KJC18

Hi Everyone,
I'm really new to this and i have alot of research to do. I just have some questions.

1. What is the best lighting for reef aquariums?

2. What does Reef Aquariums consist of?

3. When filling the tank with water, how do i mix the salt?

4. Where can i buy all this equipment? lighting, etc

I know these questions may sound newbish but i'm just starting out and i have have no knowledge of setting up a saltwater aquarium.

Maybe some of you can list the equipment you guys have so i can get an idea.

Thanks!!

Gozer_1

You're asking the right questions. Here's some answers. They'll lead you to more questions but we'll get ya through lol. The reef keepers around this forum have been instrumental in me getting my tank figured out.

2. A reef consists of a SW tank that is home to more than just fish and snails. It means you have coral and other invertebrate inhabitants with or without fish. There are (basically) two types of SW tank. One is the reef. The other is Fish Only. You can keep fish only with (FOWLR) or without live rock, though I highly recommend live rock. It'll help you maintain your water quality and provide good hiding places.

1. You have to answer the above question before you can properly answer this question. Lighting depends on the tank you intend to keep. A fish only tank has very little lighting special needs. As long as it's flourescent and nothing in your tank needs light to live you can use a standard strip light. FOWLR tanks should be lit with some type of flourescent at 3 watts or more per gallon of tank. A reef tank lighting can get a little more complicated. Lighting a reef depends on the type of corals and such you intend to keep. If you plan to have easier to manage soft coral, mushrooms, zoanthids and such, then you''l need flourescent lights at about 5 watts per gallon. If you plan for more light needy inhabitants then you'll need to look into Metal Halide. Some corals, clams, and anemones need intense light to survive. Not sure on the recommended wattage for those. I only have a soft coral tank.

3. Mixing salt is a chore to be sure. I fill buckets with either jugs of drinking water from Walmart or I use my VERY slow purifier. I then add the salt, a powerhead pump, and a heater to each bucket. I allow them to mix basically over night. Then I slowly add the new water in after my water change.

4. I purchased almost all of my setup minus tank and stand at www.marinedepot.com

Here's my equipment list.
55 glass tank
Current USA Orbit light fixture 4x65W dual compact (about $250)
Aqua C protein skimmer (around $230)
Two 150 W Stealth Heaters ()
1 Rena Filstar XP2 canister filter (about $120)
1 Filstar XP3 canister (about $140)

The XP2 is going away when I get my sump/fuge going. The XP3 is a biological filter. I call it my external undergravel filter. Basicaly a box of rocks.

Well that should give you something lol. Feel free to ask as many questions as you can come up with. The teacher learns when the student questions.

pkmiller

Hi KJC & Gozer. I'm a newbie too. Started another thread because I was becoming overwhelmed but I've calmed down. LOL! I have two more questions though, which will probably help KJC also.

My 33 gal tank has been running for 5 days with salt, live rock, live sand, power head (is that what it is called? It stirs up the water), a bio wheel filter, and heater. I don't have a protein skimmer yet but have ordered one. PH is 8.2, Alk is high, Nitrite is .2, Nitrate is 10, and temp is 76 degrees.

Question #1: Am I close to adding a fish or two?

Question #2: Do I change some of the water this weekend or wait until a week after fish have been added?

Thanks again for all your help. (KJC, they are very helpful here).

Oil_Fan

You're right about them being very helpful. I think I can see the next couple of questions they're going to ask you...what's the ammonia at and how much live rock do you have?

And I'm still learning myself. I'm a month into my SW tank myself.

Gozer_1

Nitrites mean you still have some ammonia to get rid of. The numbers sound like your cycle is going well or just getting started. Being 5 days in to it I'm going to say just getting started. It can take several weeks for a SW tank to cycle so I'd wait till you read 0 Nitrites and ammonia. If you don't have an ammonia test, you need to get one. Once you get your Ammonia to 0 Nitrite to 0 and your nitrates to 5 or less you'll be ready for fish. What are you using to cycle the tank? I'd guess your live rock is supplying the ammonia to start the cycle as it cures. Give it another week and see where your numbers are. If your rock was well cured and alive when you put it in, you should have an easy quick cycle. Live rock is inhabited by the bacteria that runs the nitrogen cycle in your tank. You'll want that protein skimmer first too. That'll go a long ways to help clean out fishy waste.

You should do a %20 water change once a week. Fish or no fish. It does slow the cycle a little bit but it will provide a more stable over all environment in the end.

You should also bump up your temperature to around 79 or 80.

It makes my day to have some one looking to talk about fish. I'm the only fish freak in my group of friends. I enjoy helping others improve their enjoyment of this hobby. Seems to be a pretty common feeling amungst FishLore members. lol I like when I don't know and have to research it. I'm a pretty good web searcher and I always learn something when I dig in to help someone. The main reason I stuck around this forum, every one just seemed to be enjoying every discussion and seemed so pleased to offer every bit of help they could offer and more. Birds of a feather flock together, well fish of a scale school together. That just doesn't have the same ring to it. lol

pkmiller

I have 28 lbs of live rock. I see quite a few white spots though and after doing some reading, I guess the rock was not as good as it could have been. The amonia was .25.

Okay, I'll turn the heat up a little, change some of the water this weekend, and wait some more. Man, I am just not that great at waiting. Makes me want a cigarette and I just recently quit.

Gozer_1

Ah yes, that ammonia has got to go. Give it a couple weeks, test each week before you change water. You'll see your results start dropping of and you'll know you're getting close. You are curing rock right now. While that will do wonders to get your cycle going, it'll also be VERY unhealthy for fish. Keep up water changes and get a skimmer going as soon as you can. You'll have a lot of nutrients coming from die off. (the white spots are likely dead stuff) You can even pull rocks and clean some of the yucky stuff off.

Forget those stupid sticks. They'll only make you feel like crap. I'm an exsmoker myself. Amazing how long those things stick with you. I found the nicotine gum to be very helpful. It was a lot easier to break a gum habit. Never actually broke the habit just slowly switched to regular spearmint gum.