Your Imput needed!!

[melana]

Hi Everyone,
Since I am new to all this and I only have a 38 Gal tank with stand, Fresh water basic eguipment. I want to convert this into a reef tank. I was wondering where I could buy used inexpensive equipment to start a reef tank with?? Has anyone had any luck with EBAY? What equipment do I need to start up a reef tank?
Just looking for opinions and insight.

Thanks for your help!!

Melana - the newbie

 

[mano1192]

How much are you looking to spend on the setup, and more inportantly what kind of a "reef" tank do you want to have. Many different species require different needs, so require real expensive lighting while others do not, I would do some research on what type of corals you plan on keeping so you know what type of conditions you need to provide them with

 

[MelodyDurham]

The equipment for sale forum right here at the BRS always has some good stuff for sale. Also, try some of our sponsors.

If you're looking for something in particular, you can post a message with a WTB (want to buy) tag in case someone ahs something extra they didn't think they could get rid of or forgot about.

Good luck!

Melody~

 

[melana]

Other than the lighting, is the other equimpment the same? Like skimmer, heater, etc?

 

[this is me]

Basic reef equiment.
Light-power compact, VHO, T5, or metal Halide
Powerheads
Protein Skimmer
RODI uinit
Test kit- PH(a meter is prefered), nitrite, nitrate, calcium, alkinity, amonia, ect.
And some supplement- all you really need is calcium and alkinlity.
Thats the most basic set up I can think of.

 

[melana]

Thank you Melody,
I guess even though I have been doing alot of reading here through all these threads I feel like I should be buying all kinds of equipments.. just wondering what I really need to start out with? Its kind of like I want to run with this but I really should be crawling!!! Taking baby steps.

 

[melana]

cool... thank you

 

[this is me]

Other than the lighting, is the other equimpment the same? Like skimmer, heater, etc?

There's a hang on skimmer which for your size tank is sufficient, I use a Remora myself.
There are glass heater which I dont recomment because you gonna deal with rocks(liverocks) and you might break the heater in the process. Most reefers use titanium heater which are great but there seem to be a problem with the temp controller which cause the heater to heat their tank too high or low.

 

[melana]

I really appreciate all of your help..

 

[melana]

Do I need a sump for this size tank?

 

[this is me]

Yes, I would use a sump. Otherwise your tank would look very messy. A sump is where you can hide pretty much all your equipment; skimmer, heater, probes, ect.
And the best part is that it keeps the tank 2 degree cooler.

 

[gordonzoo]

I wish I had this info when we started. I always thought it was going to be more expensive because I now had to add salt along with the chlorine remover. Little did I know...

 

[melana]

So if I have all this in the sump, do I still need a heater in the tank? Then if I understand correctly then all I need is to have the water flow back to the tank by?????

 

[mano1192]

a return pump back to the tank (the mags are my favorite) and the heater can then go in the sump, this will keep equipment out of the tank. Also having a sump will raise the overall total water volume which helps keep parameters stable, good luck

 

[this is me]

Yes, you will need an overflow or have your tank drilled and a return pump.
I know i know, its getting complicated. Next thing you know we be talking about a calcium reactor and whatnot.

 

[Daragon]

Your best bet is to find someone near you so that you can go check out their tank to see how everything works. I'm sure you'll find more than enough people willing to do that, myself included, that and we always like showing off our tanks.

By the way, Welcome!!!

 

[chuck]

I got my heater and lights through ebay

oh, and a couple of powerheads(maxijets)

you can also find mag pumps on ebay...

my lights are PCs, so I only keep basic corals and fish.

 

[Piscevore]

i would absolutely scope out several tanks before doing anything. You'll save a lot of time and money.

Buy a Refractometer for 40 bucks, don't mess around with hydrometers.
Someone is selling a RO/DI unit on the board for 50 bucks, grab it.
A digital thermometer and PH meter will save your butt, and they are also fairly cheap.
20 bucks for a ti tube heater online
Drill your tank, any number of people on the board will do it for you, for cheap or free, or a lfs will do it usually for aorund 20 bucks.
Buy lights once. Don't plan on upgrading several times, its wicked costly.
Buy good salt (tropic marin, oceanic)
Don't add any additive you don't test for.
Salifert or Lamott are the only test kits you should buy, regardless of what anyone says to the contrary($$$)

Mistakes I wont make again:
Build (don't buy!) a calcium reactor out of a piece of pVC, there are plans online, they rock.
Live Rock, buy 1 live piece, and the rest dry.
Valonia is not pretty.
Xenia MUST be kept seperate from your live rock.
2 part additives are -super- easy to make, don't buy em.

 

[starrfish]

First of all...WELCOME! You are about to embark on the best hobby in the universe. There are a lot of great points above, but since you asked specifically about a sump, here's a great thread from Reef Central that explains everything you ever wanted to know about a sump. Happy reading...

http://www.melevsreef.com/allmysumps.html

 

[nhbloke]

Hi
I got alot of my stuff from the wants ad paper, a complete 55gal reef tank with 2x250 MH, 6olb live rock and everything else all for $500 the tank i used as a sump for my reef tank which was a fw setup. Good luck searching