What are common terms, utilities, and products

[aquanov]

Basically I'm new to the world of saltwater aquariums. I'm going to get a 10 gallon tank when I learn enough about care and maintenance. I was hoping someone could let me know what I need to know, what materials are required and why, and what I will need to do to get this aquarium set up.
Thanks

[fishhuman]

Okay, good luck with your tank here are a few general rules

ITEMS NEEDED FOR TANK
. PROTIEN SKIMMER, although some people consider it optional for small tanks I consider it one of your most needed equipment for running a tank, it takes dissolved fish poo out of your water. When you go to the ocean and foam on the beach that is also dissolved fish poo, the waves work just like a protien skimmer.

RODI WATER
A Nessecity for sps corals, and and carries no algea in it so algea is harder to grow, you can buy RODI at your LFS or probobly even a wal mart, but if you decide to upgrade to a larger tank a RODI filter becomes a must. RODI filters remove ALL dissolved solids where as declorinator only remove chemicals

GOOD LIGHTING
Especailly if you choose to have a keep a reef you will need good lighting. I personally use LEDS to light my reef because it gives corals a illuminesent glow, uses much less electricity, and does not heat the water. The only two drawbacks are that upfront it cost more than the other options T5 and metal halide, but the cost levels itself out because halides and T5 require you to replace the bulbs every so often( which are 30 bucks a piece) and the electricity cost is much higher for halides and T5. The other reason is because since LEDS are new to the hobby people can't be certain if they work long term for sps coral, however I have seen an increase in growth when I switched to LEDS for my last reef and many others have also.

LIVE ROCK
Live rock is perhaps the most essential piece of equipment in a reef, it is called live becuase it is covered and full of benificial bacteria which break down left over fish food and poo so the protien skimmer can get rid of it. You should have 1 pound of live rock per gallon of water so you should have 10 pounds. Live rock also provides hiding places for fish and growth room to coral it is the vase that supports your reef. Another cool fact about liverock is that it since it is from real reefs it sometimes carries creatures with it people have found bristleworms, crabs, starfish, hermit crabs, urchins and sometimes even octopus and fish; to learn more about liverock look up liverock hitch hikers it will help you determine if your hitch hikers are good or bad. Another thing to add is sand use sand not crushed coral or gravel as it will hold all your bacteria that digest fish poo, while a lot of people use live sand I have found that dry sand works just as well, the same rule applies 1 pound of sand per gallon of water.

SALT
Salt is what makes the ocean the ocean, you need it to keep any saltwater critters alive, for salt use instant ocean or coral life brand salts they carry good nuitrients like calcium in along with your salt. To make sure you have the right salinity use either a hydrometer or refractometer they will measure your salinity.

TEST KITS
These will test for amonnia, nitrates and nitrites to determine whether it is safe to add your fish. I would suggest you get the Red Sea master kit.

OTHER EQUIPMENT
Here is a list
. Filters either HOB or canister these provide extra mechanical filtration they are usefull for your tank but only optionary live rock will be your primary source of filtration
. Reactors there are many types of reactors phosphate, carbon, and calcium to name a few, usefull in a large tank but not in a smaller nano tank

CYCLEING
CYCLEING is the period in which your tank waits for about a month in which good bacteria build up to the levels that can digest fish poo, it is absolutely essential to cycle your tank you can speed up your cycle by adding a bit of the fish's food to give the bacteria food cycle ands when the fish food is gone and all amonia and nitrite levels are at zero, a good sighn your tank is CYCLEING is a high range of nitrates which are bacteria poo( harmless to fish) and mean the bacteria are processing the ammonia. Never cycle your tank with live fish it is cruel.

LIVESTOCK
Your livestock will consist of your fish and inverts. For this tank 2 small fish such as clownfish, gobies, possum wrasse, and firedart fish will work. For inverts you will want a clean up crew which consists of hermit crabs, snails and other inverts who will eat algea; they are also fun to look at. For fish stay away from tangs, triggerfish, angelfish, groupers, and large wrasses as they will get to big

REEF TANK HOBBIEST SLANG

CUC clean up crew

HOB hang on back filter

DT display tank, in larger tanks there are tanks who sit underneath the display tank which houses the fish these tank are called sumps and are used to store equipment

DSB deep sand bed, a sand bed of 3+ inches that is considered a good source of biological filtration

