Looking for expert opinions

[Sarina]

I am just in the process of setting up my first reef tank. It is 28 gal bow front and I plan to house corals and fish. I have most of the supplies needed to set it up however I have a few questions:

1. What would be the best type of filter for this system?
2. I really like the look of sand as the substrate but I have been told to go with a bare-bottom as a beginner - does it really make a difference?
3. How much live rock should I start out with, when do I add the rest?

Any insight and helpful tips you can provide me would be greatly appreciated! :smile:

[jimmyray]

The best thing you can do is buy a book. As everyone has there own opinions as to whats best. OA recommened the conscientious marine aquarist and for that i thank them saved me a lot of grief yes i know it's 40$ but well worth it IMO good luck.

[Jason McK]

The best thing you can do is buy a book. As everyone has there own opinions as to whats best. OA recommened the conscientious marine aquarist and for that i thank them saved me a lot of grief yes i know it's 40$ but well worth it IMO good luck.

I agree 100% but will give my opinion.
I have 1 tank with sand and the other BB. I say go sand if you like it. If you go over 3.5 inches it will be a de-nitrifying sand bed and that can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on who you talk to.
The best filter for your tank will be Live rock. Then a skimmer get the best skimmer you can afford.
I would start off with all the lock at once. Each time you add LR you will have an ammonia spike that could harm any fish or corals. for a 28G I would recommend 28-35lbs.

J

[vanreefer]

Totally agree with Jimmyrae and J McK
Read as much as you can before you start.
Then keep asking questions everybody here is always willing to help :wink:

[TheReefGeek]

1. Go with 1.5lbs per gallon eventuall, so about 45lbs. You can add dry rock later as much as you want without worrying about an ammonia spike, so if you can only afford 15 lbs live right now, go for it for a start

2. You should get a skimmer, if you are not running a sump I would recommend either the CPR BakPak II, or the AquaC Remora, they are both really good hang on tank models for up to 60g

3. What other equipment do you "already have"? What is your water flow plan? What lighting? What corals do you want to try to keep?

[albert_dao]

Sandbeds will cause you nothing but grief if you don't have access to real live sand IMO.

[charlesr1958]

This page has my opinions on what is needed and why with a few good links as well concerning getting started (http://home2.pacific.net.ph/~sweetyummy42/startingout.html), which can be a bit daunting since there are various methods in doing so, all with their own set of fans and critics.

Chuck

[niloc16]

definitely read as much as possible. and find a good fish store, i have a bad few but we are not allowed to name them, if you pm me i'll give you some that i really trust

[afreshoutlook]

1. READ FIRST then

2. REPEAT ABOVE then

3. REPEAT # 2 then

4. CONTINUE READING,

When I first started with my first 72 gal. bowfront, I took the suggestion of many reefers & read.

Dwight

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Where are you located? Oftentimes, tank tours and other reefing events are organized in different cities so if you can, join one. You'll get a chance to see lots of dif. systems & see what works, what doesn't & talk to local reefers about their experiences.

The Conscientious Marine Aquarist by Bob Fenner (as recommended by others) is one of the better beginner books on the topic.

If you like sand, go for it and ask someone local with an established reef tank for a cup or two of live sand out of their tank to seed yours.

Deciding what type of corals/inverts/fish you want to keep (ie. softies, lps, sps, clams) will help you figure out what type of lighting & skimmer (if you go with one) you will need.

If you post your location in your profile, you can probably find someone local who would be happy to show you their tank & talk about their positive & negative reefing experiences.

Anthony

[Sarina]

So far I have:
Stand, Tank, -Light (not sure of the brand name, but it meets the requirement for corals), Salt (Instant Ocean), Thermometer, Heater, Protein Skimmer (but it was really cheap $60.00), Hydrometer (I think that is what it is called - to measure the salt in the water), test kits.

I was also planning on getting a power filter (the 110) and a power head. This should give me enough flow for the corals.

Am I missing anything?

Thanks for the tips re: sand, I think I have decided to use sand in the bottom. Is it necessary to use “live sand” or can I just use regular sand. Isn’t the live rock enough?

Thanks for all you help!

[danny zubot]

I would recommend reading and not taking all advice given from us amatures.:mrgreen:

I know for a fact that:If you go over 3.5 inches it will be a de-nitrifying sand bed and that can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on who you talk to. This isn't true, 87% of all denitrfication takes place in the first 3/4 inch in live sand. So if you like sand, an inch might do the trick for you.

Go with 1.5lbs per gallon eventuall, so about 45lbs. I'd like to know where people come up with these numbers? Since all live rock is different in its mass and relative density you might find that 15 lbs works as well as 30 lbs in your tank. I do agree that this item is expensive, and most people tend to collect LR over time to build their reefs.

[TheReefGeek]

-Light (not sure of the brand name, but it meets the requirement for corals)

Need more details on your light. This is crucial to success. Different corals have different requirements.

Need to know what type of bulb(s) it is, the watts, and the color termperature

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

I think it's on another thread, but get a good book like "The Conscientious Marine Aquarist" by Bob Fenner to learn some of the things to do & why you should do them. This would give you a good foundation of knowledge that you can then add to by asking specific questions to specific problems or areas of interest.

