ISO: saltwater setup for my daughters 5 birthday

[ergezzie]

So my daughter is turning 5 the end of this month and since she isn't interested in anything she can't learn about or help out with I have decided to invest in a tank. Her first steps were to my best friends huge salt water bow front tank. It feels like it was just recently she was tries eating kitty food out of the dish, spit it out and turned around crying... That was until the night lights on the tank flicked on.. Up she went, one foot in front of the other & she just stood there without a wobble for almost 30 minutes.. Captivated. My daughter is very interested in sea urchins, shrimp & puffer fish.. I will be the first one to admit that she probably has more knowledge about their habitats than I do.. Haha, anyway.. I am looking to buy a tank, mannnnnnny helpful tips too would be very much appreciated! Maybe a tank I'd just have to relocate, I don't know.. Help!!

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

First of all, you have to decide a few things such as:

What's your budget?
How much space do you have to devote to this?
How much time & other resources do you have to devote to this?

You should search online and in books about saltwater aquariums, reef-safe fish, corals, etc.

Figure out if you want a reef or a fish only tank.

Do a search of the classifieds to see if there is a system being offered that meets your needs and is within transporting distance.

Post any relevant questions you may have on this thread or in a specific subforum that deals with your question.

Good luck.

Anthony

[Northernseacorals]

When you get to the procurement stage for the tank; check out Concept Aquatics ( Dave ) builds fantastic tanks at great prices.

[BlueWorldAquatic]

As a vendor I get asked this many times.

The first thing I always answer is what size are you looking at?

I always recommend that unless you are limited by size, always buy a tank as big as the space allows you have planned for it.

No matter who you are, most people usually want to get a larger one as soon as the first tank is set up.

A used/setup tank is always an option, there are many listed on here and Kijiji, but always have someone knowledgeable help you decide. Used tanks are not an impulse buy if you are not experienced. What looks good may have a lot of hidden problems when moved.

I highly recommend a 90gal tank for your first tank, 48" lights, tanks, and stands are readily available everywhere. One recommendation is get a drilled tank, as a sump will be helpful. It will give you more water volume, and a place to hide away most equipment out of sight.

If you have any questions please don't hesitate to PM me.

Ken

[Doug]

Moved to reefing forum for you.

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Ken is a great guy to deal with. Highly recommend you go talk to him when you're in the area. As Ken stated, if your space and budget can handle it, a 90g is a good size. Big enough to give you "growing room" for your future fish and corals, but not too big. A 4' 120g is my personal favourite for a "mid" sized tank (4' x 2' x 2') with a 65g-75g sump underneath.

[ergezzie]

Sooooo.... I bought a 29 gallon bowfront tank. I have about 3 hours a day I am able to devote to the tank & that is due to my daughte being in kindergarten. So now the tank is sitting here, staring at me. Empty... Now what?

Oh! And thank you all for your tips! Very much appreciated!
Kim

[mrhasan]

Sooooo.... I bought a 29 gallon bowfront tank. I have about 3 hours a day I am able to devote to the tank & that is due to my daughte being in kindergarten. So now the tank is sitting here, staring at me. Empty... Now what?

Oh! And thank you all for your tips! Very much appreciated!
Kim

I do agree with everyone, especially with the 90 gallon system suggestion (very nice dimension). But I personally think that the bigger tank would have been too intimidating for your 5 years old daughter who is obviously going to be a lot involved with the tank (maybe even more than you :razz:). 29 gallon would be more up close and person I would say :) Once again, I do agree bigger tank would have been better but yet for this situation, I think 29 gallon is perfect :) But you will be upgrading shortly when you daughter finds out puffers require a bigger tank ;)

Now that you have the tank, maybe you would like to take the short cut way of setting it up and getting it started since the birthday is close? :mrgreen:

[ergezzie]

The size of this tanks fits perfect in our living room, it's not too small, but eventually down the road a larger tank would be ideal. I think she has passed on the puffer fish idea as she saw one that puffed out and injured another fish..she said she is prolife and the puffer wasn't nice. But the biggest Black Sea urchin I can find is what she really wants.. And sexy shrimp, Thor something, she knows the name. I have inherited a huge amount of test kits and chemicals, a heater, wave makers, bubble blowers, and about a million other things people have donated to the cause. I have yet to buy salt.. And am completely confused about the sump & protein skimmer part of saltwater. Do I need them? For what I have read, I can go with or without but the with seems the benefits are tremendous.

[ergezzie]

P.s. Her birthday is on the 26th of Oct.