New to the hobby? Look no further

[kar93]

I thought it would be good for all of you new to the hobby to start up a thread which explains the basics of ReefKeeping and help all those who are just entering or thinking of getting into the hobby.
I will first start by explaining the basics of what are needed to get setup and cycling.

Well, obviously firstly, you need a tank. For a first tank I would recommend a 75 gallon. This will allow you to keep a good number of various marine life and will also be stable enough to support many various marine organisms. Here are a couple of 75 gallon tank threads to inspire you.
Window to a reef - 75 gallon build thread
Reefing on a budget - 75 gallon
NanoGurl's 75g reef thread

Alot of reefers use sumps and refugiums which are explained alot in these 2 links.
How does a sump work?
Refugiums and Macro Algae

A sump is basically an external filtration system, it works alot better than some other sources of filtration such as Canister filters, biowheels. That is not to say they cannot be used in reef systems though. Using a sump will give increased system volume providing slightly more stability. When a refugium is combined with a sump this allows natural filtration to take place by the sand and macro algae, more about refugiums is explained in thorough detail in the Refugiums and Macro algae thread linked above. To determine your exact needs go to this page Determine your exact needs

Lighting is something else to be considered in a reef tank. If you want to keep a tank with fish only you will not need 2000 watts of Metal Halide beaming down on your tank as any ordinary aquarium lighting would suffice. However, if you plan to have a reef tank dominated by SPS (Small Polyped Stony) corals then you will need alot of light on the tank. The general rule of thumb for SPS lighting is 5 watts per gallon. LPS (large polyped stony) corals don't require quite as much lighting but do require a good amount. I have generally used 3-4 watts per gallon for LPS. Soft corals dont require as much lighting as SPS and LPS but still need a generous amount. Coral such as Zoanthids and Mushrooms will fare well under the same amount of lighthing which soft corals are given. But, some corals such as Ricordeas might require up to as much lighting as SPS corals. Fish don't need high intense lighting if you plan to keep a fish only tank but they do need lighting to give a natural effect of the sunlight. 8 hours a day is generally what reefers run their lighting schedule at.

Now you have all of that, you have your tank, your sump and your light unit. What next? Well, A big part of a reef system is Live rock filtration, Live rock is one of the main parts of a reef. Live rock can be purchased dry which will need to be "cooked". Cooking live rock is basically putting the live rock in a bucket with no light for 3 or more months at regular SG (1.026) and regular temperature. More on cooking live rock can be found here Cooking live rock

A big part of filtration also comes from the sand bed most reefers use a Shallow Sand Bed (SSB) but many use Deep Sand Beds (DSB) some even go Bare Bottom (BB) which means having no sand in the tank at all. When reefers go Bare bottom they might also use remote sand bed (RSB) which is basically a bucket full of sand plumbed into the main system. This allows the same filtration as a deep sand bed while having the look you desire in the display tank.

Skimming is a reefing essential, what skimming does is remove waste that the other filtration can’t. The particles are attracted to bubbles and a skimmer creates thousands of tiny little bubbles inside the skimmer body and as water is pumped from the tank or sump into the skimmer all these waste particles stick to the bubbles and rise up to the collection cup which if skimming efficiently should be emptied every 1 or 2 days. There are 2 ways to skim; these are wet skimming and dry skimming. Dry skimming is having the skimmer out of the water as much as possible and wet skimming is having the skimmer submerged as much as possible. When wet skimming it can take more than desired and deplete some levels in the aquarium but these can be easily maintained by dosing and regular water changes. Dry skimming removes “pure� skimmate but it is debatable whether it pulls out as much as wet skimming does.

