- Today, the top 10 beginner's tips
on setting up a salt water aquarium.
- This is your first aquarium,
this is your first foray into the saltwater world
we have the top 10 tips that we both wish somebody
would have told us in the beginning
that would save us a lot of heartache,
but we've got them first for you here
so you don't have to do the same thing
starting with tip number one.
- Tip number one, would have saved me something
like 3000 posts, and all kinds of forums all over the world.
If somebody would have just told me
that this is actually really really easy
setting up a tank, anyone could do it.
- Anyone can do it.
- The difference here, why it seems hard
is not the application of knowledge or the set of rules
to do it, it's acquiring that knowledge
and then like see the advice that's out there.
- Yeah so, you might hear or read, or you just
even if you search, how to set up a reef tank
or saltwater aquarium you get all kinds of articles
and forums and groups and posts and videos
and things like that.
A lot of it can be pretty daunting and overwhelming
but it's not that hard you just have to listen
or find the right source of information.
- Yep so that's really the big tip here is fine
if you're doing this for the first time
find a single source of information.
We have lots of videos here on how to set up
a brand new tank can use those in it,
really doesn't matter what you pick but pick one group
or one person that has produced the type of tank
that you would like, and then just emulate that,
and you'll almost certainly succeed.
Number two, sometimes I steal the tip
says we build the story here but.
- Yeah but this is a really important tip
and that is just what you said find somebody
to emulate or find some teacher or a single person,
rather than listening to all of the people out there
who are doing the reefing thing.
Some of them just know about as much as you do
about the hobby from the same research
they got so, you know choose a person or a tank
that is your dream, that's your goal
and then go listen to how that person did it.
- So I think the best bet in many cases
is actually find somebody at a fish store
that can actually walk you through the process.
Tell you exactly what to do, here's the steps
that you do and just follow it don't deviate.
- Nope.
- First take, just follow it, see the success
and then you can kinda venture out from there.
If you don't have that kind of resource
we have a series called the five minute guide here.
That you can follow, which is, you know attempt
to emulate that there's about 20 different little steps
to it and little five minute chunks
in the time they take you to watch a single movie
you know everything there is to know to set up
one of these tanks, but really again,
find a mentor don't ask all of your peers
and debate this for 3000 posts
just find something that works and follow it.
All right number three, this is one
that I don't think enough people do.
- Yeah so, you're ready to get your tank
and now you're thinking about where it's gonna go
and how you're gonna set it up.
Well, that first part of where it's gonna go
is actually really important
cause you wanna pick a location
that you're gonna spend a lot of time in
and the one you're gonna interact with a tank
because it's fun, it's a hobby,
everything is beautiful to look at.
Two, because you can monitor the tank
and see, wanted to if it's going bad,
or if it's going good.
And three just sit back and just enjoy the tank
after you've got it set up.
- The fact is well observed tank
is one that gets better care
and will likely be a lot more successful.
But you know, a lot of people will start this off
with, I want a 40 gallon tank, I want a 90 gallon tank
and then they go trying to find a place to put it.
- Put it in the basement.
- Yeah, it goes in the basement,
it goes wherever you wanna put it.
Really I think more successfully,
especially for that first tank is, find an area
of the house where you would really love to have a tank
and then pick the tank size and all those other things
and base it around that, because if I can watch it
while I'm watching TV, I can look at it
while I'm sitting down and having my first beer
after work or I can enjoy it while I'm having dinner
anywhere where I spend time,
means not only is it gonna stay clean
and look nice and be well cared for,
but actually get to enjoy it a lot more as well.
- Yep.
- So first step when selecting a tank is pick an area
of the house, whether it be your living room and office,
anywhere we think you're going to enjoy it the most.
No four I stole again.
(laughs)
- The tip is, so once you have your location picked out
this is where my tank's gonna go.
Now find that tank that fits that size
so, you know maybe you have a wall
that has a six foot span on it and you think,
man that'd be a great place for a tank.
You could probably entertain, your four foot
to six foot tanks to fill that space.
But if you have a little space in the corner
or the corner of the living room,
or somewhere in the dining room
or your office, maybe a taller, a stand or smaller
you know cube style tank, maybe that's the way to go
but choose the right size tank
for the location its going in.
- Yeah there's other factors here,
you know now that you've decided where it's gonna go.
How much weight can the floor support there?
And most tanks are gonna support
anything up to 90 to 120 gallon without a lot of thought
especially if it's pushed up against the wall
and sitting across multiple joints,
it's actually pretty easy.
But once you get like monster tanks,
they ended up going in the basement a lot.
