New Reef Tank

critter243

New member
I'm looking to start a salt water or a reef tank soon and to be honest I have no idea what to do or where to start. I have had alot of experience with tropical/fresh water tanks and have several running right now. I have a 37 gallon and a 55 gallon that are not being used right now. So I figured I would put one of them to use. Other then the tanks I have heaters for them and nothing else. I'm new here and new to the salt water hobby. I have no idea where to start or what I will need to start the tank. Any and all help and info would be greatly appreciated.


Critter
 
Search these forums they have alot of helpful post about starting up. And the knowledge on this site is top notch ask questions and read read read . Im at work but you can message me anytime I ill be happy to help you out and welcome to the reef.
 
Welcome and be prepared to be addicted! There is lots of info to help you out here on this site along with many many knowledgable people.
And once your ready to start purchasing equipment things pop up for sale from time to time. So keep an eye out
 
Thanks for the replies. I have been reading up as much as I can on this to learn more. I'm just having trouble figuring out what a few things are and if I need them or not. Some of these things are... protein skimmer, wet/dry sump, U/V sterilizer, wave maker and what lights I will need. I have no idea what this stuff is used for.
 
Hi critter243, I'm also new to the reef world and I can share with you the following.

A Protein skimmer is basically a filter system, it makes bubbles and lifts all the bad and dirty stuff into a collection cup. I have one and it does a good job, I don't even hear it (Hydor).

I have a 35 gallon tank and do not have a sump so I'm not to familiar with the wet/dry and U/V sterilizer.

The wave maker is used to turn off/on your power heads in order to mimic the ocean currents. Helps to change up the water movement in the tank.

As for lighting.... you should be getting different opinions. I started with marineland Reef lights but now that I've started to add corals I'm looking into upgrading. The one thing I can tell you to keep in mind when looking for LEDs are to ask for the PUR levels they put out.

http://aap.atrixnet.com/?p=338


Something you might also want to look into is the type of sand bed you want to have. Some live stock will require a deep sand bed and others wont. But don't just base your decision on this since you'll also get other answers as to why/ why not to keep a deep sand bed (filtration).

I hope this helps
 
Hi critter243, I'm also new to the reef world and I can share with you the following.

A Protein skimmer is basically a filter system, it makes bubbles and lifts all the bad and dirty stuff into a collection cup. I have one and it does a good job, I don't even hear it (Hydor).

I have a 35 gallon tank and do not have a sump so I'm not to familiar with the wet/dry and U/V sterilizer.

The wave maker is used to turn off/on your power heads in order to mimic the ocean currents. Helps to change up the water movement in the tank.

As for lighting.... you should be getting different opinions. I started with marineland Reef lights but now that I've started to add corals I'm looking into upgrading. The one thing I can tell you to keep in mind when looking for LEDs are to ask for the PUR levels they put out.

http://aap.atrixnet.com/?p=338


Something you might also want to look into is the type of sand bed you want to have. Some live stock will require a deep sand bed and others wont. But don't just base your decision on this since you'll also get other answers as to why/ why not to keep a deep sand bed (filtration).

I hope this helps

Thank you for the info. After doing alot of reading and going through some of the things I had from fresh water tanks I have decided to go another route rather then using one of the tanks I already have. In the next couple days I'm planning on buying an RR tank and not using my 37 or 55 gallon tank.
 
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