New to the hobby!

[inspire]

I just started my own 20gallon Reef Aquarium. I am very glad to find a bunch of local enthusiasts here on this board. I started my tank about 1 week ago, I have some questions though, so please help!!
1) What is a refugium? What does it do? How can i set one up? I plan to keep mostly corals like some soft corals, polyps, mushrooms, maybe an anemone, a brain...etc.

2) Is my lighting sufficient? I have 96watts of PC lighting.

3) What is a calcium reactor? How can I make one? Can someone help me out?

4) How much sand do I need for my DSB? Currently, I have about 2" of oolitic aragonite sand. I "think" i need about 4-6"? Am i correct in this assumption?

5) Can someone here PLEASE give me some live sand to seed my own sand? PLEASE!?!?! Thank you!

[Quinn]

Welcome! Perhaps I can start the ball rolling by sharing some of my limited knowledge, since I am bored and at work.

-A refugium is basically a seperate chamber/tank plumbed into your main tank with no predators in it, in order to encourage pod population growth. Some people also put macro algaes, sand beds, etc. in their fuges, to help with nutrient export, denitrification, etc. For larger tanks, a seperate tank works well, in your case, you may want to look into internal fuges, small acrylic boxes that sit in the top corner of the tank.

-I won't comment on PC lighting, as that would be better left to people who know about corals than I. However from what I gather, anemones are rather specialized animals, requiring attentive care and high levels of light (VHO or MH).

-I won't comment on calcium reactors either, because there are many people on this board who build them and understand exactly how they work, while all I know about them is that I have one.

-The DSB issue is still an ongoing debate. I think a fairly widely accepted standard is 4", although I've heard some people say that they have a 1" DSB, and others 7".

-There are people in Calgary who have good live sand and I am sure will be happy to donate. Assuming you have live rock, it will eventually seed the sand itself. I only put live sand in my fuge, and my display tank DSB already contains many worms after two months, thanks mostly to my live rock.

[inspire]

can someone elaborate on these internal fuges? How much are they? i am on a strict budget!
I have seen pictures of people using aquaclear 300 or 500's as fuges. Is this ok? If so, anyone have one for sale??

[Quinn]

Rcipema had one for sale a little while ago.

http://www.canreef.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=5249

[tkhawaja]

You should have a look at these links:

http://reefcentral.com/modules.php?s=&name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=1
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marine/index.htm

From there you should be able to find many more links to information.

[inspire]

When buying liverock, what should i look for?

[AJ_77]

When buying liverock, what should i look for?
Did you read all the articles at those links already?
:wink:
Here's another:

The Best Live Rock: From Fiji (http://www.wetwebmedia.com/liverock1.htm)

[tkhawaja]

There is absolutely no substitute for becoming knowledgeable. No one can give you a bullet proof formula. You will know exactly what is happening with your tank. What looks different from the day before. All I can say is read everything you can find and read atleast three different sources before going out to buy anything. Best of all, if you have the time, you can usually find everything you need to start up within a month from someone else who is upgrading or tearing down their tank.

[Don E]

As a fellow newbie (my 20 gallon has been up for 8 weeks, and I had a 20G a couple years ago too), I might suggest you think of your tank as a "nano" (very small reef, generally 20 G or less) and read up on how to maintain a nano reef.

You may not have to worry about refugia, calcium reactors or even a protein skimmer. If you keep your bio load relatively low (IE very few fish), and do water changes weekly, you can keep a healthy reef without the above items. 20 gallons is a pretty good size for a nano- much more stable than, say, 6 gallons, and if you go slowly, (and read lots and lots and lots) you'll have no trouble.

At eight weeks, my tank is starting to look good. I'm going through algae blooms but that's normal and nothing the old turkey baster and a filter can't handle. I have a few soft corals and they look great. I have no fish at all and I'm going to keep it that way for a while.

Good luck

[Canadian Man]

Great info Don!

[kari]

Just personally I think a nano or a smaller tank(eg 20gal) is a little more challenging. A little tricky with controlling fluctuations with various parameters.
My little piece of info from what I have read is;
-the fine sand you are using is sufficiently deep and don't go 4" deep
-no reactor - think of using 2 part additive instead
-yes to refugium -hangon, DIY or whatever. Adds to tank volume and will assist or basically become your primary filter. (works for me)

Read lots first before spending

[AJ_77]

I wish that Evan would give a seminar on refugiums - a 75 for a 75. That is the coolest system. The 'fuge in this case is a nice tank in its own right, not a green mess as we sometimes see. You have 2 different microcosms side-by-side.

So that would mean you could have a 20 for your fuge, with the benefits Kari mentions. (Guess I need another 50 then...) :biggrin:

[inspire]

hi, i have a spare 10 gallon aquarium. Could i use this for my refugium? if so, what is involved in making this work. What parts will i need to make it all work and what will it cost?
thanks!
If the price is right..under $50 for everything to set up a fuge, i will do it today!

[AJ_77]

Try this link for starters, and read the FAQ's posted at the top, too.
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/refugium.htm

And then this one:
http://saltaquarium.about.com/cs/refugiumsetups/
Lots of links there.

[Bob I]

My CPR 12" refugium is still for sale. You can have it for the bargain basement price of $75.00.