Intro: New Member in Arlington

[KingOfAll_Tyrants]

Getting back into the hobby.  On the deep end.  

 

My dad was a serious aquarist, and I always grew up with fish.   Around 8 years old I decided to pick up his (1970ish) copy of Innes Exotic Aquarium Fishes (lots of cool color pictrures) and I was hooked, reading it several times and in the end memorizing a lot of common names, regions of the world, scientific names, etc. This led to me being interested in biology and species.   I read every issue of TFH he collected from 1980-1988, as well as a whole list of books (including the binder Exotic Tropical Fishes).  I loved going to our largest pet store (Clark’s Pet Emporium in Albuquerque NM), and kept several fish in my dad’s 100G, as well as several livebearers in my own 10G, and a marine aquarium in another 10G.  I made a science fair project twice abouy guppy genetics (getting as far as state) before I got to AP Biology, and for better or worse stopped after too much biochem.   During college and the first eight years after graduation I lived in a no-pet situation.   But, even so, I’ve always been interested in a reef aquarium, and have bought some excellent books during that interim, slowly reading them and ReefCentral.  I also picked up a few books about “natural” “biotope” freshwater aquaria.  

 

Anyway, I’m now in a pet-friendly situation, and my wife wants a tank.  I spent several weeks thinking not starting out with a reef, and planning out an Amazon biotope.   The Mrs. (who has not aquarium experience whatsoever) goes to a certain local store, and falls in love with the reef tank and wants that (she wasn’t interested in the discus L  ).   I tell her a little bit about how much it will cost (WAG: $2000 for a 50G-ish system) and  that it will be a lot of work, she says its fine, she loves how the tank looks.   

 

So, I’ve suddenly found myself in a “we will soon buy my first reef” situation.   I’m rereading all the “how to start a reef” literature and threads I’ve saved up over the years. 

 

[WheresTheReef]

Welcome to WAMAS. You will find great advice from lots of experienced members. Also, great deals in the for sale forums and from our sponsors. Getting the wife to sign off is the first major step LOL. Good luck and remember to take your time planning things out.

[AlanM]

Nice.  $2k can get you a great tank.  For new you're in the ballpark for a well-equipped 40-50g.  For used you could go a lot bigger for that cost.  Don't go 55, though.  No one ends up liking them because they're impossible to drill (tempered), and only 12" front to back which is too narrow.  40B is a nice size, and you could rock that for $2k.  Heck, for less than that I'd sell you my entire established 75g, including all the equipment, fish and corals. 8)

[blank]

Hello! Welcome Welcome :3 2000 is definitely an awesome budget to start off with. I have to agree with everything Alan says. People end up not  liking the footprint of the 55 either. 40B is a great size tank, I'm also currently setting one up! Always remember like most used things, they can go bad and has no warranty! Think about setting up a build thread, you can get a lot of good opinions from experienced reefers and it's also cool to see your process over time

[Origami]

Thanks for the intro and welcome to WAMAS!

[KingOfAll_Tyrants]

Thanks, all.  Should add another thing: my wife loves a 24"X24"X12" - 30G design, and that fits my FW-keeping biases to a T, though I fear it's too small.  (I've read about and pondered "nano vs big" for over a decade while I was petless)   I've also been cautioned that such a set up is not as good for side viewing as a conventional tank, something I'll have to think about.

 

Anyway, thanks for the pointers and the welcome.   Blank, I think I will do a build thread, once I have a plan in mind.   Key things my mind is focusing on (now that my previous Amazon tank that I was planing for a month is out the window) are 1. aquascaping 2. biomass selection/management 3. making sure I've thought through all the management things - sumps managment, sufficient light, water quality, etc. (we will have a sump and PS)

[surf&turf]

Welcome!

[blank]

Haha! That's the exciting part! You can envision what your future tank is going to look like! 30G rimless cubes are really popular as frag tanks but I don't like how it's neither a nano or a big tank really. It's kinda awkwardly in the middle! If you have the option to go bigger, I would recommend so! + a lot of the cooler fish you need 40+ gallons . As for aquascaping, after picking out your tank size, look at other people's builds. There's this really cool read on r2r that talks about what a good aquascape is. http://www.reef2reef.com/threads/tips-and-tricks-on-creating-amazing-aquascapes.97209/. As for everything else, just takes a lot of reading and research! 

[AlanM]

24x24 footprint and 12 high? Most here would encourage you to double that and go for a nice 24x24x24 60g cube. With a screen top from Artfully Acrylic.

[KingOfAll_Tyrants]

Thanks, Blank.  Funny, he made the same post at RC, which I'm going through (all 80 some pages.....).   I do like this one from his article (justifiably famous), and may use a more basic form of this as a starting point:

 

http://www.reef2reef.com/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fi6.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fy232%2Frevhtree%2FR2R%2520Site%2520Images%2Fcpfarm_zps43ffc087.jpg&hash=1e1b29819b54428f8409e7642448b3f7

 

 

And Alan/Blank, I did think of a larger tank, and for all I know maybe we'll get one in the end (like the 24" cuble).  Mostly for management (i.e. more space = more organisms and lesser likelihood of temp fluctuations, apparently) but also because of the point that it's a bit of a specialized arrangement, and may be hard to adapt to a display tank.  

[Bruleyii]

Welcome. My piece of advise, and im sure you have already read this other places, is to take it slow. Let it properly cycle. You will be much happier and less stressed if you let it go through its fazes without livestock. 

[madweazl]

Cubes seem to be popular but I dont understand why for a reef; With the smaller version, you're basically stuck with a pillar like structure that essentially gets dropped in the center of the tank. This provides very little structure for the fish to swim in and around and can also limit the number of inverts you can place in the setup vs a traditionally shaped rectangular tank. As was previously suggested, a 40b has a relatively small footprint but has great dimensions for a small reef. Similarly, standard 75s maintain a nice ratio for a reef and are my preference for a small to medium sized tank (still budget friendly but provide enough room to have a number of nice inhabitants). Deep Blue has an 80g that is awesome if you dont mind shallower aquariums. At 5+ feet in length, my opinion is that it needs to be at least 24" wide unless you want the "wall of rock" look.

Edited September 19, 2016 by madweazl

[Joshifer]

Run while you can. Jk welcome

[KingOfAll_Tyrants]

Thanks again to all the warm welcome.  I very much like the 24X24X12 footprint and that's I think what we can have for now; though I admit the 40G breeder type or even the deep blue 80G are very interesting.  However, the next obstacle is corner overflows: this is one of my wife's preconditions.     But fortunately Deep Blue has reef ready systems with those overflows, to include the 24X24X12.  

 

Bruleyii: agreed.   I think first will be thourough research about the setup, then setup, then a basic check of the system, then WLR, then FOWLR, then slowly adding easier corals.  Several months per stage.  

[Bruleyii]

Sounds like a great plan.