im new to the hobby.

[exotic reefer]

Just bought my acrylic tank looking to get started on what equipment is realiable.

 

[Flagg37]

Good to have you. How big is your tank?

 

[Enderturtle]

Hey Welcome!

Do you plan on adding a sump to your acrylic tank or will you be putting everything into the main tank?

Bare minimum I recommend

1. Good Heater (It's cold right now, Eheim Jagers are recommended by many)
2. Liverock (You can use liverock from someone's tank/store or add some bacteria to some dry rock and let it culture)
3. Powerhead/Wavemakers (Reliable and cheap wavemakers are the Jebaos)
4. Lights (This will depend on what corals you want to keep)
   • LEDs are very commonly used in this hobby nowadays. AI, Kessil, and Ecotech make really good lights.
5. Saltwater/Mix
   • Some people are using Instant Ocean, Reef Crystals, D&D Reef, Filtered Saltwater.
   • A lot of people mix their own salt.
   • Some people buy their own saltwater from their nearby store.
   • If you're going with only Fish in this tank, use Instant Ocean. If you want corals get a reef salt.

Those are the bare minimum to keep a reef tank.

Here is my girlfriend's Reef Tank.

It is literally a glass box with 1) Heater 2)Pump 3) Light 4)Liverock


Click the pictures to make them bigger.


The downside to such a basic set up? You need to do waterchanges often. 12 Gallons of water gets old fast if you have a lot of fish pooping and corals using up nutrients and etc.

Investing in more equipment makes having a reef tank easier but can cost more money. So it depends on you and what you want to have in your tank and what luxeries you think you want for the tank.

 

[rygh]

Welcome!

Already some good advice.

I would really suggest you buy and read a book.
"The conscientious marine aquarist" is a good one.
It has a lot about setting up a tank, but also tons of info on different fish/etc.
The internet may have the same info, but it is scattered badly, and there is
a lot of bad info out there, since anyone can post anything.

Plan your long term maintenance before you start.
Alk/Ca dosing and Nutrient export in particular.

START SLOWLY!!!
Rushing things is a sure recipe for disaster.

 

[exotic reefer]

Good to have you. How big is your tank?[/Q. My tank size is 60inch longx22inch widex26inch tall

 

[Enderturtle]

Start slow and ask a bunch of questions.

Here's a Comprehensive List of Things to Learn as a New Hobbyist
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1031074

So you don't end up making mistakes like we did.

 

[Vhuang168]

That is a great size! About 137g! Do you have a sump yet?

1st you need to decide if you want fish only or corals or both!?! That decision will drive many of your choices in equipment.




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[muhli]

Don't go cheap in this hobby or you'll end up spending more

 

[Flagg37]

That is a pretty big starter tank. My calculations were closer to 150 gallons.

 

[wpeterson]

Congrats on the new tank and welcome to the club!

Is your tank reef ready with an overflow or are you planning to run everything in the tank? Setting up a sump with proper filtration is a great investment at this stage, but I don't know what your budget is.

 

[exotic reefer]

The tank has a ext.overflow don't have u sump yet or a stand.I don't really have a budget,but definitely interested in top of the line equipment.

 

[exotic reefer]

The tank has a ext.overflow don't have u sump yet or a stand.I don't really have a budget,but definitely interested in top of the line equipment.I want fish and coral do I guess a mix reef

 

[exotic reefer]

The tank has a ext.overflow don't have u sump yet or a stand.I don't really have a budget,but definitely

Congrats on the new tank and welcome to the club!

Is your tank reef ready with an overflow or are you planning to run everything in the tank? Setting up a sump with proper filtration is a great investment at this stage, but I don't know what your budget is.

 

[denzil]

Welcome to BAR!