Planning a tank

[pprmntshrmps]

After 5 years of dreaming my wife and I are finally going to get our first tank...in the next 3-6 months. So I want to start the plans now. While we do have some play money, I want to buy equipment that is everything I need without overbuying.

Given the size of our family room where the tank will be we want a 20 gallon (I’m trying to talk her into a 29) with a 10 or 20 gallon sump. This tank will eventually become a fish only tank for a puffer when we get a bigger house and a bigger tank for the reef.

For fish we are planning for a clown & a mandarin so far. We probably will want about 2 or 3 more fish. But that’s it.

We want 2 or 3 shrimp, 1 or 2 crabs, and maybe a lobster.

We want a Bubble Tip Anemone for the clown, and probably one more anemone. We are still researching what corals we may want. Definitely no LPS at this time, we’ll wait for the bigger house and bigger tank when we know what we are doing.

So my questions are
1. Can you get a 20 or 29 gallon pre-drilled tank or will I have to take one to the glass shop to get it drilled.

2. I want the heater, and protein skimmer in the sump. What would people recommend for the best skimmer for this size tank?

3. I don’t need an RO/DI that can make dozens of gallons a day, but most of the ones I have seen make way more than I need. What is the best size to get for my tank?

4. And the lighting question, while I would love to get the Solaris from PFO, I just can’t afford that now so what type of lighting would be the most economical but provide enough light?

[Carlos]

First thing:

Buy some books and read... That way you will not be wasting your money on equipment you do not need nor understand how it works.

Here are a couple of great books for beginners and tank-planning:

http://www.amazon.com/Aquarium-Coral...7879327&sr=8-1
http://www.amazon.com/Natural-Reef-A...7879371&sr=1-3

Carlos

[pprmntshrmps]

I do have a couple of books that I am re-reading. These look helpful too. The books I have seem to be somewhat out of date as far as equipment goes, thats why I wanted to ask here. What was good 3 years ago may not be what is good now.

I think I may wait for the large tank for the mandarin. Right now we only want easy to maintain peaceful fish, cus I obviousely don't want to kill any. And it seems the mandarin needs more room and food source.

[WaterKeeper]

The old, but faithful New Tank Thread may be of help.

[Carlos]

Originally posted by pprmntshrmps
I do have a couple of books that I am re-reading. These look helpful too. The books I have seem to be somewhat out of date as far as equipment goes, thats why I wanted to ask here. What was good 3 years ago may not be what is good now.

I think I may wait for the large tank for the mandarin. Right now we only want easy to maintain peaceful fish, cus I obviousely don't want to kill any. And it seems the mandarin needs more room and food source.

Mandarins are NOT beginner fish. They are very picky eaters that will not readily take prepared foods. They feed on plankton from the fauna of your tank. Since your tank will be new, it will not be able to support the mandarin and it will just starve to death. I would recommend holding back on the mandarin until your tank is mature.

Carlos

[westonm]

Definitely a good decision you made to wait for the mandarin as pretty a fish as they are. From what you are describing you may also want to look at the all in one tanks such as the aquapod, biocube, nanocube, or m-tank to name a few. These might help you streamline your equipment and overall tank look.
As for fish, it is always easier to keep less fish (I suppose it is harder as far as requiring will power, but the tank will be much easier to manage with less). I think the clown you mentioned is a nice choice, of certain species such as the common ocellaris you could easily do a pair if you like. However, I would maybe leave it at 2 fish then maybe 3 eventually as you learn the hobby. things will definitely go smoother if you try it that way.
For inverts anemones are not beginer specimens, they have higher care requirements (particularly lighting) than alot of people starting out realize and also their tendecny to movement make them harder to manage and may endanger other inhabitants and even the whole tank if they were to move over an overflow. Likewise I might consider staying away from a lobster. Even the samllest that are commonly available are predatory in thier nature and will take down fish or other inverts if given the chance. Plus they are going to contribute to a high bioload just like adding another fish or two!
Good luck with the plans and tank. Books are a great resource, though like you said many are out of date. It is always great to get a variety of opinions as you will read on this board for instance as books and fish store keepers aren't necessarily all right and entirely up to date I do believe Carlos recommended some good ones to you though.

[Thinslis]

That Waterkeeper guy.... always plugging his own threads!........... (FOR GOOD REASON) =)

I would suggest conversing with others who have similar size tanks and see what they have for bio load. I have no experiance with tanks that small (or very much experiance with larger tanks for that matter) but what you listed seems like a lot for only a 20g tank.

[tigga07]

I also would like to know what a decent gpd for a Ro/DI unit is. I wont be using it as drinking water nor do i need it as quick as possible. I dont want to spend 300$ for 100gpd when i can get a 140$ for like 50gpd

[Smitty750]

Check out the Red-Sea Max its a 34 gallon tank with a built in filter,lights,skimmer etc. Just add sand salt water and rocks and wait. Then add fish. The cheapest Ive found one online was $599 for tank and stand shipped. There are other tanks like this out there but Ive found this one to be the best IMO