BB bare bottom when a tank has no sand and instead has just glass, it is one style of reeding and can look quite good if you put the effort in it

IJGGD I just got a good deal used to tell someone that you got a coral frag for only 100 dollars instead of 120, very usefull when trying to communicate with other reefers in front of spouse or partner as they will flip if they know how much of your paycheck you will be spending on this hobby it's addicting

MH metal halide

GPH gallons per hour usually used in context with powerheads

RC reef central

LFS local fish or pet store, never trust them

frag a small piece of coral that will grow into a large coral

OTHER
. Feed your fish mysis shrimp or black worms
. Do water changes weekly of 10% tanks total volume
. Buy a good book on the hobby it will help you a lot if you get it from the library make sure the publication date is new as a lot of the information is dated
. Never trust your LFS as they are just trying to make a sale not do what's best for you
. Reasearch anything you want before you buy it
. Nothing good happens fast in this hobby patience is the key
. Good luck, you made a good choice in coming to RC we will try and help you with the confusion of starting a new tank

[aquanov]

Thanks a lot fishhuman, I appreciate your advice. What is Rodi water? And what role does water hardness play in the equation? I've got a freshwater tank and I can tell you the water is pretty hard.

[reepher315]

RODI is reverse osmosis de ionized water. Really the best thing for your tank. This eliminates the need to use tap / hard water.

[GMay]

Read the stickies and ask questions on the forum. Keep reading the stickies, become confused, and then set a course and follow it.

Seriously, reading about starting a tank here and on other forums is the best way to start. A 10 gal tank is small but will be a good starting point for learning.

Good Luck!

[Gagonzalez]

A 10g tank is probably not a good idea to start with. Stuff happens very quickly in a 10g tank and you can kill everything pretty quickly with a simple mistake. I would start slightly bigger if possible. Maybe a 20g or small AIO Nano??? It would also depend on what you will be keeping in your tank.

Some other terms to get familiar with:

AIO = All in One

Softies = soft corals, usually easier to keep alive (ie...Mushrooms, Zoa's, etc...)

LPS = Large Polyp Stony Corals, harder to keep alive but with some experience and stable parameters not difficult. (ie...Frogspawn, Hammer, Chalices, Acans, etc...)

SPS = Small Polyp Stony Corals, usually difficult to keep alive and must have rock solid stable parameters and extremely clean water. (ie...Acropora, etc...)

GAC = Granular Activated Carbon (Cleans the water and takes the yellow tinge out so you get crystal clear water. BRS (Bulk Reef Supply) Rox Carbon is probably one of the best)

GFO = Granular Ferric Oxide (Removes Phosphate from water. Rowaphos, BRS GFO, Phosban are some common name brands)

ATO = Auto Top Off (Used to automatically add fresh RODI water to your tank to maintain Salinity at your desired level)

Dose = the process of adding Calcium, Alkalinity and sometimes Magnesium to your tank.

1.024-1.026 = typical salinity of Reef systems

Reactor = A type of filter that pumps water down a tube and back up through media to make it tumble around for better filtration.

Bio Pellets = small plastic bio-degradable media usually used in a reactor to help Bacteria grow and eat away/reduce Nitrates and some Phosphate.

Skimmate = Dissolved Organics (gunk) that get pulled out of your water by use of a protein skimmer.

Good Luck.

[fishhuman]

How did I forget all of those

[aquanov]

Thanks guys. Is there any way somebody could take a few pictures of one of their set ups and explain how it works? Like the filter, skimmer and all that? Preferably a smaller tank, but honestly I'm pretty intrigued by all of this so I would love to see anybodies tank if they are willing to show it.

[TimLikesFish]

Read through all of the stickies in the new to the hobby forum and browse through some tank build threads. It's much easier to answer specific questions instead of "tell me everything".

[aquanov]

Sorry I'm really new to this. What are these stickies and where can I find them?

[TimLikesFish]

If you go to the main page for the "New to the Hobby" forum, at the very top of the list are a few threads that say "sticky" at the beginning of the title. Check them out, there's a lot of great information in them. Don't get discouraged by the amount of new stuff there is to learn, most of us took months to research the hobby before we started a tank.

[TimLikesFish]

Start here: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1031074

[cderleth84]

Like Tim said your best bet is to read the stickies and as many post as you can. In this "New to the Hobby" section there are plenty of people who have asked all the same questions so you'll find a great deal of information by poking around...that's how I started to learn. Anyways, you asked people to post a picture of their setup so I figured I'd put a link to my new build so you can get an idea. I started setting this up about a year ago but didn't get around to finish working on it until last month. Still needs final touches but it's on its way.

My display tank is a 40g and the sump is a 20g. I'm using a "herbie" style drain (look up that term) on my display, which is why there are two drain lines on the left...one is the "full syphon" drain and the other is a backup/emergency. The hose on the right is my return line back up to the tank. Here's a list of how the setup works:

1. Water drains from the display tank down through the hose into the sump
2. It enters the first chamber where I have my skimmer located
3. It goes through two baffles
4. Then it passes over the live rock I have in the middle of the sump
5. It passes through two more baffles
6. In the last chamber there is a pump that pumps the water back up to the display tank

The direction of the flow in my sump is from left to right. If you're going to go with a sump make sure you google the hell out of how you need to figure out water flow with regards to water drain speed and size of return pump.

https://cderleth84.imgur.com/all/

[kurt_n]

Originally Posted by aquanov

Basically I'm new to the world of saltwater aquariums. I'm going to get a 10 gallon tank when I learn enough about care and maintenance....

I think the best suggestion at this point is *Don't get a 10 gallon!!!*.

I know it's counter-intuitive at this point, but a small tank is really not making it easy on yourself. I'd suggest putting the largest tank you can, in whatever space you have available. You don't need a sump or any of the fancy stuff to start out with... and I think that's what scares people away from larger tanks. All you need to start with is a tank, water, a heater, and a way to move water around in the tank... as well as some live rock. Simple lighting if you only want fish; higher powered lighting if you want fish and coral.

In smaller tanks, things can go wrong very quick due to the small amount of water. With larger water volumes, there's more room for error (which will happen, no matter how much research you do!) and more water to dilute those errors. Think of it like putting a drop of food coloring in water - one drop of red food coloring in a cup of water is going to look pretty red, while one drop in a gallon of water won't even be noticeable. It's the same way with water parameters in a tank.

Also... a 10g tank really really limits you as to the fish you can put in there. You won't have many choices, and you won't be able to put more than one or two in there.

I'd seriously look at a minimum tank size of something at least 3 feet wide.

This forum is a good source of info, as others have noted. If you're a "read a book" person like me, a good starting point would be Fenner's "The Conscientious Marine Aquarist". There's a newer version out now than the one I started with, but even the older one gives a good overview of just about eveything you need to know.

[aquanov]

See I've got a 46 gallon, but it's home to some of my favorite freshwater fish. I don't want to spend a ton of money on a new tank and stand, but then again I could never kill my fish. Is a 10 gallon even possible? Just out of curiousity how much did you guys spend on your setups? My freshwater was close to 500.

[cderleth84]

Well, if I take into account every dollar that I've spent including:

Building the stand myself (all materials even down to the screws and stain)
Tank
Sump
Skimmer
Light
Plumbing
Dry rock
Glass baffles for sump
Return pump
Pump for skimmer
Overflow box
Livestock; both fish and corals
Live sand
Supplements
Testing kits
MP10 powerhead
RO/DI system
And more that I can't think of right now...

I think I'm easily in the hole for $1000+

But I did buy all these things over the course of several months and I tried to find as many deals as I could by buying used equipment. Your best friend will be either Craigslist or your local forum on this website. People are always giving stuff away or selling at crazy good deals just to help out a fellow reefer who can use the equipment that they don't need anymore. I bought my tank, sump, skimmer and pump all used at killer deals from people that didn't need them and just wanted to hook it up. Now that I've been in the hobby for a while I like to pass the deals along to others when I have items that I no longer need. I just sold a guy 5 x Hydor Koralia powerheads for $20 for all of them, which brand new were about $300. Keep that in mind in the future when you're looking to get rid of some stuff.

[aquanov]

You should post a picture

[cderleth84]

I posted a link to my pics a couple posts up in this thread. I'm still building this system though. I'm about to get new lights in a couple weeks. I also need to buy a Neptune Apex controller and an ATO (auto top off). So I'm gonna spend even more dough.

[aquanov]

I tried opening it, I think it might be a dead link.

