"Diving" in to the world of Saltwater Set ups!

JonesSoda6

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
May 12, 2009
5
0
0
Ann Arbor, MI
Hello All!

Let me first introduce myself as Mike from Ann Arbor, MI. After being a community tank owner for a few years now I finally feel confident to take the "dive" in to a marine tank. Let me first throw some ideas off of you guys and see how this all goes.

- Tomorrow I am picking up a nice 90gal tank from a nice lady on craigslist, comes with a canister filter, some powerheads etc etc, but a nice baseline start while saving a tad on the pocket book.

- I am planning on going Fish with Live Rock in the tank, arg sand as the sub.

- After the tank is well established, moving to a reef system with a few fish (I am not going to overstock to begin with to be honest)

- After reading a lot online and asking some store buffs I think I am gonna try and make my own sump. We live in an apt so space and lack of a drain right there are a concern. But some of the enclosed systems Ive seen and read about sound simple enough so long as you can use a tool and know how to measure.

- What I will really need help with is the idea of pumps, skimmers, etc. Mainly the brands which work well and don't tend to die after a while.

- BTW a hang on overflow will be needed, not comfortable enough to drill the tank solo, but I actually do understand the principal of the overflow needs to drain faster then your return pump can move water back up. Plus if I lose power it alleviates the fear or turning the apartment in to a wading pool.

Anyways thats the start, I plan on doing a lot of thoughts and bouncing things off of you guys. Seems like a great community. Oh and I almost forgot, pics of progress of course. I noticed how much everyone (myself inc.) loves those, plus its nicer to see what I am badly relaying across the web as opposed as me trying to describe it.

Anyways all, thanks for your thoughts and if you have anything glaring in this past bit let me know, or give me some ideas cause money is an issue, but quality is not.
 

prskiller

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Apr 10, 2008
1,061
2
68
In a 10g tank w/wife n kids
Welcome aboard. I'm no marine expert but I was thinking of starting one to. BTW there is a marine section here where I'm sure you will find a wealth of info. This board is like the encyclopedia of fish keeping.
 

MonsterMinis

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Apr 28, 2009
6,048
9
0
Wisconsin
Why do you want to do saltwater?

yes it's actually a very relevant question...:ROFL:
 

JonesSoda6

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
May 12, 2009
5
0
0
Ann Arbor, MI
The absolute beauty of the fish/rock/corals, the challenge of keeping a setup properly running, my affinity for marine life since I was deployed in Cuba and they have some of the best scuba and reefs in the world btw!

Just mainly love fish keeping and believe I am ready for the next step.
 

ArcherintheBimmer

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Mar 6, 2008
70
0
0
WA
Sounds like you have a great start. Definately nice to have a larger tank when possible. I'll be honest, overstocking is way to easy with how cool all the fish are and how many you want to see swimming around.

I would focus on getting yourself lots of live rock and live sand off the bat. You can initally use the canister filter, but upgrading to a sump/wet dry setup would be ideal. Also, make sure you grab all the necessary chemicals and test kits so things get started off right.

Far as skimmers go, don't skimp when it comes time to buy one (no pun intended lol). The cheap ones on ebay are usually cheap for a reason and most people who buy them end up replacing them with a nicer one pretty quickly. I have a CPR bak pak 2 on mine, which seems to work fine, but is hella loud, so I would advise against it. Since you want to go with a diy sump, I would look for the "in sump" models, which usually cost a bit less than HOB ones.

Best of luck, look forward to seeing the tank all setup!
 

mr.reef24

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Apr 21, 2009
4,456
7
68
USA
s704.photobucket.com
JonesSoda6;3108284; said:
Hello All!


- What I will really need help with is the idea of pumps, skimmers, etc. Mainly the brands which work well and don't tend to die after a while.
For your sump i would use a ASM protein skimmer they are great very low maintence and last forever.

For a return pump are you planning on the pump being in the sump or out of the sump as a dry pump?

The best thing I can recommend is be patient with your tank and ask ask ask as many question's as you can. hope this help's and look forward to helping you along the way.

mr.reef24
 
zoomed.com
hikariusa.com
aqaimports.com
Store