First Marine Tank

davered12 · 12/29/2014, 03:46 PM

Hello, my name is Davis. I have been keeping freshwater aquariums for the last six years. I am finally able to get a marine tank, and I have decided to make it a reef. If you could help me out with these questions, and provide any advice, that would be great.

1. I will probably be getting a 20 gallon high, dimensions 24"x12"x16", and will be using a Coralife Aqualight T5 Dual Fluorescent Lamp Fixture. Will this provide enough light to grow some of the easier corals? Also, what will the color look like with this light? I like the more natural light look, not too blue.

2. I think I will use a HOB filter. Should I use carbon or some other filter media?

3. How many powerheads should I use along with the filter to get enough water movement?

4. How much live rock/sand should I put in the tank?

5. When cycling the tank with live rock/sand, do I need to put any other source of ammonia into the tank? How long does this usually take?

6. I think I might just keep corals and inverts in the tank, such as sexy shrimp, boxer crabs, porcelain crabs, mini brittle stars, tuxedo urchin, feather duster, etc. Are there any other interesting/easy to keep inverts that I should look into?

Right now I am doing as much research as possible, so whatever questions pop into my head later on will be posted here. Thanks in advance!

12/29/2014, 03:46 PM	#1
davered12 Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2014 Location: North Dakota Posts: 2	First Marine Tank Hello, my name is Davis. I have been keeping freshwater aquariums for the last six years. I am finally able to get a marine tank, and I have decided to make it a reef. If you could help me out with these questions, and provide any advice, that would be great. 1. I will probably be getting a 20 gallon high, dimensions 24"x12"x16", and will be using a Coralife Aqualight T5 Dual Fluorescent Lamp Fixture. Will this provide enough light to grow some of the easier corals? Also, what will the color look like with this light? I like the more natural light look, not too blue. 2. I think I will use a HOB filter. Should I use carbon or some other filter media? 3. How many powerheads should I use along with the filter to get enough water movement? 4. How much live rock/sand should I put in the tank? 5. When cycling the tank with live rock/sand, do I need to put any other source of ammonia into the tank? How long does this usually take? 6. I think I might just keep corals and inverts in the tank, such as sexy shrimp, boxer crabs, porcelain crabs, mini brittle stars, tuxedo urchin, feather duster, etc. Are there any other interesting/easy to keep inverts that I should look into? Right now I am doing as much research as possible, so whatever questions pop into my head later on will be posted here. Thanks in advance!