Direction to good literature on Starting Reef Tank

amoahkuc · 04/21/2012, 08:38 AM

Hello,

I would consider myself new to the hobby. I jumped into a 200g pentagon corner saltwater tank without even owning a beta fish or any water tank for that matter because my LFS told me the bigger the better..... It started out as a predator tank and kept it up for about 3 1/2 years including a grey bamboo shark. The tank was way to small for the shark and I relocated him to a friends 8ftX4ft tank and he is the only fish in there so he's much happier. Since then the tank has been sitting idle for the past 1 1/2 years with just a sailfin tang, lavender tang, and blue damsel. I want to go reef, but doubt I have the current equipment to be successful. I have been reading threads here and there and haven't found any good literature that says what you need to maintain in the tank as far a parameters, how to maintain it, and kind of a cause and effect of what is going on besides the basic ammonia to nitrite to nitrate cycle. what about calcium, magnesium, phosphates and the other parameters that are monitored in a reef tank.

My Setup:

-200 gallon pentagon corner tank
-20g sump
-Barracuda return pump
-RPS 400 octopus skimmer
-2X 2500g/hr recirculation pumps
-8 ft of white t5 lighting
-6 ft of blue t5 lighting

What I think my problem is:

The tank being acrylic is mostly has to top covered except for a 2ft X 1 ft opening. The top fogs up and gets a layer of salt on it filtering most of the light coming from the t5's. I want to hang 2 powerful LEDs (EcoTech Marine Radion XR30w LED Light Fixture) on top of that opening to fix this. I used to have MH above, but would just raise the temp of the tank to +84F.

I don't have a calcium reactor, but plan on getting one. Don't have a chiller and don't know if I need one. Year round the tank runs between 78F-82F, 82F being summer time.

I've seen a lot of other equipment on other people tanks on this forum and I can't find a rhyme or a reason as to their purpose i.e. dosing pumps, aqua controllers, oscillating pumps, kalk reactors, phosphate reactors, etc.

Long story short. Is there a good link for a beginner reefer to get a good bearing on how to do things right? Thank you

jerpa · 04/21/2012, 09:00 AM

Read the stickies at the top of this forum. These will give you a basic grasp setting up a reef tank. There are other valuable stickies at the top of the other sub-forums as well. Once you've got a grasp of the chemistry going on in your tank the purpose of all the equipment will be obvious. There are many ways to set up a successful reef tank but they are all built off the same basic principles.

The most important aspect to this hobby is knowledge and research. Spend some time reading the stickies and you will have far more questions. You can research and ask questions as we are all here to help. Welcome to the addiction...

DanK13 · 04/21/2012, 09:01 AM

An ok place to start.
http://saltaquarium.about.com/

Its a good idea to invest in books written by professionals in the trade. Some of these are pretty good and well worth the cost.
http://www.nanoreefblog.com/features...ld-already-own

I would add to that list of books: Saltwater Aquariums for Dummies by Greg Skomal (who I know personally) and Marine Chemistry by Brightwell.

Just pick and choose a few you will need to get you up and running and snag the rest as you advance.

amoahkuc · 04/21/2012, 09:15 AM

Thanks for the quick replies. I will begin with the stickies and the links. Just trying to avoid as much as the expensive learning curve as possible with research

Randy Holmes-Farley · 04/21/2012, 10:52 AM

I terms of water chemistry and parameter levels and supplements, these may help:

Reef Aquarium Water Parameters
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/index.htm

The “How To” Guide to Reef Aquarium Chemistry for Beginners, Part 1: The Salt Water Itself
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-03/rhf/index.php

The “How To” Guide to Reef Aquarium Chemistry for Beginners, Part 2: What Chemicals Must be Supplemented
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-04/rhf/index.php

The "How To" Guide to Reef Aquarium Chemistry for Beginners, Part 3: pH
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-05/rhf/index.php

The “How To” Guide to Reef Aquarium Chemistry for Beginners,
Part 4: What Chemicals May Detrimentally Accumulate
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-09/rhf/index.php

sucker_fish · 04/21/2012, 11:38 AM

I personally enjoy The Modern Coral Reef Aquarium volumes by Nilson / Fossa. Older books but great information, although a bit in depth.

snorvich · 04/21/2012, 12:11 PM

Anthony Calfo has various useful books.

bnumair · 04/21/2012, 01:22 PM

stickys on RC

amoahkuc · 04/22/2012, 11:27 AM

Thank you all. Already have learned so much, but still have a ways to go before I feel comfortable leaning in any direction. I am eager to get something setup, but don't want to just start killing corals because of lack of knowledge. Great reads so far

Chris AK

amoahkuc · 05/06/2012, 06:58 PM

This is a top shot of my tank and the "fogged" glass issue I think I have. There is an opening that I talked about and I was thinking of hanging now an Aqua Illumination Sol since they are considerably cheaper than the Echotechs and the only difference I could find are in the optics. The AI's were more spotlight and the EchoTech's are more spread out, but I think having a 30" water column and a concentration of rock underneath the opening that the concentrating penetrating light will be better.

This is pretty much my filtration at the moment. I have added 3 inches of sugar sized sand in the display tank and about 50 nassarius snails since I posted and really liked the idea of the DSB.

Things to come that I am saving up for are:
- 2 20AMP dedicated circuits ($450-500)
- 2 AI Sol's ($878.00)
-Calcium Reactor ($450-500)
-Aquarium Chiller 1/2hp ($800)

Is there anything else that you guys think that I am missing and/or should consider? Another question I had is that when this equipment gets in and I am adjusting parameters what and how often should I check parameters and when I think I am stable how often should I check after that. Thank you

Chris
-

04/21/2012, 08:38 AM	#1
amoahkuc Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Portland, Oregon Posts: 9	Direction to good literature on Starting Reef Tank Hello, I would consider myself new to the hobby. I jumped into a 200g pentagon corner saltwater tank without even owning a beta fish or any water tank for that matter because my LFS told me the bigger the better..... It started out as a predator tank and kept it up for about 3 1/2 years including a grey bamboo shark. The tank was way to small for the shark and I relocated him to a friends 8ftX4ft tank and he is the only fish in there so he's much happier. Since then the tank has been sitting idle for the past 1 1/2 years with just a sailfin tang, lavender tang, and blue damsel. I want to go reef, but doubt I have the current equipment to be successful. I have been reading threads here and there and haven't found any good literature that says what you need to maintain in the tank as far a parameters, how to maintain it, and kind of a cause and effect of what is going on besides the basic ammonia to nitrite to nitrate cycle. what about calcium, magnesium, phosphates and the other parameters that are monitored in a reef tank. My Setup: -200 gallon pentagon corner tank -20g sump -Barracuda return pump -RPS 400 octopus skimmer -2X 2500g/hr recirculation pumps -8 ft of white t5 lighting -6 ft of blue t5 lighting What I think my problem is: The tank being acrylic is mostly has to top covered except for a 2ft X 1 ft opening. The top fogs up and gets a layer of salt on it filtering most of the light coming from the t5's. I want to hang 2 powerful LEDs (EcoTech Marine Radion XR30w LED Light Fixture) on top of that opening to fix this. I used to have MH above, but would just raise the temp of the tank to +84F. I don't have a calcium reactor, but plan on getting one. Don't have a chiller and don't know if I need one. Year round the tank runs between 78F-82F, 82F being summer time. I've seen a lot of other equipment on other people tanks on this forum and I can't find a rhyme or a reason as to their purpose i.e. dosing pumps, aqua controllers, oscillating pumps, kalk reactors, phosphate reactors, etc. Long story short. Is there a good link for a beginner reefer to get a good bearing on how to do things right? Thank you

04/21/2012, 09:01 AM	#3
DanK13 Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: MA Posts: 153	An ok place to start. http://saltaquarium.about.com/ Its a good idea to invest in books written by professionals in the trade. Some of these are pretty good and well worth the cost. http://www.nanoreefblog.com/features...ld-already-own I would add to that list of books: Saltwater Aquariums for Dummies by Greg Skomal (who I know personally) and Marine Chemistry by Brightwell. Just pick and choose a few you will need to get you up and running and snag the rest as you advance. __________________ Never try to understand water and electricity. The more you think you know the less you do. Sweet! I just won a bid to install a 5500gal system in paradise. Current Tank Info: Big

04/21/2012, 10:52 AM	#5
Randy Holmes-Farley Reef Chemist Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Arlington, Massachusetts Posts: 86,233	I terms of water chemistry and parameter levels and supplements, these may help: Reef Aquarium Water Parameters http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/index.htm The “How To” Guide to Reef Aquarium Chemistry for Beginners, Part 1: The Salt Water Itself http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-03/rhf/index.php The “How To” Guide to Reef Aquarium Chemistry for Beginners, Part 2: What Chemicals Must be Supplemented http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-04/rhf/index.php The "How To" Guide to Reef Aquarium Chemistry for Beginners, Part 3: pH http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-05/rhf/index.php The “How To” Guide to Reef Aquarium Chemistry for Beginners, Part 4: What Chemicals May Detrimentally Accumulate http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-09/rhf/index.php __________________ Randy Holmes-Farley Current Tank Info: 120 mixed reef

04/21/2012, 11:38 AM	#6
sucker_fish Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Covington, TN Posts: 441	I personally enjoy The Modern Coral Reef Aquarium volumes by Nilson / Fossa. Older books but great information, although a bit in depth. __________________ <------- Have you ever seen tortoises playing leapfrog? Current Tank Info: 40 B w/ T5's and tunze 9002 skimmer. no sump. 90 gal. mixed reef, 36"x16"x16" sump/fuge, reef octopus xp2000 skimmer, water blaster hy5000 return.

04/21/2012, 12:11 PM	#7
snorvich Team RC member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Outlander Posts: 40,953 Blog Entries: 46	Anthony Calfo has various useful books. __________________ Warmest regards, ~Steve~

04/21/2012, 09:00 AM	#2
jerpa Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Pittsburgh Posts: 2,174	Read the stickies at the top of this forum. These will give you a basic grasp setting up a reef tank. There are other valuable stickies at the top of the other sub-forums as well. Once you've got a grasp of the chemistry going on in your tank the purpose of all the equipment will be obvious. There are many ways to set up a successful reef tank but they are all built off the same basic principles. The most important aspect to this hobby is knowledge and research. Spend some time reading the stickies and you will have far more questions. You can research and ask questions as we are all here to help. Welcome to the addiction...

04/21/2012, 09:15 AM	#4
amoahkuc Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Portland, Oregon Posts: 9	Thanks for the quick replies. I will begin with the stickies and the links. Just trying to avoid as much as the expensive learning curve as possible with research

04/21/2012, 01:22 PM	#8
bnumair Dr. Reef at ur service Join Date: May 2009 Location: Tulsa, Ok, USA Posts: 7,751 Blog Entries: 15	stickys on RC __________________ Water Quality: NO3 0,Phos 0,Cal 440,Alk 7.5,Mag 1300 "Reef Fast, You Crash, Reef Slow, You Pass" Mike's Reef 3:16 Current Tank Info: 350g DT,95g sump, 50g Frag tank, 4800gph return 4x Sea swirls. 6x AI Vega Color. 200# Pukani rock, dual recirculating skimmer, Biopellet, GFO Carbon rx's, Cal rx. Closed loop. 1.5hp chiller, genesis renew. Apex & RKE

04/22/2012, 11:27 AM	#9
amoahkuc Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Portland, Oregon Posts: 9	Thank you all. Already have learned so much, but still have a ways to go before I feel comfortable leaning in any direction. I am eager to get something setup, but don't want to just start killing corals because of lack of knowledge. Great reads so far Chris AK

05/06/2012, 06:58 PM	#10
amoahkuc Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Portland, Oregon Posts: 9	This is a top shot of my tank and the "fogged" glass issue I think I have. There is an opening that I talked about and I was thinking of hanging now an Aqua Illumination Sol since they are considerably cheaper than the Echotechs and the only difference I could find are in the optics. The AI's were more spotlight and the EchoTech's are more spread out, but I think having a 30" water column and a concentration of rock underneath the opening that the concentrating penetrating light will be better. This is pretty much my filtration at the moment. I have added 3 inches of sugar sized sand in the display tank and about 50 nassarius snails since I posted and really liked the idea of the DSB. Things to come that I am saving up for are: - 2 20AMP dedicated circuits ($450-500) - 2 AI Sol's ($878.00) -Calcium Reactor ($450-500) -Aquarium Chiller 1/2hp ($800) Is there anything else that you guys think that I am missing and/or should consider? Another question I had is that when this equipment gets in and I am adjusting parameters what and how often should I check parameters and when I think I am stable how often should I check after that. Thank you Chris -