Ok, I took minireefers start (thanks a million by the way) and add some of my own notes thru out it. I have a small project for jhnrb towards the bottom. I will reorganize it when the article is done when everyone approves of the content, add some pictures etc.
Do you think we need a stocking guide line and a cycling guide line.
I don't want to write a book, just give usefull starter info.
When we are done I have a profesional writer that I will have clean it up.
P.S. I failed english comp 101 twice in college... I did finally pass with a "C" but it is definetly not my cup of tea.
Tank
Buy the biggest you can since you'll outgrow very quickly. Trust me. If you want to start with a 55gal tank, think twice since the width of the tank is not as great as a 75gal. Better to add the money and get the width, all the other equipment will be the same for either. (Unless you buy a 55gal tank at a garage sale and the cost is next to nothing). Try to avoid tall tanks because they have two disadvantages. One, their hard to clean out since your arm pits are up to water and second lights on your tank will have to penetrate further down into the aquarium. This may not be so bad because you could put corals that require low lighting (i.e. mushrooms) at the bottom. Get a glass tank if possible. Acyclic tanks scratch very easy.
Lights
One of the most important things on a reef tank is the lighting. You must purchase a lighting system designed for a reef aquarium or build one yourself. The standard lights that come with your tank are undersized for a reef tank. If your figure around 5 to 8 watts per gallon you should be fine. Just remember that you can't have too much light because you will never get as bright as the sun at noon on a reef. The three types of lighting for a reef tank are Very High-Output (VHO), Metal Halide (MH) and Power Compacts (PC). The use of High Output (HO) lights will work if low light requirements will be needed. HO lights are in the same family as the VHO except they give off less light.IMO The best lighting that you can get is a combination of Metal Halide and VHO.
It's a good idea to put your lights on a timers so they can operate unattended. If you can, use a couple timers so you can slowly bring all the lights on and then slowly shut them off. This will simulate the sunrise and sunset. During the night, keep a small light on (20watts or less) above the tank to simulate the moon. True reef lovers go this far.
Protein Skimmer
A protein skimmer will remove unwanted foreign materials such as waste and overfeeding. A protein skimmer does this by producing foam like what you see at the beach. A protein skimmer is really great addition to a reef aquarium. When you purchase your protein skimmer, get one that's larger then your tank. I've seen many people purchase a protein skimmer for there 20gal reef aquarium and then serveral months later purchase a 75gal reef aquarium. Then they must purchase a new protein skimmer since the one on the 20gal is to small. Having a higher rater protein skimmer on a smaller tank is fine. You could turn it on for a few days a week and then off the rest of the time. The only disavantage to this is a protein skimmer needs to be tuned to the reef aquarium and you'll have to watch it when you turn it back on so it's fully functional.
Heater
If you have a few extra dollars, it would be a good ideal to have two heaters on your aquarium. In case one heater fails, the other one will take over. Depending on your room temperature allow for 2 watts per gallon of water. With all the lighting and pumps running the aquarium, this only becomes an issue during the winter months. The ideal temperature for most reef aquariums is between 74 and 80 degrees. If you cannot keep your temperature down you can purchase a chiller to help regulate the heat. Remember everything you put in the tank, like pumps, generates heat.
Pumps
Like the heater, an extra pump will be helpful for an emergency backup. Plan on a pump to move 6 times the water in your tank. Pumps located in a sump tank are an ideal situation but you can place pumps (power heads) inside the tank.
Note: When choosing a power head, it's best to choose a pump with a large water intake area. This will decrease the amount of fish and other objects sucked into the intake of the power heads. I have woken in the morning to find my yellow tang died in its intake.
Filtration - What’sa Right for Your Tank!
The better filtration in your system, the better it will be in the long run. A Reef Tank with top of the line filtration has crystal clear water, healthy corals, healthy fish that spawn once in awhile and perfect water. Also, the chances of algae in tanks with good filtration are limited. However, a tank with low filtration and unchanged water can be filled with nuisance algae such as; hair algae, Cyanobacteria, and other unsightly algae’s. So, your tank should have the best filtration you can afford. Otherwise you’ll just loose livestock and equipment.
Wet/Dry Filter
A normal hang-on filter is a good choice, it can be a place to house activated carbon which helps remove organic waste and yellow water. This also helps eliminate surface scum, dust and bad water quality.it is also easy to maintain.
Canister filters will provide the same filtration as hang on but are more difficult to maintain and can add excessive nitrate if there sponges are not rinsed least once a week.
Berlin-Style Filtration: Live Rock & Protein Skimming
A large quantity(1 to 1.5 lbs per gallon) of cured live rock plus an efficient protein skimmer
Deep sandbed
Utilizes a thick bed of calcium carbonate substrate(sand), to promote the anaerobic chemical and biological reduction of nitrates.
sump/refugium
The sump is simply a reservoir like an empty aquarium that sits below the main aquarium which has an overflow that drains into it. This lower pool/sump/aquarium catches the drained water and a "sump pump" like a large power head returns the water back up to the main tank in a big continuous loop. Some sumps(refugiums) are empty, some sumps have filters in them and some even have live plants or animals in them.
RO or RO/DI Water filters
Test your local tap water first and if its in exceptable limits then your fine. Otherwise
use RO water only.Purchase a good RO filter because most water from your local city or town supply is to polluted for use in your reef tank directly.
If you have local water store you can purchase RO water by the gallon.
Some of jhnrb’s ideas….
Test kits
You will need some test kits. Purchase the 5 in one test kit for saltwater which should help you make sure your water is in acceptable limits, these are cheap and fast. For more detailed information on your water buy a large test kit or individual test kits to test for oxygen level, nitrates, nitrite, ammonia, phosphaptes, alkalinity, ph, calcium levels and a possible TSD (total dissolved solids) meter.
Salinity Meter
You should buy a salinity meter and make sure your water has the correct amount of salt per gallon of water.
Refractometers?
What the hell is this? :)
JHNRB can you write a little on the nitrogen compounds, phosphate & calcium levels ( oh maybe a list of calcium levels for keeping fish only, soft corals, hard corals & clams.) And a section on testing and adjusting water conditions.
Live Sand & Live Rock
Live sand and live rock are a must for a reef tank. The live sand introduces need bacteria to break ammonia down to nitrites then nitrites down to nitrates. The live rock gives the bacteria a place to live and also provides bio-diveristy to your tank. Reef tanks without live rock are ugly.
