Newbie making plans for first reef

[th3champish3r3]

Hi, Currently I do freshwater and want to make the move up to reefs..I am trying to plan as much now to minimize surprises in the future. I just have a few questions that you pros will probably laugh at..but as I said, this is new to me.

What are the pros and cons of a bare bottom reef tank and sand? In terms of filtration and stability which is the better one? Is a deeper sand bed or shallow sand bed better?

When putting my tank together I have heard I can use sand from home depot and seed it with a cup of sand from your LFS. Which sands are these safe to do with?

I would like to get a calcium reactor in the future. What is this difference between this and a kalkwasser stirrer? Is it possible to supplement calcium without the use of a co2 tank? How often do you need to buy new media for these?

With a reef tank is a fluidized bed filter beneficial? Someone at my LFS told me they end up leaking nitrates into your tank. What about the nitrate reducers or phosban that I have seen on drfostersmith? Or diatom filters?

Thanks alot for the info

 

[wschang812]

phosban reactors are good, makes maintaining the tank easier, not necessary though. i would go with a deep sand bed (minimum for 3 inches) with gobies and nessarius snails to shift the sand to prevent build up. using a cup of live sand to seed will take longer, but it will work. i just use the liquid calcium.

 

[KathyC]

Welcome to MR

Before folks start answering your questions..perhaps you can tell us a few things about what you plan to do.
Have you decided on any of your equipment yet? How big a tank do you plan and have you started to study what types of fish & corals you'd like to ultimately have?
Do you plan to get a ro/di unit?

Where are you getting your ideas for your tank from? Books? LFS?

Home Depot sand should not be used in a reef tank, what people used years ago from there no longer exists. Many will suggest you use aragonite sand as it helps your tank maintain PH. It is not necessary to purchase 'live sand' to start your tank. Dry sand is fine and can cycle along with your live rock.

 

[th3champish3r3]

I plan on doing atleast 120 gallons with a refugium and a layer of mud/sand. I am still debating if I want to just fill the whole thing up with liverock or have 2 mountain like formations on each side or what other arrangements I want inside. I am planning on using metal halide and blue actinic lights. Yes I will use RODI water. After cycling I will put a Uv steralizer on. I am planning to get a strong protein skimmer but I am not sure which are good. As for anything else, I am not sure what other equipment will benefit the tank.

 

[MARCOANTONIOJR]

i have a 120 you can come by and check out my setup if you like im in valley stream bordering queens.

 

[isgon26]

I use Home Depot Sand and have had no problem. I just cycled it allong with the tank. Seeding it will move it along faster. You can use any live sand to seed. I can gice you some from my set up if you want. I use a ASM G3 skimmer. It works well for me I have 150 gallon tank plus 30 gallon sump. I dont think you need a fluidized filter as long as you have at least 1 lb per gallon of live rock.