Planning my first Saltwater Tank

[Volunteer98]

Hello to all here.

I came across this site entirely by accident the other day, and I must say I am really impressed with the spectacular tanks I am seeing. You all obviously know your stuff. So I thought perhaps you could help me get started. I have never done a saltwater tank before, mostly because it sounded too daunting - and way too expensive. I have done freshwater for quite some time and am well versed in the basics of fishkeeping. I am even somewhat skilled with plants as well (all of my tanks from day one have been planted). Now I think I am ready to try a reef. I cannot afford, nor do I have room for, a 30 gallon, or bigger reef. So when I found this site I was delighted to learn that a successful reef, even a gorgeous reef, is possible in a ten gallon or smaller. Quite frankly, I can hardly believe that you guys are building reefs in a gallon or less. Blows my mind.

So here is the deal. I have an empty ten and two empty 5.5s. I will set up another freshwater tank in one of them. I don't have a ton of money for lights, but could buy something. Everything else (except things like sand, LR, and some test kits of course) I already have from other projects. To save cost on new lights, I thought the 5.5 gal. might be the one to start with - smaller tank at same WPG equals fewer total watts equals lower first cost. Legit so far?

I now have a couple equipment questions?

1. Can someone point me to a source for determining how much light I need? I know it depends on what I want to keep - fish only versus soft corals versus stoney corals. I know I would like to keep a few corals, a fish, and a few inverts. Problem is, I don't know what kind of corals I would like to keep (probably ought to get a book for that?), or what kind of light they need. Any web resources to get me started?

2. I am intrigued by the filter choices I see here. I had always understood that for a reef tank, you had to have a protein skimmer. You guys do not seem to use them on your tanks - I assume size is a factor here. On the other hand, you also seem to use bigger filters than I would for an equal capacity freshwater tank. So I am sitting here looking at my Fluval 104 canister filter thinking, 'that would certainly be big time filtration, plenty of current (I even have a spray bar for it if I need it), why not'. Then I noticed I never see any nano tanks with canisters attached. Is there a reason? I would think it would be more convenient, has lots of capacity, and could even utilize the in-line heaters to get more stuff out of the tank. Am I missing something here? Is there a reason to not use a canister filter?

I am not in any rush to get something up and running. I want to think this all through before I start. I like to know exactly what I am doing before I start, so please feel free to advise away. Thanks in advance.

Oh, and thanks for such a fascinating and inspirational site.

 

[incysor]

:welcome

I have heard/seen/read of people using canister filters for reef tanks, but most don't mainly because the filter would need to be cleaned out weekly, like any other type of mechanical filter, and they tend to be quite a bit more expensive than HOB filters that'll get the job done. Since you already have the filter handy, I don't see any reason that you shouldn't use it, as long as you plan on rinsing out any mechanical filtration components weekly when you do a 10-15% water change.

Most nanos don't require a protein skimmer because most folks stick to the aforementioned weekly water change schedule, and because the size of the tanks requires a low bio-load.

As you've already sort of figured out, the types of corals/inverts you want to keep will determine the lights you need. A quick trip to a LFS that carries corals should give you a good idea as to what types of corals you're interested in. If it turns out that you're mainly interested in polyps, mushrooms, softies, then you may be able to get away with a cheap 18w PC light. However if you like LPS, ricordias, SPS, Clams, etc...I'd just throw the idea that the 5g will be cheaper out the window.

Because of the size restrictions of the 5g tank, going with much more than that light-wise is more difficult, and at least as expensive if not more so than lighting a 10g.

WPG, is really a useless measurement. Kind of like the fish-inch per gallon rule. It's a very, very, basic, nearly useless guideline. PAR value, wavelength, tank depth, as well as the tank dimensions, all need to be factored in to plan adequate lights. For instance. T-5 HO lights seem to be much more effective/efficient than pc lights as long as they each have individual reflectors. But the HO lamps don't come smaller than 22", which means a retro fit kit wouldn't fit over a normal 10g. However a 70w, or 150w MH lamp with or without actinic supplimenation may do the trick. Luckily there is lots of info on lighting all over the forums. Unfortunately it's really a waste of time trying to figure it out until you have an idea what type of things you want to try to keep.

The search function on this site works pretty well, as opposed to RC's which seems to be permanently overloaded. :lol:

Welcome to the site, you'll find lots of helpful folks here.

Brian

 

[skipm]

:welcome to the best site on the net.

I wanted to point out that one of the reasons we use filters that are much larger than you would expect is mainly because we don't use them the way they were designed to be used. We usually run them without media except for maybe a mechanical filter like a sponge and then we put things in them like heaters, chemipure, phosphate media, etc. We also add a light to them and decrease their flowrate and make refugiums out of them. While it would be doable (and has been done) in canister filters, its just alot harder to do and then maintain.
Concerning corals I usually recommend softies, polyps, mushrooms, ricordia, etc. to new reefers. I usually recommend that they stay away from SPS corals until they are more comfortable with saltwater aquaria. I don't know what kind of budget you had in mind for lighting but there are alot of nano-reefers that use this light on standard 10 gallon tanks with good results: http://www.hellolights.com/201xcoaqpcho.html . This is by no means the only choice but it may give you a starting point as far as looking and planning. I hope this helps and welcome to the site. Skip

 

[drty811]

welcome and good luck. sounds like your off to a good start....research first and lots of it. :mrgreen: you've definitly found the best site for it.

like incysor said the search function will help with any question you might have...and if you cant find it , just post it.