I want to start out right.

tsmatthews3 · 12-28-2004, 06:09 AM

I have a 90g and stand. I am looking to begin a reef tank in the coming year. I am currently reading up on different ways to setup but would like your input too. I am starting from the ground up and want to get this right. Any help in choosing the right equipment and startup procedures would be greatly appreciated. I am a freshwater keeper and am looking to try something new.

dx7fd2 · 12-28-2004, 07:53 AM

Welcome to 3Reef TS!!

The home page here has links to three pages of general considerations for starting up a reef tank.
http://www.3reef.com/step1.shtml
http://www.3reef.com/step2.shtml
http://www.3reef.com/step3.shtml

I just started my tank in October and found that the people here on 3reef and their knowledge are invaluable.

There are a lot of questions that need to be taken into consideration when starting out:

What do you want to keep in the tank?
What are the substrate needs for the tank you want to keep?
Are you going to use a sump configuration or an everything (equipment) in the display tank configuration?

These questions have numerous answers that you will want to tailor to your specific needs and the needs of the animals you want to keep.

Equipment questions are among the first things to consider after deciding the tank parameters and you will find that the reefers here have used just about every type of pump, skimmer, salt, sand, hair brained DIY and/or out of the box equipment at one time or another so there is a bounty of information available. Just pick your topic from the forum menus and ask for ideas, we've got some great moderators here and they and the rest of us will be happy to help you.

Drew
[move][glow=blue,2,300]And don't forget to have fun!!![/glow][/move]

[smiley=2thumbsup.gif] [smiley=biggrinbounce.gif] [smiley=2thumbsup.gif]

hoodoo · 12-28-2004, 07:57 AM

is your tank drilled? So, do you have a sump? I like tanks with sumps and if you don't have a predrilled tank you might wanna look into overflows.

And welcome to 3reef, karma for trying to start of right, that will save you a lot of pain

dx7fd2 · 12-28-2004, 08:04 AM

Hi HooDoo!

Quote:

(From Hoodoo) is your tank drilled? So, do you have a sump?

Also is it acrylic or glass??

Make sure you put some information in the signature line of your posts, TS, that way we will know what equipment you are working with and other information about your tank. Even if you change it later it helps us to visualize what you are trying to accomplish.

Drew

fletch · 12-28-2004, 08:19 AM

Well you are off to a good start joining this forum is the first step to starting off rite IMO

We will all be glad to help........................... John

tsmatthews3 · 12-28-2004, 09:26 AM

Thanks for the quick responses, I am glad I happened upon the site. I will continue to read everything I can here in hopes I will have my system started in the next month.

As for my tank it is a 36"x24"x24" glass. No holes drilled. No sump yet. I haven't started purchasing my equipment yet.

dx7fd2 · 12-28-2004, 10:40 AM

Quote:

(from TS) lots of glass, lots of wood, no pumps, no lights, no water

But the future is very bright!!! [smiley=2thumbsup.gif]

Reading books, forums, and reference material on the internet is key. It is a good idea to sift through a lot of material and make your own judgements as there are a lot of differing opinions and IMHO they all have valid points!!

A couple of good online mags are:

http://www.reefkeeping.com
http://www.advancedaquarist.com

There have very good articles, fun stuff, and a lot of technical information on both sites!!!

I hope you are considering Reverse Osmosis and DI for your water, that is if you are using water from your abode. Check for what is in your tap water before deciding but you will find many RO/DI systems reasonably priced on EBay.

[smiley=sunny.gif] [smiley=sunny.gif] [smiley=sunny.gif]Drew [smiley=sunny.gif] [smiley=sunny.gif] [smiley=sunny.gif]

hoodoo · 12-28-2004, 04:16 PM

yeah, just don't rush it. if you do that and then realize you should have done something different you're gonna be upset.
Just plan out everything in basic.

One small piece of advise from me here:
Put the tank "far" away from the wall. Far enough to get behind it. Stand behind it and look into the tank and do stuff in the back of the canopy. That's really good later on and once the tank is full you can't move it anymore

Craig Manoukian · 12-28-2004, 09:44 PM

A more specific line of questioning is what kind of tank do you want?

Fish Only with Live Roxk

Reef Tank with Corals

Reef Tank with Corals & Fish

The next question is if you want to keep corals, what type of corals?

Large Polyp Stony Corals (LPS)

Small Polyp Stoney Corals (SPS)

Soft Corals

Now, do you want to keep any specific ornamental invertabrates?

Anemones

Clams

The answers to these questions will determine the substrate, lighting, and equipment requirements you will need. A review of the Photo Gallery here will provide you with a visual of the types of tanks there are and what appeals to you.

tsmatthews3 · 12-29-2004, 04:13 AM

Thanks again for the responses to my questions. I am looking to set up a reef tank, dsb with coral and a few fish. I believe I would like to have soft and sps. I am still enjoying the pictures of the tanks posted here on this site and taking notes. From that I guess I work put together a working list of my plans so I can start to buy my equipment.

My first step I guess will be my lights, my substrate, rock and the start of my filtration system. This is where I start to wonder, should I start a fuge and get it established at the same time as my tank, should I get a protien skimmer at the same time or can I wait until I start to load the tank? I have and old 29g, could I use it as my sump or fuge or do I need something larger? I know that larger would be mean more water volume so maybe i will hold this as a quarantine. If I seem to have it out of order please let me know. I'm sorry, I think I rambled a bit in this post. I hope I don't have too many questions at once. TIA