[cderleth84]

[Reef noob_]

RC Acronyms
A=Amp
AA=Amino Acid
AC=Activated Carbon
AC=Alternating Current
Acan Lord=Acanthastrea
AEFW=Acro Eating Flat Worms
AFAIK = As far as I know
AFM=Aquarium Fish Monthly, magazine
AGA=All-Glass Aquarium
AGE=Acrylic and Glass Exhibits
Alk=Alkalinity
Amp=Measure of electrical energy
ASW=Artificial Sea Water
ATC=Automatic Temperature Control
ATO=Auto Top Off
ATS=Algae Turf Scrubber
AZA=Association of Zoos & Aquariums
BB=Bare Bottom
Blasto=Blastomussa
BOD=Biological Oxygen Demand
BZA=Blue Zoo Aquatics
BTA=Bubble Tipped Anemone
BTU=British Thermal Unit
BTW=By The Way
Ca=Calcium
CBB=Copper Band Butterfly
CC=Counter Current (type of protein skimmer)
CC=Crushed Coral
CFL=Compact Fluorescent Lamp
CL=Closed Loop
CO2=Carbon Dioxide
CSL=Custom Sea Life
CTA=Cellulose Ariacetate
C2C=Coast To Coast
Cu=Copper
CUC=Clean Up Crew
CWCS=Continuous Water Change System
Cyano=Cyanobacteria
DAMHIKT=Don't Ask Me How I Know This
DC=Direct Current
DD=Downdraft (type of protein skimmer)
DE=Double Ended
DFS=Drs. Foster and Smith
DI=Deionization
DIY=Do It Yourself
dKh=German Degrees of Hardness
DO=Dissolved Oxygen
DOC=Dissolved Organic Carbon
DP=Double Post
DT=Display Tank
DSB=Deep Sand Bed
EB=Electronic Ballast
ETA=Estimated Time of Arrival.
FAMA=Freshwater And Marine Aquaria (magazine)
FAQ=Frequently Asked Questions
FFE=Flying Fish Express
FO=Fish Only
FOWLR=Fish Only With Live Rock
FTS=Full Tank Shot
FW=Freshwater
FWIW=For What It's Worth
FWE=Flat Worm Exit
GAC=Granular Activated Carbon
GBR=Great Barrier Reef
GBTA=Green Bubble Tip Anemone
GFCI=Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter
GFI=Ground Fault Interrupter
GFO=Granular Ferric Oxide
GHA=Green Hair Algae
GPD=Gallons Per Day
GPH=Gallons Per Hour
GSM=Gold Striped Maroon
GSP=Green Star Polyps
HA=Hair Algae
HD=Home Depot
HLLE=head and lateral line erosion (a fish disease)
HO=High Output (fluorescent light)
HOB=Hang On Back
HOT=Hang On Tank
HTH=Hope This Helps
HQI=Mercury (Hg) Quartz Iodide
IA=Inland Aquatics
IBTL=In Before The Lock
IIRC=If I Recall Correctly
IME=In My Experience
IMHO=In My Humble Opinion
IMNSHO=In My Not So Humble Opinion
IMO=In My Opinion
IO=Instant Ocean
IR=Infrared
IW=In Wall
JJ=Just Joking
JK=Just Kidding
JM2C=Just My 2 Cents
K=Kelvin (Lighting) 10,000K
Kalk=Kalk�v�asser
KISS=Keep It Simple Stupid
kWh=Kilowatt-Hour
L=Liters
LA=Live Aquaria
LA3/L3=LumenArc 3
Lbs=Pounds
LED=Light Emitting Diode
LFS=Local Fish Store
LHS=Local Hardware Store
LMB=Lawn Mower Blenny
LMK=Let Me Know
Lobo=Lobophyllia
LOL=Laugh Out Loud
LPH=Liters Per Hour
LPS=Large Polyped Scleractinian (Stony) coral
LRB=Little Red Bugs
LR=Live Rock
LS=Live Sand
LTA=Long Tentacle Anemone
MACNA=Marine Aquaria Conference of North America, held annually
MASNA=Marine Aquarium Societies of North America
MB=Magnetic Ballast
MD=Marine Depot
meq/L=Micro-equalities per Liter
Mg or Mag=Magnesium
MH=Metal Halide light
Milli=Acropora Millipora
MJ=Maxijet
MM=Miracle Mud
MO=Mail Order
nTOTM=Nano Tank of the Month
NH3=Ammonia
NNR=Natural Nitrate Reduction
NO=Normal Output (fluorescent light)
NO2=Nitrite
NO3=Nitrate
NPS=Non Photosynthetic
NSW=Natural Sea Water
NTS=New Tank Syndrome
