# 70 Gal Salt Reef/Fish Newbie Tank



## ClownFish (Mar 18, 2012)

When i was a kid (like 10-12) i had a 10 Gal tank with your basic kid fish, neon tetras and guppies. i dont think i took care of it well, and it eventually got dismantled and put away. Now 15 years later, im attempting to get back into it. my roommate is also a member on these forums (Braincage, also a newbie) and he brought home a little 10 gallon tank and put some molly fish in it. then started talking about this site, and how people were selling their set ups for good prices and it would be easy to get into it if i wanted to. Iv always wanted a massive custom made salt water coral reef tank when i eventually move into a larger house, so i figured this would be a good place to start.

I ended up buying a nice set up from a member on this site today, i believe his user name is Dough. i got the 70 gallon tank (36Wx24Hx18D), two AquaClear 110 power filters, Hagen 300w heater, hood light and stand, and he even threw in the thermometer and magnetic algae scraper as well (thanks Dough!).

From there we (myself and braincage) ended up going to Rogers pet supplies just to pick up a test kit for the freshwater tank i was going to have. instead i ended up really liking their salt water tanks and buying everything i needed to make my own. the store owner and his daughter were really informative, and his daughter helped us with all our questions for probably close to an hour. admittedly, i wish i had shopped around, as it appears the prices at J&L aquatics were 10-15$ lower on almost everthing i bought, but considering the amount of help information wise from the Rogers staff, i dont mind the loss this time around. however, an $1100 day (including the initial tank set up cost) is still an expensive day, regardless how much info you get!

anyways, got home, spent the rest of the day setting up the tank. iv intially bought 27 Lbs of liverock, but i think i might want to go get some more. or just some oceanic rock to put under the liverock and boost it up higher. going back to Rogers tomorrow since the Coralife Super Protein Skimmer 125Gal i bought apparently is leaking at the O ring where the collection bucket gets threaded on.

http://img710.imageshack.us/img710/2889/img0595ld.jpg
Braincage reading how to set up the protein skimmer

http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/2438/img0596zp.jpg
crushed coral, check. time consuming amount of salt water, check. liverock positioned, check. filters on, check.

http://img401.imageshack.us/img401/5374/img0599nc.jpg
skimmer up and running, powerhead running, heater on.

http://img821.imageshack.us/img821/2736/img0600gm.jpg
just a close up

next step is to get the proper light ill need. i have to do some research, but im guessing it would be one of these two.
Coralife Lunar Aqualight T5 Lighting Fixture (36 Inch)
Coralife 36 Inch AquaLight T5 HO Fixture (2-39W)
Ill also have to look into getting a custom plexiglass hood made to accomodate whatever light i get. thankfully i have a month of cycling (at least) before i have to drop more money on these pieces! :lol:


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