Newb, considering. Any advice?

I am thinking about saltwater. So total blank page! What are all the things you wish you had known going into this? Also do you recommend a total setup or buy separate pieces to make your own tank?

 

Good morning and wlecome to 3reef.

as a newbie i can't answer the first hald of your question , for the second half , i beleive separate pieces is better for the following reason :-

1- it will give you a knowledge for each piece which is very important
2- i guess it will be less problems and easier for maintenance and replacing (upgrading) than closed cyrcle.

this from my newbie experiance ;D

 

+1. If you go and buy a pile of equipment, you will have no idea what to do, and you will be incredibly overwhelmed and end up losing a ton of money. Buy things seperately.

As for what I wish I had going into this? I don't think anyone can answer this for you, everyones setup is unique. Actually, you must have an RO/DI unit. You must. Don't use tap water. Everyone learns this somewhere down the line, but usually the hard way. Also, get good test kits.

 

+1 buy things seperately so you can custom and match things to your specific tank/ requirements.

 

+1. I wish I had known about RO/DI water before starting a reef tank. Now the Green Hair Algae has become a menace! Also, I wish I had started with a protein skimmer. And definitely buy equipment separately

 

Ok so build my tank from bottom up. As for water, I am blessed to have a really good saltwater warehouse that sells precycled reverse osmosis (ro?) saltwater. They have a whole setup just for that there . I'm gonna look into the required tank setup today and learn a thing or two I guess my next question would be what size tank do you recommend for a noob? I wish I could do 500 gallons but it's just not plausible in an apt, as huge as this place is, it would just be rediculous lol. Thanks for all the +s by the way! Got to love forum love!

 

Get as large as you have space for and can afford. Greater water volume means greater stability and more room for error.

 

Honestly, the bigger the set up, the less you have to worry about different swings and parameter changes. You still want to watch those though The bigger the tank, less the inhabitants will get stressed out by those swings and changes. A bigger tank also means more room for inhabitants. A 40 breeder would be a great place to start, or if you want to do a nano, you could use a 10, 20L, 20H, or 29 gallon. You're going to want a protein skimmer with the 40, though, and preferably a sump as well (Don't ask me about how to set those up as I have no idea ). If you do a nano tank, you don't necessarily have to have a protein skimmer and a sump, but it always helps.

 

Well how big ??!! i guess depends on your budget ;D , everyone will agree on one thing , go as bigger as you can cause if you go small you will face lots of problems and you will not be pleased for long so you will go upgrdaing which means waste of money .

guess something around 90G will be a great start ;D sure if you can afford it .

 

55G is a good place to start but 30-40 may be in your price range.
IMO stay away from HOB... Sump is the way to go.