NTTH=New To The Hobby
O2=Oxygen
OM=Ocean motions (4 way pump)
OP=Original Poster
ORP=Oxygen Redox Potential
OTS=Old Tank Syndrome
PA=Premium Aquatics
PAR=Photosynthetic Active Radiation
PB=Pulse Ballast
PBITAWA=Pour Bleach In Tank And Walk Away
PBT=Powder Blue Tang
PC=Power Compact (fluorescent light)
PE=Polyp Extension
PH=Powerhead
PITA=Pain In The A**
PM=Private Message
P04=Phosphate
PPM=Parts Per Million
PPT=Parts Per Thousand
PS=Protein Skimmer
PVC=Poly Vinyl Chloride
QT=Quarantine Tank
RBTA=Rose Bubble Tipped Anemone
RC=Reef Central
RC=Reef Crystals
RDSB=Remote Deep Sand Bed
Rics=Ricordia
RK=Reef Keeping, on-line aquarium magazine
RO=Reverse Osmosis
RODI=Reverse Osmosis, Deionization
ROFLMAO=Roll On Floor Laugh My A** Off
RR=Reef Ready, (aquaria with pre-drilled holes and overflows)
RSM=Red Slime Remover
RTN=Rapid Tissue Necrosis
RUGF=Reverse Under Gravel Filter
SCWD=Switching Current Water Director
SE=Single Ended
SG=Specific Gravity
Shrooms=Mushrooms
SPS=Small Polyped Scleractinian (Stony) coral
SSB=Shallow Sand Bed
Sticky=Always on top forum thread that does not expire
STN=Slow Tissue Necrosis
SW=Salt Water / Sea Water
TBH=To Be Honest
TBS=Tampa Bay Saltwater
TDS=Total Dissolved Solids
TFC=Thin Film Composite, type of RO membrane
ThOTM=Thread Of The Month
TIA=Thanks In Advance
TIC=Total Inorganic Carbon
TOC=Total Organic Carbon
TOTM=Tank of the Month
Trachy=Trachyphyllia
TRT=The Reef Tank (aquarium bulletin board)
TTT=To The Top
TWP=Tap Water Purifier (from Aquatic Pharmaceuticals)
UGF=Under Gravel Filter
ULNS=Ultra Low Nutrient System
UV=Ultra Violet
V=Volt
VHO=Very High Output (fluorescent light)
VSV=Vodka Sugar Vinegar
W=Watts
WC=Water Change
WD=Wet-Dry (a method of aquarium filtration)
Wellso=Wellsophyllia
WNL=Within Normal Limits
WPG=Watts Per Gallon
WTB=Want To Buy
WTS=Want To Sell
WTT=Want To Trade
WQ=Water Quality
YGM=You Got Mail
YGPM=You've Got Private Message
YMMV=Your Mileage May Vary (your specific results may vary from mine)
YWG=Yellow Watchman Goby

[kurt_n]

Originally Posted by aquanov

See I've got a 46 gallon, but it's home to some of my favorite freshwater fish. I don't want to spend a ton of money on a new tank and stand, but then again I could never kill my fish. Is a 10 gallon even possible? Just out of curiousity how much did you guys spend on your setups? My freshwater was close to 500.

Sure... a 10g is possible. Plenty of folks keep small tanks. I was just saying - without knowing your situation - starting bigger makes life easier.

As far as spending money on a new tank/stand, realize that in saltwater the tank/stand cost is going to be one of the cheapest expenditures. Not entirely sure I want to do the mental math of how much I have into equipment for my sumpless-46g reef, but to put it in perspective I recently spent about $600 for new LED lighting. Granted, I could've kept running my old PC-tube fixture, but replacing the bulbs every 6 months at $90-100 each time started getting old. You get the idea. When I originally set up the tank, I'm sure I had more than $1000 into it before I even added a fish.

[diegoluv]

I agree about the size being small. Smaller tanks, IMO are harder to keep stable.