New to reefing

F

funnydude163

Reefing newb
I have a 38 gallon aquarium. It's empty right now, and i have absolutely no supplies or stocking ideas. I have a basic understanding of how I need to start. Im looking at going with corals and the like, if anyone could show me or push me in the right direction it would be awesome :)
 
+1 biff

I am also new and agree with Biff reading those articles will help also try picking up a few good books on the list to have as a handy reference ...


I highly recommend

Pocket Expert Guide to Reef Aquarium Fishes: 500+ Essential-to-Know Species
Pocket Expert Guide to Marine Invertebrates: 500+ Essential-to-Know Aquarium Species
Algae: A problem Solvers Guide (Oceanographic Series)
Setup and Care of Saltwater Aquariums (Animal Planet Pet Care Library)

Good luck !! :bounce:
 
Thank you for the articles and book suggestions! The books are on they way.

The only thing (in terms of equipment) that I'm struggling with right now are:

1. Filter
I'm looking at canisters but having never purchased one before I am unsure of the size and brand I should be looking for.
2. Lighting
Sadly in my city/country I'm limit as to my LFS', petsmart (not dealing in marine animals but equipment from which I receive an employee discount) and BigAls which in my city is not the best store. At any rate, I'm having a hard time to determine A. What's the best route to go (i.e brand, size) and B. The type of lightbulbs needed (i.e wattage and visual effect).
3. RO unit
I understand the basic need for the unit. But I am unsure of how it would operate and what is required for it to operate properly.(Does it simply mount on the tank? Stupid question but I am unsure.) I don't want to purchase one and find out I require another purchase to use it afterwards.
Barracude RO Units I've been looking at this one, but the website is specs do not help me with the question.
4. Syn or natural salt
Which is the best way to go?
 
1. I'd skip canister filters. They will just add more work for yourself, and if you don't keep up with maintaining them, you will have nitrate problems. The live rock and live sand is sufficient filtration.
2. I'm no good with lighting :) You could always find good deals online with lighting. Others will chime in some good brands.
3. The ro unit hooks up to your sink (in some of our cases, we have it hooked up to our plumbing elsewhere in the house -- mine is in my utility closet). If you don't want to deal with an ro unit, you can just buy distilled water from Walmart. The ro unit basically gives you nice clean water.
4. I use Instant Ocean, and there are other really good salts out there. I used to use Tropic Marin, but it was expensive.
 
I have a distiller in my house actually!
I just want to make sure that the water is okay. I have no problems purchasing an RO unit if i must :P
 
I wouldnt use distilled water because all nutrients are removed in this process I would stick to RO/ or Nsw, distilled it ok for toping off, but this is just my personal opinion
 
markymark said:
I wouldnt use distilled water because all nutrients are removed in this process I would stick to RO/ or Nsw, distilled it ok for toping off, but this is just my personal opinion
Click to expand...

All nutrients are removed using RO/DI as well, it's just two different processes to get the same result. The salt mix adds any nutrients that will be needed by the system and Ts inhabitants.
 
This is not true Reverse Osmosis is not as pure as DI ( deionized water), RO leaves many things in the water while (DI) will remove most if not all, this is why many water tests are conducted solely with DI and not RO because RO can contaminate test results so if in fact you are using RO to conduct tank tests, they may be in fact tainted.
 
Thanks Brian
not having to buy an RO will save me some good money.
Yes I do plan on having corals. But are there any special considerations with lighting if i wanted to have say, a clam or sea cucumber?
It's a 37 almost 38 gallon measuring 36Lx12.5Dx18.5H
 
markymark said:
This is not true Reverse Osmosis is not as pure as DI ( deionized water), RO leaves many things in the water while (DI) will remove most if not all, this is why many water tests are conducted solely with DI and not RO because RO can contaminate test results so if in fact you are using RO to conduct tank tests, they may be in fact tainted.
Click to expand...

Yes I understand that but, in your first post you said that distilled wasn't as pure as RO water. You mentioned nothing about RO/DI you were comparing distilled to RO. Which you still wrong, there is no such thing as just DI water. It's RO/DI because it's run through the RO filters then run through the additional DI filter, so obviously it's going to be purer.
 
funnydude163 said:
Thanks Brian
not having to buy an RO will save me some good money.
Yes I do plan on having corals. But are there any special considerations with lighting if i wanted to have say, a clam or sea cucumber?
It's a 37 almost 38 gallon measuring 36Lx12.5Dx18.5H
Click to expand...

Sea cucumber don't require light so they won't be an issue. Most clams require stronger lighting, this would be a good fixture for your tank http://www.marineandreef.com/Nova_Extreme_Pro_T5_36_inch_Current_USA_p/rcu01080.htm[ame="http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0017UB3GW/ref=redir_mdp_mobile/189-0586530-9390009"][/ame]
 
Last edited:
+1 BL. Distilled is not the same as DI. DI stands for de-ionized, not distilled. They are two different processes. Distillation creates pure water, as does the RODI process. Two different ways of getting to the same thing, either are fine to use in our tanks. You want the water you start with to be as pure as possible -- synthetic salt mixes are formulated to be mixed with pure water that doesn't have anything else in it to begin with.

I wouldn't get too excited about keeping a sea cucumber, funnydude. They will spend 99% of their time buried in the sand or hiding in the rocks. And they are ugly mofos! :lol: There are far more interesting animals to keep in this hobby! :D
 
-Biff
Aha! I know.
I'm not "excited" it was just something I wanted eventually to keep the sand from becoming a detritus trap.
And syn salt it is!
- Brian
Thanks for the lighting recommendation. It should be on it's way now. :D

I did have a question about powerheads/circulation pumps.
Will I require more than one? And what is the GPH I require per pump(s)?
 
howdy and welcome to the site.. :D

If you are going to want to put corals in I would put 2 pumps in each one being about 350 to 400 gph ea..
quick rule of thumb..
soft corals around 20gph your tank size per hour
lps from 20 up to 40 times your tank size
sps 40 to 80 times your tank size per hour..
so if you have around 20 times per hour it will allow you to keep alot of different corals in there...
 

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