mpatterson42
Community Member
I am in the process of setting up my first saltwater aquarium (I have a 10G freshwater with a betta).
Why I got into this hobby The boring bit, feel free to skip this paragraph! Last August on a Saturday I got stuck on an "all hands" work emergency outage call for 12 hours. There was very little I could do but I needed to be available just in case. I decided to browse YouTube and came across some random aquarium videos. Since I was a kid I wanted to own lionfish, this is mostly because of them appearing in The Naked Gun (and maybe a little bit with Deuce Bigelow). I had looked into it before, usually after I watched an episode of Tanked, but it just seemed like a lot of work. This time was different and it really got stuck into my head. After looking into it further I realized that while I wanted a lionfish it should not be the first kind of fish that I get. Also, after watching A LOT of videos, I still have never had much interest in corals. About the only ones that appeal to me are torches but the prices of those (along with all the extra equipment) kept me from seriously looking into it. Maybe in the future! For now, I've concentrated my efforts on setting up a FOWLR tank. I mentioned getting interested in this hobby in August, but I knew I had a week long trip planned for October and another for early December, and I didn't think it was a good idea to set up my first aquarium when I couldn't be around for long periods of time. So I decided to hold off on any major purchases until I was back from my December trip (and Black Friday seemed like a good day to make some purchases).
Good deals Because I had several months before I wanted to start up the tank I was able to check Offer Up / Facebook Marketplace / Craigslist daily for good deals. It was hard to resist getting some of the large complete setups but I knew I wasn't ready for that (I saw an amazing 200G complete FOWLR system with lionfish and other predators for $1500!), but I did score some really good deals. I got a 40G breeder tank, drilled with an ESHOPPS overflow box and return line, plumbing that included 3 gate valves, a 20 gallon sump, a stand, and a sicce pump for $125. I ended up replacing the sicce pump with a Jebao because of the humming noise coming from the pump (I tried cleaning it and putting it on a rubber mat but there was still a very audible hum). I also got an Aqua Vitro skimmer for $125 and a Kessil H80 with mount for $80. Most of the rest of the system I bought new.
Equipment
- Tank: 40G 36x18x17
- Overflow: Eshopps Eclipse S
- Stand: Imagitarium Brooklyn Metal Tank Stand, side panels added to hide the sump
- Lights: NICREW SkyLED, it's a FOWLR tank so I went cheap
- Wavemaker: Hygger gyre cross flow pump (HG070-18W)
- Sump: 20G 30x13x13, Fiji Cube
- Rock: Mix of Caribsea Life Rock, coral skeleton, and MarcoRocks in the sump
- Sand: CaribSea Special Grade
- Skimmer: Aquavitro Division 125 Protein Skimmer
- Heater: Fluval M200. Inkbird WiFi ITC-308 temp controller.
- Refugium Light: Kessil H80
- Return Pump: Jebao DCP Sine Wave DCP-3500
- Auto Top Off: Tunze Osmolator Nano 3152
Stocking Plan
- Ocellaris Clownfish Pair (haven't decided on specific type yet)
- Purple Firefish
- Royal Gramma Basslet
- Diamond Watchmen Goby
- Blue Spotted Puffer
- Mandarin Dragonet (probably captive bred because while I plan to add cocoapods and a refugium I worry there won't be enough)
- Coral Beauty
11/6/2024
Aquarium with stand and sump acquired, I set it up outside to do a leak test and clean it up.
11/16/2024
After making sure the tank did not leak and cleaning it up I moved it inside. My wife didn't want all the sump equipment showing (a reasonable request) so I cut some plywood, painted it black, then used magnets to attach it to the sides, it makes it really easy to take off when I need to get into there.
11/24/2024
Trying to be organized with my power. I got a GFCI adapter and plugged in two surge protectors (one is a Kasa Smart Surge protector so I can control things from my phone) as well as a grounding probe that will trip the GFCI in case electricity starts leaking into the aquarium. There's also a power outage alarm that will alert me if the power goes out.
12/5/2024
OK I was at a swap meet and I found this and I could resist. Maybe this will keep the fish in line, if they misbehave they might end up like this!
12/6/2024
I also found this coral skeleton at my LFS in the "discount" bucket. After bleach curing it for a few days I decided it would be a nice addition to the aquascape
12/8/2024
Aquascape and sand added
Water added in.
Sump ready to go (please excuse the mess of cables)
I'm planning to start the cycle tomorrow (waiting for the water to clear and warm up), I have Fritz TurboStart and Dr. Tim's Ammonium Chloride. Before adding any fish I'd like to get chaeto and copepods in the refugium as I do plan on adding a Mandarin Dragonet at some point.
