Coming back to the fishy tank world

Hello everyone,

I am trying to get back into the aquarium world after 7 years out of the game. I had a family 20 gal tank and I loved seeing the small fish swim and it was very peaceful. Now, I am back from the Navy and in a new city and I want a tank again. I am getting a mid sized tank hopefully by the end of the month and will be asking a bunch of questions concerning the setup of the new tank.

My goal is a 55-75 gal fresh water tank that looks natural. I really want to have a saltwater tank, but I am not sure if I want to invest in the setup right now. Plus if I go salt water, I want sharks and I really have no room for a tank that large, lol

Hope to have some pictures of the tank I will buy in a week or so.

~Matt

hello an welcome . i see you found us lol . hope the link helped .

I did find yall, thanks for pointing me here

Do a 75 gallon you will be glad you did. You sound like my husband when it comes to salt LOL. He keeps saying he wants a shark.

Ask any question you may have we like questions

saltwater tanks are not that bad after you get past the start up cost . unless you got too far an get a 210 gallon tank lol

Bahahaha you're not hinting at anything now are ya

Very true salt is a breeze and more enjoyable. And colorful lol

Welcome!
Either way yo go get a 75g more floor space!

Thank you for the warm welcome. The stand I have can hold up to a 90 gal tank, but I don't know if i wanna jump that high just yet, lol. And saltwater is still a possibility, but I have not really actually seen a saltwater setup less than 150 gallons so I don't know what all is needed besides what I have read online.

I got a 55 setup minus equipment if you want to try salt. Not much is needed for it other than sand, rock, pump, light, and skimmer. Oh and a quarantine tank.

Only thing with salt that has me lost is the darn lights lol.

Come to the meeting in September. I am going to do a presentation on how to start and maintain a salt water aquarium. I will talk about several different ways to do it. It's not as hard as many people think it is.

Bigger the better for fresh or salt, less limitations on stocking.

Welcome
I also say get yourself a 75 gallon tank it's a perfect size for fresh or salt. If you are thinking salt you must attend the September club meeting. Reefkeeper has a low budget salt tank that is spectacular. After seing his set up I'm thinking about salt again for myself and I'm a die hard freshwater guy.

Joe thinking of going salt? wowsers never thought I would ever hear that lol

welcome : )

Welcome! And ya go with a 75! I wish I had instead of my 55. Now I have to convince my girlfriend why I need one lol. Well we need more space too lol. But I am excited to hear about this cheap salt setup!

I think yall have convinced me to go saltwater, lol

the seller stop responding to my emails, so I am on the lookout again for a tank.

Supercalafragalisticexpaladocious. Lol sorry to hear the tank fell through though

If you do go salt I'm sure there are some beginner corals that can be given to you or bought for cheap

Well, after a long search and a little bit of a financial hiccup, I finnally found a great tank that I think will make a great saltwater tank

Its a long 55gal (48x12.5x21) glass tank that was comes with dual hoods and flourescent lights. it also came with 3 filters, but i havent tested them out yet.

so now that i have the main hardware, now its time to look at what to fill it with. i have 2 main ideas that i would like to get some input on. First is a sand, coral reef like system filled with colorful little fish (damsels, maybe a small tang). I kinda want to create the coral reefs that i once saw in Honduras, lots of colorful fish is a coral system. the other idea, is a local florida tank complete with a few local plants and some small local intercoastal fish. both ideas i like, maybe leaning more toward the reef idea since the tank is a long 55 gal, but I am also open to other ideas so please comment on any suggestions or concerns

Thanks everyone, I will upload pics later

A 55 is to small for tangs. Ditch the filters and get a sump. Will be limited to how many fish you can have in the 55 as well. Sorry to be bearer of bad news. Once my brain starts working will add more, but I'm stuck on duh right now

Either would work..... to do a reef you will need to invest in proper lighting and much better filtration.

Local tank could be fun, just remember to look up the collection laws.

i 55g salt tank no sump has hob fitters its running well . will deff need good lights i run pc lights on mine . how on the 75 i am building i went with reef ready tank an a sump .[img][/img]

so, i have been weighing my options and talking to a few local and big box pet stores about both options and I have ruled out the Florida style tank. But, I am still not sold on the Reef tank just because of the initial startup cost. A college kid with 2 jobs and loans and debts to pay off means that I dont have alot of play money, lol. I will post pics of my tank as is this weekend.

thanks everyone

You dont have to go reef right away, start with fish only but keep all the fish reef safe so that when you have all the gizmos and dodads for a reef you can slowly go reef!

Noo need to discount reef because of the start up cost, just go slow on the equipment buying and you get there when you get there!


If you like damsels go with an all damsel tank! Tons of pretty ones out there and they are cheap! But if you go damsel stick with damsels and chromis, they are mean lil buggers and usually dont play to well with others. But an all damsel tank could be very very pretty!!!! And they are reef safe!

Go reef and go slow. Just get the basics right now. Tank, stand, sand, rock, powerheads, and whatever other basics you need. Are you going to go with a sump? IMO lights are the most expensive but you can do what I'm doing lol.

I have my tank all set up have some T5HO lights that for my tank don't do much. I'm saving up for some LEDs and in the mean time have been adding the fish I want and getting some low light corals even though my light don't show their true colors lol. It helps make it so you go slow and not rush to. Rushing is bad.....