!

 

Hope you enjoy the bow, I love my 26 gallon.

About skimmers, you probably can't go wrong with either. I have the nano version of the slim skim and really like it. The biology department at my school used Remoras and they all looked to work well, pulled some gross looking skimmate all the time. And I've never dealt with the BAK PAK, but I have CPR's AquaFuge and it is nicely made. Guessing their other products will reflect the same craftsmanship.

Depending on what you're planning to keep, might want to up the flow a bit.

 

IMO
up the power heads to 750's at least
consider a second heater and 2 thermometers
buy a cheap maxi jet and heater for water changes
get aragonite sand while ordering your rock
get a tDS meter $20
get salifert or red sea pro cal/mag/kh kits if keeping corals, don't worry if only keeping LPS and softies
salt order a bucket from drs fosters and smith, free shipping
get a stocking list and food for them

def research free shipping options, open multiple windows and find the best group deal!

look into a BRS group buy deal and order almost everything from that, prob the cheapest option!