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Starting a tank

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SevTT

Advanced Reefer
Location
Suffolk County
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xDAVMANx said:
Well I have three freshwater tanks but never dome a saltwater one , I would like to know what would be best to use for a 55g tank in ,filter ,substrate,light , I really want just fish but i would love to setup a small reef in it too ..


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There're a lot of opinions out there, but this is what I'd do:

Use oolitic aragonite for your substrate, get the cheapest stuff possible, not 'live sand' that's been prepackaged. I recommend a DSB of 4", but I also recommend that you keep as much of your rock off the sand as possible.

Do get some live sand from another reefer or a LFS that keeps a tank of the stuff going. 5 pounds should do ya.

Reef Crystals is a good, basic salt. You may need to supplement alk and mg to your tastes.

Buy a cheap RO/DI system from one of the vendors here to make your water with.

Buy marco rock base rock and/or live rock from a member here. Look for something from a tank that's been established for a good while and is pest-free. (By pests I mean aptasia, mojanos, and green bubble algae, though the latter is controllable if you have certain tangs. The more worms, the better, generally.) You want enough to fill about one-quarter to one-half of the tank, depending how you stack it. For the love of aesthetics, please find something other than a rock wall for your aquascaping. ;)

Overflows are a major headache, get a drilled tank and a sump.

Go with t5s with individual reflectors for lights. You can keep anything under these, though certain things may need to be in the upper half of the tank.

You don't need a skimmer right away, but keep your eye out for a good deal and do some research regarding them. With some minor modifications, the AquaC skimmers are probably the best bang for your buck, if you don't need a monster skimmer.

I recommend incorporating a chaeto fuge in your sump, and lighting it opposite your main tank.

12 hours of lighting and a temp of 80*F are what I go with.

Don't put GSP or Xenia on your main rockwork.

Stock at least one small wrasse of the sort that eat brown/red flatworms, which is pretty much everything in the same families as six-lines and coris, along with others.

Purchase large dog strength Interceptor. This can be done online, or if you have established a relationship with a vet, or consult with a vet that specializes in fish and such. Dip all incoming acros per Melev's Reef website instructions.

Have a 10-gallon quarantine tank available, and use it. There are many things you can skip QT on -- snails, crabs, echinoderms, mostly. But it's a good idea to dip and then QT -any- coral you get that's attached to LR has a lot of crevices, just for a day or two so you can make sure there's nothing hiding in there that you don't want. Small colonies, like plugs with a few zoas on them, or other small frags can often get by with a thorough visual inspection. However, learn how to recognize red bugs, Acro Eating Flatworms (AEFW) montipora eating flatworms, and zoa eating flatworms. Have tweezers and a magnifying glass available.

They're pricey, but the Vortech circulation pumps do a magnificent job of moving water. Failing that, I recommend the cheap koralia pumps for internal water movement.

Don't be afraid to keep SPS right off. The common plating and branching orange montiporas and most reef-crest acros tend to be pretty hardy and forgiving.

I personally recommend using an auto-top-off system filled with kalkwasser and connected to a pH controller to both keep your tank full of water and to supplement your calcium. Done properly (so that you can't get a syphon going either from the kalk to the tank or vice versa and controlled so it can't spike the pH) there really isn't any better or more headache-free calcium supplementation system out there. Done improperly it can kill everything in your tank and is a huge PITA.

I heartily recommend perusing the Advanced Aquarist back-articles and reading articles about, well, anything that you have a question about or that interests you. There's a lot of excellent information here.

Buy more snails. I recommend 1 cerith per gallon or more, and about 20-30 trochus/astraea snails for a tank your size. Add in extras if needed or desired. I also recommend getting about 10-15 red-legged hermits and one or two brittle stars.

For food, I recommend the small size Formula 1 pellets, Formula 1 flake, a chunk of frozen cyclop-eez, and some frozen mysids of marine origin -- I use H2OLife mini-mysis. I also recommend using Selcon as an additive. Between these, you can feed 95% of common reef fish and critters and corals, though larger fish and specialists may need additional food items. My BTA and lps love all of the above, including the Formula 1 pellets, which are a heckuva lot less annoying to feed to something than silversides.

Run carbon in your sump, even if it's just a cup or so stuffed into a piece of nylon pantyhose and chucked in there in a high-flow area. I also recommend doing the same with a phosphate-removing media.

