New tank

[sk8freak20]

At a pet store near me they are stoping stocking sw fish, so they are selling thier tanks
there is one tank in perticular that i would like, and i havent had a sw tank yet so im not sure how good of deal this is.
it comes with:
30ish gallon tank
crushed coral substrate
flourescent light strip
skilter skimmer/filter
heater
and the rocks from the tank
all for $80
for the same price i could get a 20 long with the same stuff but a power compact light instead of flouescent
which would u go with for your fish tank?
thanks in advance

[FishinInTheDark]

That seems to be a good deal to start. I would take the smaller tank with better lighting, if you want to keep corals. You may find that you want to upgrade the skimmer, but with the larger tank you would have to upgrade the lights and skimmer.

Read our Knowledge Base for good information on keeping a marine tank, and welcome to Coral Forum!

[sk8freak20]

well i just talked to my mom and she said that i probably cant get that setup because i would have involved borrowing money from them, i have an empty 20 long with hood that im gona make a sw tank
since i dont have alot of money to spend at once would it be ok to:
get some crushed coral gravel, salt, and hydrometer and get that setup
then a couple weeks i could get the heater and fitler?
or would getting the salt and having it mixed up in the tank need filtration, i wouldnt put LR or fish till i got the filtration goin, but would this be ok to do?
theres still a posibitly of the other tank but its not looking so good

[TranZ]

I would try to persuade my parents to get me that 20g tank. its really a good deal....the live rocks alone will cause you about $30 to $50 (assuming its at least 10 lbs.) the lights about $50, the filter $30, the heater maybe $10, the skimmer might be around $30... tell your parents that and they might agree and get cause its really a good price....u could also show them the prices online for those things they are selling for price comparison. But PLEASE before your start your tank do read our KNOWLEDGE BASE in this forum.....

[kg]

I would go for the larger tank, but if money is an issue, you might want to save until you can get what you really want. Stay away from crushed coral - argonite (sand) is much better. Do a lot more research before you get started to reduce wasting money. Good luck!

KG

[Bertsch]

It definitly sounds like a good price, and I would go with the larger tank, you'll end up wanting something larger in the future. Listen to KG, start saving now for what you really want, eventually you will find a deal you can afford.

If you can search Ebay in your area, thats how I ended up with a 75 gallon tank and stand for a price I couldnt even get the tank itself for. Of course with ebay, your typically going to have to pick it up, so your parents would need a larger vehicle.

[Brock Fluharty]

Do you know about cycling and everything? it sounds like you don't, since you said you wouldn't put the fish in until you got the filtration going. I do not know if you mean biological filtration, or mechanical, but you generally have to wait abouta month for a tank to cycle, maybe even longer.

[sk8freak20]

Ok, so i didnt end up getting either of the tanks, but because of another sites nano reef contest i amd starting a 10 gallon nano with 10 gallon sump, either wiht PC lighting, or possibly a small MH light, soft corals to start, and if i get the MH light i will maybe put some SPS, fish wise im thinking a Firefish and a Clown goby, just wanted to update everyone

[Sugar Magnolia]

Keep us updated as you get the tank going. We love pics! ;)

[coral_diver]

sl8freak20!!! I dont know about a 10 gallon for a first timer! I dont know I am probably the wrong person to say that as my first sw tank was a 5gal hex but let me tell you nano's are more touchy and harder to manage! You need to cycle that tank for a good 2-3 months in my oppinion! that means sand, LR and saltwater, and say a over the back filter, nothing else...unless you want to try a damsel but that means if you want a fire fish and a goby make sure that where you purchase the damsel will take him back because you dont want him in with other fish more than likely since it is a 10gal there will be teritory issues. Definatly I would say you need a good book or alot of time here learning on the site. I dont want to say it but you have a plan but I am not sure you understand the time it takes to build a nano or any sw tank you cant just mix salt throw a filter on and some lighting and be fish and coral ready....you have to test your water for ammonia nitrate nitrite and ph once it is steady for sometime not a week or 2 I mean longer it is considered cycled also you ph is important! The water has to age to a higher ph or things will die! and for god sake do not use tap water in a nano just in case no one has told you not to you must use either ro or ro/di water! even purified water and distilled etc is not "clean" enough....I wish you luck really and dont want to discourage but make sure you know whats necessary for saltwater and how long to wait for everything etc. read read read please or you will be in for tragedy! luck!

[FishinInTheDark]

Distilled water is as good as RO/DI water, but you'll save money in the long run by getting an RO unit of your own.

[sophia101]

I think that is a great deal for a begginer tank but floresent lights will not be good enough to keep corals...you usually need aout 3.5-4 watts per gallon depending on the corals you want...i would suggest getting the tank if that what you want and then purchasing a seperate lighting fixture (t-5s are great!)...you can get 30" (wait how many inches is your tank, i forgot to ask??) T-5 fixture with i think its about 105watts or something at www.drsfostersmith.com. The people at drsfostersmith told me that since the t-5 lighting fixtures are such high-output your really going to get double the watts (105) so your really going to be getting about 210 watts altogether which would be great for keeping corals etc! I hope my advice helps!

[FishinInTheDark]

While T-5 lighting is excellent lighting that has good penetration and PAR value, it cannot be considered twice the wattage of compact fluorescent. T-5 may be slightly better, but in the grand scheme of aquarium lighting, they are still comparable watt per watt.