I had a saltwater mini-reef aquarium 16 years ago, and just decided to start up again. I figured I'd need to go out and get a good trickle filter, some sand, some lights, maybe a better skimmer, and I'd be on my way! WRONG! After reading through a variety of posts on here it seems things have changed quite a bit! I think I'm going to need a little help getting back up to date!
What I have: a 50g glass tank. It's wide and tall but not very deep (48"x 12"x 18 I think). I have a bunch of boxes of aquarium gear collected over many years. Looks like I'll be able to use is a heater and some pumps/powerheads and that's probably about it.
I want some small peaceful reef friendly fish, some clowns with host anemone, some coral, and any invertebrates that I can manage to work into the mix.
Now for the questions.
1. The tank isn't drilled. Should I do a sump? I have a 10g and 40g that could be used, though the 40g might be too high for my cabinet.
2. Do I need a skimmer? I read that I don't need one but it will reduce my need for water changes. I have the infamous Skilter 250 which I have used in the past. It hardly worked, but I would mod it and figure I could get it to do something. In light of the fact that I keep hearing that a skimmer isn't required for this size tank, I figure I can't harm anything by using it . . .
3. Rock. Any recommended source for dry base rock?
4. Sand. It seems that sand the DSB is taboo. I want my tank to look as natural as possible, and don't want the BB look. However, it seems a false DSB would just get covered with algae after a while and end up not looking like sand anymore. Anyone find a way around this?
5. I'll be using dry base rock as a framework. Once I have my base rock, do I put it in my tank right away? I figure I should get a few pieces of seed liverock from the my LFS, but how do I put it all together. Do I cure the base rock and cook the liverock, or do I cook the base rock and cure the liverock? Or ???
6. Lights. I see a lot of people with similar size tanks as mine that get two 160w led fixtures, and then they turn them both down to half power. It seems that it would save a lot of money to get two smaller setups and run at full power, or one wide light that would cover the whole tank. Are these not options that are available?
Sorry, I know I'm asking 6 questions all at once and that's bad. I just wasn't sure how to break them up and still give a full picture of my situation. If anyone wants to answer just one question that's fine! Fire away!
Ted
What I have: a 50g glass tank. It's wide and tall but not very deep (48"x 12"x 18 I think). I have a bunch of boxes of aquarium gear collected over many years. Looks like I'll be able to use is a heater and some pumps/powerheads and that's probably about it.
I want some small peaceful reef friendly fish, some clowns with host anemone, some coral, and any invertebrates that I can manage to work into the mix.
Now for the questions.
1. The tank isn't drilled. Should I do a sump? I have a 10g and 40g that could be used, though the 40g might be too high for my cabinet.
2. Do I need a skimmer? I read that I don't need one but it will reduce my need for water changes. I have the infamous Skilter 250 which I have used in the past. It hardly worked, but I would mod it and figure I could get it to do something. In light of the fact that I keep hearing that a skimmer isn't required for this size tank, I figure I can't harm anything by using it . . .
3. Rock. Any recommended source for dry base rock?
4. Sand. It seems that sand the DSB is taboo. I want my tank to look as natural as possible, and don't want the BB look. However, it seems a false DSB would just get covered with algae after a while and end up not looking like sand anymore. Anyone find a way around this?
5. I'll be using dry base rock as a framework. Once I have my base rock, do I put it in my tank right away? I figure I should get a few pieces of seed liverock from the my LFS, but how do I put it all together. Do I cure the base rock and cook the liverock, or do I cook the base rock and cure the liverock? Or ???
6. Lights. I see a lot of people with similar size tanks as mine that get two 160w led fixtures, and then they turn them both down to half power. It seems that it would save a lot of money to get two smaller setups and run at full power, or one wide light that would cover the whole tank. Are these not options that are available?
Sorry, I know I'm asking 6 questions all at once and that's bad. I just wasn't sure how to break them up and still give a full picture of my situation. If anyone wants to answer just one question that's fine! Fire away!
Ted
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