Material Recommendations for basic stuff

volk23 · Apr 26, 2007

Guys, whats the best place to buy some start up stuff.
salt, heater, cycle chems, etc.

whats the best place, and what are the best brands i should go with, as I understand for cycling the tank i can go with the cheapest kit.

For the heater, I dont know whats a good brand, and how much watts should it be for a 30g tank.

What else do i need...?

Carlo · Apr 26, 2007

It's not really going to matter much for simple Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate tests. They all work about the same. I typically pick up the cheapest brand which is normally Aquarium Pharm. They usually have all these in a "Salt water pack". You can even find these at Petsmart or Petco at pretty decent prices.

I think I've tried all the major brands of heaters and at this point think they all have problems over time. I've not found a brand that didn't fail in the ON position yet. Since heaters are notorious for failing in the ON position (and overheating the tank) I'd recommend picking up 2 or 3 smaller heaters instead of one larger heater. Just read the packages to see how many watts are needed for your size tank. If for example a 50 watt is correct then pick up 2 25 watt heaters instead. The advantage to this is that if one does fail in the ON position it will take 2 times longer to overheat the tank (if at all). If one fails to work over time the other is still working and keeping the tank from getting to cold. Of the two situations having a tank overheat is way worse then letting it get colder!

Just my 2 cents,

Carlo

Candi · Apr 26, 2007

I usually shop online at either www.bigalsonline.com or www.drsfostersmith.com (I posted a 15% off coupon code this week

ODGE and they don't charge extra shipping for salt, which is also on sale this week if you use Instant Ocean).

I use a bunch of different heaters, can't say I really like one better then another. For salt mix I use Tropic Marin in my 24g tank, but I use IO in my larger system for cost reasons. If money was no object I'd use tropic marin in all saltwater tanks.

If you don't have a refractometer I would get one, ebay has good prices. Are you going to buy or make your own water? Many of us here and on RC etc use RO/DI units from ebay, filtersdirect I think it is but you might want to double check that as I think one is filterdirect and one is filterSdirect... you want the US based one. Airwaterice.com also has good ones but they are more expensive.

Do you already have your sand & LR planned? You can buy from LFS's or local reefers, or online. I got my rock for my nano on www.premiumaquatics.com, really good prices and email them... I think we're in their 2 day ground shipping in NJ (meaning you pay ground shipping price but you get it in 2 days).

I like the digital therms. , I think they are on sale this week at dfs.com as well...

My advice is to make a list of everything you think you'll need then check it again a few times, you are bound to forget things. Do you have enough powerheads? Maybe a hydro to add more flow options. Those long metal tweezers are a great thing to have (again ebay), since you're ordering stuff anyways get some pellet/flake food since it's cheaper then buying local and you're already paying shipping for other stuff. Magnetic and/or scrapper for algae control... the lists go on and on, just be warned at how quickly that total in your shopping cart will get LOL

volk23 · Apr 26, 2007

ok, good idea on the list, i'll make a list and post it in here, so if you guys dont mind to go over it to see if im missing something important.

volk23 · Apr 26, 2007

Here is my list, am I missing something important here?

i have a 5 stage RO unit, so i'll make my own water.
I do have another old heater i'll use for backup.

no sand yet, i might have a bag of southdown in the garage, need a cup of live sand from a fellow reefer

LR i guess next.

I forgot, do i need to have sand and rock to start the cycle?

kabal2 · Apr 26, 2007

volk yes you need sand and rock to start the cycle, you can buy online or if you are a register member of the club is a lot of lfs that give disccounts to members of the club when you show your card, and for your list, well you need pumps, heaters, lights, and a lot of patience,
Gabe
PS. if you need anything just ask

volk23 · Apr 26, 2007

i have lights and pumps, tank came with all of that.

demon16v · Apr 26, 2007

Hi Volk,
What are the 3 test kits that you are buying that are all the same but different quantity, 45, 80, 60? Are these the test kits that you dip a strip of paper to tell you the values, the reason I asked is because they are not very accurate. Is the Maxi-jet 400 for mixing you salt water or for flow in the tank?

There are many ways to get the cycle going but, one of the ways that has always worked for me is to put a large raw cocktail shrimp in the tank and let bacteria start to eat it.

Jon

kabal2 · Apr 26, 2007

volk i think you can upgrade your pumps a bit, the flo divise will lower the flow of the pumps,and what jon said is true if those are the strip kind of test, they suck big time, get something else like those for aquarium farm

Gabe

Absinthe · Apr 26, 2007

Youre going to need at least a 100w heater.

Carlo · Apr 26, 2007

Go with 2 50 watt heaters. But yes agreed 100 total is needed.