- Yeah.
- You get into your 180 gallon tanks,
you get into something larger than that.
And generally wanna put in the basement
right on the concrete slab.
So, you know think about the size and what you wanna do,
where you wanna put it?
And then think about the size of the tank
how the tank's gonna fit there.
Number five, this is probably one of the best pieces
of advice for every new reefer,
because it will make it a lot easier
and probably look a lot nicer in your house as well.
- Yeah so the tip here is get an all in one tank.
It's so much easier you don't have to think about stump,
but equipment that fits in the stump.
A lot times, these all in one tanks
come with filtration like socks and skimmers
mainly all you have to do is kinda put a heater in
and some power heads for flow and you're good to go
because a lot of them come with lights as well.
So these all-in-one options turn out really great
just take a look at Ryan's E-170 in his office.
- Yeah so an all in one means that in the back,
there's a little compartment in there
that houses all your heaters some set
our filters and everything, and just out of sight
and you don't have to look at all these,
like things dangling in your tank
and, you don't have to deal with all this plumbing
that goes to this big giant sump underneath the tank.
So there's all kinds of advantages and reasons
that you'd like to have a big old sump
with all of this extra equipment down there,
but adds a lot of complexity to a brand new tank
whereas, you know having that all in one compartment
in the back, means to just drop the heater in
for the most part I drop the skimmer that came with it
again the lights it's just a really really simple,
easy way to do it.
And don't listen to anybody that tells you
absolutely need a sump, because again
you can look at that E-170 that you just mentioned
in my office, this is an all-in-one tank from red sea.
It's an SPS dominant tank, one of the hardest
types of corals that you can maintain
and just thriving and really just some water changes
and some good maintenance practices.
We actually have a series on how to do that specific tank
in the WWC series but, yeah, we also did
the exact same style of tank in the five minute
guide as well.
But yet, you know, all in one tank, really clean
and really easy.
Number six, this is the thing you should do
this very next weekend.
- So the tip is, to go to your fish doors,
go to your local fish doors and just start to get an idea
of what kind of fish are available,
what kind of corals are available,
now you can start to, get back to that first tip
and find a local fish store that you trust
and you have an idea of what you
somebody to listen to and somebody to take advice from,
all of your grief, all of your gears there
there's still a whole bunch of supplies
everything you need are these stores but, if you live
in an area that has a few stores,
I would even set like this geo three hour drive circle
around where I met and just pick out all the stores
and spend the weekend visiting them
seeing what's out there.
- My circle is probably a little smaller than that.
But, I would definitely drive to every store
within the area of my house.
You know, you're gonna see inspiration,
you're gonna see the tanks that they have set up there,
you're gonna see all the fish
you're gonna see all the coral
you're also gonna get a pause on
which one of these stores is now my go-to store.
Because if I took one day to see all that inspiration
and see all those tanks,
get to meet some of the people there
one of these stores is going to stand out
hopefully become that mentor that you're looking for,
that can really help you guide and getting the right tools
for the right job here the first time
and help you be successful.
Number seven, this costs a little bit more
but it's actually worth it specifically for new reefers.
- Yeah so here's the tip.
Real reef rock is worth it that's the purple stuff
that already has some bacteria on it.
And also sand is worth it and it just makes the process
your first year, whole lot easier.
- If you stumbled onto some bare bottom threads
about tanks has some value without saying,
just skip that over for your first tank,
put the sand in there or help filter the tank
and it'll help cycle the tank
and make it more stable right away.
But this real reef rock here,
this stuff actually costs a few dollars more a pound
but it will instantly look nice in the tank.
- Purple.
- It looks purple.
So once you put the like blue lights from the aquariums
and in the water, it looks stunning in the tank day one
and, it also tends not to grow the same types of algae,
it adds biodiversity because it's sold to you kinda damp
with it's been soaking in water actually for months.
- Yes.
- It's just gonna cycle a lot easier,
making that first stage of the tank so much easier
than standard white dry rock.
So the best piece of advice probably that will change
the trajectory the most of the day might be the rock choice
and selecting something like this will look good day one
you'll be really happy with it,
you know actually just make the whole progress
a lot easier as well.
Number eight, don't overlook these guys.
- Yeah tip is tangs are your tank's best friend,
especially in that first year
where some of the newer beginner reefers
in their first year, battle with like algae
and it can either send you a completely out of the hobby
and never wanna do this again, or you can overcome it
and now you're more prepared to fight it in the future.
But one of the best tools out there for fighting
these algaes, is something that eats algae all day,
every day, which is your tangs.
