New Member and Hobbyist in Springfield

[mpitzer]

Good Afternoon everyone,

 

I recently had one of my quarterly urges to start a saltwater aquarium and get back into the hobby after a brief stint in college around 2006.  I have purchased a 60G cube/stand/sump/LED light/pump that I plan to start setting up in the next few weeks.  The tank has obviously already been drilled and plumbing was provided.  The extent of my very limited experience was a 30G tank that I had for 6 months at my college apartment where I kept some live rock and damsels.  Due to my inexperience, the fish ended up dying and it really had a negative affect on my mindset as I questioned whether I was really fit to be a tank owner.  Sustainability was on the forefront of my mind back then and still now as I dont want to kill any of these beautiful creatures due to inexperience and perceived irresponsible practices.  I am planning to take the first few months doing a lot of research and slowly building up the tank.  I live about a mile from the Quantum reefs store in Springfield so I expect to be spending a lot of time in there learning about the most sustainable practices while also keeping a 'reasonable' budget in mind.  I am super excited to be part of this group and learn from the most experienced reefers as well.  My plan is to spend the first three months conditioning the tank with live sand/rock while purchasing the necessary equipment for fish and inverts.  I am currently looking for a protein skimmer (likely 100G if it will fit), one or two powerheads, and potentially an RO/DI filter pending everyone's thoughts on here.  My previous tank used the fine white live sand which I loved but may be too fine when putting powerheads in the tank.  Any recommendations for equipment and substrate would be greatly appreciated. 

 

Thanks,

Matt

[smh254]

Hi Matt

My name is Shawn and I live in Manassas. This all depends on your budget.

Lower budget I would go with. CaribSea Sand, SCA 303 skimmer and 2 jebao RW8. A little higher budget I would go with. CaribSea Sand, Reef Octopus skimmer and 2 mp40s.

[molcott]

I have a 40g with 2 jebao rw8's and they work great if you can drop the coin I highly reccomend the reef octopus skimmer I recently upgraded to one and in one week its already working better than my cheap old one ever did and its not even broken in yet

[molcott]

my bad running 2 rw4's not 8's

[mpitzer]

thanks for the advice guys!

[epleeds]

Bubble Magnus curve 5 skimmer would be great for your size tank.

[Reefoholic]

Welcome!

 

I like AVAST Marine Works skimmers. They are very efficient, small footprint in the tank and made in the USA. Also, they are one of our sponsors at WAMAS. Also, I like building my equipment myself so a perfect match for me.