Believe it or not... ANOTHER newbie

Hi,

I have been keeping freshwater aquaria since I was about 8 years old. (JFK was pres.) I am ready to take the plunge into salt water and would like to do a nano or pico reef. I know all of the caveats about starting big with salt, but I have been quite successful with fresh; even breeding somewhat difficult fish like discus and angels. Having said that, I am ramping up for something on a smaller scale, beacuase I really like the look of the nanos and picos and one of these, as opposed to a large tank, would look great in our tv room. I've done tons of reading and was going to go with JBJ, but then I saw a thread on here, yesterday, chronicalling an EcoPico build and I am preety sure that the EcoPico is the way I would like to go. I haven't even begun to consider stocking anything, yet; I am only sure that I want to do a reef and not a FOWLR. I am thinking that once I get everything set up, which won't be for a couple of months, and then it is cylcled, I will consider my stocking options. I do have two local sources; a small LFS and "the largest pet store in the world" near by in Lancaster, PA. Both have a lot of marine livestock.

So... after all of that, I'll be setting up in a few months and wonder what you all think of my decision to go with the EcoPico (reef option) with a fourth LED strip added.

I am looking forward to making new salty friends.

Steve

 

Welcome to 3reef, Steve.

If this is your first reef tank, I would go a bit larger than a pico. A nano in the 24-29 gallon range. Once you get the parameters down and some idea of what types of corals you want then down size. You will really limit yourself with a pico initially.

 

Welcome to 3reef!

 

welcome!

 

Hello and Welcome to 3reef ......Steve

 

What's a "JFK"?

lol, j/k. hello and welcome.

I agree with what was mentioned above. I small tank like that can be challenging. Alot of people dont recomend smaller than a 55, but given that you already have aquarium familiarity I would say consider 20-30g.

 

Welcome to 3 reef , Steve

 

A pico isn't a good reef system, at most you could have mushrooms and a very limited choice of hard/soft coral depending on size of tank. Filter feeders may be a problem as well. If you want a all-in-one system, try a JBJ system, 14, 24, or 29 gallon BioCube or BioCube HQI (HQI is built for coral and has some nice lighting) they have everything you will need for a reef (may want to custom retrofit an extra lighting source up top though) and are bigger which gives you more choices. Even though you have a lot of FW experience, bigger tanks are better for beginners because of how often water changes are done. SW is so unlike any other hobby, there are lots more micro-organisms and hidden inverts, different water params, and fish/coral with more complex behavior/care requirements which adds to the difficulty. Bigger tanks are also more relaxing and fun. Anyways, welcome and good luck on making the choice.