- Yeah, I don't think a lot of you will be surprised
that algae might be one of the things you need to be
and overcome in your first year of maintaining
a reef tank.
- Happens.
- Yeah water, high powered lights.
But, if you can put these tangs in your tank only do
if you watch the whole day,
primary job is just run around and eat algae off the rocks.
Even if there's is algae growing in here
he'll never know it cause it ate it all.
- Yeah.
- And so, there's all kinds of tanks
there's actually other herbivores fish
you can go out there and get like rabbit fish
and other things, not just tangs.
Tangs tend to be one of the best bets for that,
specifically a bristletooth tangs
like the white tailed tangs.
So, you know look at those also it's get a little harder
to get yellow tangs and purple tangs with those are near
and dear to my heart and actually one of my favorites
clean up every tank.
- Yeah.
- For that reason, I also like to get larger tanks,
like if I was gonna give anybody advice
on the right sized tank and I had to pick only one,
it'd be 120 gallon tank because it houses fish like tangs
really easy, it has that stability of a larger size
but I'm just gonna have a way more successful path.
Short of that is probably the 40 gallon breeder,
you can still put tangs in there,
but they may outgrow the tank
and you'll have to give them back to the store
and swap them out.
- Yeah.
- But tang's, will make it so much easier
and really you can bypass it never even know
how many of the problems that a lot of had
because the tangs ate it all.
All right number nine, the bane of all reefers
is water changes but, I think there's some tips here
on how to make them easier so you do them
and actually see again be more successful
and take off a little bit of the time.
- Yeah so that is the tip make those water changes
easier for you and there's ways to do that.
Number one way, is to make your own water at home.
I used to go lug around buckets of water
from all over the place bring it home, mix it,
then do my water changes but that got really old
really quick and then I started making my own water at home.
So just mix some RODI water with some salt in your own home,
you have water on demand whenever you need it
especially if you run into an issue, it water's ready to go,
that's one of the easiest ways, but there's also
like tools that can make your water changes easier.
- So yeah, if you have a 10 gallon tank or 20 gallon tank
you can buy some water from the store
I'll bring up some five gallon buckets
it might be the easiest way.
Past that, producing the water in your house,
means that it'll actually be there when you need it
meaning that you'll actually do it
cause if you have to drive to the fish store to get water
the chances are you're probably not gonna do it.
So just mixing up some RODI water and salt is the way to go.
But there's other ways to do it, to make it easier too.
So like they make this thing called the Python
which you can hook up right to your sink
and when turned on, creates a vacuum
and we'll just suck water right out of the tank
and dump it in my drain.
- Yeah.
- Means I'm not getting water all over the floor
or anything like that.
- To make it start a siphon.
- Yeah, not putting tubes in my mouth
just really easy to suck the water out
and because it's so easy, I'll do it.
In fact, I have a hybrid version of that at my house.
I did very last night.
- Oh yeah.
- I have the Python, but I also have this C&J pump
called the zero.
- Yep the ultra zero.
- You screw on the ultra zero,
the Python tubing to the ultra zero.
And I just put it in my tank, plug it in
and it sucks all the water out, send it down the drain.
Then when I'm done, I go over to my brute trash can
or the bin that I have all the water in.
I drop the ultra zero in there, plug it in
and it sends all the water into the tank.
- Easy.
- I'm done.
- Easy.
- It takes almost no time and effortless
and doesn't have any mess.
So think about those ways to make it easier
and you'll actually do it.
I show number 10, the two best tips
that we could think of today and maybe the most helpful
to somebody thinking about doing this for the first time.
- My number one tip is this is so easy
that really all you need to be successful is a tank full
of water and some water changes maybe some flow,
maybe some lights, but it's not every piece of equipment
that you read out there you don't need it
you can get this done with some simple equipment.
- So related to that, like you're gonna see
a laundry list of proteins, gamers, UV, sterilizers
all that other stuff out there.
Those are optional pieces of equipment just a glass box
and water changes will take you a really long way.
So for me, actually we've said that this is really
really hard in the past you say that in the beginning
of the five minute guy.
- Yeah.
- And it's really come across to me
that it actually isn't that hard.
- Not much.
- It's again, the acquisition of knowledge
versus the application of knowledge.
- Yep.
- Just finding the right person to listen to.
So I'm gonna offer up some of our efforts here.
So I think the five minute guide, if I was gonna say
to the one thing, that'd be the most helpful
to reefers to look at this for the first time
it's the five minute guide to reefing
and you can find it right here,
this thing will have every topic we've discussed
but in detail and how to really get this thing set up
and running in five minute little guides,
will see you there.