First Reet Tank...

[BloodBath]

I got a100g 60x18x21 freshwater tank and want to switch to a reef tank??? i was thinking maybe a snowflake eel and dwarf lionfish combo... any thoughts??

[TrashTank]

That for sure wouldn't be a reef tank. I would suggest hours and hours of research on each creature you want in your predator tank, and I'd research way more than that on saltwater upkeep.

 

Do you know if you'll be drilling for a sump? If it was freshwater I'd assume it isn't drilled. 

[BloodBath]

tank is drilled and currently running on a 30 gallon sump for freshwater.... been doing some research on corals and coral safe fish for weeks now and still browsing.. i would like to focus on the corals and maybe a  few fish 

[TrashTank]

40 minutes ago, BloodBath said:

tank is drilled and currently running on a 30 gallon sump for freshwater.... been doing some research on corals and coral safe fish for weeks now and still browsing.. i would like to focus on the corals and maybe a  few fish 

Good to hear its drilled. That will make things easier for you.

 

If you really want to go coral I'd stay away from big predators like lion fish and eels. They're going to eat pretty much any fish or crustacean you put in there. Plus with a 100g tank you can get some really good schooling action with more peaceful inhabitants. Other than that it sounds like you're well on your way. 👍

[BloodBath]

Any suggestions on corals to start with or stay away from??

[TrashTank]

1 minute ago, BloodBath said:

Any suggestions on corals to start with or stay away from??

What sort of lights are you putting on it?

[BloodBath]

I was gonna try to get sum leds and mabey a reefbright...I really like zoas and torches..

[jefferythewind]

Gotta start slow. I'd start with some live rock and a few fish for at least a couple months just like that. Then you could add a couple corals. Zoas should work at the beginning and i had success the GSP green star polyps at the beginning of my tank when my parameters were all over the place. I've never had torches. You'll need to wait i think until the tank stabilizes more before trying SPS. I also have a japanese toad stool coral that is really nice to look at and is very hardy and consistent.

 

The short answer is that you can have whatever corals you want as long as your tank and water are good. There are a few water tests that you have to do consistently and those parameters you have to keep in check by dosing different nutrients. Everything seems to do better the older the tank is. Biggest mistake a lot of people make is to add delicate animals in a new tank that isn't ready for it yet.

[BloodBath]

What would u consider as must have equipment??

[jefferythewind]

16 hours ago, BloodBath said:

What would u consider as must have equipment??

Disclaimer. Everyone has different opinions of what is best, but I think many people will agree on some basics. My reef tank is about 18 months old now and has a mix of SPS and soft corals. Right now all corals are doing well and growing.

 

Water Testing

 

I think the must-haves are water testing equipment. If you want to raise corals, understanding some basic water parameters and how they work will be better to learn sooner rather than later. These are the basic tests. Of course the purpose of testing is to know if you need to something to adjust the level to an acceptable level.

 

Alkalinity      <- I test/dose everyday

Ca                 <- I dose everyday (add equal parts as Alk)

Mg                <- I hardly ever test at all

 

Phosphate   <- I dose everyday, test once in a while

Nitrate       <- I test every once in a blue moon

 

*Salinity - most important of course, need to keep the right amount of salt in the water

 

Understanding how each of the previous things work is going to set you up for success. The best way to learn is to read (or youtube) to get just a basic understanding of what these things are. Then just test your water every day or every 2 days for a while. You'll start understanding where you are with your water and how quickly things change.

 

Alk/Ca are dosed together, called 2-part dosing. From what I've seen Mg doesn't need to be dosed as much. Alk/Ca/Mg are all present in the salt, so this is how you establish an initial concentration of these three elements in your salt water. Over time your tank will consume these elements. Replenishing this elements can be attained by water changes and/or dosing.

 

Phospates/Nitrates are considered *nutrients* in a reef tanks. Corals need a certain amount of Phosphates and Nitrates to live and grow properly. A quick search will reveal that people with fish tanks often have issues with phosphates or nitrates being too high. Of course these nutrients in too high a concentration can be toxic, but I think that rarely happens in reefing. The problem I have seen more often is that people have a level of ZERO on the phosphate test. This is big problem. I had this problem, thats why now I dose phosphates every day. You need to maintain a non-zero level of both Phosphates and Nitrates, although keeping Phospates away from zero is more important. 

 

Equipment

 

You have a 100 gallon tank, that is a great first step.  You can make an amazing reef tank in that. Not sure if you have a sump or not, if not, I would recommend setting up a nice sized sump (~40 gal). The main purpose of a sump is to house all your electronics (to keep them out of your display) and to run a protein skimmer and do some mechanical filtration (filter socks/filter floss). You don't need filter media like in fresh water tanks. Protein skimmer is also optional but in a big tank like yours I would recommend it. Something I have picked up is that running a protein skimmer can save you a bit on water changes, but that isn't 100%. I know a lot of people run protein skimmers and also do water changes.

 

You need a keep temp controlled.

 

For corals you also need some lights. I don't know much about this area but I think most any light that is advertised for reef tanks will suffice. I have what they call "black box light" ( Viparspectra) for my 29 gallon tank and it definitely works. I'm sure many other lights would work as well. I also heard good things about Kessil lights.

 

Random Thoughts

 

Pretty must all I wrote here only matters if you want to raise corals. If you just want 2 fish like in your first post you don't need to worry about Alk/Ca/Mg and only test phosphates and nitrates to avoid them getting too high. Fish without corals makes a situation where you could possibly have too much fish waste, so you need to keep an eye on it. Basically corals eat the fish poop and remove those toxins from the water. One of the cool things about reef tanks is that you can actually have more fish than is recommended without corals. The corals help control the added waste, and actually need it.

 

If you don't want corals then you don't need any particular light either, any light will do. 

 

Take it slow, it's exciting to set up the tank takes a while. Let us know which direction you want to take and we can help guide you through the process. You basically need to get from a cold sterile empty tank to a vibrant bio-diverse ecosystem and it can't happen overnight. Its like a pyramid where the base is micro-organisms and little animals that you can't see that help create the environment for the things that you can see. 

 

[BloodBath]

I got a skimmer/Viparspectra lights and just got my tank empty and ready for rockscape. I bought marco rocks and will be playing with designs...I'm still on the fence on adding sand or keeping barebottom....

 

Should I look for a bigger sump?? The 1 I got is 30x12x16 roughly 25 gallons..

 

I am going with coral and mabey 12 fish

[Jakesaw]

1 hour ago, BloodBath said:

I got a skimmer/Viparspectra lights and just got my tank empty and ready for rockscape. I bought marco rocks and will be playing with designs...I'm still on the fence on adding sand or keeping barebottom....

Recently watched a BRS video on barebottom tanks. And one of the conclusions at the end of the discussion was if you want to go barebottom, use well established live rock or be prepared for tank headaches.

 

 

The first 20 min of video documents with video the experience of dry rock & bare bottom. 

[Jakesaw]

Please delete

[jefferythewind]

7 hours ago, BloodBath said:

I got a skimmer/Viparspectra lights and just got my tank empty and ready for rockscape. I bought marco rocks and will be playing with designs...I'm still on the fence on adding sand or keeping barebottom....

 

Should I look for a bigger sump?? The 1 I got is 30x12x16 roughly 25 gallons..

 

I am going with coral and mabey 12 fish

25 gallons is probably fine, bigger is better but 25 is a food portion of your tank i think its fine.

 

Gotta take tour time and let the rock get established before adding too many things. I'd start with a few fish and a few pieces of live rock and then the rest dry rock.