Setting Up My First Tank

Alright guys, I've decided to jump into the saltwater hobby! I've purchased a 29 gallon Eclipse aquarium, and I have lighting (two 24" T8s/T12s, was told with one 20k and one actenic that would be enough for hard corals), filtration (biowheel with live rock when I get it, and probably a skimmer), and a heater (150 glass). Oh and 30lbs dry sand. I plan on getting a powerhead, and live rock, obviously.


I'm waiting until I move up to BSU to my house for school to stock it though. So my biggest concern right now is getting all the rock, water, and stocking the tank once I move up there. In Bemidji, Friendly Fins closed down I believe, so all I have left is some new pet shop, I checked em out, they have like one 40 gallon breeder tank with some saltwater fish in it. Besides that, the only thing I think I could get there would be mixing salt and maybe a powerhead. Otherwise will I have to drive all the way to Duluth just to go to a decent fish store? Thanks guys!

Nice if you plan on corals u will deff need a skimmer !

Do you want a reef? That setup you bought doesn't have much for lighting really, you will be able to keep most soft corals and some easy hard corals like candy canes, frogspawn and the like but if you get into reefkeeping you will be tossing that setup and upgrading within the year guarenteed. I wouldn't use the biowheel, they are a nitrate trap and not needed for saltwater. For live rock I would look into buying from other members or online, most pet shops are pretty overpriced on rock, I wouldn't pay over $4 a pound max, there's a decent store in Cloquet, I would stay away from the one in Hermantown personally, way too $$$, and they have pests, there's one in Superior that's new.

I'd like to keep a few soft/hardy corals, but I realize how ill-prepped the tank is for real reefkeeping, and I'm not planning on doing too much with this tank. This is more just to get me into saltwater decently cheap. It'll be easier on my stomach buying a huge tank later if I get this one up and running first! lol

Can anyone point me towards good online vendors for rock? I've seen a bunch, but the reason I wanted to go through an LFS was because I'd like to pick out the rock, so I can get my aquarium aquascaped the way I want it.

Lol! Nothing in this hobby is cheap, especially not the inevitable upgrades, just trying to save you some wasted money, I bought all sorts of crap we totally didn't need based on pet store advice, struggled for a year, then shelled out the big bucks for what I really needed. Starting cheap a lot of people get discouraged with the limits and quit. Honestly in hindsight it would have been better to save up, research, buy everything I needed at once and have a decent setup right off the bat. For rock I've gone through LiveAquaria, Blue Zoo Aquatics is good as well. You can also buy some dead dry base rock through bulk reef supply.

"Honestly in hindsight it would have been better to save up, research,
buy everything I needed at once and have a decent setup right off the
bat."

Me 2 that woulda been the bee's knees ! Not that its ever 2 late 4 that! But most expierience and knowledge comes with expierience lol but i suppose expiermenting with the best is always nice

Dead base rock, is that just rock that's flatter/wider? Also dumb question but how DO some of you guys aquascape? I've heard of drilling, gluing, all kinds of different stuff.

Base rock is just dried out live rock, it comes in any shapes/sizes but is cheaper and you get more by the pound since it's not soaking wet. You can do some base rock, get some quality live rock and let it all cure, you can use epoxy to glue the rocks together, acrylic rods if you want rock towers, you can really get creative. I usually just go with the balancing act but HomeDepot and Mnreefcrazy on here have rods in their rock.

Rods will really give u nice look i just have towers or piles though wish i woulda went with drilled way !

Rods seem cool, but I don't have the equipment for it. What kind of epoxy would I need to glue them together? I'm guessing LFSs sell it?

Just on way out the door but eco-rox from bulk reef supply is the way to go just get some of that and a few ponuds of live rock.... will explain more later but that IMO would be the way I would do it if I was starting over. I am in Bemidji so I can help out if you need.

Garrett

Do u recommend gluing or drilling and using rods ? What kind of rods do u use acrylic ?

Home Depot, do you by chance work at Home Depot? lol

TMF89 wrote:Home Depot, do you by chance work at Home Depot? lol