Need advice on equipment for 210g tank?

forgive tangster he needs his medication

live rock is porous and will benefit your tank for micro organisms, bacteria, and little critters. if you want to bleach the rock prior to get rid of the unfreindlies that is an option or you can play the lottery and put it as is in the tank.

 

Ok the best thing i see you doing is going big for starts the larger you go the more frogiving it will be as for equipment dont try to get off cheap if the lfs is telling you that you could get by with this skimmer but this one is better get the better one do alot of homework and find out all you can about everything you buy i tell you this because when io started i was misslead and had to replace almost everything i bought think of it this way once you put your system togeather you will want to go bigger so buy the big stuff now.

 

I think what he is looking for is the receipe for a saltwater tank. Sorry its a gaurded secret. No not really but everybody arrived at their tanks in different ways.

On the tank size I have to agree with what was said earlier, that bigger is better. It is more stable and forgiving. Also most people get a larger tank after a year or 2 anyway. (Why buy it twice) I am setting up a 210 up from the 55 and 75 I started with. Also get a smaller tank or plastic sump to put under the tank to hold the equipment.

For filtration there is the live rock and the skimmer.
As mentioned if you have the money buy it, otherwise use some base rock and seed with a few choice pieces. I made about 90% of my rock with concrete and used some live rock.
With a 210 in wall you will probably run a sump to hide the equipment. The skimmer can hide here also. You will find many a thread here about which skimmer to buy. Usualy the better ones cost a bit more. Euro Reef, AquaC ev240, Asm, Bubble king$ to name a few.
If you search 3 reef most people have talked about every skimmer out there.

You will need heaters. Always have a backup. Saltwater fish and corals cost a lot more then most fresh water stuff. Nothing is worse then getting home late and finding the heater is not working.

Lighting. One thing most 3reef ussers will agree on is that we all have changed our lighting at one point or another.
Since space is limiting you I would say use T5. They don't require a lot of space (less then any other option) but they will give you the ability to add on to vs. replace. If you start fish only and later start adding corals you can add extra ballasts and bulbs.

Now with this bit of information don't run out and buy everything but instead use the search function to find more detailed info about all these topics. Buy it right the first time and don't waste money.

Search: fuge, sump, skimmer, asm, bubbleking, euro reef, t5, ballasts t5, heater, diy rock, base rock, live rock, salt, saltwater books, tank build etc. Also most of the people that posted earlier have a build thread you can see the thought process in there builds. Take for example Otty, he has a great build thread for a 265g tank.http://www.3reef.com/forums/show-off-your-fish-tanks/otty-s-265-w-3-sided-view-39314.html

Once you get the basic info ask a lot of questions and as Matt has said a thousand times "Take it slow"

 

I have been told by the store I am dealing with that live rock is only $1 per pound more than dead rock. Given the various comments regarding cost and the common thought that live rock is expensive, and a good alternative is to seed with live rock, is there something I am missing. Should I question the fact that it is only $! more per pound. Thanks for all of your help so far. I am about 2 weeks from busting a hole in my wall for the tank.

 

The LFS is only selling it at $1 per lb more. You can find it on ebay a heck of a lot cheaper. I believe you are confused with the term "live rock". That only means that is has bacteria already growing on it but you can get dead base rock and it will become LR in time and save you a heck of a lot of money that you could use on equipment. I kill every bit of rock I get my hands on before it goes in my tank, I'm not adding someone else's problems in mine.
Does that make it clear as mud???? :-/

 

Clear as mud is right. The live rock is not $1 per lb it is $1 more exprensive per pound. I think they explained that it was $5 per pound for live rock. If I start with a 210g tank drilled, dead base rock, proclear protein skimmer 250, mag drive 1800 pump, proclear 200 wet/dry filter, heaters, 72" lunar aqualight, and crushed coral for the base of the tank am I in good shape to develop a stable system for fish only.

 

Marco Rocks

 

oxymoron:

lol

try and use external pumps, heres another site for rock
Marine Aquarium - Live Rock - Corals - Tonga - Fiji - Vanuatu - Marshall Islands

 

Hey don't call me a moron....