tamboe2001 Posted May 28, 2004 Report Share Posted May 28, 2004 ok heres the situation i went snorkeling at the great barrier reef on tuesday and since ive been dreeming about saltwater tanks but the drawback is i have no idea where to start or what i need so could someone give me a list of things i need to set up a reef tank about 4 x 2 x 2 foot and maybe aproximate prices any help would be appreciated Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted May 28, 2004 Report Share Posted May 28, 2004 budget around $5k minimum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef Posted May 28, 2004 Report Share Posted May 28, 2004 yep, if you can afford $5k then you are in business. some try to do it for less and generally they fail or their tanks look like crap. important equipment skimmer. good skimmer will cost $600 plus. can get cheaper but not worth skimping on this important equipment. can use t5 lighting, however get metal halides as they will allow you to keep a wide range of corals. min 150w, cost between $400-$1000 and that is about it, the rest of the money can be used for rock and stock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted May 28, 2004 Report Share Posted May 28, 2004 i highly recommend you look at starting off with a 2nd hand tank and equipment to cut-down on costs. here's a tank i've just seen for sale on trade/exchange for $1,200 ono. probably someone who visits here regularly no doubt?!!! http://www.trade-exchange.co.nz/TEProject/viewad/ad_single.jsp?adID=5174386 I started off this way, ie: bought a 2nd hand 4ft tank w/ overflow, live rock, live stock, sump, skimmer, powerheads, etc etc for $1,400. i added up everything i bought to see what it would cost me to buy new, came out at just over $4,000. not a bad saving and it was already one third established, saved me time, money and effort. still lots to learn though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackJackJack Posted May 28, 2004 Report Share Posted May 28, 2004 research, ask questions and go look at as many established tanks as you can. it will save you soooooo much money ($1000's) lots of people buy the wrong or cheap equipment and it costs them alot in dead stock and replacement equipment. reefing costs alot and takes alot of time but it is worth it in the end! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef Posted May 28, 2004 Report Share Posted May 28, 2004 The add looks cheap and nasty for a reef tank. Don’t use canister filters in a reef tank, the skimmer will be a small air driven toy. Lighting is totally inadequate for a reef tank. So it pays to research as it is better to start of correctly as you won’t have to upgrade again in the future. To get good advice you should get hold of, pies,nicks,jetskisteve,lduncan. They have got great tanks so they obviously know what they are doing. Even better go and see some reef tanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tamboe2001 Posted May 28, 2004 Author Report Share Posted May 28, 2004 thanks for your advice ppl and as i said its going to be a long process i dont expect to have it up and running b4 new year but now i got a goal to strive towards i think im gonna go the whole hog and buy all the equipment and pay someone to set it up for me that way i can get an expert to tell me what im doing when you say skimmers your talking about protein skimmers right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
count_sexy_tart Posted May 28, 2004 Report Share Posted May 28, 2004 tamboe,its a good idea to put your location in your profile as people can assist you better,your in aus where?great barrier reef and you have access to more live stock, the guys here can point you to some good shops as well and as the guys will tell you, build a plan and have lots of patience and buy the best you can and that will be your reward, don't do it cheap as it will cost you more in the long term the guys will help you avoid the mistakes if you listen to what they say as they have good advice and have made the mistakes themselves Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tamboe2001 Posted May 29, 2004 Author Report Share Posted May 29, 2004 count_sexy_tart i havent put a location cos in 9 days im going to be living in Nelson NZ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lduncan Posted May 29, 2004 Report Share Posted May 29, 2004 visit www.reefcentral.com and read as much as you can. When it comes to marine tanks, reasearch is key, otherwise you will spend MUCH more than you ever budget for. To get you started here is a thread on reefcentral.com http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthrea ... adid=46719 Here is a good article with some pratical advice from Eric Borneman, the famous coral researcher. Some of this is not really intended for the beginner, but a lot of it does apply. http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-02/eb/index.htm Layton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted May 29, 2004 Report Share Posted May 29, 2004 $5k to set up a tank seems to me anyone that has $5k to set up their first tank has spent too much money.I`ve never heard of spending that much to set up a tank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lduncan Posted May 30, 2004 Report Share Posted May 30, 2004 Most people here have at least spent double that on setting up their tanks. Someones tank probably owns him more than 12 times that!! Layton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted May 30, 2004 Report Share Posted May 30, 2004 i know of guys who reckon they've invested well over $20k. if you want to budget on $3k now, go for it but its only going to cost you at least another $2k in 6 months time when you find out you lack in and/or dont have the right equipment to do the job... