New nanotank equipment

[MedicalRower]

Hello.

I am entirely new to SW fish tanks, though there is an 89G SW tank in my house (my roommate is also a new SW enthusiast) and I grew up around FW tanks.

I am looking to start a small (around 30G) SW tank, beginning with fish and leaving open the option of reefing later. What equipment is needed to maintain a smaller tank, beyond the sand and rocks (talking skimmers, sump - is one really needed on a tank this small, etc.)? I am making a leap of faith in thinking that it is going to be different from what my roommate has on his 89G tank.

A little assistance would be appreciated!

Thanks,

[teddyzaper]

you dont NEED a skimmer, and most tanks run without a sump, but all these items are made to help you succeed in the hobby. If you dont want to run those things you could look into more natural filtration, in the rock and sand itself. You could also make an AIO (all in one) tank and have a miniature refugium in the back or just use it for placing your heater and misc items.
A few other things you might want to look at is a controller for your aquarium. This will do pretty much anything you need it to do, but instead of you having to do it, it will do it for you. Such as lights, auto top off, monitoring levels in the aquarium and more.
You could also look into an auto top off unit, this will replenish the evaporated FRESH water, with more FRESH water. I must emphasize fresh water because some people will top off with salt, and if you took a science course in high school you may remember that when saltwater evaporates it leaves the salt behind.
There are also the option of dosing, and dosing pumps. These will add supplements to your tank like Calcium and other additives. This is mainly for coral dominated SPS tanks. These are harder to keep for a beginner but as you learn you could slowly add them in.
Lighting would be the main issue for a saltwater reef tank. Some people swear to the metal halide/T5 setup, whereas some people are more open to newer ideas, including LED lighting. LED lighting is more wallet friendly in the long run because there is no need for replacing bulbs, but you will pay more up front for them. LEDs also use less electricity which can help keep your electric bill down. T5s are great for most corals, but arent really strong enough for SPS corals, there are exceptions, some T5 fixtures are just as good as MH, if not better, but the price is most likely out of your budget. MH (metal halides) are probably the safest choice because they have been proven, but they are expensive to replace bulbs.

I hope that helps a bit! there are also Stickies at the top of sections in the forum that can help greatly (especialy the beginners forum).

[ryeguyy84]

I have a Biocube HQI, it's an all in one with a Metal Halide. it has three chambers in the back. the first I keep my skimmer, second is a media rack with poly filter media, purigen (SP) and chempure elite and next to it is some chaeto. the third chamber is my return pump, a heater and my topoff float switch.

it can be cramped but overall it's very easy to maintain.

[pco1988]

I have a small system that I made myself to mimic a full size system..

It is an 11gal cube with a little 2gal sump that has a filter sock, skimmer and the return pump. I love the little tank, just wish it was stocked at the moment.

The sump is pretty cramped but it is very easy to work on IMO.