# Needing advice on setting up new saltwater tank



## Phishnpups (Sep 9, 2012)

I'm starting to do research on what it takes to setup and maintain a salt water tank. I was wondering if anyone here would offer any type of advice as far as tank size and what equipment and equipment brands people recommend. I was also wondering about where people order their fish and supplies from. There's not many fish stores around here that offer salt water fish and supplies. I appreciate any type of help and advice.


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## Reefing Madness (Jun 26, 2011)

#1-Dry Rock, there are a few hitchhikers on Live Rock that people want to stay away from, so they opt for using Dry Rock, or Dead Rock. Macro Rock is a good place to start looking for that. Either way you go you will need a minimum of 1lb per gallon. You can use Fully Cured Live Rock, and have the tank cycled in just a few days also. Other way is to use just a couple of pounds of Live Rock and the rest Macro or Dry Rock.

#2-Replacement filter media like filter floss and activated carbon (if you get a filter) Which is really not necessary.

#3-Multiple Power heads (2 or 3) 10x your water volume for just a Fish Only With Live Rock, and at least 20x your water volume for a Reef Tank. So lets say your going reef, and you have a 100g tank, you would need flow in that tank at minimum of 2000gph, or 2 1000gph power heads.

#4-Protein Skimmer, rated at 2 times your water volume. Unless your tank is under 30g, in which case you can do 10% water changes a week to rid the system of detrius. But, you'll have to watch the water parameters close, if things go haywire, you'll have to do more water changes.

#5-Saltwater Test Kits. Reef Test Kit. Test for Ammonia, Nitrites, Nitrates, PH, Phosphates, Calcium, ALK and Magnesium.

#6-Saltwater fish food. Mysis Shrimp, Squid, Cyclopease, Algae Sheets, Romaine . Flake food is not really a good food to feed your marine fish.

#7-Aquarium vacuum. This one is iffy. Most don't use one, if you have enough flow in the tank you won’t need one

#8-Rubber kitchen gloves

#9-Fish net

#10-Two, clean, never used before, 5-gallon buckets

#11-Aquarium thermometer, digital being the best.

#12-Brush with plastic bristles (old tooth brush) - needed for cleaning the live rock if you don't get Fully Cured Live Rock.

#13-Power Strip, possibly GFCI outlets by the tank.

#14-Optional but definitely recommend getting a Reverse Osmosis or RO/Deionization filter for the make-up water, and a barrel for storing the water.

#15-Possibly a Quarantine Tank for your new fish. They sit in here for a few weeks to kill off parasites and bacteria, to keep it from getting in your main tank

#16-Heater rated for your size tank.

#17-Saltwater Mix. Marine Salt. Instant Ocean is the cheap Salt that beginners and Advanced use alike.

#18-Saltwater Hydrometer or even better a Refractometer, which is more accurate. There is also a Digital Meter that is way advanced if you have the cash.

#19-Aquarium filter (not absolutely necessary if running with adequate amounts of live rock, but nice to have if you need to use a mechanical filter or activated carbon, or GFO and such)

#20-Aquarium substrate such as live sand or crushed coral. Some go bare Bottom, others choose the 2-3" bottom, others, more advanced will try the Deep Sand Bed, which is over 6" deep.

Volusion Demo Store

Aquarium Nitrogen Cycle and Cycling. Methods for Ammonia, Nitrite Removal.

aquarium heater in Aquarium & Fish | eBay

power heads in Pumps | eBay

NEW | eBay

MarcoRocks Aquarium Products

Bulk Dry Live Rock & Live Sand - Bulk Reef Supply

Live Rock and Live Sand: Live Saltwater Aquarium Rock and Sand

Fish & Aquarium Supplies: Marine Substrates, Sand, Crushed Coral, Live Sand

Aquarium Lighting, Light Information; Reef & Planted, PAR, Watt, Kelvin.

http://live-plants.com/

What Your Coral Needs | Successful Reef Keeping

t-5 lighting in Home & Garden | eBay

cree led aquarium in Lighting | eBay

Aquarium Salt Mix: Salt for Saltwater and Freshwater Fish Aquariums

Aquarium Water Testing: Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Reef Master Liquid Test Kit

Reef Aquarium Care: Kent Marine Liquid Calcium Supplement

Saltwater Aquarium Buffer: Kent Marine Superbuffer-dKH pH Buffer and Alkalinity Builder

Saltwater and Reef Aquarium Supplies - Bulk Reef Supply

Saltwater Fish: Marine Aquarium Fish for Saltwater Aquariums

Reef Fish, Marine Fish, Coral, Aquarium Supplies & more - Saltwaterfish.com


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## Big Dogs Little Pigs (Nov 10, 2012)

matt, did you have enough coffee this morning? 

this list is invaluable. i'm putting it in my bookmarks!


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## Phishnpups (Sep 9, 2012)

Thanks so much. Ill definitely bookmark this and use it as a shopping list. 



Reefing Madness said:


> As far as tank size, the bigger you go the more different kinds of fish you can keep. But, I would start out with nothing less than a 20g long tank.
> 
> #1-Dry Rock, there are a few hitchhikers on Live Rock that people want to stay away from, so they opt for using Dry Rock, or Dead Rock. Macro Rock is a good place to start looking for that. Either way you go you will need a minimum of 1lb per gallon. You can use Fully Cured Live Rock, and have the tank cycled in just a few days also. Other way is to use just a couple of pounds of Live Rock and the rest Macro or Dry Rock.
> 
> ...


_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Reefing Madness (Jun 26, 2011)

LOL. I added a few more links to it, as the OP was looking for a few more answers.


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## willow (Sep 9, 2006)

hey :-D
may i ask why the rubber kitchen gloves ?


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## Big Dogs Little Pigs (Nov 10, 2012)

Big Dogs Little Pigs said:


> brian, did you have enough coffee this morning?
> 
> this list is invaluable. i'm putting it in my bookmarks!


fixed that!


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## Reefing Madness (Jun 26, 2011)

Big Dogs Little Pigs said:


> fixed that!


:-D


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## Reefing Madness (Jun 26, 2011)

willow said:


> hey :-D
> may i ask why the rubber kitchen gloves ?


When dealing with corals and such, to keep your hands and oils out of the tank. Fragging and such.


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## willow (Sep 9, 2006)

thank you. :-D


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