# 260 gal aquarium



## christian71 (Jun 5, 2009)

Hi Everybody,

I am having a bit of a dilema. I received a beautiful used 260 gal acrylic aquarium as a gift. Unfortunately the equipment for it will not be cheap. In fact I am a bit scared about getting myself in to something that may only cause frustration and become a money pit. Hobbies are not cheap! But I am not in any hurry to set it up. I have been getting so many opinions (both amateur and professional) that I am at odds over what to do.
I would like to set up an aquarium that is a marine fish-only tank. I would like to focus on only a few fish. Yellow tang, and 2 or 3 other species. Even a couple of fish is fine with me. Quality rather than quantity. If that makes any sense?
The problem lies with what brand/type of equipment to use. I can't spend thousands of dollars on such a hobby. I am not sure what products available will run at optimum levels once set up. For example if a skimmer is not set up correctly with right amount of water at a constant, it will throw off the skimmer performance dramatically. I have seen some set-ups that blow me away. Making me question my set-up. I spoke with a professional aquarium installer who looked at my "to buy list" and thought they were all very inefficient and basically crap. Money out the window. He said it takes $$$$. Hobbyists keep companies rich because they keep screwing up and buying new stuff. Experts buy the best and get it right from the start. So this is were I am now---------undecided. Please could you give me some recommendations and your opinions. You are my last hope. Thanks, Christian71:-(


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## pretzelsz (Jan 14, 2010)

I say design a sump (at least 20% the amount of water of your tank). Either make a DIY protein skimmer or wait for a pro to tell you a good brand. Find a local reef club and get a member to help seed some live rock and sand(buy some base and live as well) read the articles on SW to get an idea. And a cheap or DIY light system with 10000k output. And you can keep a tank some clowns maybe an angel, Jawfish, Blenny, whatever floats your boat so to say.


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## reefsahoy (Jul 16, 2010)

first off a fish only tank is pretty inexpensive if done correctly. your biggest expense will be the rock work and sand if it's live or not. For a fish only tank you can a couple of inexpensive power heads, and a regular 30 gal tank as a sump and a skimmer. the lighting is only for viewing purposes so go cheap there too. i personally would buy used equipment which would make it inexpensive. there's lots of people going out of the hobby now and you should be able to get used equipment easy. fish only tanks can go without water changes for a few months also. even my tank goes without water changes for a couple of months when i get lazy.

what is your budget? with that i can give you recommendations.


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