I have just purchased my first saltwater tank a Red Sea Max s400 and waiting for it to be set up in the next two weeks. Have been doing research on tanks and set ups but have come to the realization that i have a lot to learn with saltwater after having fresh water for years.
New to saltwater (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter LisanDan
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Welcome to the club! Hope your check book is deep lol
the 1st Saltwater expo is in April, so you have plenty of time to get the tank settled in and in time to stock with great corals.
A basic saltwater tank (e.g. for a few hardy fish such as a pair of clownfish, and/or some hardy invertebrates) does not have to be a great deal more complicated than the freshwater tanks you are accustomed to.
It's when you decide to keep things like corals and anemones (and when go to having the intense lighting that is necessary for the corals and anemones) that things start getting lots more complicated. Keeping reef tanks (with corals), as opposed to tanks for some saltwater fish, involves a significant learning curve.
If you want to go the route of having a full-blown reef tank with live corals it would be very useful for you to see and examine a variety of different reef setups that different people have set up, to see some of the variety of ways of doing this. There are a variety of very good, viable ways of setting up and maintaining reef systems, some being much more complicated and/or much more expensive than others. You can do reef tanks on a fairly tight budget if you are creative and good with tools and such, and one can do all of the basic maintenance (e.g. replacing evaporated water, dosing calcium and alkalinity supplements) manually, though in the end many folks find some degree of automation (e.g. water level switches and topoff systems, dosing pumps, etc) invaluable.
TCMAS has periodic gatherings, often at people's homes, where you'd have the opportunity to see various systems, and to ask folks lots of questions. Also, I, or I suspect any number of other members (some of whom are more knowledgeable about reef systems than me - there are some really smart, experienced folks in this group) would be happy to get together with you and help ease you up the learning curve.
If you do end up setting up a reef tank for corals (with good lighting, good water flow, good nutrient control, etc), contact me when it is up and running and I can give you a few small cuttings of corals or other things to try out in your tank.
It's when you decide to keep things like corals and anemones (and when go to having the intense lighting that is necessary for the corals and anemones) that things start getting lots more complicated. Keeping reef tanks (with corals), as opposed to tanks for some saltwater fish, involves a significant learning curve.
If you want to go the route of having a full-blown reef tank with live corals it would be very useful for you to see and examine a variety of different reef setups that different people have set up, to see some of the variety of ways of doing this. There are a variety of very good, viable ways of setting up and maintaining reef systems, some being much more complicated and/or much more expensive than others. You can do reef tanks on a fairly tight budget if you are creative and good with tools and such, and one can do all of the basic maintenance (e.g. replacing evaporated water, dosing calcium and alkalinity supplements) manually, though in the end many folks find some degree of automation (e.g. water level switches and topoff systems, dosing pumps, etc) invaluable.
TCMAS has periodic gatherings, often at people's homes, where you'd have the opportunity to see various systems, and to ask folks lots of questions. Also, I, or I suspect any number of other members (some of whom are more knowledgeable about reef systems than me - there are some really smart, experienced folks in this group) would be happy to get together with you and help ease you up the learning curve.
If you do end up setting up a reef tank for corals (with good lighting, good water flow, good nutrient control, etc), contact me when it is up and running and I can give you a few small cuttings of corals or other things to try out in your tank.
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Welcome let me know if you have any questions.
ohuno
Event Committee
Lisa & Dan, it was nice to meet you yesterday. Good luck with the new tank, you will be able to find a lot of help here on the forum.
~david & Karen
~david & Karen
Welcome to the club and the addiction.
Keep in mind that the Spring Expo is in April this year, and I know Beef's Reef always brings a butt load of snails, starfish, sea fans, and everything else. If you want something specifically from vendors just lookup which ones are coming to the expo and place an order with them and they will bring it with them.
Badgervet
Senior Member
Welcome to the club and addiction! Best advice I've had in the hobby is to go slow and take your time adding stuff to your tank.
Thank you guys, i look forward to building up the tank but getting really antsy for it to get set up.