Cycling is allowing the tank to “mature�. A reef tank usually takes around 6 weeks to cycle, during this 6 week period, no livestock can be added at all. While the tank is cycling, the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels will shoot up and then slowly come back down. Water changes and regular maintenance should still take place when the tank is cycling. 10% a week water changes is usually the general amount or 20% every 2 weeks. The ordinary lighting schedule should also be in place. When the 6 weeks have taken place, if the levels have gone down and are at a safe level, you should wait another week to ensure the levels are now balanced and to prevent any livestock being stressed due to unsafe water parameters. After this week has been and you are certain that all parameters are stable, you can slowly add corals, fish, shrimp or whatever livestock you wish to add except anemones as these need a very mature tank to live. Also, when cycling you will notice algae starting to grow, don't worry. Algae blooms are a completely normal part of the cycling process.

So you’re ready to start adding some livestock, you’ve just seen that beautiful Purple Tang, this is where quarantine comes into the mix. Quarantine is one of the other most important steps of reef keeping. Through the amount of fish that pass through an LFS (local fish store) every day there is bound to be a fish that catches some sort of disease, It is important to quarantine all fish for a minimum of 4 weeks before introducing them to the main display tank. While the fish are in quarantine you can carefully monitor them to see if the fish does carry any disease. A quarantine tank is very simple to setup, you need a tank (29 gallon is what I recommend), basic filtration, spaces for the fish to hide such as PVC piping and a clay pot, heating and basic lighting. For the quarantine tank, you can use water from the main tank once it has cycled. If unfortunately, the fish does start showing signs of disease then the SG (specific gravity) should slowly be bought down to 1.009. This is what’s known as hypo salinity. The parasites that live on the fish cannot live at this salinity level. The fish can survive at this salinity level short term. So if the fish has been in quarantine for 4 weeks and has shown no signs of disease or stress, then go ahead and move it to the main display tank. However, if the fish has shown disease and you have gone into hypo salinity and the fish is still showing disease, then a treatment can be used. It is essential that you DO NOT add any treatments to your main display tank as this can introduce elements that you do not want in your reef. When the fish is no longer showing any disease or stress then quarantine for another 2 weeks must be done. After this further 2 weeks, the fish shows no disease or stress then you can move it to the main display tank. This may sound like a long and boring process but it is essential if you want a successful reef tank.

So there you have the basics to setup the tank here is a quick list to refer back to if having any troubles.
1. Tank (of course)
2.Sump, refugium or some form of filtration
3.Lighting. Strong lighting depending if corals are being kept.
4.Live rock
5.Sand
6.Skimmer

And remember to post a build thread, you will gain alot of experts help and when taking everything into consideration and following all the other reefers help, you can have a beautiful and successful reef.

Thanks for reading,

Kane

[Sk8r]

Good post! Knowing you need to ask the questions is a huge initial step---knowing where to find a list of good questions? Priceless.

[AngeloM3]

kar93 your the best! I don't care what everyone else says.

I PM'ed a mod to sticky this one... this is a GREAT read for all newbies!

[kar93]

Thanks. Why what does everybody else say ?

[kzickovich]

what else can we say after that! That's great I wish I would have read that when I first stated out. It wouldv'e saved me ALOT of money in equipment and dead animals

[Aquarist007]

excellent Kar---something just informative enough yet not too long to read.
I find that alot--if you go into details too much or link to a thread that is really long---alot of people just don't bother to read the whole thing

[Aquarist007]

for those wanting more to read on the topics listed above try this thread

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...readid=1031074

[kar93]

Originally posted by capn_hylinur
excellent Kar---something just informative enough yet not too long to read.
I find that alot--if you go into details too much or link to a thread that is really long---alot of people just don't bother to read the whole thing

That's what I tried to stay away from because I have read so many articles and threads and the ones that go into too much detail just get, well........boring.

[kar93]

If anybody would like to discuss these topics in detail please feel free to PM or post your thoughts here.

[Aquarist007]

Originally posted by kar93
That's what I tried to stay away from because I have read so many articles and threads and the ones that go into too much detail just get, well........boring.

that's what gives alot of merit to your thread. The reason I posted the links was for reefers that wanted to read and learn more about topics mentioned in your thread
I hope you didn't feel I was trying to upstage your thread--only to add on to it
If you got a good thing going then you run with it

[kar93]

No, I didn't feel like that at all, any other reefers input is fine by me.