"mike d." wrote on Fri, 25 Apr 2008:
I would like to enter into a correspondence with someone who is skilled with
keeping marine tanks and marine creatures . I am experienced with
freshwater, but I have only had one tank of sal****er, and my skills are in
need of some improvement.

Do you have any specific questions?

particularly setting up tank with wet-dry filter, sump, skimmers, etcetera,
and what types and brands of equipment/materials to use.

Are you thinking of growing corals, or fish-only? Corals are a lot more
sensitive to water quality and light. Fish(-only) can thrive with a lot
less equipment. So it matters a lot what your plans are.

You should definitely consider live rock/live sand instead of the wet-dry
filter. LR/LS is the typical setup for modern reef tanks. Protein skimmer
is a good idea though. Refugium (to grow copepods, and macroalgae on a 24hr
or reverse daylight cycle) also.

And the sump ought to be as big as you can fit. Most people (obviously) try
to maximize their display tank, and think of the sump as an afterthought,
probably just a nice place to store equipment. But it turns out that your
tank would be vastly more stable and easier to care for if you had a huge
sump and a relatively smaller show tank. Like, if you have a 50g show tank,
but then behind a wall in the next room, or down in the basement, you have a
connecting 500g sump. A setup like that would do _great_.

Of course, nobody does that. But just keep that ideal in mind as you think
about a sump. The bigger sump (+ refugium) you design, the better your system
will work.

-- Don
__________________________________________________ _____________________________
Don Geddis http://reef.geddis.org/
Mistakes: It could be that the purpose of your life is only to serve as a
warning to others. -- Despair.com