SALTWATER HELP

Bill · Joined: 16 Aug 2007 Posts: 1

Hello,

I will be setting up a saltwater tank with a combination of fish and live
rock. I have been reading several books to try and help. I am starting to
realize this is going to be a pretty expensive hobby. The help I need.
Please let me know if I am missing anything. Here goes. Stand, Canopy,
Tank, Wet/Dry filter with pump, protein skimmer w/ pump, heater, overflow
plumbing kit, salt, sand and coral, LIGHTS any suggestions on this would be
GREAT. If anyone can give me any saltwater advice or let me know if I am
missing anything I would really appreciate it. My math is at $1500.00 on
these supplies. That's before adding any live rock or fish. THANKS for any
help BILL

Archived from group: rec>aquaria>marine>misc

Mike D. · Joined: 16 Aug 2007 Posts: 32

I advise you to look for a USED tank setup. We bought a 92 gallon corner
tank, with every kind of accessory you could want, and, a 70 gallon long
tank thrown in to boot, for $750. If you tried to buy this stuff new, you
would definitely be paying two or three thousand dollars. I have bought
several used large sized aquariums, and they have been great bargains every
time. Mike.
"Bill" wrote in message$bD4.1305@nwrdny02.gnilink.net...
> Hello,
>
> I will be setting up a saltwater tank with a combination of fish and live
> rock. I have been reading several books to try and help. I am starting
to
> realize this is going to be a pretty expensive hobby. The help I need.
> Please let me know if I am missing anything. Here goes. Stand, Canopy,
> Tank, Wet/Dry filter with pump, protein skimmer w/ pump, heater, overflow
> plumbing kit, salt, sand and coral, LIGHTS any suggestions on this would
be
> GREAT. If anyone can give me any saltwater advice or let me know if I am
> missing anything I would really appreciate it. My math is at $1500.00 on
> these supplies. That's before adding any live rock or fish. THANKS for
any
> help BILL
>
>

blondie · Joined: 16 Aug 2007 Posts: 1

Ok, you ready..this is long.

Dont forget all the test kits for all those different things like
ammonia,ph,nitrate,nitrite, and depending on whether you plan on adding
corals, you will need calcium, magnesium and alkalinity test kits to say
the least. i am just starting to get my 55 gallon up and running and
have realized that there is a lot of testing involved. Also, if you are
planning on adding corals and that type of stuff, you have to be
prepared with the supplements like calcium/magnesium supplements to
keep it in the right range. its also helpful to have an ICH treatment
handy just in case (especially if you dont have a quarantine tank). One
thing i will say that you can read a lot about online and i have now
figured out with first hand experience is that you have to use RO/DI
water for your tank, not tap water. I have been fighting algae in my
tank since i set it up and finally gave in and purchased an RO/DI unit.
Im so excited to see the difference its gonna make. But, if you are
gonna use tap water, you may want to purchase a few Poly Pad
Filters..they take the bad stuff like chlorine, phosphates, and metals
out of the water. Oh yeah, another thing..if you do use tap water..get
a good de-chlorinator for to treat it prior to putting it into your
tank. One last word of advice...make sure you get a good salt..like
Instant Ocean...and try not to purchase any foods that contain
phosphates. I hope this helps and i didnt tell you too much that you
already knew. I am far from an expert but i sure wish i knew all this
stuff when i started my journey in this awesome hobby. Im not sure
where you live, but check the prices in your LFS (local fish store) and
compare them to online places. One of my favorites is
www.thatpetplace.com they have extremely competitive prices. I try and
get a big enough order together of all the stuff i need and purchase all
my stuff from there and i actually drove from NYC to where they are
located..Pennsylvania..bc it was worth the amount of money i saved as
opposed to purchasing it here at my LFS. I hope this helped and keep up
on this message board, it has done wonders for my knowledge base of the
hobby.
Good Luck!
BLONDIE!!!!
Bill Wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I will be setting up a sal****er tank with a combination of fish and
> live
> rock. I have been reading several books to try and help. I am
> starting to
> realize this is going to be a pretty expensive hobby. The help I
> need.
> Please let me know if I am missing anything. Here goes. Stand,
> Canopy,
> Tank, Wet/Dry filter with pump, protein skimmer w/ pump, heater,
> overflow
> plumbing kit, salt, sand and coral, LIGHTS any suggestions on this
> would be
> GREAT. If anyone can give me any sal****er advice or let me know if I
> am
> missing anything I would really appreciate it. My math is at $1500.00
> on
> these supplies. That's before adding any live rock or fish. THANKS
> for any
> help BILL

--
blondie