reef set up

[Reef_Angel]

Welcome Aboard!! We're happy to have you here at Captive Reefing and invite you set down your roots and share your new set up progress with us!! You actually have a better start than you realize on some of those terms! Soon enough you'll know them all.
DSB = deep sand bed
LF or LFS? = Live Fish Store

What is detrius? Some of it can be what you wrote there. Decomposing matter from dead organisms....meaning dead fish, food matter, and all the good stuff that settles in the bottom of your tank that accumulates naturally in a reef environment.

Calpura and chaeto are forms or macro algaes. Generally used in the refugium for nitrate export for your main tank. If you ever need chaeto to start your refuge, ask on the board for assistance. There's usually a reefer here that is happy to send you some of this quick multiplying algae!

Algae: You'll run in to all sorts of this stuff in your tank as I'm sure you already encountered in your african chiclid tank. There's green algae, cyano or what some call red algae, hair algae, brown algae..... when you experience then you will know what they are. That's when the board comes in handy. We've all had them and we all have ways of curing them. Generally our ways all match, so there's not much advice here that's bad.

When you post a question or comment, many people will answer and comment with additions, solutions, and ideas to help you with a question. No question is ever a dumb one so please always ask if you have one!
Again, welcome to CR!!

[dakar]

Welcome Aboard HJ!

Here's a link to our Frequently Used Acronyms in the FAQ section), might come in handy for you.

[harlin_james]

ill never be the guy who doesn't hesitate to ask the questions. LFS - gees. :-D

my first question is what items will be absolute necessary to get this started with the tank and stand taken care of?

-substrate: live sand, aragonite sand, crushed coral...dolomite? i also read about a bare floor with a sponge or padding of some sort.. what gives with this?

I have been told that my eheim and powerhead can be used but best bet is to get other components for filtration and circulation.

- protein skimmer: venturi skimmers are better than air driven skimmers for daily care and are more effective..?

- lighting: what is the best solution for a long term 55 gallon reef tank? I also have a custom hood that hid my original stock fixtures but with the ballast and Mh lights, how hot do they get? Not as cool as fluorescence obviously. And is there such a thing as too much light or watts per inch? for inverts, fish, or anything in a coral environment. Are there high output fluorescents that can give adequate light to maintain the tank?

- marine salt: avoid ones with phosphate and nitrate.. is one brand better than any other? instant ocean was mentioned in this thread, reef crystals or coral life..

these are just off the top of my head. I have only been able to put in a few hours of research and countless day dreams of marine life in my house.

all help is appreciated in advance.

ps. if you would rather post a thread or link than answer these basic questions, no worries. in fact, throw the whole kitchen sink at me. I am so jazzed about this, the more info the merrier.

[dakar]

Here I'll throw a nickel's worth at it, there's a great deal of into posted, already, but repeating helps keep things fresh in my mind too..... besides if I'm typing I'm not working on stuff

My first question is what items will be absolute necessary to get this started with the tank and stand taken care of?

-substrate: live sand, aragonite sand, crushed coral...dolomite? i also read about a bare floor with a sponge or padding of some sort.. what gives with this?

Personal choice as far as substrate goes, that bare bottom thing you've seen is called 'starboard', Davejnz wrote up some good info on his project log about running a bare bottom.

I have been told that my eheim and powerhead can be used but best bet is to get other components for filtration and circulation.

- protein skimmer: venturi skimmers are better than air driven skimmers for daily care and are more effective..?

Some are better than others, to a point you get what you pay for, if your a DIY type person and don't mind tinkering you *can* save a good chunk of change here.... the operative word being can. Some of mine DIY's worked great others.... well not so great.

- lighting: what is the best solution for a long term 55 gallon reef tank? I also have a custom hood that hid my original stock fixtures but with the ballast and Mh lights, how hot do they get? Not as cool as fluorescence obviously. And is there such a thing as too much light or watts per inch? for inverts, fish, or anything in a coral environment. Are there high output fluorescents that can give adequate light to maintain the tank?

This is going to be more dependant on what you want to keep, there is such a variety of options out there for different types of Fluoro's, High Output (HO), Very High Putput (VHO), Power Compacts, hundred or more configurations. Halides run pretty hot, but the heat can generally be managed with a couple of fans. Everyone has thier own preference. Best bet would be to cruise around the photo galleries here and look at the tank picktures, most have there lighting listed in their signature line, if not they'll happily tell you. Cruise around as many tanks as you can in person and get an idea of what each looks like and go with you want. There are pros and cons to each, and some good combinations that work great too. Again another area where a competent DIY'r can save some big $$$.

- marine salt: avoid ones with phosphate and nitrate.. is one brand better than any other? instant ocean was mentioned in this thread, reef crystals or coral life..

Another salt war in the making? Naw, use the search function on the navigation bar on the left and see what others have had to say about each brand. Many differences in salts, and they all react differently for each person with the major ones being your water source. (My Opinion) BTW what is to be your water source? RO/DI unit, tap, or you going to (blech) buy it?

If you are really just trying to get things cooking, pick your substrate (if any), mix up your water, get some Live Rock and an ammonia source if needed (a raw peeled cocktail shrimp is perfect) throw in a couple powerheads and get the cycle started. Of course get a decent test kit so you can watch the cycle. You'll have up to 4-6 weeks to get everything else like lighting and stuff sorted out, and have plenty of time to read, read, look at pictures, drool, and read some more :D Looks like this thread is going on 6 or 7 pages now, but it's packed with good information on getting your reef started.

And of course fire away with any questions, there are a LOT of folks on here with a LOT more knowledge than I could ever hope to know. I'm certain they'll chime in here shortly as well. But that's what the board is for to capture as much as it can.

[dakar]

Opps, forgot one important question, are you 100% possitive the tank you are going to use has NEVER had any copper in it? A lot of medications for fish (such as ich treatments) and stuff are copper based and even the smallest trace amount can do some very bad things.

[harlin_james]

uhhhh. i know i have used ic treatment before. a long long time ago. years to be more specific.

will the test kit be able to tell? or should i just rinse the tank best i can and put some fresh water in and have it tested at my local shop?

[jerryc]

You can get copper test i thank you will be all right if you don't do repeated
treatments.
My best advise at this time is get a good water source RODI or you can Buy it
from a lfs but it is the difference in success or failure