Hello I'm Chris and New To The Hobby

[8haggis]

Hello Everybody ,

My name is Chris and live in North York. I am interested in getting invloved in the hobby. I have purchased and/or borrowed some books and am keenly studying.

I was wondering where is the best place to purchase equipment as I have nothing? What equipment do I need?

Is there a club I can join to meet people?

I look forward to hearing from people,
Chris



:wave:

[mouse6196]

You can join MAST...Marine Aquarium Society of Toronto. Their website is....

http://www.mastcanada.org/

As far as equipment goes, your best bet is to get in your car one rainy day, and drive to many stores in your area. There are tons of good ones, and you'll find one you seem to click with. To save money at the start, buy a used tank, but get one about 90 gallons or more. You will want to upsize and upgrade as you get into the hobby so why not start big. The Tank is not the expensive part of the hobby.

When buying equipment, don't cut corners just to save money. On certain items like a protien skimmer, spend the bucks and get a good one to start. This is a vital piece of equipment, and you'll keep it for many years.

Some things you'll need to start is....and other will add to this:

Tank - Get one with a drilled overflow
Stand, and lighting. MetalHalide and flourescent combo.
Test kits - Ammonia, Nitrate, Nitrite, Calcium, pH, Alkalinity
Protien Skimmer - get a good one...many out there
Couple powerheads - Maxi--jet 1200's are good
Heater
Aragonite Sand
Live Rock - best investment you'll make
Salt - get a 200 gallon mix...you'll use it
Sump or smaller tank for sump
water pump for return - many out there...
Plumbing - valves, etc. not much is needed
Books Books Books - or internet for reading
Lots of patience.

I'm sure I missed some as I'm still half asleep. Good Luck


:cheers:

[Bri-Fli]

Chris
you have Email

Brifli:)

[8haggis]

Thanks to everybody who replied or sent me e-mail. I appreciate the assistance and look forward to getting involved with this new hobby as well as meeting some new people.

Cheers,
Chris

[Daniel Schubert]

Chris

I'd like to add to John's list.

A refuguim would also help greatly to maintain good water quality. Lighting is also very important. You need to first try to establish what types of animals you wish to keep.

Below are described some basic ingredients/considerations in setting-up up a good salt-water aquarium.

Before setting out on your quest. You need to establish some groundwork. You need to consider what type marine inhabitants you wish to have.

1. What types of corals you want to keep?
2. Do you want to house any other inhabitants such as clams?
3. What types of fish do you want to keep?
4. How large of a tank would you like?
5. Do you have a physical location of the tank, with sufficient (GFI) power outlets?
6. Determine what budget you have, and are comfortable with? (Unfortunately this hobby is not cheap)
7. What type of time do you want to invest into this hobby?
* Daily
* Weekly
* Monthly
*. Determine what monthly running costs you are comfortable with: consider
* Added electricity costs
* Additives, Calcium, iodine, salt etc.
* Bulb replacements (1-1½-2 years depending on lighting selected)
* Food (Corals & fish)


Lighting:
Probably one of the most controversy subjects in the aquarium hobby. Type of lighting used depends on numerous factors
* Type of animals to be housed
* The depth of your tank.
* Your own colour preferences. Some bulbs provide more of a bluish tint, others yellow, some are whiter.
* Growth rate of corals


Kelvin degrees the colour of the light, when purchase bulbs they must be at least 6,500K, below 6,500 usually causes algae problems.
Common colour temperatures are:
6,500 (6.5K) – slightly yellowish
10,000 (10K) – whitish – blue
12,000 (12K0 – bluish
20,000 (20K radium’s) – blue

CRI – Colour rendering index, a measure comparing artificial light to natural sunlight.

Rule of thumb:

Metal Halide: Hard corals, clams and deep tanks (> 24 inches)

VHO: Soft coral such as leathers or polyps, shallow tanks (usually 1200 ma)

HO High Output (usually 800 ma)

NO: Fish only tanks (usually 400 milliamps)


Aquarium/Tank:
Ensure the tank is reef ready, avoid at all cost the external overflow boxes they are a pain in the ass. (A big mistake I made). .

The external overflow is not as reliable as the internal corner overflows since it requires a U-tube and uses the siphon principal. If air bubbles collect in the U-tube it could lose the siphon and fail. Luckily I have never completely lost the siphon since I use two U-tubes, however I have lost in one or the other. The other problem is that algae and coral grows inside the tube and if you don't clean them regular again you can lose the siphon. A reef ready tank uses internal overflow boxes and a hole at the bottom of the tank. This is far safer system, easier to maintain and less likelihood of a flood.

Acrylic: Pro’s Light, clearer. Con’s scratches easy

Glass: Pro’s harder to scratch, Con’s Heavy, has a greenish tint (Unless you get the clear starphire glass).

Rule of thumb: The bigger the tank, the easier it is to maintain, the more forgiving it is since the volume (mass) can forgive small mistakes

Aquarium/Tank Cover:
The best is to use no cover at all. A glass cover will cut down on the light penetrating the tank (The amount of light depends on the glass type). Acrylic would probably be the best is one is absolutely needed. If the tank contains fish that may jump then using an egg crate would be the best solution. The cover would also reduce the amount of gasses exchanged between the air and water.

Aquarium/Tank furniture:
Aquarium furniture comes in a variety of flavours from steel tube stands to furniture like cabinets and caps. Personnel preference, decor and costs usually determine the selection.

Rule of thumb:
Wooden cabinets: Stay away from particleboard constructed cabinets; the salt will
creep into the particleboard which will balloon and wreck the
cabinet.

