help on aquarium setup???

I'm a newbie and have been reading on here for a little while. I would like to make the move and purchase an aquarium. I have been looking into the Biocube 29gal or other types of setups in 25 to 37 gal tanks. Would a Biocube be a better buy or a standard type tank with add ons be better? I'm a newbie so I don't want to go big right off and invest huge amounts of space and money till I know what I doing. Thanks for the help.

 

Personally, I would suggest building your own setup. Buy a tank you want, skimmer, lighting, flow and filtration. It's much easier to customize and you can add a sump or refugium much, much more easily.

 

Is there another type of kit to go with other than the Biocube? I'm just worried about piecing an aquarium together and not getting the right stuff (filter, pump, etc...) for it. Again this is just a starter tank around 30 gal or so and I don't want to over spend on my first setup. Thanks again for all help...

 

you can go semi cheap on a 30g and still have a really nice tank. i would peice it all together as said before. it will give you the option to have better equiptment and probably will be cheaper than a biocube and stand. if you are looking for advise on parts just let us know. we will tell you what may be a better choice. good luck to you.

 

if its your first tank, the biocubes work great. you can mod the back chambers minimally down the road if necessary to provide a mini-fuge with lighting and chaeto (my friends got this setup in her biocube 14).

they're easy to maintain, but just go slow with the livestock additions and dont overstock the thing. id put no more than 3-4 small fish (that are still small as adults, dont need a friggin 12" long triggerfish or something in there).

the stock lighting is sufficient for beginner corals for the most part. softies seem to work fine in there. GSP flourishes under the stock power-compact lighting.

later down the road if you decide you want more corals you can always upgrade the lighting to a LED setup from nanotuners or a clip on metal halide unit.

if you're looking to be able to scale later on down the road then id recommend finding a reef ready tank that works for your budget, get another tank for a sump, get a return pump, some plumbing, and you're set to start.

id check out this thread if you intend to build your own setup:

http://www.3reef.com/forums/reef-aquarium-articles-how-tos/all-about-sumps-filters-fuges-79852.html

this forum has TONS of helpful users, and archived information that you'll be able to accomplish anything.

the biggest thing with this hobby "GO SLOW". dont impulse buy for sure. i made so many ill advised purchases in the beginning.

to give you an idea of cost investment a biocube14 without a stand, with a oceanic 14gal skimmer, 20lbs of sand, and about 18lbs of live rock cost between $600-800.

id assume then for a 30gal tank you're looking at spending anywhere from 1000-1500 on the entire setup when all said and done with livestock.

another thing to recommend, do not skimp out on salt mix. i started with the cheapest stuff i could find and later moved to instant ocean, red sea, and other good named brands and the coral growth, water params, and such have been much better since i made the move to a $45 bucket of salt instead of the $30 stuff (local pricing in chicago area)

the biocube may be a bit more costly than setting it all up from scratch, but it requires less real estate in the home in my opinion and dependent on your living situation it might work better.

 

I would diff need help on parts if i was to piece an aqaurium together. Help on that would be greatly appreciated.

 

I would also suggest a 30 gallon tank. not a 29 gallon, but a 30. The 30 gallon tanks are 36"x12"x16". This gives you a lot of room to work with. I would then build a sump out of a 20L (30"x12"x12").

With lighing it really depends on what you want to do with the tank. Reef or FOWLR. If reef what type of corals, softies, sps (small poly stony corals), or lps (large polyp stony corals). Depending on what you decide on we can definately help you get the most bang for your buck.

 

So if I put an aquarium together, do I need a sump or will a hang over filter work? Which filter and what else would I need?

 

Definately research, research and more research. The search engine here is your best friend here. If that fails just ask a question. A ton of very knowlegable people here. Take your time and enjoy.

Brian

 

Most people (including myself) would likely recommend getting a sump to filter your main tank. Typcially, the hang-on-back filters dont produce the flow you want so you end up putting powerheads in anyway. Also - there is little room for media in a HOB(hand on back) filter so this means more frequent changes in your filter cartridges. For example those "Whisper/Tetra" cartridges should be changes no less than twice a month.
With a sump you have a TON more options.
But most importantly with a sump comes system stability.
Let's say for argument sake you go with a 30 gallon DT (display tank). If you use HOB filters, your TOTAL volume is still 30 gallons. If you add a 20 Gallon sump, your TOTAL SYSTEM volume will increase. While the 20 gallon sump will not be 100% full, it is safe to assume it is at LEAST half full. That means your total system volume is now 40 Gallons! This means it will be easier to keep your water parameters stable and desirable. Changes in chemistry of the water will be buffered by the larger volume of water.

Also when using the sump, you can install a refugium, calcium reactor, protein skimmer, heaters, phosphate reacters, automatic top off systems, etc. With just a tank with HOB filters, you have to put ALL of your equipment in your display tank. This has the potential to make it look cluttered when real estate in your tank is ALREADY at a premium.

I can tell you, however, that the BioCube (or similar models) ARE good for beginners. I myself started with a 14 gallon cube and still have it almost 2 years later. Just like it posted by others, you can modify the BC to suit your demands. You can modify to add lighting, a protein skimmer, or a refugium.
The price of these units is also quite fair considering they are almost "turnkey" setups.

The do limit the kinds of coral that you can keep. But if you are just getting into this vastly detailed hobby, it may be best to stick to the hardy corals that you can easily keep in a biocube.

Bottom line is you can be happy with whatever tank you decide to go with.

You need to shop within your budget. To get GOOD/Top-Of-The-Line equipment will likely run you more money to build a system than to purchase an "all-in-one". But again, there are advantages and disadvantages to both depending on your needs/wants.

Research, research, research are probably the most important words you need to know. Its cheap to research. Its very expensive to make mistakes in this hobby.

Best of luck and welcome to 3reef!!!