To Reef or Not to Reef

[4Ever the AquaNut]

Hey, down the road, I plan to do a saltwater tank, but not sure if I want to start it off as a reef tank. I've done freshwater tanks for most of my life, so saltwater would be new territory. Question is, for somebody making their way into new territory, are reef tanks okay for beginners? And if somebody says yes, what equipment and setup would I need to take proper care of the coral? What coral are okay for beginners? And are sea fans another possibility?

 

[Mr.Rocc]

Personally i know i dont have a reputation on here just yet since i have just joined. But first Welcome to R2R its a great community. Now, your equipment and setup depend on the space your provided and your budget. I started with an 8 gallon bio cube, moved to a 20 gallon, and now im working on buying all my equipment for a 55 gallon reef set up. The best part about building for a reef is that there are so many different corals that you can work your way up to the harder ones as you get the appropriate equipment for them. The tips that i would give to you coming into reefing are, No canister filters, protein skimmers work so much better, with that being said help yourself out and get a sump, it will help your tank in the long run, lastly the larger the tank the easier it it to prevent catastrophic failure. Most people have started with a 40 gallon breeder. Start googling i think you will be intrigued also Bulk reef supply and vivid aquariums have great videos on youtube to help you!
Best of luck

 

[mcarroll]

I would say do enough research to have a better idea of what you really wanna keep - sea fans, hard corals...whatever.

Personally, I wanted to keep stonies when I started, for example, but nobody gave me this advice...and I ended up starting with other critters.

A waste of time AND permanently infected my tank with mushrooms as a result, which aren't particularly compatible with stony coral.

So my advice is NOT to seek out "beginner" advice OR animals.

Both will do no good for you in the long run. The reality is that nearly all the corals you'll find for sale locally are VERY hardy and easy to care for. Try to focus your research time on the critters you decide you really want.

FWIW, the standard set of equipment will do: tank and skimmer

Nice additions would be automatic top-off and automatic dosing equipment, but I ran my stony coral tank all-manual for the first year or two. Don't be afraid to do what works.

 

[4Ever the AquaNut]

Another question, would the floor substrate I use matter if by the off chance I were to do a reef tank? My plan include the option of coral, toss in some live rocks, or both, while I try for a saltwater community tank that has both fish and inverts living peacefully without the worry of somebody becoming a meal for the other.

 

[3dees]

I did fw for 25 years. finally decided on doing a sw. converted my 120 gal. wild discus tank. I started it as a fowlr because I did not want to get into dosing. almost two years and my tank is filled with softies and a few lps and I still don't dose. fowlr tank are great if you want non reef safe fish, but just don't do it for me. my tank is very simple. no sump, hob skimmer, dimmable led's, and Jeboa powerheads. it's as expensive as you want it to be. my advice is to research everything before adding to the tank and take your time.

 

[Rattooth]

Deciding what critters you want , and size of tank is first step. Larger tank is better in my opinion. Is there a must have fish you want?

 

[YHSublime]

I was daunted by the process of conversion as well. I made the plunge with a 14 gallon biocube. It was great to start with, but as I found my wants grew, and I wanted to get into SPS. I'm a firm believer that a lot of learning is done by doing. I've tried different lights, different salts, different dosers, many different tanks. I've gone through different sumps, water heaters, automatic top offs (ATO's) RO/DI's, pumps. I've sodered LED's, I've drilled tanks, set up QT's, dosed different things, and I'm better off for all of it. I also never heard of any of these things before I just dived in and tried to research as much as possible!

I always find it wise to start with an easy cheap all in one (AIO) and figure out what you really want to do, and then dream big from there. Some of the nicest tanks I've seen are 29 gallon biocubes, so maybe you decide you don't want a big tank! You can always stock real light at first, get some nice rock, live or dry, and really take your time in getting to know the ins and outs of saltwater. Sit tight and let the cycle happen, just remember, nothing good happens fast, and welcome!

 

[Rattooth]

Also , find someone with experience in your town if possible. A friend that has a beautiful tank and will let you come to their house. I learned a lot that way.

 

[4Ever the AquaNut]

I am doing the research, but I'm also trying to get some advice from folks who been there but are willing to share. Sad thing is, where I live, there are very few people with fish tanks due to the only pet store closing down due to the recession a couple of years ago, and the local Walmart only has one small section that has supplies, and the only fish being sold are bettas in a cup. The closest thing to experts on fish is the person running the Aquaculture Department at the local college, but I think I'm starting to know more then them.
What I have planned for a tank is somewhere between 50-70g, with sand to put on the bottom. Still looking up on the equipment I would need. I have been raising Tropical Freshwater tanks for a little over 20 years, and right now the Saltwater Tank would become the third and final tank. Plus, it would be like fulfilling a childhood dream, so to speak. Right now I have a 10g and a 20g tank, both with gravel on the bottom. The third tank would be like trying a bunch of new things in one setting.
The kind of fish I want are pretty much out of my league, go figure, which would be porcupinefish and sea horse, not all at once. So I'm looking towards a tank that I can mix fish and inverts together, like say, chromis, gobies and cleaner shrimp, but still researching other possibilities, along with using an online fish store to see how much it would cost to get them.

 

[Rattooth]

Seahorses need to be in species tank mostly. They are slow feeders and most other fish eat their food too quickly. Ocean Rider sells sea horses that they have trained to accept frozen food . They are pricy, but normally sea horses require live food.
You can easily switch to salt water from fish , most of the older people in hobby did that.
I have had good luck buying pretty much everything from online retailers: equipment , live rock, corals and fish. In fact , besides the specialized feeding requirements of sea horses, the other fish are easy to keep. And they would do fine in fish only tank. But I think you might be leaning to keeping corals eventually too? So if that is the case lighting and protein skimming and water flow are important.
Be sure and get reverse osmosis unit to purify water. Otherwise you will have algae problem

 

[glb]

Another great reef fish is a clownfish. They have great personalities and are endlessly entertaining. They aren't very expensive unless you buy a special kind. I started with a 12g nanocube and kept fish only for 3 years before adding coral. With a mature tank, I had success the first time around with the easier corals, like zoas, ricordea, and then some LPS like Acans. I bought retrofit LEDs and added a phosban reactor to help with phosphates, which cause algae. I have a little skimmer coming today, which isn't necessary in a 12g tank but I wanted to try it out.

 

[glb]

Here are the things I had to buy when I first started:

Tank (nanocubes come with all the equipment you need to start).

In addition:

Test kits:

For cycling: ammonia, nitrites and nitrates
After cycling: continue with nitrates, something to measure salinity (get a refractometer instead of a hydrometer),
Thermometer, alkalinity, magnesium, calcium, ph tester (recommend a digital monitor), and phosphates. I didn't start testing for Alk, mg, ca or phosphates until I got coral.

RO Water (either get at a trusted fish store or buy a RODI unit)

Salt mix (I use Instant Ocean Reef Crystals)

Bucket for mixing water. A powerhead helps mix the water more quickly. Make sure you don't use the bucket for anything else

Live rock and live sand for filtration. About a pound of rock/gallon and a pound of sand/gallon. This helps your tank filter waste.

Protein skimmer if you don't get a nano tank.

I'm sure I've missed something. Hopefully someone who set up a bigger tank will chime in. It's a great hobby. Good luck!

You can always upgrade as you go along.

 

[4Ever the AquaNut]

Like I said, sea horses are a little bit out of my league, so I'm just trying to start with the easy ones. Plus I'd be too tempted to get one to wrap it's tail around my finger. One thing I am definitely NOT going to try, no matter what size tank, is keep a saltwater shark, mainly because I want to keep all my limbs attached, and not a fan of feeding live food to anybody. Which is also a reason why I wouldn't by an Oscar fish. While I'm a little lenient towards reef, not sure if I need a rock or something as some kind of anchor for the coral, or see if I can handle sea fans. Clownfish sound okay, although I would probably try to find one that has the same color as Nemo. as long as an sea anemone isn't required. While fish only is okay, but I like to try to do an ecosystem, where there are both fish and inverts, like shrimp, crabs or anything else that can be mixed with fish.
Right now, I'm checking out Petsolutions and LiveAquaria on everything I need, while checking to see if places like Petsmart or PetCo do sell saltwater stuff.