Jamie McD

Well, sure. I was under the impression, however, that shop lights don't last long with an aquarium. Friend of mine who does freshwater (60+ tanks) tried using shop lights and they failed on him frequently. I'd expect it to be even more common with salt water. There's also the problem of where to hang a shop light since I have yet to convince the wife that our extra room should be a fish room.

Eventually I may, but right now I have the aforementioned lighting ($$$$$) problem. I have no light at all for the 30.

Heh. Yeah, I'll definitely be joining WAMAS. And if you guys consider kenya trees and xenia to be crap corals, then can I go through your garbage? I'm easily amused. As I PMed to Larry, I do have an extra 30g tank collecting dust, but I've been hesitant to use it because I can't afford the lighting at this point, although I do already have the lights mentioned above for the 10G. (I was really annoyed when what I thought was a second strip light turned out to be incandescents.) I do plan to keep an eye out for cheap live rock and sand. As to what I'm trying to accomplish in this hobby: Right now I want a cheap start. I've loved marine life all my life (why, oh why, didn't I major in marine biology when I had a chance?) so I know I'll want to keep trying new things (clams! sea horses! octopuses!) as time goes by -- but as freshwater fishkeeping has taught me, you have to get your feet wet first. Oh, and is this a universal condemnation of overflow boxes? It seemed like the smartest option outside of drilling a tank.

Ok, so some of you all convinced me. I'm going to try the jump from freshwater to salt, starting with a fish only tank and slowly moving to FOWLR and then reef. I'm working with what I have now and will slowly replace it as I find good deals. I know a lot of people are going to pounce on things, but I would really appreciate feedback. Here's my proposed set-up based on what I can afford now: 10g tank Overflow box 18g rubbermaid sump Trickle filter with open-cell foam cylinders, 150w heater, and submersible pump Glass top with one 22W t-8 bulb and two 25W incandescent bulbs "dead" sand substrate with base rock (I'll add live of both later) Tap water treated with AmQuel+ I just want to keep a single clownfish. The real fun will come with the inverts later on. Some help I know I need: Any suggestions on the size of submersible pump and size of the tubing? What color temp for the lighting given what I have to work with (1 t-8 and 2 incandescents) I've got some crushed shell substrate, but I assume I won't need that until I add inverts. Is that right? Oh, and I'm in Manassas, so our tap water is: Silvex (ppb) .7 Alpha Emitters (pCi/L) 1.0 Barium (ppm) 0.035 Beta/Photon Emitters (pCi/L) 3.3 Chlorine (ppm) 2.93 Combined Radium (pCi/L) 0.3 Fluoride (ppm) 0.9 Haloacetic Acids [HAA] (ppb) 36 Nitrate (ppm) 0.8 TTHMs [Total Trihalomethanes] (ppb) 40 Copper (ppm) 0.38 Lead (ppb) 2 I appreciate all the help!