It's really exciting to see everything coming together!
Why I got into this hobby The boring bit, feel free to skip this paragraph! Last August on a Saturday I got stuck on an "all hands" work emergency outage call for 12 hours. There was very little I could do but I needed to be available just in case. I decided to browse YouTube and came across some random aquarium videos. Since I was a kid I wanted to own lionfish, this is mostly because of them appearing in The Naked Gun (and maybe a little bit with Deuce Bigelow). I had looked into it before, usually after I watched an episode of Tanked, but it just seemed like a lot of work. This time was different and it really got stuck into my head. After looking into it further I realized that while I wanted a lionfish it should not be the first kind of fish that I get. Also, after watching A LOT of videos, I still have never had much interest in corals. About the only ones that appeal to me are torches but the prices of those (along with all the extra equipment) kept me from seriously looking into it. Maybe in the future! For now, I've concentrated my efforts on setting up a FOWLR tank. I mentioned getting interested in this hobby in August, but I knew I had a week long trip planned for October and another for early December, and I didn't think it was a good idea to set up my first aquarium when I couldn't be around for long periods of time. So I decided to hold off on any major purchases until I was back from my December trip (and Black Friday seemed like a good day to make some purchases).
Good deals Because I had several months before I wanted to start up the tank I was able to check Offer Up / Facebook Marketplace / Craigslist daily for good deals. It was hard to resist getting some of the large complete setups but I knew I wasn't ready for that (I saw an amazing 200G complete FOWLR system with lionfish and other predators for $1500!), but I did score some really good deals. I got a 40G breeder tank, drilled with an ESHOPPS overflow box and return line, plumbing that included 3 gate valves, a 20 gallon sump, a stand, and a sicce pump for $125. I ended up replacing the sicce pump with a Jebao because of the humming noise coming from the pump (I tried cleaning it and putting it on a rubber mat but there was still a very audible hum). I also got an Aqua Vitro skimmer for $125 and a Kessil H80 with mount for $80. Most of the rest of the system I bought new.
Equipment
- Tank: 40G 36x18x17
- Overflow: Eshopps Eclipse S
- Stand: Imagitarium Brooklyn Metal Tank Stand, side panels added to hide the sump
- Lights: NICREW SkyLED, it's a FOWLR tank so I went cheap
- Wavemaker: Hygger gyre cross flow pump (HG070-18W)
- Sump: 20G 30x13x13, Fiji Cube
- Rock: Mix of Caribsea Life Rock, coral skeleton, and MarcoRocks in the sump
- Sand: CaribSea Special Grade
- Skimmer: Aquavitro Division 125 Protein Skimmer
- Heater: Fluval M200. Inkbird WiFi ITC-308 temp controller.
- Refugium Light: Kessil H80
- Return Pump: Jebao DCP Sine Wave DCP-3500
- Auto Top Off: Tunze Osmolator Nano 3152
Stocking Plan
- Ocellaris Clownfish Pair (haven't decided on specific type yet)
- Purple Firefish
- Royal Gramma Basslet
- Diamond Watchmen Goby
- Blue Spotted Puffer
- Mandarin Dragonet (probably captive bred because while I plan to add cocoapods and a refugium I worry there won't be enough)
- Coral Beauty
11/6/2024
Aquarium with stand and sump acquired, I set it up outside to do a leak test and clean it up.
11/16/2024
After making sure the tank did not leak and cleaning it up I moved it inside. My wife didn't want all the sump equipment showing (a reasonable request) so I cut some plywood, painted it black, then used magnets to attach it to the sides, it makes it really easy to take off when I need to get into there.
11/24/2024
Trying to be organized with my power. I got a GFCI adapter and plugged in two surge protectors (one is a Kasa Smart Surge protector so I can control things from my phone) as well as a grounding probe that will trip the GFCI in case electricity starts leaking into the aquarium. There's also a power outage alarm that will alert me if the power goes out.
12/5/2024
OK I was at a swap meet and I found this and I could resist. Maybe this will keep the fish in line, if they misbehave they might end up like this!
12/6/2024
I also found this coral skeleton at my LFS in the "discount" bucket. After bleach curing it for a few days I decided it would be a nice addition to the aquascape
12/8/2024
Aquascape and sand added
Water added in.
Sump ready to go (please excuse the mess of cables)
I'm planning to start the cycle tomorrow (waiting for the water to clear and warm up), I have Fritz TurboStart and Dr. Tim's Ammonium Chloride. Before adding any fish I'd like to get chaeto and copepods in the refugium as I do plan on adding a Mandarin Dragonet at some point.
It's really exciting to see everything coming together!
