The season of fishmas begins!... HElp me spend my money!

[squibege]

Santa came early this year so my reef tank is starting!!

First round of incessantly annoying questions I will be asking you all:

1) What's okay to buy used? What should I always buy new?

2) I like the idea of dry rock so I have time to fiddle with aquascaping and don't want to introduce unwanted critters.... BUT I would like to use LR to seed some good biodiversity to the tank. Is there a way to QT the live rock to deal with any unwanted critters before sticking it in the DT? Other than porosity and visual aesthetics- should I be picky about where I get the dry rock?

3) Should I specifically look for a drilled tank to have a sump? Drilling it myself sounds scary... Can I take it somewhere for someone else to drill it? Is there a type of tank that's better for this?

4) I'm assuming the stand just has to support the entire surface area of the tank and be sturdy enough to hold the crazy amount of weight


Anything else to think of while gathering things????

[rsisvixen]

On the dry rock question, there is no need to seed it with live rock, there are lots of bacterial strains you can buy and add to your tank, you can buy live zooplankton and most snails/hermits have Coraline on their shells which will spread onto your glass and rocks. Even adding some macro algae will introduce tons of critters.

I do not have a drilled tank, it is older so its tempered glass so I can't drill it even if I so wished, I use a hang on overflow and it does the job just fine.

[Aquattro]

I would always seed with live rock, nothing in a bottle will give you the diversity. Welcome to the Internet, where every answer is different :) Hell, I wouldn't even use dry, but many do, with some success (and challenges)

As for used, almost anything. Except heaters, I always buy new. Just in case. But gently used gear is common, and most things retain their life long enough to get value from them.

Drilled is better if you can find it, even if you plug the hole and don't use it. Better resale value. That said, I would never run a tank without a sump, and I would never use an overflow. Too much risk for floods IMO. Just my opinion though, lots do and haven't had problems. Yet.

Stand should be purpose built, if the tank is a decent size. All four sides should be level and well supported.

[mrhasan]

Santa came early this year so my reef tank is starting!!

First round of incessantly annoying questions I will be asking you all:

1) What's okay to buy used? What should I always buy new?

2) I like the idea of dry rock so I have time to fiddle with aquascaping and don't want to introduce unwanted critters.... BUT I would like to use LR to seed some good biodiversity to the tank. Is there a way to QT the live rock to deal with any unwanted critters before sticking it in the DT? Other than porosity and visual aesthetics- should I be picky about where I get the dry rock?

3) Should I specifically look for a drilled tank to have a sump? Drilling it myself sounds scary... Can I take it somewhere for someone else to drill it? Is there a type of tank that's better for this?

4) I'm assuming the stand just has to support the entire surface area of the tank and be sturdy enough to hold the crazy amount of weight

Anything else to think of while gathering things????

1) I had bad experience with used products so I stay away from them. I don't like buying motors used because you never know how the motor was used (e.g. whether the motor ever ran dry for long period of time). I had bad experience buying 2nd hand aquarium (cracked), heater (didn't turn off ever) and skimmer (started smoking inside the water). I even had bad experience buying used cars :redface: But it is just me and I stick to new stuffs now-a-days.

2) Nothing beats live rock. If you are afraid of critters, atl east get ocean cured man made rock. The amount of PO4 leaching stories I have read about dry rock is enough to keep me away from it.

3) Drilling tanks should always me left to professionals. Maybe buy a predrilled reef ready tank (with internal or external overflow) or get one ordered to your specification. HOB overflows are typically considered to be a flood waiting to happen.

4) What Brad said.