Was doing a nano reef for about a year but had a light quit, and then a couple days later the filter sprung a leak so now i've lost my coral. My one fish lived through this, so basically it's time to start over. I would like to put together the tank I've been wanting since I got into salt water. Here is what I want to have in it:
1 ocellaris clown w/host anemone
Green clown goby (already own)
Ricordeas
maybe some other corals down the line, not important right now.
Here's what I own-
Current tank:
Glass 3 gallon JBJ Pico tank
adjustable tiny heater
rubble and filter floss as media in the hob filter that leaks.
Baseball sized ball of Cheato
4 lbs. crushed coral sand
2.5lb chunk of live rock (probably dead by now)
lots of little starfish
3 hermit crabs
one serpent star and a handful of small random common hitchikers may still be in the rock.
other items I own, I realize some of it will be useless I was a betta breeder for a while so I have lots of extra equipment, but mostly freshwater type stuff:
3 gallon eclipse plastic tank (complete lights and filter)
3 gallon or so octagonal plastic tank with light
3 one gallon plastic tanks
2 five gallon preset type heaters
20 gallon long glass tank
10 gallon glass tank
30 gallon heater
20 hallon heater
10 gallon heater
and 3 or 4 air pumps.
let me know what you think, maybe someone needs some of my extra gear for something I could use. Hopefully I can build something with what I have.
ah IDK how i logged in with facebook, but i can't again. Thankfully i found my old account info.
current tank is 3 gallons
Size of the tank is flexible. I just want my clownfish with an anemone, and my clown goby, and maybe a couple rics or some other coral down the road but that's not as big a deal for me as those first couple things.
You could we the 20 gallon tank. It would be a lot easier if you plumbed the 10 gallon tank to it - as a sump. That would increase the water volume. Better still, buying a new 30 gallon tank (and using the ten or twenty as a sump would be better. You'll need o price out lighting, and that might help decide what size tank you end up with. Once you decide on the tank, folks here will be able to help you out more.
If your looking for a commercial type tank, and want to start over from scratch, I would look at the CADLIGHTS site....May give you some ideas...there tanks are amazing. I might be able to get you better info if it helps too...just a thought...I got some great ideas from it myself.
Anyways....lighting and water volume will be 2 important items that can make or break a project....more water= more money. As does larger tank= more money in equipment ( costs on protein skimmers, sumps, overflows, etc). I would suggest coming up with a size you are comfortable with then go from there...used equipment also can help lower the cost....but beware .... I would suggest against used tanks, unless they are set up when you buy them....then it safer since they were holding water, just my2 cents though.
I'm a fan of the all in one setups...they are easy, quiet, and energy efficient.
I've been running a 29 biocube and its one of the nicest tanks I had. I use a DIY LED setup for lighting. I also modded mine and took off the rim stock so it looks a lot nicer. You should be able to pick up a used one pretty easily.
If I were buying a new tank, I would look at one of the Innovative Marine tanks.
I have been very pleased with the performance of my Red Sea Max tanks. I have owned two now (actually, still own both), a RSM 130D and a RSM 250. The former is a ~34G tank and sump all in one system. The benefits of the all in one system are simplicity in set up and standardization in performance. The downsides are you don't LEARN as much going in, so you have to try to learn how all of the components interact without really touching any of them. The other is (and you may read this a bit) there are compromises selected for you in making a small all in one system, and fitting it all into what I think is a very attractive package (tank and stand).
As you have found, the all in one tanks are not inexpensive - but a big part of the sticker shock is that you are only given the final bill. Not all of the small purchases adding up to (that same) final bill. The package includes tank, stand, sump, lighting, a (modest) skimmer, salt, test kits, etc.
Every once in a while, I get the itch to kit bash the tank and do some customization. But, everytime I start to look into it, I decide that any upside to the mods will only be minimally improving the system. And, by then, my corals go on a growth spurt and I decide the mods can wait... I will admit, I have ONLY run RSM tanks for the years that I have been reefing, so I can't really say they are better (or worse) than anything else out there. But, I am looking enviously at one of their new (bigger) tanks!