A controller system -- I use the Apex, the Reefkeeper Elite is also a good, cheap model -- saves a lot of headache and acts as insurance for a lot of problems. You don't need one, but I recommend getting one when you can. You can run all your lights through one and use it to control fans, top-off, etc. This lets me get by without a chiller, unairconditioned, in high summer with no real problems; I have my controller turn on fans and start turning off lights as the temp goes up. This may or may not work for you.

Don't freak out about cyano, hair algae, or diatoms. If they're not harming any of your critters, it's usually best to let them grow, use up the available nutrients, and then be eaten by your clean-up crew. After all, having all four walls of your fish tank covered in GHA makes for a damned big turf scrubber. %)

Evaluate your fish and invertebrate purchases for their ability to act as part of the clean-up crew. For example, a hippo tang will keep most hair algae and bryopsis under control, as will many small angels. Tangs of the same genus as the yellow tang will consume green bubble algae. Copperband Butterflyfish may help control aptasia and will help control bristleworms, if you don't like bristleworms. Many small wrasses may help control flatworms and the small, parasitic snails that feed on Tridactna clams.

Other people will tell you different things, and you may decide to do different things, but the above are some good starting points. These are some general principles I follow on all my tanks, and I've been pretty successful despite my tendency to neglect maintenance.
 
Last edited:
jdnumis

jdnumis

Advanced Reefer
Location
Long Island
Rating - 100%
73   0   0
Thanks Awibrandy, just listen to the podcast and it answered all my questions. Jon has a lot of good info on how to start your first reef tank. I think I am ready now to take the next with all the reading and research as well as the Great advice from people on MR. Thanks again to you and everyone that gave me a wealth of knowledge on this hobby.

---James
 
Og Drogon

Og Drogon

Freshwater monster
Manhattan Reefs
Location
Apopka, Florida
Rating - 94.1%
32   2   0
Okay first I want to thank all you guys for the help never been on a web site that helped out this much unreal keep it up peoples! ....2nd I am going to do my first build on a 90gal tank mostly fish,and a small corral system, 2 clown fish ,2 skunk red shrimp,and 2 tang . That's it ...now what will I need to make this happen in way of equipment ? My buget is open.

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JimmyR1rider

JimmyR1rider

Advanced Reefer
Manhattan Reefs
Location
East Stroudsburg, PA
Rating - 100%
48   0   0
If you already have your live rock or know where youre going to get your live rock and sand then is time to move onto the next step- decide what salt youre going to use, get enough of that to a) fill your tank with correctly mixed saltwater and b) enough for your water changes during your cycle and some after. Usually salt gets cheaper the more bulk you buy. I would suggest getting a refractometer to measure your salinity, easier to use and more accurate than a hydrometer, and can get them from saltwatercritters on here for like 32 bucks- worth its weight in gold. Get yourself a good RO/DI unit. Get yourself some good lighting a sump and a good skimmer. The rule of thumb is to get a skimmer rated twice or more of the amount of gallons youre system will be- if 200 gallons you want a skimmer rated at least for up to 400 gallons.

Also get yourself some good powerheads- I would suggest if your budget is open to go with vortechs. Youd need 1 mp40 and should be good to go. Hope this helps.:cheers:
 
Last edited:
T

triggerhappy

Experienced Reefer
Location
Bronx
Rating - 100%
4   0   0
Dav i have a book for you that really help me out when i first started the New Marine Aquarium. It will just cost you a thank you. If you like it it's yours. It is really basic well now it is.
 
Og Drogon

Og Drogon

Freshwater monster
Manhattan Reefs
Location
Apopka, Florida
Rating - 94.1%
32   2   0
I understand he's a nut ,anyway I should be going around this weekend looking for a place that sells stuf for saltwater or just for aqauriums.. I would like a place that can be like a one stop shop :)


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M

MisterTickle

None
Manhattan Reefs
Location
New York City
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
SevTT said:
There're a lot of opinions out there, but this is what I'd do:

Use oolitic aragonite for your substrate, get the cheapest stuff possible, not 'live sand' that's been prepackaged. I recommend a DSB of 4", but I also recommend that you keep as much of your rock off the sand as possible.

Do get some live sand from another reefer or a LFS that keeps a tank of the stuff going. 5 pounds should do ya.

Reef Crystals is a good, basic salt. You may need to supplement alk and mg to your tastes.

Buy a cheap RO/DI system from one of the vendors here to make your water with.

Buy marco rock base rock and/or live rock from a member here. Look for something from a tank that's been established for a good while and is pest-free. (By pests I mean aptasia, mojanos, and green bubble algae, though the latter is controllable if you have certain tangs. The more worms, the better, generally.) You want enough to fill about one-quarter to one-half of the tank, depending how you stack it. For the love of aesthetics, please find something other than a rock wall for your aquascaping. ;)

Overflows are a major headache, get a drilled tank and a sump.

