need help setting up reef tank

[Neb123]

Hi, I am interested in setting up a reef tank and I have never kept salt water before, i have kept many freshwater tanks succesfully and i think its time to step it up,
I want to set up a 40-50 gallon tank, preferably reef
therefore my first question is should i start out with a basic salt water tank with artificial decorations before i move up to reef tanks or would it be alright to go straight to reef, i do not mind putting a lot of time into this tank

i have been doing research and i guess i should list my plans for the tank first

reef tank with some inverts like anenomes, sponges, fan worms etc
- 1-2 clowns
- basslet
- damsels
- cardinals
- chromis
- gobies
- dragonet (if possible)

ive beeng looking at compatibility charts and it looks like these fish should all do well together, now on to questions
i plan on getting an eclipse system for whatever size tank i get, and i was planning on changing the lights to a higher wattage
would 4-5 wpg be sufficient for this set up?
and does anyone have any comments about the eclipse systems, are they good or bad for saltwater?
will i need a protein skimmer, if so what size?
how much live rock will i need to set up a well established 40-50 gal tank?
any suggestions about live sand?
what kind of reef care/vitamins/supplements will i need to invest in?
and what test kits will i need?

i think thats it, is there anything else i missed or would need to get? thanks for the help

[motorslave]

First off let me welcome you to TRT!! This is a great place to learn the hobby.
The best piece of advice for you is to take it solw and be very patient.
A few of your questions can be answered specificaly by determining what you want to keep in the tank. The types of coral will dictate your lighting requirements. Most of the soft corals would do well under the lighting you mentioned. If you decide on some of the stony coral ypu will do best to go with Metal Halide lighting (MH).
For a protien skimmer its best to get the best and biggest you can afford. I didnt do the best research in the beginning when it came to skimmers. I replaced that first one with a Euroreef wich is an excellent skimmer. I am about to set up a 150g tank and am going to get an MR-2 from My Reef Creations (see the sponsor list at the top of the page) Dont skimp on the skimmer as this and your Live Rock(LR) will be your filtration if you choose this method. There are other methods to consider also. Some people use bio-balls but that seems to be less popular. There are canister filters but they are not widely recomended as a main source of filtration. LR and a good skimmer are a great way to keep your water clean. LR is generaly recommended to be 1 to 1.75lbs per gallon. You can adjust this to your needs for aquascaping in the tank. If you get uncured rock it will cycle your tank for you (establish beneficial bacteria) and get the ball rolling. Once the tank is cycled,I waited about two months, then you can add a clean up crew-snails crabs shrimp etc..
The fish you listed might be a pretty heavy load for a 40-50g tank. The type of coral will also dictate to some degree how many fish you sgould keep. The small polyp stony coral (SPS) are very sensative to water quality so less is better when it comes to an SPS system. The soft coral generaly do better in a system with a little more nutrients in it.
Something else to know about is that flow in the tank is very important to the success of coral also for several reasons. One is that the flow can keep detritus (Basicaly poop) suspended in the water so it can be removed by the skimmer or whatever mechanical filtration you choose. Another is that Some coral such as SPS do best in high flow conditions as this simulates their natural habitat.
Take a look at all the tanks around here and read a ton. Decide what you want to do with your tank and then build the system around that. Be patient as this will save you money and headaches. Im sure others will chime in soon! Welcome to the addiction!

Robert
P.S. Where in Ca are you?

[motorslave]

Test kits;
Nitrates
Nitrites
Amonia
P.H.
Phosphates
Alkalinity
and Calcium although you wont need calcium for a while

[Doug1]

Hey Neb, Welcome to the Reef Tank Good that you are asking before making the leap

For someone thats brand new to SW , there are a couple tank sizes that I kinda recommend, and thats as a fish only with live rock, also refered to as a FOWLR tank. Have you had any experience keeping aquariums before?
If you have done Fresh Water tanks, good but forget most of what applies there, Salt Water tanks are a whole new ball game.
SW tanks have a fraction of the capacity to support fish the FW tanks do , due to the more complex chemical reactions that take place as waste breaks down, thats one of the reasons motor mentioned your wish list might be overstocked, IME aint no might be, that will be overstocked , figure on 3 fish the size of a medium percula clown(3-4") thats a safe bio load esp if you want to have corals as well.
Before you spend any money on a tank or anything read the board, esp anything that relates to the critters on your list, about half of them are not the best choices for one reason or another. After you have read till your eyes cross and ache, sit down and pencil out what you want, what size tank you think you want and then post it, ask a lot of questions and get an idea of what works and doesnt before you start spending money.
Reef tanks arent cheap to do right but you can avoid wasting money by planning and researching first, Good Luck

[btang]

Welcome to TRT!

Get your hands on some good Reef books and read, read and read some more. There is so much to think about.

Here one every one recommends: The Conscientious Marine Aquarist by Fenner.

There are load more out there. I've got about 16 books.

Good rock, good water (RO) and a good protein skimmer (there are other methods) with good lights and good circulation are the keys.

If you got a day to kill, here is the thread of the tank I just built:

http://www.thereeftank.com/forums/sh...ad.php?t=33505

Looking forward to hearing about your plans.

[Geoff]

Welcome to TRT!!!



do not want to scare you or anything, but take the budget you had planned for the tank and quadruple it. the cost of starting up a reef system is much higher than it is for starting up a FW tank. everything needs to be much bigger, and there is specialty equipment that is also needed. like Doug has said, SW is a totally different ballgame than FW.

G~

[Loverotties]

opps wrong post