Absinthe · Apr 26, 2007

cayars said:
Go with 2 50 watt heaters. But yes agreed 100 total is needed.

Good call.

volk23 · Apr 26, 2007

demon16v said:
Hi Volk,
What are the 3 test kits that you are buying that are all the same but different quantity, 45, 80, 60? Are these the test kits that you dip a strip of paper to tell you the values, the reason I asked is because they are not very accurate. Is the Maxi-jet 400 for mixing you salt water or for flow in the tank?
Jon

oh yea, i screwed that up, i thought they were separate. Got it.

the maxi-jet i was thinking to add more flow to the tank, since its only has a return

volk23 · Apr 26, 2007

got it on the two heaters, i wasnt sure if i need 50 or a 100.

This is the tank info from finexx:

4/7/07
Finnex is introducing this new 30g glass much like the previous model with refugium and skimmer, but the new model has also wet-dry filter and new improved skimmer! There will only be 7-8 models for sale between now and the end of May, when Finnex will get a large shippment of glass, so if your very interested please let us know so we can let Ken at Finnex know, we anticipate these 7-8 will go very fast!

Finnex 30 Gallon Salt Water Aquarium equipped with skimmer, wet/dry filter and refugium creates the most sophisticated system to keep your sea creatures in a healthy environment.

Model no. : MTG-2402/MTG-2402Q

Capacity and dimension: 30 gallon, 24” x 18” x 17” (Height)

Material: 5mm temper glass

Style: Square corner. The open top design gives sufficient air ventilation to reduce heat buildup.

Lighting: Powder coated corrosion resistant aluminum hood

MTG-2402: Independent control 24w x 4 T5 HO fluorescent with LED fixture

Filtration:

1. Skimmer: Venturi driven skimmer rated 60 gallon with a 211 gph rated pump. The overflow style of skimmer chamber ensures a constant water level to keep stable skimming performance.

2. Wet/Dry filter: Includes filter tray and media drop in chamber (filtration media not included). Top loaded tray makes catching and removing the debris easy.

3. Refugium: Center located refugium with 13W power compact lighting fixture.

a. Adjustable water flow fits various refugium setting.

b. Direct water flow from the refugium to the main tank let the food resource growing in the refugium lively get into the main tank.

c. The elevated design gives an appropriate depth for successful refugium setup.

4. Water return pipe and pump: Utilize the”T” connection pipe to split the water return to the refugium and to the main tank. So, only one 475 gph pump can circulate the entire tank.

All pictures can be seen larger by double-clicking the image if you want us to sent you a very large blown up image let us know it's not a problem!

volk23 · Apr 26, 2007

the test kits are not strip, but i'll take notice in that.

based on those specs, should i upgrade the powerheads? and what PH for what?
there is one for skimmer, return, and i think i need something for more flow in the tank

Carlo · Apr 27, 2007

Volk23 I can't help to wonder. How much is the 30g cube going to cost you? Have you also looked at the BIO Max 34g cubes? They are the best IMHO but I also haven't looked specifically at the Finnex cubes.

When you start getting into the larger high end cubes it sometimes could be more cost effective to not do the cube but to buy traditional equipment and put the system together yourself and not be tied to a particular vendor. The one major advantage of going with traditional parts is that if you decide to go larger you could swap out the main tank for say a 55 or 72 and still be able to use the same equipment but have a display that is twice as big.

Of course this is only speculation as I don't know what's included or what your overall plans or physical space are but just thought I'd throw this out there in case you haven't looked at other options. Of course there is the other side of the "coin" where it's nice to get an integrated system where 90%+ of everything is built in and matched to the system.

Carlo

volk23 · Apr 27, 2007

Carlo, I already have the tank at the house. Size is an issue at our place, plus my old tank was 36g, ran it skimmerless for 2 years from the start, so this nano setup is basically similar setup as I had before.

volk23 · Apr 27, 2007

demon16v · Apr 27, 2007

Hi Volk,
The MJ 1200 will put out a lot of heat. If you can get away with it I would get the MJ 900, less watts and heat.
Same goes for the Rio. They are known to fail. I’m not sure about the newer models but the old one would leak some type of oil into the tank along with stray voltage.
Take a look at the Tunze Nanostreams or the Hydro koralia.

I understand that this is an expensive hobby but it is better to spend the money right the first time because you will end up spending it twice to replace the cheaper product. We all learned that the hard way.

Jon

kabal2 · Apr 27, 2007

i been using rios for around 2 long years and i dont have problem with them, even when they are in a wavemaker, but yes just for some extra gallons maybe the mj900 will be better and for even more water movement you can get the hydros,

Gabe