Steel stands: Stainless steel is preferable.

Test Kits:
As a minimum you will require to test Ammonia, Nitrate, Nitrites, Ph.
Calcium and Alkalinity are required when keeping hard corals or for coralline algae growth

Protein Skimmer:
Don’t skip on a skimmer. Buy a proper skimmer the first time. Note: most skimmers are over-rated by the manufacturer. Buy one that is twice the size you need just to be safe. Skimmers remove organic waste before they decomposes. There are various methods.

Venture:
Uses a venture to suck in the air. A large pump is required
Examples: Klaes Junior, Precision Marine CV426, CV626

Counter Current:
Uses a wooden stone and air pump to generate the bubbles. A small pump is used re-circulate the water.
Examples: Saline Solutions – all, Marine Technical Concepts (MTC) TM-3000

Beckett Injected:
Examples: MTC HSA 250, HSA1000


Sump:
I’d get the biggest sump that you can possible house. The sump will most likely house your skimmer, heater, ground probe. I’d also consider sectioning a piece to add a refugium. This will help your excessive nutrient exports and help control any algae problems in the main tank.

Sump design considerations:
* Has enough surplus volume to allow the water to flow back from the main tank in case of a power failure.
* Has sufficient number of baffles to eliminate micro bubbles to be pump back to the main tank.
* Provides amble space for maintenance of your skimmer (for in sump skimmers).
* Provides amble space to add a refugium

Deep Sand Bed:
Consider adding a deep sand bed to either your refugium or main tank. A DSB will also help control the nasties. This is at least 4” of very fine sand such as Carib Sea Aragamax Oolitic, or Home depot Southdown tropical play sand. The DSB will create a de-nitrification bed which will help control the Nitrates and Nitrites.

Live rock:
Live rock is used as the main filter media; it contains various micro organs and other small creatures that are used to control the environment.

R0/DI water:
Reverse Osmosis / (Optional De-ionized) water filtration system is a must in keeping either a Reef or Fish only set-up. RO and R0/DI removes impurities found in ordinary city/well water.

Failure to do so will result in algae problems, the health of the aquarium inhabitants

Refugium:
A separate area to allow critters shrimp, worms and various other critters to grow without being disturb by fish, crabs. This will also provide live food source to the main tank and provide additional de-nitrification. There are two main types of refugiums.
* Hang-on external type like the CPR or Ecosystems which provide a little pump to bring aquarium water into the refugium and then use gravity to re-circulate the excess water (along with some critters) back into the tank.
* An area separated in your sump that performs the same function as described above

Heaters/Chillers:
The marine environment is one of the most stable environments on earth. The water chemistry and temperature stay’s very consistent. Thus the inhabitants have not developed any immune system to compensate for large temperature variations.

Electronic controlled heaters are required to maintain the aquarium at steady 79-82 degrees Fahrenheit. The marine inhabitants cannot tolerate large temperature fluctuations.

Chillers (optional) but may also be required if the tank temperature raises above the desired levels. Fans may be used to blow air over the water causing evaporation, which will aid in cooling the water.


Thermometer:
Used to measure the temperature within the aquarium. Various types of thermometers exist. They range from external stick-on type to Digital read-out.

Power Heads:
Used to create water movement within the aquarium. Having high water movement is critical maintaining a reef tank. It keeps detritus (waste) suspend in the water allowing the filtration to remove it more easily. I

Wave maker:
Used in conjunction with power heads to create a more natural environment by creating alternate water current within the aquarium. This helps reduce dead spots (stagnant water) areas, which can create problems within the tank. Additionally it stimulates live coral by providing a more realistic environment.

Patience:
Key factor to a successful reef tank. Remember add things slowly. Let the environment slowly adjust to anything that you may want to add

Also future considerations:

You may want to add a calcium reactor as you coral load increase. A calcium reactor uses CO2 to breakdown Aragonite which is basically calcium .

Don’ts:

Stay away from trickle filters (Out dated no longer required).
Stay away from fluidised sand filters.
The only filter required is the live rock and protein skimmer

Corals:
Lighting level and water flow is very important when keeping corals. Research the light and flow requirements before purchasing any corals. Be aware that some fish will eat polyps ensure that all fish purchased are reef friendly. Additionally some corals do not require lighting, they need to be feed daily such as sun corals.

Clams:
Lighting level is very important when keeping clams. Research the light and flow requirements before purchasing any clams. Be aware that some fish, snails will eat clams so again fish select becomes more limited when clams are introduced.

Fish:
Marine fish are very territorial; you should never over stock a tank. Also be aware that some species need to be kept singularly or in large groups. Do research on housing requirements, food requirements before purchasing any fish.

[mouse6196]

Wow Daniel....

Glad we got a sneak peek at your new book....hahahaha. Now just cut and paste, and send to the publisher. Good Work.

:cheers:

[Daniel Schubert]

Thanks John

Ultimately I would like to at least have a small little handout that the club and the stores could supply to the new hobbyist. I know when I started this hobby it was a little overwhelming. I want others to enjoy the hobby as much as we do. And I think with a little well-informed information one can at least make proper decisions.

[johnfish]

Daniel,

You should write a book.

You have done the outline already :)

Cheers,
John

[mouse6196]

Or stand at teh door of all LFS's like a wal-mart greeter....Sorry I couldn't resist that one. HAHAHA

:cheers:

[8haggis]

What is the best powerhead on the market? How many do I need for a 20 G tank? Also what type of heater should I purchase?

Thanks Chris
:thanks:

[Daniel Schubert]

The best is most likely a Tunze, however they are very costly, I'd buy a maxijet, good power head at a decent price