Bought a tank, looking to start reefing.

Hello,

I'm obviously new to the aquarium scene, but I've been doing some
reading while at work, and it's gotten me pretty excited about the
whole ordeal.

I'm wondering what is going to be needed/recommeded in order to get a
good small reef going?
I just purchased a 30 gallon acrylic hex aquarium, and plan on getting
a RO/DI unit and protein skimmer. My boss recomended a Marineland
Emperor 280 (he has a 400 series) filter with a biowheel, which seems
to be pretty good. Im going to be ordering some LS and LR (cured fiji)
online, and probably going to get 2 clownfish to start.

What else would be needed to get this tank going?

I hear alot about power heads and stuff but I'm not quite sure what all
of this means.
I plan on going out to get a sal****er aquarium book before I do
anything, but I'd like some insite from the "experts" here on google.
^_^

Please, send post some insite!
I'd love to hear from all of you in order to make my sal****er
experience the best possible, and hopefully a enjoyable hobby for me
and my fiance. (she's excited to name the fish!)

Thanks,
Mike

money. whatever you think it's going to cost, multiply it by 3.

"brok3n" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hello,

I'm obviously new to the aquarium scene, but I've been doing some
reading while at work, and it's gotten me pretty excited about the
whole ordeal.

I'm wondering what is going to be needed/recommeded in order to get a
good small reef going?
I just purchased a 30 gallon acrylic hex aquarium, and plan on getting
a RO/DI unit and protein skimmer. My boss recomended a Marineland
Emperor 280 (he has a 400 series) filter with a biowheel, which seems
to be pretty good. Im going to be ordering some LS and LR (cured fiji)
online, and probably going to get 2 clownfish to start.

What else would be needed to get this tank going?

I hear alot about power heads and stuff but I'm not quite sure what all
of this means.
I plan on going out to get a sal****er aquarium book before I do
anything, but I'd like some insite from the "experts" here on google.
^_^

Please, send post some insite!
I'd love to hear from all of you in order to make my sal****er
experience the best possible, and hopefully a enjoyable hobby for me
and my fiance. (she's excited to name the fish!)

Thanks,
Mike

I don't like the bioweels. They splash water, and make
salt creep. For live corals you also need good lighting.
And yes, getting a good reef aquarium book will help you
to better get the big picture.

Wayne Sallee
Wayne's Pets



brok3n wrote on 1/27/2006 3:51 PM:
Hello,

I'm obviously new to the aquarium scene, but I've been doing some
reading while at work, and it's gotten me pretty excited about the
whole ordeal.

I'm wondering what is going to be needed/recommeded in order to get a
good small reef going?
I just purchased a 30 gallon acrylic hex aquarium, and plan on getting
a RO/DI unit and protein skimmer. My boss recomended a Marineland
Emperor 280 (he has a 400 series) filter with a biowheel, which seems
to be pretty good. Im going to be ordering some LS and LR (cured fiji)
online, and probably going to get 2 clownfish to start.

What else would be needed to get this tank going?

I hear alot about power heads and stuff but I'm not quite sure what all
of this means.
I plan on going out to get a sal****er aquarium book before I do
anything, but I'd like some insite from the "experts" here on google.
^_^

Please, send post some insite!
I'd love to hear from all of you in order to make my sal****er
experience the best possible, and hopefully a enjoyable hobby for me
and my fiance. (she's excited to name the fish!)

Thanks,
Mike

Mike,
I'm not really an expert, but I've been where you are just a couple of
years ago and I managed to start wrong, so it took a lot of effort and
money to straighten things out. Here is wht I'd reccomed:
I don't think you need the Emeror. It will become nitrate factory. For
such a small tank nitrates will become an issue sooner or later. I'd
get a pair of Maxijet 1200 powerheads instead.
Good protein skimmer is a must. I personally would recomend Remora, but
they tend to be spendy.
Do not skip on light. One MH would be great, but wull create heat
issue. a pair of 55W CF should be OK (one daylight and one actinic) to
start with.Www.ahsupply.com has good selection...

And one last thing:
Start really slow and patient and you won't mess up your carma with
killing fish and corals

I found "Reef Invertebrates: An Essential Guide to Selection, Care and
Compatibilty" and "Natural Reef Aquariums: Simplified Approaches to
Creating Living Sal****er Microcosms " to be very helpful.

Hope this helps
Yuriy

There certainly is not any need for MH unless the person is going to
keep critters that need such high intensity lights.PC will be more
than adequate for most critters. Coral life super skimmer model 65
would be a very good choice for a skimmer for that tank......I owuld
also hang a hob type filter, with a decent sized resivoir on the hex
so yu have a place opt put activated carbon or purigen etc if the need
arises. It will provide decent current and help break up surface scum.
Start with one power head initialy in additon to a good hob filter,
and skimmer and take it from there....and add pmore powerheads if the
need arises........ Check out marinedepot.com., hellolights.com,
premium aquatics.com and bigals.com for some good prices on
lights....and other items like heaters, pumps and hobs. My recomendatn
would be a hob made by aqua clear either a AC70 or so in size which is
sufficieint for a 70 gal tank. Remove all filter media and use only
the white sponge for a mechanical filter, and leave the ceramic rings
etc out. The ac (aqua clears are especially suited for this type use
and are a great filter. You can also add a bit of live rock rubble to
it, and some chaeto or caulerpa macro algae and have a mini fuge,
which will also help with reducing any nitrates you may get...



On 27 Jan 2006 13:41:20 -0800, "Croosh" wrote:
Mike,
I'm not really an expert, but I've been where you are just a couple of
years ago and I managed to start wrong, so it took a lot of effort and
money to straighten things out. Here is wht I'd reccomed:
I don't think you need the Emeror. It will become nitrate factory. For
such a small tank nitrates will become an issue sooner or later. I'd
get a pair of Maxijet 1200 powerheads instead.
Good protein skimmer is a must. I personally would recomend Remora, but
they tend to be spendy.
Do not skip on light. One MH would be great, but wull create heat
issue. a pair of 55W CF should be OK (one daylight and one actinic) to
start with.Www.ahsupply.com has good selection...

And one last thing:
Start really slow and patient and you won't mess up your carma with
killing fish and corals

I found "Reef Invertebrates: An Essential Guide to Selection, Care and
Compatibilty" and "Natural Reef Aquariums: Simplified Approaches to
Creating Living Sal****er Microcosms " to be very helpful.

Hope this helps
Yuriy

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The original frugal ponder ! Koi-ahoi mates....

Thanks for the helpfull info!
I should be getting my tank sunday, and I went out and bought a book on
basic tank setups. Hopefully I'll be able to post back with updates on
how things are going.