Go with t5s with individual reflectors for lights. You can keep anything under these, though certain things may need to be in the upper half of the tank.

You don't need a skimmer right away, but keep your eye out for a good deal and do some research regarding them. With some minor modifications, the AquaC skimmers are probably the best bang for your buck, if you don't need a monster skimmer.

I recommend incorporating a chaeto fuge in your sump, and lighting it opposite your main tank.

12 hours of lighting and a temp of 80*F are what I go with.

Don't put GSP or Xenia on your main rockwork.

Stock at least one small wrasse of the sort that eat brown/red flatworms, which is pretty much everything in the same families as six-lines and coris, along with others.

Purchase large dog strength Interceptor. This can be done online, or if you have established a relationship with a vet, or consult with a vet that specializes in fish and such. Dip all incoming acros per Melev's Reef website instructions.

Have a 10-gallon quarantine tank available, and use it. There are many things you can skip QT on -- snails, crabs, echinoderms, mostly. But it's a good idea to dip and then QT -any- coral you get that's attached to LR has a lot of crevices, just for a day or two so you can make sure there's nothing hiding in there that you don't want. Small colonies, like plugs with a few zoas on them, or other small frags can often get by with a thorough visual inspection. However, learn how to recognize red bugs, Acro Eating Flatworms (AEFW) montipora eating flatworms, and zoa eating flatworms. Have tweezers and a magnifying glass available.

They're pricey, but the Vortech circulation pumps do a magnificent job of moving water. Failing that, I recommend the cheap koralia pumps for internal water movement.

Don't be afraid to keep SPS right off. The common plating and branching orange montiporas and most reef-crest acros tend to be pretty hardy and forgiving.

I personally recommend using an auto-top-off system filled with kalkwasser and connected to a pH controller to both keep your tank full of water and to supplement your calcium. Done properly (so that you can't get a syphon going either from the kalk to the tank or vice versa and controlled so it can't spike the pH) there really isn't any better or more headache-free calcium supplementation system out there. Done improperly it can kill everything in your tank and is a huge PITA.

I heartily recommend perusing the Advanced Aquarist back-articles and reading articles about, well, anything that you have a question about or that interests you. There's a lot of excellent information here.

Buy more snails. I recommend 1 cerith per gallon or more, and about 20-30 trochus/astraea snails for a tank your size. Add in extras if needed or desired. I also recommend getting about 10-15 red-legged hermits and one or two brittle stars.

For food, I recommend the small size Formula 1 pellets, Formula 1 flake, a chunk of frozen cyclop-eez, and some frozen mysids of marine origin -- I use H2OLife mini-mysis. I also recommend using Selcon as an additive. Between these, you can feed 95% of common reef fish and critters and corals, though larger fish and specialists may need additional food items. My BTA and lps love all of the above, including the Formula 1 pellets, which are a heckuva lot less annoying to feed to something than silversides.

Run carbon in your sump, even if it's just a cup or so stuffed into a piece of nylon pantyhose and chucked in there in a high-flow area. I also recommend doing the same with a phosphate-removing media.

A controller system -- I use the Apex, the Reefkeeper Elite is also a good, cheap model -- saves a lot of headache and acts as insurance for a lot of problems. You don't need one, but I recommend getting one when you can. You can run all your lights through one and use it to control fans, top-off, etc. This lets me get by without a chiller, unairconditioned, in high summer with no real problems; I have my controller turn on fans and start turning off lights as the temp goes up. This may or may not work for you.

Don't freak out about cyano, hair algae, or diatoms. If they're not harming any of your critters, it's usually best to let them grow, use up the available nutrients, and then be eaten by your clean-up crew. After all, having all four walls of your fish tank covered in GHA makes for a damned big turf scrubber. %)

Evaluate your fish and invertebrate purchases for their ability to act as part of the clean-up crew. For example, a hippo tang will keep most hair algae and bryopsis under control, as will many small angels. Tangs of the same genus as the yellow tang will consume green bubble algae. Copperband Butterflyfish may help control aptasia and will help control bristleworms, if you don't like bristleworms. Many small wrasses may help control flatworms and the small, parasitic snails that feed on Tridactna clams.

Other people will tell you different things, and you may decide to do different things, but the above are some good starting points. These are some general principles I follow on all my tanks, and I've been pretty successful despite my tendency to neglect maintenance.
Click to expand...

I just wanna say, That is a great reply. :lovestory
 
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