Hello everyone, Divemaster here (real name is Sean)! A little background on me. I've been keeping fish (FW only) for over 2.5 years and currently have 12 setups ranging from 5.5-75 Gallons plus some bins. I'm mainly a US Natives and Catfish guy but I also have some livebearers. I'm thinking about setting up a reef tank fairly soon (1-2 months) and so I've come here for advice.
The tank I'm thinking about making a reef is currently a FW setup of mine whose inhabitants are all being put in breeding tanks soon, making this tank available. The tank is a 30G Tall (24"Lx12"Wx24"H) in my family room. I honestly never thought I'd setup a salt tank but I was talking to my friend who is the owner of my favorite LFS, is an expert on saltwater tanks, and has actually written a few books on coral (his name is Anthony Calfo). I talked to him for a good few hours at his store while he showed me the tanks he had there. What really got me hooked was him letting me feed a few fish and a cleaner shrimp that climbed on to my hand, since what I look for in a fish tank is interactive/personable inhabitants.
I already know a bit about SW tanks but not the amount that I'd need to before I attempt to setup a tank. Basically the setup I'm envisioning is a low-tech reef tank with some easy corals and inverts plus 2-3 fish. I was told that I could have about 10" worth of fish in a tank this size. I have a few questions for you guys.
1) What kind of fairly easy fish could I have in this setup? They don't have to be invincible since I've got some experience under my belt keeping difficult FW fish, but remember I'm new to salt. I'm a huge fan of all blennys and I'm really not a fan of clownfish except a few exceptions such as Maroons.
2) What kind if Inverts could I have?
3) What kind of easy corals could I have?
4) What equipment will I need to invest in? I'm trying to make this a low tech tank and I don't want to spend a fortune on equipment alone. Talking to my friend, he said that he easily does reef tanks without filters, protein skimmers, etc and he just uses a powerhead for flow plus live sand as a filter (and a heater obviously). I'm pretty diligent with water changes so that's not an issue, all my FW setups get 33-50% changes 1-2 times a week (I think I'm the only person alive that actually enjoys WCs!).
5) How do I go about cycling and when do I add what animals?
6) What other info is it important for me to know? What I currently know is salinity should be between 1.023-1.025, temp should be 74-78F, and pH 8.1-8.4. I'll probably need to top off water every day or so with decholrinated FW from my tap. I'll be doing water changes 25-33% weekly. LPS corals are better for beginners than SPS. I need 1lb of live rock per gallons so I'd need 30lbs total. Stock lightly as far as fish with 0.5" of fish per gallon in standard sized tanks (my tank would get about 10" because of it's taller dimensions). You can add a larger amount of inverts than fish because they don't take up much of a bioload.
Thanks a lot everyone for taking the time to help a newb to the saltwater scene. Hope to see you guys around the forum!
The tank I'm thinking about making a reef is currently a FW setup of mine whose inhabitants are all being put in breeding tanks soon, making this tank available. The tank is a 30G Tall (24"Lx12"Wx24"H) in my family room. I honestly never thought I'd setup a salt tank but I was talking to my friend who is the owner of my favorite LFS, is an expert on saltwater tanks, and has actually written a few books on coral (his name is Anthony Calfo). I talked to him for a good few hours at his store while he showed me the tanks he had there. What really got me hooked was him letting me feed a few fish and a cleaner shrimp that climbed on to my hand, since what I look for in a fish tank is interactive/personable inhabitants.
I already know a bit about SW tanks but not the amount that I'd need to before I attempt to setup a tank. Basically the setup I'm envisioning is a low-tech reef tank with some easy corals and inverts plus 2-3 fish. I was told that I could have about 10" worth of fish in a tank this size. I have a few questions for you guys.
1) What kind of fairly easy fish could I have in this setup? They don't have to be invincible since I've got some experience under my belt keeping difficult FW fish, but remember I'm new to salt. I'm a huge fan of all blennys and I'm really not a fan of clownfish except a few exceptions such as Maroons.
2) What kind if Inverts could I have?
3) What kind of easy corals could I have?
4) What equipment will I need to invest in? I'm trying to make this a low tech tank and I don't want to spend a fortune on equipment alone. Talking to my friend, he said that he easily does reef tanks without filters, protein skimmers, etc and he just uses a powerhead for flow plus live sand as a filter (and a heater obviously). I'm pretty diligent with water changes so that's not an issue, all my FW setups get 33-50% changes 1-2 times a week (I think I'm the only person alive that actually enjoys WCs!).
5) How do I go about cycling and when do I add what animals?
6) What other info is it important for me to know? What I currently know is salinity should be between 1.023-1.025, temp should be 74-78F, and pH 8.1-8.4. I'll probably need to top off water every day or so with decholrinated FW from my tap. I'll be doing water changes 25-33% weekly. LPS corals are better for beginners than SPS. I need 1lb of live rock per gallons so I'd need 30lbs total. Stock lightly as far as fish with 0.5" of fish per gallon in standard sized tanks (my tank would get about 10" because of it's taller dimensions). You can add a larger amount of inverts than fish because they don't take up much of a bioload.
Thanks a lot everyone for taking the time to help a newb to the saltwater scene. Hope to see you guys around the forum!
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