BTW, I think the denitrification the original poster was talking about is the one performed by anaerobic nitrate-consuming bacteria, as opposed to the ones that consume ammonia/nitrite. It's the premise behind deep sand-beds. Personally, I'm not a big fan of deep sand beds, but I still like the look of a shallow layer of sand on the bottom.

Anthony

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Sarina,

Like mentioned above, take all these "expert" opinions with a grain of salt because you'll find if you go on tank tours that there are many different ways to set up & run a reef tank and many of the methods are polar opposites. When we did our first one here on the coast, we saw tanks that were KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) to full-blown high tech with auto-top-offs, plumbing behind false walls & huge skimmers & sumps. What we learned is that there is NO one way to do it. Personally, I have gone from total KISS to having overflow boxes plumbed to large sumps with powerful skimmers & UV sterilizers, and lit with MH & PC actinics & LED moonlights. A lot will depend on your budget & time & willingness to learn or do the work necessary to keep up with your reef tank.

Enjoy this time and be an info-sponge. Good luck.

Anthony

[TheReefGeek]

take all these "expert" opinions with a grain of salt

I must say, this is a bit insulting!
I would say take the opinions for what they are, OPINIONS. To me its all about sharing opinions and experiences.

Definition of opinion:

a personal belief or judgment that is not founded on proof or certainty

I say take in as many opinions as you can, and give them the consideration they are due, because people are spending the time to write them, they must believe them and have some experience or knowledge that have lead them to believe it, so they must have something to offer. But remember that there are many ways to successfully setup a reef.

[Sarina]

Here's what my light says:

JEBO R24 (610mm) 55Wx2 AC120 V 60 HZ

Hopefully you can understand what that means. Is that a good light? I paid $100.00 for it.

What corals would you recommend for beginners?

[TheReefGeek]

Jebo is a cheap brand name light, not worth $100 IMO, but hey its what you have so its a start. FYI, it is 110watts total, so over a 28g that will keep soft corals.

Good starter corals would be:

Mushrooms
Zooanthids
Colt
Xenia
Star polyps
Kenya tree
Toadstools
Leathers

[Willow]

Jebo is a cheap brand name light, not worth $100 IMO, but hey its what you have so its a start. FYI, it is 110watts total, so over a 28g that will keep soft corals.

Good starter corals would be:

Mushrooms
Zooanthids
Colt
Xenia
Star polyps
Kenya tree
Toadstools
Leathers

yeah actually it's really only 55 watts as half the light is actinic. your 10k part of the light is the only usable part of the light the corals are going to be using for growth. you should be ok with soft corals but that isn't much light.

[TheReefGeek]

Actinics will still help corals grow, maybe not as much as 10K lighting though.

I would stick with soft corals until you upgrade your lights. (if you want to keep LPS, SPS, clams, anemones, etc)

[albert_dao]

There's a few LPS that you'd get away with too. Candy canes and Echinophyllia's come to mind.

[Snappy]

I agree with Rory in that there is more than one way to be successful in keeping a reef. One suggestion I have is to get the most pourous live rock that you can as it creates more surface area for the bacteria to grow (inside & out). As you can see from this thread there are many different opinions, and usually most have some merit, however, do some reading and go with what you feel will work best for your circumstances and budget. No matter how much you read there is most often still a little trial & error. I have found that this hobby is more forgiving than a lot of people let on. Do the basics properly and the rest will come as your hobby and experience grows. I have found that even though this board is made up for the most part of amatuers I have still learned a lot from them.
Good luck,

[Sarina]

What is the difference between LPS and SPS and soft corals? They all look the same to a beginner like me.

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Softies - toadstools, leathers, mushrooms, zoos, etc. (no hard calcium-based skeleton)

LPS - Large Polyp Stony - frogspawn, hammer, brain, bubble, etc. (usually large hard skeleton base with med. to large polyps growing on top)

SPS - Small Polyp Stony - Acropora, millipora, cat's paw, montipora, caps, etc. (Mostly skeleton, some finger or antler-like, others are more plate-like, with thousands of tiny, hairy polyps)

As a general rule, softies - LPS - SPS go from easiest to hardest, least light to most light, lowest water quality requirements to highest water quality requirements, low or med. current to high current.

That's why most newbies start with low light softies, advance to LPS and many then upgrade to powerful MH lights & lots of flow to keep SPS like acros & millis.

HTH,

Anthony

[mark]

I also totally believe in reading and researching as much as you can first before adding water.

Along with Canreef and the other forums, found this site useful as well; http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marine/index.htm . It belongs to Fenner of the book "The Conscientious Marine Aquarist".

[vanreefer]

http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?s=&f=51&page=1&pp=20&sort=lastpost&order=desc&daysprune=365

There's a huge reference library now just scroll down on the index page

If it says there are no posts.. simply change the display options. Change "last 2 weeks" to "begining"

P.S. Maybe the mods could adjust the display options in the reference library :wink: