Ready made reef tanks

[jjeran]

I want to start a slatwater reef tank for the first time. I have looked at the Red Sea and others. I am sure that I want 40 plus gallons as this I think will let me do what I want in creating a reef.

For the 40 to 60 gallon all in one aquariums are any better than others or is ir better to just bite down an do it a piece at a time. Is the equipment you get in the all in good enough or will I have to up graded before I start.

[Ninong]

Hi jjeran,




In general, you get what you pay for. The mistake many beginners make is underestimating the total cost of even a small reef aquarium. They mistakenly think that the aquarium itself and its stand will be their major outlay. Actually, the tank and stand are just the beginning.

If you are going to assemble your own system, I would suggest a 40-gal breeder tank (36"L x 18"W x 16"H) as the minimum size you should consider and the standard 75-gal tank (48"L x 18"W x 21"H) as a good small reef aquarium. The 40-gal breeder can be lit with a wide variety of available 3-ft long light fixtures and the 75-gal takes standard 4-ft long lights. Either one of those sizes would be 100% better than a standard 55-gal tank, which is 48"L x 13"W x 21"H.

I would not use metal halide lights for the 40-gal breeder. I think HO T5 lights or even PC or VHO lights would be better. For the 75-gal tank, you could use metal halides if you wanted to but HO T5 lights would be more than adequate and put less heat into the water.

As far as the newer plug & play aquariums on the market, it looks to me like the Red Sea MAX 250 is far and away the leader of this pack. It would have been better if the 'W' and 'H' dimensions had been reversed but it is still a great looking tank and I'm sure you can have a very nice mixed reef provided you locate the various corals correctly based on their light requirements.

You can get the complete Red Sea MAX 250, including tank, stand and starter kit, for only $1629.99 with FREE shipping. I doubt that you could assemble a similar system for less. You would still need to purchase about 50-75 lbs of good live rock, which will run somewhere between $4 to $6/lb online, plus shipping. So that's somewhere between $250-$500. You can get fully cured live rock for only about a dollar more than live rock that is not fully cured. "Fully-cured" simply means that it has been in the dealer's curing tanks for at least three or four weeks. The live rock that comes straight to you in the original shipping carton (transshipped) is NOT fully cured and it will take much longer to cure before you can start to add livestock to your aquarium.

Good luck!



P.S. -- One point on that Red Sea MAX 250 starter kit: I would increase the amount of sand that comes with it by at least 50%. It comes with 20 kilos (44 lbs). I think 30-40 kilos (66-88 lbs) would be much better.

[Seige]

Tank size really depends on what you want in it. If you want tangs or other larger fish you'll need a bigger tank. Personally, if I could start over I'd go with a 75g or 90g to start.

This hobby is expensive. If cost is an issue check around for used equipment.

[DarthClownfish]

40 gallon breeders and 75 gallon tanks are two of my favorite dimensions in standard tanks. If money is tight, I would recommend going with the 40 because IMO you are better off in the long run outfitting the tank with quality equipment from the get go.

If you can afford it, the RSM 250 is a nice setup, though the tank volume is only 55 gallons. The lighting is a little sub par as it does not have individual reflectors for its light system, which is very important on T5 lighting, but makes up for that by having 6 bulbs. I have a friend who has one and is very happy.

I setup a 40 gallon tank for my anemone tank and I am very happy with it. The basic setup is a 40 gallon tank, stand, Reef Octopus BH300-F protein skimmer, Aquatic Life T5 fixture (4x39 watt), and an EcoTech MP20 pump for circulation. This last is an expensive piece of advanced equipment; you could replace this with a trio of Maxi Jet 1200 powerheads with the Hydor rotating cap to randomize the water movement

I added 30 pounds of dry coral rock, and then 25 pounds of cured live rock from my other tanks to seed it. The dry coral rock will become live in time. I was keeping costs down. Add some sand and you are good to go with this. IMO a pretty good basic setup

As this is an anemone tank for Bubble Tip Anemones and a Clown pair, and I have been in the hobby a while, I took this a step further. If you read the article on the home page on sumps, they are a good idea, I bought a metal stand for the tank, and added a second 40 gallon tank for my sump. I drilled two holes in the main tank, one for an internal overflow, though you can buy an external one as well, and one for the return plumbing. I got some acrylic fom Lowes and partitioned the sump into 3 compartments. The first is 6" where the water drains into a 100 micron filter sock, the second is a 24" compartment which is my refugium with a deep sand bed and 20 pounds of reef rubble, and the third is a a compartment with my return pump, a Hydor Seltz running at 320 gph. I also dded a 5 gallon bucket and an Autotopoff.com ATO system. You could size it up to a 75, but the basic setup remains. HTH

[Ninong]

Hi DarthClownfish,

[aquachic]

I'm not sure if you have a cabinet yet but I got an amazing set up through RJ Enterprises out of Green cove springs, FL. They will ship where ever. Take a look.

[The R/C Man]

I will have to agree with others on tank sizes. 75 or 90 make great starter reef tanks. The difference in set up costs between the 2 is small. Typiclly you can get away with the same size skimmer, lighting etc. The major difference will be in the initial cost of the tank and stand.