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yota Posted May 30, 2004 Report Share Posted May 30, 2004 Hi and welcome to NZ, good to see you've chosen the best town to settle in....that should get a few bites on here.lol. As for finding a expert here in Nelson to set up your tank you might be p..sing in the wind there. I'm currently setting up a 4ft tank at present and thought I'd share the products I've purchased and wish to buy with you and others on here so if anyone has comments or prices please share for everybody to veiw and maybe save me a few more $$$. Tank-$500-it's a similar size to what you want but personally I'd go 5ft if starting from scratch. It has 4 holes drilled in the toughened base and 1 in back panel with all panels in 10mm glass and front panel, center brase from starphire glass also used black silicone. Refractometre-$100-purchaced online from USA or use a $10 hydrometre as I did while setting up. RO unit for evap top up -$280-this is a 3 stage unit with 300-400L per day capacity. Might add on DI later if I feel it's warranted. Water movement-$200- 2xSCWD, these are water driven ocilating units to provide some random water movement. Tunze pumps are a lot more pricey but very good for moving large amounts of water at gentle speeds. Their cheapest unit the Turbelle strem 6060 (6000L/H) is about $250. Pumps-$?-U get what U pay for here there are lots of cheap and nasty ones out there that will be nosiey, unreliable and electrical hazards to you're health. Goog brands to buy are Laguna, Ocean Runner, Iwaska, Eheim and a few others I can't think of. I'm going for a Laguna 3000(4750L/H) at $270 to run my P skimmer and 2x Eheim 1262(3400L/H) at $280 each for closed loop and sump return. Light-$?- I'm looking at getting 2x 250watt MH with 14k lamps. Lamps about $120 each and ballasts to suit these lamps for $130 each but still need lamp holders are reflectors. It anyone reading this know of cheap ballasts and reflectors please let me know!!. Flourecesent tubes are cheap to buy at electrical holesale stores like MasterTrade etc... I think I paid $40 for a twin digitil ballast but water proof end caps are a bit harder to come by, paid $27 a pair from pet store, u may also want reflectors for these. Actinics for night veiwing, can't remember what I paid for mine but I'm sure someone on here will say. Plumbing-$200-I'm only guessing here as I've bought mine over a period of time. U need PVC pipe, Bulk heads, Glue etc... and a float valve for auto water top up, Rojo float valve $23 suited for low pressure. Glass Cleaner-$40- get the best, Magfloat or Tunze, U don't wanna scratch ya glass!! Rock/Corel-$500- you'll have a hard job finding any live rock here (MAF regulations) so you'll have to make you're own by buying dead bass rock for 10kg at $13per 20kg delivery cost and cycling it as to build up it's bacteria/filtering capacitys. This is the first thing I would do as I did about 10 months ago (after my trip to GBR) with 35kg in a old 4ft tank with Canister Filter for circulation,lights and some local critters thrown in as well. I've recently added a further 15kg giving me a total of 50kg. If you want u can use this set up to cycle you're rock as it will vacent in several weeks time. Heaters-$120-Buy 2 and use both at once for back up purposes. I've got 2 250watt heaters at $60 each. Sump-$?-u can just use a cheap plastic drum/container to start with for housing heaters, skimmers etc...... and later on custom build a sump with baffles, refguim and so on. Test kits-$150- get the best... Salifert...$150 should be pleanty to get all nessary tests. Protein Skimmer-$0-from what I've read u can go with out One of these expensive wee items providing u have lots of live rock and do plenty of water changers (I have over 1200L sea water storage if that helps) but this is'nt the path I'm taking. $450-$750 without pump will buy you a skimmer more than adequate but probably not here in NZ. LFS will try and sell you something for that price and in all likley hood will be useless or mega bucks for some European thing that will work great but realisticly over priced. I'm sure there will be a few comment said about this paragraph. Well I think that"s about most of it but sure there's more, and others on here will have their 2cents worth to say. Just remember there's a million paths to follow in this hobby, and no two tanks will ever look and behave the same, so take all advice (including mine) with a grain of salt but the one thing you will here most often and I think all will agree that PATIENCE will save you money and dissapointment. Yota P.S yu might wanna consider a power inverter as they are telling upper S.Islanders there may be power cuts. Anyone would think we all lived in a banana republic sometimes eh!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lduncan Posted May 31, 2004 Report Share Posted May 31, 2004 P.S yu might wanna consider a power inverter as they are telling upper S.Islanders there may be power cuts. Anyone would think we all lived in a banana republic sometimes eh!!! I've always though a neuc plant would be the perfect solution for NZ, plenty of power, with very little waste. Anyway, back on topic, I would say that running skimmerless would be asking for trouble if this is your first tank. Most reefers keep way too many fish in too small of a volume of water for this to work successfully. Some advanced hobbyists experiment with this overseas (USA mainly) but I don't think it is a particularly good theory. Skimmers are the way to go. Layton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yota Posted June 1, 2004 Report Share Posted June 1, 2004 tamboe2001 u have a PM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tamboe2001 Posted June 1, 2004 Author Report Share Posted June 1, 2004 dont know y yota but i didnt receive the pm your talking about Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yota Posted June 1, 2004 Report Share Posted June 1, 2004 how about this time? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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